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Up for sale is a remarkably preserved, highly cohesive 3-Volume Family and Schoolwork Archive spanning the decade from 1923 to 1933. This primary-source collection chronicles the life of student Cora Lee Frederick and her family (the Christians) in Abilene, Texas, capturing an unbroken timeline from the prosperity of the mid-1920s to the financial survival of the Great Depression.
This lot includes three separate original vintage binders containing handwriting, hand-colored maps, physical sewing textile technique swatches, original receipts, and unique personal business history.
VOLUME 1: High School Clothing & Geography Notebook (1923-1924)
Details: Features the original cover paper label identifying Cora Lee Frederick at Abilene High School under instructors Miss Compere and Miss Grantham.
- Features multiple hand-written essays analyzing hydrological patterns (referencing the historic 1890 Nita Crevasse disaster) accompanied by an incredibly detailed, completely hand-colored maps outlining the major river basins and drainage areas of the United States.
VOLUME 2: High School Fashion Design Portfolio (1924-1925)
- Details: Bound in a vintage Scholastic Loose Leaf Note Book cover labeled for her "Design I A" course, periods 8-9, Room 2.
Content Highlights: Outlines foundational early 20th-century fashion theory regarding balancing lines for body types, apparel pattern-drafting blueprints with technical measurements, and original 1920s fashion magazine/catalog clippings.
High-Value Page: Features a completely itemized "Clothing Budget for High School Girl," projecting a strict three-year wardrobe spending matrix on a $150.00 annual macro-allowance (including sports suits, wool dresses, and historic "knicker suits.
VOLUME 3: Family Financial Ledgers & Historical Ephemera (1930-1933)
Details: Bound in a gold-embossed Art Deco style University Loose Leaf Note Book. This volume showcases how Cora's childhood budgeting classes translated into adult survival, serving as the household's strict financial accounting ledger during the peak of the Great Depression.
- The Patent Memorandum (1932): Includes a fascinating loose memo mapping out plans to patent a custom family invention—a "combined notebook binder + pencil box"—appointing the high-profile national firm of Victor J. Evans & Co. Attorneys in Washington, D.C., and referencing a business footprint at 616 Cypress Street in downtown Abilene.
THESE BINDERS ARE ORIGINAL. THEY HAVE LOOSE EDGES AND PAGES, SOME TEARING OF SOME PAGES, DISCOLORATION OF PAGES BEING PRESSED INTO RECEIPTS AND OTHERS. NOT ENOUGH PICTURES TO SHOW COMPLETEY. WANT TO KEEP ALL 3 TOGETHER FOR THE HISTORY THEY CONTAIN. THANK YOU FOR STAYING WITH THIS VERY LONG DESCRIPTION.
8 X 10.5 TWO
