Alarmist knitting advert

A scare-mongering knitting ad from the 1950s, warning mothers that spring is not all sunshine and daffodils. Don't put those winter woolies away just yet, mother! In fact, you'd better knit a pram set or two - "knit one now just as a precaution against these early Spring cold spells, put it away during the Summer, and when you bring it out in September it will still fit baby the whole Winter through!"

Either babies didn't grow as quickly in the 1950s as they do now, or that is one stretchy baby outfit. A rather desperate attempt by Bairns-Wear to encourage a frantic burst of knitting activity before the traditional summer lull.

I made my own stair carpet

Two slightly manic-looking disembodied heads discuss the merits of making your own Airlyne stair carpet. I suppose that if you are a disembodied head then having a nice stair carpet is very important, as you are going to be looking at it more closely than most as you bounce up and down the stairs.

The Airlyne machine was a sturdy table-top rug and carpet-making machine, which promised "easy and economical" results using Axminster materials. Now that's an impressive craft project - especially if you are a disembodied head.

Cat-proof wool

An innovative idea from the early 1950s by Torpedo Wools - plastic-wrapped balls of yarn. "Protected when you buy them, protected when you carry them, protected when you knit them" - judging from the illustrations, the idea was to pull your yarn out through a little hole in the bag, and knit with your ball of wool still wrapped in the cellophane.

Note the frustrated tabby kitten, desperately trying to paw the goodies within but thwarted by the mighty power of cellophane. Tough luck, tabby kitten, and better luck next time.