The Collections, episode 4. In which I let the music play.

A hearty thank you to everyone who followed my "30 days" of FaceBook posts this September. I had a good time rediscovering my album collection, which, if I am completely honest, has long sat untouched (but always admired, of course) like many of my collections. Albums, however, are meant to be played just as shoes are meant to be worn and teacups sipped from, etc. The albums have followed me from childhood into adulthood and into whatever condition I am currently occupying as a retired adult.

Man of a "certain age" sounds about right.

Right?

Before I return to romanticizing the collection, I thought we should have a look at the full monty. Here they all are.

I gave up a pretty serious collection of stereo components and booming speakers nearly 10 years ago, along with the final one of the two original wooden record crates that followed me to Texas when I first moved here with Mari in 1989 to begin adulting. This current all-in-one system includes CD player, cassette player, and AM/FM radio in addition to the turntable that still allows me to play (and record!) my remaining album collection. It's like the iMac of stereo systems only with decidedly LoFi sound. Sufficient for weekend dance parties with (or without) our PJs, but a rave would be out of the question.

I have used the system just a few times to convert college mix tapes (I was our dorm's party mix-master for a while in the mid 80s) into MP3s which I enjoy via various Apple products, but mostly it has sat containing a bit of history I like to call my record collection.

While I reminisce my collection below, I'll be including my original "30 days" FB posts. Hope you don't mind, but there are a few non-FB followers among my blog brethren. Be sure to keep an eye out for a few *** blog bonus *** listings below with a look at some albums that didn't make the original cut.

BANANARAMA by Bananarama, April 1984

Bananarama was the first album to hit the freshly-connected turntable in my dorm room in August, 1984. "Cruel Summer" is still a favorite today.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE by Devo, May 1980

Although I began this month with Bananarama for sentimentally symbolic reasons, the remainder of my albums I presented chronologically (ala Rob in HIGH FIDELITY). I didn't have the patience (or memory) to present them as they fit into the rhythm of my life, however. You can't help but get up and move when you hear "Whip It."

AUTOAMERICAN by Blondie, November 1980

Since I was a teen and then college student during all of the 1980s, my albums reflect that eclectically colorful decade aplenty. I still sing along (and remember all the lyrics) to "Rapture."

BUSINESS AS USUAL by Men at Work, November 1981

I stayed up late in the basement to watch Men at Work perform both hits, "Who Can it Be Now?" and "Down Under" on SNL hosted by WKRP's Johnny Fever. Still puts me in a good mood even though I am now a man of leisure.

I was inspired to share a monthly capsule collection of albums during a recent furniture reshuffle that left the whole shebang stranded for a time mid-room without a permanent home. Replugging the one remaining cable and taking down my remaining albums one at a time to wipe off the accrued neglect made me question why I was still holding onto these relics, so reminisce I shall. As a collector (of admittedly SO MANY things) I don't often question why this or that collection is still around, I just add or subtract as necessary to make room for newfound treasures and memories.

It's a good thing memories don't compete for shelf space.

WASN'T TOMORROW WONDERFUL? by The Waitresses, January 1982

While I wasn't exactly a square peg myself in high school, I was a huge fan of SJP's one-season nod to high school life. The Waitresses' debut album came into my collection after the band appeared on the SQUARE PEGS series premiere singing both the show's theme and the (still freakin' awesome) "I Know What Boys Like."

PELICAN WEST by Haircut One Hundred, February 1982

I place particular blame on original MTV VJs Martha Quinn and Nina Blackwood for all of my British New Wave album purchases. "Favorite Shirts" and "Love Plus One" were in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV and who was I to argue with Martha and Nina?!

BRANIGAN by Laura Branigan, March 1982

A two-for treat to celebrate her beautiful yet powerful anthems that still resound today and in honor of a life cut far too short (Laura Branigan died of a brain aneurysm at 52).

SELF CONTROL by Laura Branigan, April 1984

While "Gloria" and "Self Control" are popular favorites, the entire album is one of my all-time faves, which might explain why I've held onto it all these years.

Picking up each album is a part of Marie Kondo's process, yes, but it has always been a part of my own collecting philosophy. As the album collection has downsized over the years I have made some tough decisions and let things go. The stand I purchased with my all-in-one system claims to hold 100 albums. There are currently 81 housed down there below the turntable with its built-in lo-fi speakers. It might hold 100 on a good day, but I prefer to give the remaining relics a little breathing room.

