A note on language and attitudes

At Hazel & Linen, we sell pieces that carry history. Books with words that wouldn’t be printed today. Posters with images that reflect the assumptions of their time. Objects made by hands whose labour was not fairly rewarded, or whose stories were never told.

We don’t hide from this. We think it matters to name it.

Why we still sell these pieces

History doesn’t disappear when we ignore it. These objects are primary sources — evidence of how people thought, what they valued, and what they got wrong. A children’s book from 1950 can teach a child more about how the world has changed (and how it must keep changing) than almost any lesson plan.

We believe in keeping these things in circulation — in homes, in classrooms, in conversations — rather than letting them moulder in landfill or be quietly erased.

What you can do with them

• Read them critically. Look at the language together. Ask: why did someone think it was acceptable to write this? Who wasn’t being listened to?
• Repurpose them. Cut out the images and make paper mache. Use the pages to line shelves, wrap gifts, or create collage. Take the thing apart and make something new.
• Teach from them. A page that shocks is a page that opens a door. Some of the most powerful conversations about equality, race, gender and class start with an old picture book.
• Archive them. Libraries, museums and researchers preserve this material for exactly this reason. If you’d rather this piece lived somewhere it will be studied, we can help point you toward the right hands.

Our commitment

Any product we flag with this notice is flagged because we noticed. We read what we sell. We don’t list pieces with the intent to harm — and if you ever feel we’ve misjudged something, we want to hear from you.

Standards change. Language changes. What one generation accepted without question, the next rejects — and rightly so. We think that’s not something to mourn but something to celebrate. These pieces are proof that the conversation is still going.

Write to us if you’d like to talk about a specific item.