Showing posts with label Amsterdam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amsterdam. Show all posts

Tuesday, 13 August 2013

Glasses from Amsterdam: a potted history.

Hi there

We have just returned from our short break in Amsterdam, it is one of the few cities that is really easy to get to from Norfolk! The flight takes thirty five minutes from Norwich airport.
The Brilmuseum
Dead Man assures me that the main allure was the Brilmuseum ; the glasses museum. Amsterdam has an eclectic selection of quirky museums, including the torture museum and the Tassenmusem museum of bags and purses. However, we had a first with our landlady as she had never heard of the Brilmuseum!
Inside the Brilmuseum
The Brilmuseum did not disappoint and is a fantastic place for lovers of vintage glasses. They have a comprehensive collection of all things optical. The first floor is a shop selling vintage spectacles (although most only dated to the past 30 years) and the museum is on two floors of a traditional Amsterdam house.
safety and industrial specs
We were excited by the frames; there was a wide range, including rare 18th century 'Martin's Margins' (see the Deadman's own fine example here),  great flying goggles and a wide selection of dramatic 1950s and '60s  cocktail glasses.

Cocktail and Viennese ball inspired frames 

If you're ever in Amsterdam and fancy feasting your eyes on a great selection of vintage glasses it's worth seeking out, and you won't have to queue, we had the place to ourselves.

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Monday, 11 March 2013

Dreaming of glasses from Amsterdam...

Hi There
Brr! Well that was a chilly Mothers' Day but I was lucky enough to be showered with gifts and cards by Deadman junior, he is a generous and enthusiatic giver. We've had snow overnight and now it's white out; and I thought Spring was on its way. This week 7th to14th March is Norwich Fashion Week and my friend and I went to have a look at the vintage fashion fair in the cloisters at Norwich Cathedral. It is a very beautiful setting but open to the elements and I felt for the stall holders who had snowflakes drifting round them through the open columns, oh don't we just love our unpredictable weather?
Vintage fair in Norwich Cathedral cloisters
With such wintry conditions outside we have been planning our summer holiday, we have settled upon a trip to Amsterdam; the Brilmuseum (glasses museum for the linguists amongst us) was a decider for Deadman. The junior and I are looking forward to staying on a boat. We've got a while to wait, but it's nice to dream on! 

Brilmuseum, Amsterdam


TTFN
Mrs Deadman