Festive times with Dead Men's Spex

Hi there

We had a good time at Holt Hall and were in a great position; close to the very grand fireplace complete with real fire, lovely!

A real fire..

We were also close to the huge and very imposing Christmas tree and the tea rooms- they did a delicious line in mince pies and great sponge cakes too.

..and a huge Christmas tree

It was nice to meet some new faces and see some familiar ones. Deadman junior did a great Christmas card in the crafts area and enjoyed chatting to the other stall holders. He's following in his Dad's footsteps.. perhaps his next step will be reconditioning frames?!

The Eastern Daily Press photographer was on duty and on Thursday I opened the paper to see some familiar faces smiling sweetly at me.

EDP photos taken from Little Vintage Lover Fair's website 

This is our last show before Christmas and it was nice to get into the festive spirit. We've booked to go to Milton Keynes to the MK Handmade and Vintage Weekend Extravaganza  in March 2016. It is a very large event in a huge indoor area called Middleton Hall in front of John Lewis. We are excited about this as it's our first time at this show. I will be looking forward to returning to my old stomping ground, I watched many a classic 80's film at The Point cinema just across the way!!

I hope that you are enjoying the festive season.

Mrs Deadman 

Dead Men's Spex at Little Vintage Lover Fair's Christmas event at Holt Hall

Hi there
Yes it is almost December. Wow, we are getting ready to go to Holt Hall next weekend Sunday 6th December with Little Vintage Lover Fair.

Holt Hall

We went last year and had a good time, it was very festive with mince pies and children's crafts and a lovely big fire in the entrance hall. We've got some great glasses including some new stock which has just come in. We look forward to seeing you soon and welcoming in the festive season. Deadman has been cultivating his Santa look all year long. Ho ho ho

Mrs Deadman.

Dead Men's Spex Keep Calm and Carry on at The North Norfolk Railway

Hi there

Well we had a great weekend at Holt and the weather gods were incredibly kind to us. I don't know how the organisers of the North Norfolk Railway 1940s event manage it, but every year it is warm and dry.

It was fun to see familiar faces again and we are used to being the most photographed stall - Dead Men's Spex always attract a response whether it be laughter or shudders!

Dead Men's Spex view on the world!

The biggest event of the weekend had to be the shunt; where an engine was derailed as it went to turn round at Holt station. Fortunately it was only a slight derailment as it was going very slowly and was not attached to any carriages. No one was hurt but the fireman and driver were shaken up.  See The Eastern Daily Press  article for more details.

The beleaguered engine 

I heard an ominous clunk but Dead Man was too busy chatting and missed it completely. However, the news soon trickled in from our customers. It caused chaos as it disrupted the running of the other trains, knocked out the electricity in the canteen and knocked down the wall in front of the buffers. However, it was Keep calm and Carry on as you would expect in wartime Britain!

Business as usual - a train leaves Holt for Sheringham after the derailment

Everyone summoned their stiff-upper lips and continued the serious business of enjoying themselves. Luckily we had our sandwiches and flask with us, I was a Girl Guide in my youth, - other people were less fortunate and had to ages wait for their picnics!


Well that's all for now, Mrs Deadman

Holt- who goes there? Dead Men's Spex

Hi there

Yes it's mid September and today I am mainly pricing glasses for our stall at the North Norfolk Railway 1940s weekend  at Holt. As usual we have great selection of stock which Dead Man has been collecting and preparing. We have loads of 1940s frames including a whole tray of gas mask frames and some lovely original 1940s and 1950s sunglasses.

original vintage sunglasses- new old stock- unworn.

This is in addition to a good array of the much loved NHS 524 Old School glasses, fabulous cats' eyes, gents' frames; including the popular American make Shuron and other goodies.
We are looking forward to a fun weekend and hope to see you there.


TTFN Mrs Deadman

A taste of La Belle France for Dead Men's Spex

Hi there
Well the summer holidays are over and we had a lovely trip to Paris. It was Deadman junior's idea to go there and we hit the tourist trail to 'do' all the classic Parisien sights along with thousands of others. Deadman spent the whole time singing 'chansons d'amour' and shrugging in his best Gallic style. We climbed a daunting bank of steep steps to reach the Sacre Coeur - the Catholic cathedral which commands great views over the city. It it is the only hot church I've ever been in, this was due to the large crowds; it was shuffling room only, and the banks of votive candles glittering in the gloom. (Sorry, I couldn't resist a bit of alliteration!)