Wait, is that "too" Marie Kondo?

RHYTHM OF YOUTH by Men Without Hats, April 1982

While I was a bit young to fully appreciate the quirky new wave protest song at the time, "The Safety Dance" still produces a lot of high school nostalgia for me. Does anyone else remember Weird Al's parody of "Safety Dance" called "The Brady Bunch?"

A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS by A Flock of Seagulls, April 1982

You could not escape the ubiquitous "I Ran" even if you (ironically) ran so far away. I also still love "Space Age Love Song" but, sadly, no longer have the hair to pull off the famous "seagull do."

RIO by Duran Duran, May 1982

OMG. I have no words except LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS ALBUM. While "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf" were part of my high school soundtrack, "Save a Prayer" still resounds with me today.

COMBAT ROCK by The Clash, May 1982

The British new wave invasion continued on MTV and straight into my record collection with this decidedly more punk than new wave gem. Even today, nothing beats turning up "Rock the Casbah" when you are inching along in slow traffic.

When I left for college in August 1984, I boarded a train with an embarrassingly large suitcase (a Sarabando family tradition that continues to this day), a new trunk purchased from Service Merchandise, and the box said trunk had arrived in. All my overpacked baggage greeted me 16 hours later on the platform at the South Bend train station. My parents had shipped me off to begin adulting yet had never helped me fully embrace the concept of "traveling light." I am ever thankful to them, of course, for always allowing me to travel heavy--usually burdened with too many books and records (and a portable turntable with a briefcase-like handle) and never enough underwear and socks.

Not sure what 70s or 80s Lou would have made of an e-reader or iPod!

PYROMANIA by Def Leppard, January 1983

One of the very few duplicate albums when Mari and I united our collections over 30 years ago (she was mostly a cassette collector). That melodic ringing in our ears when we finally saw Def Leppard live in July 2008 (with Joan Jett) has finally subsided!

OUR LIPS ARE SEALED (12" single from WAITING) by Fun Boy Three, February 1983

I went off on my own British tangent with this remake of The Go-Go's hit written by the band's Jane Wiedlin who co-wrote the song with Fun Boy Three singer Terry Hall. Much of my surviving album collection is made up of relatively obscure but well-loved 12" singles like this gem.

LET'S DANCE by David Bowie, April 1983

If you owned record albums in the 1980s, then you owned this masterpiece. Even though the BEST OF BOWIE double CD (October 2002) is in my CD collection, I will never part with this original album. (Yes, there is a rather massive CD collection.)

WHITE FEATHERS by Kajagoogoo, April 1983

I was never "Too Shy" about rushing out to buy an album after hearing only one song and Kajagoogoo's debut album was no exception. I did learn, years later, that the "Kajagoogoo" track from this album opens one of Mari's favorite films. It's the one starring one of my early movie crushes, Miss Molly Ringwald, celebrating a sweet milestone. (OK, since you asked, Kristy McNichol was my first TV/movie crush.)

I think about 20 albums made that train ride with me from their basement home in Tarrytown to my basement dorm room in Fisher Hall on the Notre Dame campus. Even before my roommate had moved in to his half of Room 6, I had biked the four miles to Service Merchandise and purchased a Technics linear-tracking turntable that I had salivated over while working my summer job at the Warner Library. After connecting it to my larger-than-life 80s boombox, I laid down the track that began my new life, on my own and ready for a completely fresh start in a new state and a new part of the country I would eventually and gratefully consider home.

STATE OF CONFUSION by The Kinks, June 1983

Since it was a little more pop than their traditional rock, I was finally drawn to The Kinks by this album. "Come Dancing" still appeals to my sentimental side, but listening to the title track with the volume turned up REALLY REALLY LOUD ironically helps alleviate just about any state of confusion.

RANT N' RAVE WITH THE STRAY CATS by The Stray Cats, August 1983

It wasn't until their fourth album that I developed a real affinity for The Stray Cats' funky fusion of blues, rock, and swing. Or maybe 'cuz I was on the verge of being "Sexy + 17" myself?!

FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF NIGHT by Bonnie Tyler, September 1983

Had it not been for my favorite love-triangle-heist film starring Cate, Bruce, and Billy Bob, I may not have had the courage to broadcast that Bonnie Tyler's album remains in my collection to this day. It does and BANDITS made singing your lungs out to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" cool again. (It did, right?)

ALL OVER THE PLACE by The Bangles, May 1984

Before our Mondays became wistfully manic and before we pretended to walk like Egyptians, there was "Hero Takes a Fall" and "James" from the band's debut album. All four original Bangles had the pleasure of serenading me at my first concert when I was a lowly college freshman and this beautiful collection of songs will always have a special place among my albums.

A few more visits home to New York over the years and additional purchases to my collection in South Bend would top my albums out at about 250, filling two of those ubiquitous record "crates" to capacity. (I confess that more than a few albums were purchased at the campus bookstore along with the books and supplies I was officially sanctioned to purchase with my "emergency" credit card.)

I think it was only in the spring of 1987 that I finally bought my first CDs. The multifariously massive stereo component system was conceived that spring with the irresponsible Fingerhut purchase of a rather expensive CD player (even by 1987 standards) which I connected to a receiver, equalizer, and speakers. Living in an apartment afforded me more space (and soundproofing) and my beloved boombox became relegated to the bedroom and infrequent trips to the dunes on Lake Michigan. I was still purchasing albums, but mostly the 12" singles that I featured in my FB posts this month.

A-E-I-O-U SOMETIMES Y (12" single from FEELING CAVALIER) by eBN-oZN, June 1984

Another of my musical oddities, this angsty synth pop club hit was all over the NYC radio waves during my last summer at home before starting college. I remember first hearing this on prom night in two different clubs before becoming addicted to the low-budget avant-garde video that played endlessly on MTV that summer. I can't stop hearing it in my head now even after all these years!

*** blog bonus *** 19 (12" single from PAUL HARDCASTLE) by Paul Hardcastle, May 1985

"19" was one of my earliest dives into electronica which has been a faithful companion now for decades. Skilled dubbing and sampling also lend the synth-pop mega-hit a sober tone for its anti-war message.

LET'S GO CRAZY (12" single from PURPLE RAIN) by Prince and the Revolution, July 1984

The single is not about reliving the most amazing soundtrack ever, but about the pleasures of the

B-side: the extended remix of "Erotic City" in its glorious Sheila E. laden debut.

ICE CREAM CASTLE by The Time, July 1984

Who could resist an extra serving of PURPLE RAIN with "The Bird" and some "Jungle Love" from Morris Day and his irresistible entourage?

I will never forget hearing "Erotic City" for the first time, especially where I first heard it: it may surprise you as much as it did me. Walking back to my dorm from the library one night I crossed paths with a new friend of mine from Fisher Hall. We decided to walk through The Huddle in the student center. The Huddle, in its many reincarnations has been a hub of campus student life with plenty of casual seating and a variety of quick snack and meal options, but mostly a gathering and meeting place.

I worked the wok station, pizza line, and frozen yogurt shop at The Huddle

the summer after graduation to great acclaim from fellow grad students!

The pool tables and pinball machines in the basement were always a welcome distraction (a few times one particular pool table became a diversion from statistics class, but that's another story for another confessional), but simply sitting upstairs and watching people while listening to music was a great pastime. On this particular evening after studying at the library, I assumed Joe might just want to pick up a drink or snack, so I tagged along. We walked in and he headed straight to the juke box and dropped in a coin. We sat for a couple minutes before his selection came up, then he smiled and got up and asked if I was ready to head back. "That's it?" I asked, not completely sure what had happened. I think Joe had forgotten that we had just met not long ago and I didn't know his life story, not yet anyway. We stood there for a moment, listening, while he pointed at the beautifully classic shiny jukebox by the window facing the library. It was then that I tuned out the large open room's colorfully collegiate din and first listened to the song Joe had plunked his coin down to rent for a limited time. Turns out Joe saved loose change for plunking into the very public jukebox, especially after discovering it housed the B-side to "Let's Go Crazy." He told me that the song needed to be played even if it was just to F with anyone paying attention. I'm not sure when that jukebox was ultimately replaced with something more technologically advanced, and I don't know if the powers-that-were ever realized this particular Prince B-side was part of the regularly played catalog of study-break music, but I am ever thankful to Joe from Murfreesboro for a great memory. I added the single to my record collection at the very first opportunity.

