The Romance of a Christmas Mouse
Christmas Mouse Featured in Romantic Homes Magazine
Hmmmm, I said, this looks like spam.
Quickly, I clicked log out and returned to my real work.
Later in the day, there was another notification from Etsy about a convo.
Hello Valerie,
I am gathering materials for a vintage Christmas photo shoot to be featured in Romantic Homes magazine.
Would it be possible to use your vintage set of dishes that…
Hmmmm, I said, this looks like spam.
Quickly, I clicked log out and returned to my real work.
Later in the day, there was another notification from Etsy about a convo.
Hello Valerie,
I am gathering materials for a vintage Christmas photo shoot to be featured in Romantic Homes magazine.
Would it be possible to use your vintage set of dishes that feature a mouse?
They are the perfect colors and will complete our vintage holiday decorating guide.
Your shop will be credited and I will return them to you promptly.
Please let me know today as I am on deadline.
Thank you!
Sarah Jane O’Keefe
Well, I said, maybe this is legitimate. I texted my closest advisors for advise (my internet savvy children).
I paraphrase, The editor had asked that I send a set of china for a photo shoot for the Christmas issue.
Here is where it gets really funny – all of the opinions were all different of course but,
I was very surprised by the lack of enthusiasm for the little project, the presence of Putnam and Speedwell
in a successful national magazine and the suggestion that a legal contract was needed, otherwise,
it simply would not happen.
Well, maybe I should just forget about it and text her that are not interested.
But, I thought, what if . . . ? So, I decided to take the chance, the leap of of faith, if you will, that we can trust –
even if we have not met face to face. So, immediately, I began researching the magazine (legitimate),
the story editor (found her byline in previous issues) and the address that she had sent. It all checked out.
No, I did not draw up a contract nor did I ask her to pay for the china . . .but I did write on the packing list
the expected date of return. I figured, what the heck anyway – they are concerned about losing a few dishes?!?
Really! Then they really do not understand how many dishes there are in the barn!
The package arrived in a timely manner with the pink pastel mouse on a green Christmas wreath. . .Sarah Jane also included a note thanking me and remarked that the mouse was “just the right touch” . . .
The whole episode was quickly forgotten . . . at first, I refused to tell anyone – JINX. A few weeks ago, my daughter asked if I had any news and then suggested that I contact the editor. But, I did not follow her advise (a big mistake) . . . and I realized that I had really pushed it way back in my mind – as in nearly forgotten! I then re-listed the dishes on Etsy!
Late last Thursday, I noticed that there were lots and lots of people visiting putnamandspeedwell.com. And we had a lot of new orders – it was the weekend of the Halloween Block Party and a birthday party for my beautiful little nieces! In the middle of the night, the cell phone continued to vibrate and then, the familiar sound of a vintage cash register, CHA-CHING.
I was still clueless. I did not know how to account for the dramatic increase of visitors to the blog –
or on Etsy. One of the hot items was dinnerware decorated with a Christmas Mouse.
Here is the description on Etsy,
The design – a certain favorite for children of all ages –
incorporates a retro color palette that includes pink, peach
and green on a white background.
In a note to one buyer, Carol, I mentioned that the Christmas Mouse had quite an adventure – he travelled all the way to California for a photo shoot. So maybe, “your plates will appear in the magazine.” Carol replied, “I saw the set in Romantic Homes that’s why I looked at your Etsy site to see if you had any left. I was lucky!” Mystery Solved!
And then a big whoop . . . . YAAAA HOOOO! Cowabunga . . . YES!
Next stop . . . Little Professor. Of course, they had the issue in stock, found The Special Christmas Issue by Romantic Homes but then read the little blurb aloud:
Sweet Details . . . .This sweet set, featuring mice busily preparing for
Christmas, is from the Putnam & Speedwell Etsy Shop.
Notice that Sarah Jane nor I mention the name of this pattern!
Looking at the bottom of the plate, my hunch is that it was manufactured by Royal China.
The colors lead me to think that it was produced mid-century.
But still, I do not know the pattern name. So, we will offer a 25.00 gift certificate at Putnam and Speedwell.
That’s right. If you know the name of this pattern, you can let me know with a comment.
Thank you Sarah Jane! Carol, thanks for solving the mystery! Thank you Etsy. for making it easy to access a large, very large, audience.
Thanks also to my family . . .
(Mom, you need to sell on Etsy! Etsy?)
XOXOXOXO
I have been watching The Paradise on PBS; I admit that I began watching it as a fix. I missed that other series about Mr. Selfridge. Imagine, all the way from Marshall Field to London. The spirit of the age (the Zeitgeist) is palpable in both series – the optimism in modern science, technology, and industrialization influenced style, fashion and taste. The world, they believed, was a better place for all of humanity. And in many ways, their world view was well-founded on the evidence around them – electricity, communication, transportation and medicine. Their style was a visual display of modern luxury – new luxuries like turning on a light past dark and reading! It was a revolution.
THE LUXURY OF VINTAGE FASHION
Today, the marketplace is brimming with readily available and fashionable clothing; yet all too often, fine craftsmanship has disappeared – at an affordable price. Part of the appeal of vintage fashion is that we can enjoy beautiful materials and workmanship without breaking our budget. And, there is also social responsibility – vintage goods of all kinds are integral to a sustainable economic system. Whew! Having said all of that, vintage clothing is a part of history.
I enjoy the theater of dress – and the theater created by Mr. Selfridge and the ficitonal, Mr. Moray. I marvel at the clothing Ginger Rodgers wore as she danced away the night, Katherine Hepburn in pants that flowed like a skirt and followed every curve. And so on . . . like Ingrid Bergman, who looked beautiful no matter what she wore – and still looks beautiful behind a mink stole on a mannequin in a small, very small vintage store. Hmmm, that brings up fur and the bad wrap it has in today’s world (no pun intended) . . . The allure of the forties was elegance. Growing up, there were women who attended church with a fur coat – my great aunt was one of them. It was Chicago. In Chicago, winter is cold – no matter what the temperature, the wind off the lake is cold. . . the antidote before the new man made ultra loft fillings was fur. Fur is warm . . . Last winter, I wore a vintage fur jacket and now, I do not think that I could give it up. I hate being cold when I am outside – and I like being out of doors.
When I run across beautiful things that are appealing and bring to mind an era of fashion then I can imagine that they would add personality, color and even usefulness in the present to a wardrobe. So it is with the sequined dress made in Italy with fine wool and hand sewn sequins that are 1/2 in diameter. I am not so good with a camera – capturing the play of light is difficult and so too, it is impossible to portray the fit. This dress is short enough and tight enough but not form fitting. . . . actually it is perfect!
I am also quite taken with the pure all out eighties look of the long dress that takes off from the psychedelia of the seventies
. . . .look at the gold coins! Not the kind of dress to wear if you do not want to be noticed. . . . The colors are disco happy. Hard to imagine having a bad time wearing this dress. The detail in this dress is absolutely excellent – lined, the coins are hand applied as is the gold trim. I imagine that shimmery sandals would work well and still allow perfect comfort . . . my daughter, who knows so much more about fashion than I, suggested the fur stole. And of course, she is right – partly because, this dress seems to require an extraordinary occasion and a puffy coat, well, it would be out of sync . . . but a stole, like a mink stole would make it theater . . .
Lots and lots of new things in store that I hope to get online – lots of slip dresses, and new vintage imported from Austin, reminiscent of my hippie past.