Jesus embraces all in the Sacre Coeur

We also went to some more unusual places including Deyrolle the taxidermist shop which does attract tourists but thankfully not in the same volumes as the Eiffel Tower!  We also visited the Marche St Pierre a fantastic fabric shop at the foot of the Sacre Coeur which has four floors of fabric, a must for all home sewers.  Deadman junior however, was more attracted to the beautiful sweet shops and developed a taste for macaroons.

Cool sign; can we have one please?

An optician's window display next to Deyrolle, 

However, we were probably the only tourists on the look out for optician's shops - Deadman lost count at 25 in one day. There were some very attractive window displays including the one above which has real butterflies in with the designer frames.

Hope you all had a good summer.

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Summer time with Dead Men's Spex

Hi there

Well, Little Vintage Lover Fair in Heydon went well. As usual, the weather excelled itself and we had a beautiful summery day. The event was very well supported; there was a constant flow of people and long queues for the coffee van. We saw quite a few familiar faces and had a good (if rather warm) day.We took some copies of Vintage Explorer with us and Zoe and Margaret gave those out at the door. We have just started to advertise Dead Men’s Spex, in there, it is a lovely magazine, well worth a look.

Looking for bargains

Mr and Mrs Dead Man

Vintage china

Dead Man Junior and I left Dead Man to stand the stall on his own and sneaked onto the village green for a few minutes. It was a beautifully idyllic scene with people picnicking and relaxing in the grass. I soon had to return to the stall and Dead Man Junior followed later on once he had taken some photos.

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Dead Men's Spex off to Heydon

Hi There

Yes, first day of the summer holidays and it throws it down with rain, how mean is that?! Well August is racing towards us and with it another little Vintage Lover Fair on Sunday August 2nd  at the beautiful Norfolk village of Heydon. If my memory serves me correctly; which it doesn't always these days, then it will be our fourth time at Heydon. It usually both warm and busy so let's hope the tradition continues!

Little Vintage Lover Fair at Heydon village hall

Dead Men's Spex will be there displaying a wide range of vintage eyewear ; we have some new frames to share with you! We are looking forward to getting out and seeing people and maybe even buying cake. By the way my rhubarb crumble cake was a hit at our open day; one of Dead Man's good ideas.

We will be bringing a selection of these frames to Heydon

Hope to see you soon for a fun day out

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Dead Men's Spex Open weekend

Hi there

We are happy to say that Dead Men's Spex open weekend went well.

Deadman waiting for visitors

We had a good amount of visitors come to Dead Men's Towers to admire our new shoffice and our vintage frames. I wouldn't let them leave until they had sampled my cake and admired the bunting!

outside looking in

Thank-you to everyone who supported us, it was lovely to see you all, we had a fun weekend and the weather was fairly kind; there was only one brief but heavy downpour. 

The United Nations come to Norfolk from Canada, Spain and Buckinghamshire

We are planning to have regular opening hours from September, so watch this space (and the website and Facebook page) for more details.

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Count down to Dead Men's Spex Open Weekend July 11th and 12th

Hi There

Last time  I wrote we were off  to Little Vintage lover Fair at Holt Hall. That went well, and as Zoe the organiser had predicted, it stayed dry all day. I was rather dubious about this so we opted to set up our stall in the entrance hall. It was very spacious, and en-route to those two necessities in life; toilets and tea rooms, so I think we saw most people! We had a pleasant day and met some new customers and saw a few familiar faces. Thank you if you came to see us.

At Dead Men's Spex we are now gearing up for our open weekend this Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July. Deadman has been working furiously in his workshop preparing a load more new frames. Meanwhile I have been on the peripherals; I have mainly been making bunting, not any old bunting; special vintage glasses bunting -seemed like a good idea at the time!

Dead Men's Spex bunting

This week I will be mainly making cake so I hope you come to help us eat it or Deadman and I will just get rounder than ever.....  

I have also been helping Deadman put pictures up in our "shoffice" and have been going through some great American opticians' advertising leaflets from the 1950s, 60s and 70s.  After reading them we decided to do "his" and "hers" collages. They are very much from a pre feminist era where men were bold and rugged and ladies all feminine and glamorous, I  couldn't resist sharing a few with you; there are floral frames for the elegant 1950's lady
                                          

Floral Dream Frame

Idealised 50's elegance

and "Leading Lady" and "Royal Lady" for the 1960's ultra chic chicks...