Once college graduation rolled around and my big migration south (with Mari!) became imminent, I pared down my albums with a few visits to Tracks, a local record resale shop that purchased used albums. There are a few that I still regret selling like Big Country's debut album THE CROSSING but the money was helpful at the time and I really needed to downsize.

I think I was down to just one of those ubiquitous flimsy record crates and maybe 120 records by the time I turned thirty.

I FEEL FOR YOU by Chaka Khan, October 1984

I will never forget the moment I first heard "I Feel for You" in a mall record store. I walked straight up to a very tall man at the register and asked, "Who is this?" while pointing up at the mall heavens. He smiled, "I got you" and motioned for me to follow him. Moments later I was holding this very album in the checkout line. The Prince-penned title song would be followed by "This is My Night" and "Through the Fire" straight into my heart.

1984 (FOR THE LOVE OF BIG BROTHER) by Eurythmics, November 1984

A high school senior and college freshman in the prophetically dystopian 1984, I could not escape what eventually became a favorite novel, nor could I escape the great film with its Eurythmics soundtrack. The popular "Sexcrime" (not actually featured in the film) and the equally passionate but hauntingly beautiful "Julia" are among the reasons this rarity remains in my collection after 37 years.

VISION QUEST (soundtrack), February 1985

While a cherished handful of early Madonna 12" singles remains in my collection, I chose to single out this soundtrack to her first film appearance. A forgettable film save for the two bar scenes in which the heavenly pop star in her best 80s regalia serenades me (and movie audiences) with the self-affirming "Gambler" and perfectly poignant "Crazy For You."

*** blog bonus *** MATERIAL GIRL (single from LIKE A VIRGIN) by Madonna, January 1985

I have WAY TOO MUCH to say about Madonna. It was love at first sight (and sound) my entire senior year of high school and to this day. I am ever thankful to Mari for indulging me my musical "novia" and for not minding so much that about 10% of our CD storage is devoted to every album and CD maxi-single to ever bear the musical icon's mercurially provocative image. 

There are many missing musical memories that once resided with my current collection (including Missing Persons' SPRING SESSION M), commingled by way of my favored alphabetical order, that a monthly capsule collection is barely enough to express the variety (and unity) shared by "80s music." Several 80s Diana Ross albums also were gobbled up at Tracks. You remember, the ones with the fold-out album cover displaying a center-fold style pin-up pose of the solo songbird? I admit I was "Swept Away" by Ross and other dance divas like Donna Summer and Paula Abdul. Today, I can easily call up my favorites on a compilation CD, but that's not exactly the same as a glitzy fold-out album cover.

I remember taking my beloved fold-out XANADU soundtrack album with me to see Olivia Newton-John, not knowing exactly why, but I wanted her to know (somehow) what it meant to me. Sure enough, she began her concert with the title song to one of my favorite and most-viewed movies and I sprang from my seat and ran up to the stage (as close as I could manage without getting arrested), unfolded the fold-out album and waved it over my head like an idiot at her. When I was sure I had seen a glint of a smile from her as she looked down at me, I sidled sheepishly back to my seat, assured that those decades of openly loving a much-maligned film had been worth it. Sadly, I replaced the colorful album with its CD clone during one of my previous downsizing purges. I think it was at the same time that I finally replaced the vastly aging colossus of a high-fidelity system with the diminutive all-in-one novelty from QVC.

MUSIC FROM THE EDGE OF HEAVEN would also have made my September cut had it not left my collection in favor of yet another compilation CD. That album was glued to my Service Merchandise turntable during the fall semester of 1986 as the "Hot Side" prepared me to face the day every morning while the "Cool Side" eased my way into evenings.

Thanks to my roommate, TonyVH, for putting up with the Wham! concert every morning!

WE ARE THE WORLD (12" single from WE ARE THE WORLD) by USA for Africa, March 1985

It was my first college Spring Break and my dorm-bound buddies and I were bored so we recorded (on cassette, of course) our own version of "We are the World" in celebration of Fisher Hall's 4B section. We performed it at weddings and graduation parties for years and this decades-old charity album is to blame for my nostalgia today.

