Thanksgiving Greetings via Cassandra's Antique Postcard Collection

A Beloved Childhood “Friend”…

On my new rocking horse, "Billy"
- note mother hiding on the left holding me on!

When I was one year old, my parents received a call from my father’s office, telling them that a package addressed to me had arrived there from Marshall Fields in Chicago, sent by a client/friend of my father.   When they arrived at the office to retrieve this mystery box, my parents were amazed that the “package” was actually a very large wooden crate in which was packed a beautiful large German rocking horse or Schaukelpferde.

Cowgirl Cassandra on Billy at age 3.

I named my horse “Billy” - he sported a real horsehair mane and tail; red wooden, western-style stirrups; a real leather bridle and reins; a glossy painted bright gold saddle; beautiful hand-painted eyes; a soft brown velvet painted coat; and a red bow-style rocker.  Billy was a beloved part of my early childhood years and those of my sisters and friends. 

Billy ridden by a young friend...

Today Billy resides at the home of my sister and brother-in-law where he is in process of restoration - soon to be enjoyed again by another generation: starting with my new granddaughter, Alice Annabelle! 

A Brief History of the Rocking Horse

For centuries as far back as ancient Greece and Persia, children have been enamored of toy horses, playing kings and queens, knights and damsels, cowboys and cowgirls, & etc., with these timeless toys, whether on a stick, pulled by a string, or built on wheels or rockers. 

Rocking horses first appeared in Europe, notably in Germany, in the seventeenth century and were especially popular in England during the Georgian and Victorian eras, when only the wealthiest of parents could afford such a luxury.  These elaborately handcrafted masterpieces, featured leather saddles and bridles, glass eyes and real horsehair manes and tails and were believed to help develop children's' balance for riding real horses.

Rocking horses were also produced in the United States, as well as in Europe, during the Victorian & Edwardian eras, as the Industrial Revolution introduced a larger and more affluent middle class as well as less expensive productions costs.  In 1880 a Cincinnatian invented and patented the “Safety Stand” or swinger base, which largely replaced the curved “bow” rocker of early years.  Many antique tin-types, cabinet cards, and early black and white photographs of children and their rocking horses can be found in both the U.S. and in Europe. 

Production progressed through the mid-twentieth century, at which time the crafting of fine rocking horses almost ceased.  During the past 20 years there has been an increasing quantity of skilled craftsmen around the world producing and restoring quality rocking horses.

 

A Sampling of Current Rocking Horse Craftsmen…

http://www.rockinghorsedesign.com/index.htm

http://www.kensington-rocking-horses.co.uk/

http://www.riding-high-rocking-horses.co.uk/Default.asp

http://www.oldrockinghorses.com/

http://www.legendsrockinghorses.co.uk/index.shtml

Valentines: A Brief History & a Sampling from Cassandra’s Antique Collection

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

February has been a month of romance since ages past. St. Valentine’s Day originated from Christian and Roman traditions - the Roman Catholic Church recognizes three martyred saints named Valentine or Valentinus. During the Middle Ages in France and England it was believed that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, thus began the practice of celebrating Valentine's Day as a day for romance in the middle of February.

The oldest known valentine still in existence today is considered to be a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. Several years later, King Henry V hired a writer, John Lydgate, to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

During the 1600s, the holiday began to be popularly celebrated in Great Britain; and, by the mid -1700s, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. Due to improvements in the technology of printing in the late 1700s, printed cards began to replace written letters. The manufactured cards made it easier for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Less expensive postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of posting valentines.

In the 1840s in Worcester, Massachusetts, a young woman named Esther A. Howland, inspired by the fancy lace-covered English valentines that her father sold in his Worcester stationery store, began to create and sell the first mass-produced valentines in the U.S.

Esther initially created several sample valentines and persuaded one of her brothers skilled in penmanship to inscribe sentiments in the cards. The valentines proved extremely popular - despite their high cost – many sold for $5 to $10 each, and very extravagant ones, bedecked with ribbons, satin, and silk, cost up to $30.

Esther’s business boomed, and she recruited four friends to help her fulfill the orders and created an innovative assembly-line approach in making the cards. Seated at a long table, one worker cut out small colored lithographs of sentimental subjects, the next laid them on brilliantly glazed paper backgrounds, a third assembled the layers of lace paper that framed the central design, and the fourth pasted down a printed sentiment, typically inside the card or under a flap where only the recipient could see it. In 1881, Esther sold her business to the George C. Whitney Company.

While other manufacturers of valentines competed for the affection of the public, none could compete with the quality, taste, and style of Esther Howland. She is credited with having popularized the lace Valentine, and propelling it into a major industry and came to be known as "The Mother of the American Valentine"..

My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

My love as deep; the more I give to thee,

The more I have, for both are infinite.

~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

A life without love is like a year without summer.

~ Swedish quote

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

~ Lao Tzu

To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.

~ Karen Sunde



Love is the only gold.

~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson

All thoughts, all passions, all delights,

Whatever stirs this mortal frame,

All are but ministers of love,

And feed his sacred flame.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

~ Mother Teresa

Something Old & Interesting: Boot Scrapers

On a recent trip to Philadelphia to visit my daughter, while walking in the antique district, I encountered the wonderful antique cat boot scraper above near 17th & Pine Streets.

Before the advent of the automobile, horses provided most transportation and very few streets were paved, thus all manner of foul substances could be tracked into one’s home. During the 17th through 19th centuries, a common antidote to this unpleasantness was use of a boot scraper (a.k.a. foot scraper or boot cleaner) located on or near a home’s front stoop to clean one’s shoes or boots before entering through the doorway. Most were constructed from cast iron by blacksmiths or, after the mid-1800s, by foundries.

As you can see, boot scrapers can be found in many shapes and styles –some more functional and simple:

and others quite decorative and creative!

I am hoping to photograph more interesting antique boot scrapers during an upcoming visit to historic Charleston, South Carolina…

To see more 18th and 19th century Old City Philadelphia boot scrapers, click here.

Cassandra's Antique Bootscrape, inherited from her Grandmother Lavenua...

Rock-a-bye Baby



Earlier this month, I found a wonderful antique cradle of mid-nineteenth century vintage at an estate sale in upstate New York. Such handsome features: the local hard maple wood, the dovetailing, the gently curved top and rockers, the carrying handles, and an early safety feature: two brass knobs on each side with which to “bundle” the baby with rope, ribbon or twine so s/he could not escape!   I quickly paid a very reasonable price for such a handsome period addition to one of my farmhouse's bedchambers!



It must be noted that such cradles as these are of picturesque interest only. Their practical use, holding babies (despite knobs for bundling!), is cast in doubtful light if we consider that one wrong step, on one of the rockers, may catapult the little one who knows where!

Cradles of this vintage were often made by the father or grandfather with locally-milled woods and were handed down in families through subsequent generations.  It is quite likely that my particular cradle has never left the county in which I purchased it.  Early cradles were made to be placed right next to the parents’ bed, since bedrooms were actually a later addition to architecture that came with the ability to heat the home more efficiently.

I hope one day to find a mid-nineteenth century baby quilt at another estate sale!