For rough tough outdoors men there is the 'Mansfield square'

Perfect for active men and rugged boys

Whereas a  more sophisticated gentleman of the 1970's may prefer the Round Towner! Well that's enough vintage indulgence for me for the moment. We are looking forward to seeing you at our open day 12 noon to 5pm  Sat 11th and Sun 12th July at Deadmens' Towers in Norfolk 

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Dead Men's Spex at Holt Hall with Liittle Vintage Lover Fair

Hi there

Wow, it is June already. Our shoffice as we've named it is coming on well. Deadman is having fun dressing it with his optical memorabilia and displays. We've had some customers already and our open weekend is Sat11th and Sun12th July from 12-5pm. So we're hoping for sunny weather.

Talking about sunny weather, Deadmen's Spex are at Holt Hall this Sunday June 21st with Little Vintage Lover Fair. It is a beautiful setting and well worth a visit, we went there at Christmas with Little Vintage Lover Fair and it was good. The grounds are lovely and there will be stalls outside and inside. We are looking forward to it, especially when there are vintage goodies and cake involved.... We will have a good selection of our vintage eyewear and hope to see you there.

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Vintage Spex shop at Deadman's Towers

Hi there
It's exciting times for Dead Men's Spex. We  are setting up our very own purpose built vintage eye-wear boutique in our garden.

It is free standing, triple aspect with double glazed windows and electricity. Two windows face west and catch the afternoon sun; so it gets beautifully warm.  Deadman has just laid the carpet ; I had to check that he wasn't  having a sneaky snooze. Instead I found him shaking his booty.

Man of many talents including carpet laying and Dad dancing!

We''re almost ready ,we just need to move our stock in and then we can receive customers. We are planning an open day in the summer to show off our new showroom. Look out on our website and Facebook page for the date.

It's almost Hemsby rock'n roll weekend, yes, it's that time of year again...So Deadman has been prepping some great new frames  for the show. He'll be there from Friday 8th  until Sunday 10th May.

New ladies cats' eyes

He's looking forward to seeing everyone and having a good chin wag

TTFN MrsDeadman

Dead men's Spex at Blakeney

Hi There

I'm doing well this month ; 3 blogs in March. Wow!   We are off to Blakeney on the picturesque North Norfolk coast this Sunday 29th March with Little Vintage Lover Fair.

Blakeney Harbour

We will have a wide selection of stock; including  plenty of cool cats' eyes and  a good range of Shuron frames. Look out for our cool decoupage heads which set off our glasses beautifully.

Our lady  is wearing blue bay sunglasses at £25 for three pairs ; blue, yellow and white.






Our man is modelling a pair  of black 
Shuron Sidewinder  frames at £ 65 a pair.










We look forward to the show and hope to see you there.



TTFN MrsDeadman

Deadmen's Spex at Ipswich

Hi there

We enjoyed our day out in Ipswich at the new Peachy Keen Vintage Fair in St Peter's at the Waterfront. The church was attractive and spacious and we had a sunlit position close to the radiator. What more could we want?

A Deadman's eye view of Peachy Keen

We met some new customers including people who had seen our website, so thank you very much to everyone who came to see us on Sunday.

Another happy customer 

Check out Peachy Keen's Facebook page for some great photos including the one above.

Well that's all for now

TTFN
Mrs Deadman

Dead Men's Spex off to Peachy Keen

Hi there.
Oh dear, I'm sorry; I've realised that this is my first blog of 2015. I  hope you are all well, we have been ticking along. Dead man is valiantly fighting a very nasty cough but has still managed to keep Dead Men's Spex fully operational including sourcing some great new stock recently. Our dining room table is full of frames as I write.

This weekend Sunday 8th March we are having our first outing of the year and are venturing out of the county to St Peter's by the Waterfront; which is a converted church in Ipswich, Suffolk.

We are going to a new fair called Peachy Keen Vintage Fair  and are looking forward to it. They will have cake and music; always a good thing. As usual we have a wide selection of frames including the classic Sidewinder, Freeway and Ronsir from American company Shuron, a good selection of funky cats and some great frames from the 1970s and 1980s.

We look forward to trying out this new venue and will set our alarm clock (Deadman junior) nice and early so we are ready to roll at 11am!

TTFN

Mrs Deadman