THE POWER STATION 33 1/3 by The Power Station, March 1985

Even though Robert Palmer was the final piece of The Power Station puzzle, it was his easily recognizable fiery voice all over this super group's first album. More than just some of us fell in love with "Some Like it Hot" and rocked out to "Get it On."

BROTHERS IN ARMS by Dire Straits, May 1985

If you try just a little, you can still hear Sting's haunting plea, "I want my MTV" from this album's megahit "Money for Nothing." While the album was among the first ever recorded digitally, it would be another two years before I caved and ordered my first CDs from Columbia House.

*** blog bonus *** OWNER OF A LONELY HEART (12" single from 90125) by Yes, October 1983

Had September hath 31, this Yes single would have been included and nestled neatly between Bonnie Tyler and The Bangles. A favorite song for its loud, infectious dance beat (especially in its extended 12" format) and self-affirming lyrics, I've held onto the single even though THE ULTIMATE YES (2004) CDs currently reside with that collection.

My musical tastes and corresponding collections adapted from their early disco origins, then 80s synth-pop, then club/house remixes to alternative rock and finally, today, to a harmonious blend of all my past influences. I thank my students, especially in those early days in my "younger and more vulnerable" 20s who helped me appreciate AltRock (although they were too cool to call it that at the time).

Most of my music purchases in my twenties were heavily influenced by my students, especially my speech and debate students. Our rallying cry as I drove those big rental vans full of teen spirit initially came from The Black Crowes' "Hard to Handle." My students demanded I turn it up to max volume whenever we pulled up to one of the host high schools for a tournament. I also have them to thank for my first samplings of Pearl Jam and Alanis and Bush and REM and Stone Temple Pilots and Counting Crows and Hole and The Cranberries and Garbage

(that's Shirley Manson NOT Marilyn Manson)

and Red Hot Chili Peppers and No Doubt and Jane's Addiction and Beck and Green Day and Soundgarden and Beastie Boys and Björk and Smashing Pumpkins and Tori Amos and Radiohead and what-was-the-name-of-that-one-grunge-band-from-Seattle?

I can never hear "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or "Come as You Are" without thinking of my early 90s debaters. You know who you are and I love you all still.

LISA LISA & CULT JAM WITH FULL FORCE by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, August 1985

To answer Lisa (that's Lisa Lisa to you) Velez's hit question, yes, I can feel the beat, even after all these years! This debut dance R&B album saw a lot of play on my college turntable years before SPANISH FLY's "Head to Toe" hit number one.

*** blog bonus *** I LIKE YOU (12" single from I LIKE YOU) by Phyllis Nelson, January 1985

Another well-loved dance remix, not for the underwhelmingly simple lyrics, but for the overwhelmingly luscious rhythm of Phyllis Nelson's bluesy insistence that she liked me, she really liked me!

AND SHE WAS (12" single from LITTLE CREATURES) by Talking Heads, December 1985

I am "singling" out two favorites from two favorite record albums.

BIG TIME (12" single from SO) by Peter Gabriel, February 1987

While both full records are in my CD collection, the singles remain because of their funky rock dance remixes and colorful artwork.

C'MON AND GET MY LOVE (12" single from A LITTLE BIT OF THIS, A LITTLE BIT OF THAT)

by D Mob featuring Cathy Dennis, October 1989

It was her hit collaboration with D Mob that introduced me to a favorite chanteuse, Cathy Dennis. This single was followed by her own glorious dance hits "Just Another Dream" and "Touch Me."

GET UP! (12" single from PUMP UP THE JAM) by Technotronic, January 1990

Technotronic still gets me moving and after their Jam was sufficiently pumped up came this second hit single, my final new record purchase ever.

I still remember my last store visit to purchase a new record. The record store is no longer there, but La Plaza Mall is still going big and strong (and renovated beyond recognition) in McAllen, Texas. Mari and I would occasionally indulge our precious free time with a mall visit during our first year teaching and the mall housed a movie theater at the time, too. We were both in love with Technotronic and I was still a fan of securing 12" singles with their masterful remixes for our leisurely down-time away from students. I must confess that many a paper was graded while listening to funky beats over the decades that followed. Mari had stopped buying music cassettes, the CD collection was growing, but these final two vinyl purchases would still color our world.

While I adapted with the musical times and my means of collecting music adapted with changing technology, I have never ceased to be influenced by the musical memories of my past and the influence of those around me. Every album (or CD or iTunes download) has a story to tell and I think I am at the point where I will no longer be downsizing my albums. I was able to cram a few extra memories into the thirty days of this September with multiple two-for postings, but I reserve the right to revisit the remaining 50 or so albums that went un-storied. Maybe next September? 

Just wake me up when September ends.

The Collections, episode 3. In which I spill the tea.

I was about to begin my sophomore year in college when I made my last family visit to Portugal with my parents. It is honestly hard to believe that was July 1985, more than 35 years ago. Despite our European travels over the past decade, I have yet to take Mari to see my parents' homeland. I was just beginning to plan an Iberian adventure for our 20th anniversary in the summer of 2010 when my pai unexpectedly passed away in August of 2009 at the age of 72. I just didn't have the taste for a trip any longer, so those plans and travel lists went into a folder and I haven't looked at it since.

Starting this blog in 2015 was a means for me to sift through photos and collectibles gathered from travels with my wife as well as a way to exercise my writing skills (I'm big on exercising those muscles). While sorting through re-collected stuff these years I have invariably found that (to paraphrase young Prince Hamlet) the memory's the thing. Each of my posted photos and captured collectibles carries with it a cherished memory. Now, I realize I may not need to have 30 teacups or paperweights or typewriter ribbon tins (we'll get to those another 30-day month, I promise) to have a cherished memory, but as you fellow collectors know, sometimes collections run away with themselves. So is the case with this month's bone china remembrances.

Thank you to FaceBook friends for following last month's Teacups of April posts! As was true of my paperweights and shoes, I needn't have worried about fulfilling my contract with you. There were indeed more than a few teacup and saucer sets undocumented as well as teapots, creamers, sugar bowls and other tea accoutrements. So much so that methinks I must spill the tea again in the future. For now, let me begin at the beginning with the first item in my teacup collection which was also the last item presented in my posts.

Buquê de primavera, Vista Alegre, Ílhavo, Portugal

In July of 1985, at my mother's urging, I plunked down 1,000 pre-euro escudos at an outdoor fleamarket in Ílhavo, a few miles from my parents' childhood hometown. About to begin my sophomore year in college, I had no business owning such a beautiful non-utilitarian collection of fragile future heirlooms especially when I knew there were but a meagre 84 square feet awaiting me (and all my stuff) in my fourth-floor single room in Fisher Hall on the Notre Dame campus. Something about the tea set spoke to me in a voice louder than my mae's declaration of how much she liked it and soon it was carefully wrapped and riding astride summer reads in my navy Jansport backpack on the TAP flight back to JFK. If you're wondering where my sensible pai was in all of this, he was helping me negotiate the price down to the easily plunkable six dollars. My father was all about the negotiation when it came to fleamarkets.

The complete set today is pictured above at the top of this post.

I used it once in college a few years after purchase when I was living in my own apartment, but it has mostly sat, very much appreciated until this recent photo shoot. I blame the entire teatime (obsession) collection, if blame must be assigned, on this beautiful and petite assemblage, on my mother's good taste, and on my infatuation with Princess Diana and all things British (including tea).

As all of you know, I love exploring fleamarkets in all their many forms with my wife, Mari, who introduced me to the pleasures of both scouring and hosting garage sales. My collection has been hunted and gathered and re-collected from fleamarket travels in the US and Europe since that first capture in 1985. Without the ability to travel for the past year, I had to go viral to answer the collector's call.

These two green-hued beauties are recent online (Covid quarantine) purchases. While I much prefer discovering and unearthing these resplendent relics in person, I was thrilled to find an impeccable and professional online site with equally professional and impeccable packaging (and free shipping).

theteacupattic.com

Green Pansy, Taylor & Kent, Longton, England

Peony, Victoria C&E, England

The Wedgwood Paeonia Blush below was one of the few items in my collection purchased new. The pattern was featured on a recent cover of TeaTime and I left the magazine lying around the house long enough that Mari got the hint for my birthday in 2019.

Okay, two more new items. Also quarantine purchases. Blue was my treat while pink was Mari’s half of a new duo for this year’s Valentine’s tea. Royal Albert calls both patterns Vintage Mix because the pink teacup was packaged with my blue saucer and the blue with Mari's pink.

As a delicately balanced vintage mix ourselves, we figured they belonged together, too. They also each came packaged with a colorfully mismatched dessert plate which we put to good use as you can see below. One of the dessert plates matched the Rose Confetti teapot already living among our collections.

You may have noticed throughout the month quite a few hues of blue, just as there were among my many shoes.

Blue Forget-me-not, Crown Staffordshire, England

Memory Lane, Royal Albert, England

Fleamarkets near and far have supported my fix for blue over these many years. 

Dainty Blue, Royal Albert, England

Snow White, James Chatelaine China, Bavaria, Germany

Dainty Blue was one of three additions to my collection during a summer trip to Maine in 2018 while Snow White was a lucky find at the Saturday morning Flohmarkt during a Christmas market visit to Vienna in 2014.

Here I am on that drizzly Viennese November morning.

I don't remember if this was before or after my encounter with Snow White, but this is the kind of booth I love to discover and explore.

Spring Bouquet, Edelstein, Bavaria, Germany

Cabbage Rose, Weimar, Germany

Both German dessert sets above were fleamarketed across the miles and across the years. Spring Bouquet was a special find from an antique shop in Warnemünde, Germany and (a little closer to home) Cabbage Rose was found at Picker's Paradise antique mall in Niles, Michigan.

Yellow Roses, Paragon China, Longton, England

Pattern 8541, Queen Anne, Ridgway Potteries, England

Back in Texas where they belong, Yellow Roses were picked at a garage sale just a few miles outside the Rose Bowl flea back in 2017 while we were celebrating Mari's 50th birthday. As if we hadn't had enough of a fleamarketing adventure already on that beautiful Saturday morning, homemade garage sale and estate sale signs called to us as we left the stadium, if you recall. Three thousand miles away, the red and pink roses of Pattern 8541 announced themselves rather boldly from beneath dusty years of neglect in a box of household treasures at the Hell's Kitchen Flea in New York City. Each bone china set was rescued for all of five dollars.

Floral Vines, Limoges, France

Spring Vines, Charles Haviland, Limoges, France

If it's Sunday and we are in New York City, Mari and I will be at the Upper West Side fleamarket now known as Grand Bazaar NYC (formerly The Green Flea).

https://grandbazaarnyc.org

These two previously blogged purchases were acquired from the same vendor inside the Manhattan school cafeteria years apart.

The only official "antiques" in my collection, these two French siblings are kept in a special location among my books behind glass doors with a few other collectibles.

Here is a quick peek inside a section of my home library slash collectibles stash.

As you can see, les deux compatriotes are back to bolstering Tolkien and Updike novels after their April photoshoots.

Now for more fabulously festive five-dollar fleamarketed finds! 

Golden Chrysanthemum, Royal Minster, England

Royal Rose, Roslyn China, England

This time, we are at Hobby Horse Antiques Marketplace in Searsport, Maine. About halfway between Portland and Bar Harbor, the indoor/outdoor fleamarketplace (I'm coining it, so get used to it) yielded quite a few wicked good finds during our July 2018 Maine adventures.

Mayfair Brown (H4905), Royal Doulton, England

Some of you may remember this unexpected stop-the-presses treasure as part of a heavily discounted discovery of dishes at The Green Door Thrift Shop in San Antonio in 2018.

Blossom Time, Royal Albert, England

Another San Antonio find, this one long ago at a Goodwill far far away.

Actually, San Antonio is not that far for us and the Goodwill (and boutique) near North Star Mall (and The Container Store!) is permanently etched on our travel list when we are in San Antonio.

It was at least ten years ago when I spotted two fairly complete place settings of this bright and bold springtime pattern in the boutique section of the flagship Goodwill store. There were even rimmed soup bowls which excited me to no end, but no teacups. Nary a solitary teacup-less saucer in sight.

Mari and I had enjoyed this vivid but lamentably incomplete set for at least a decade when I came across two perfectly pristine teacups and saucers (conveniently just before Christmas 2020) on The Teacup Attic website.

So, to make a long story even better, here they all are!

We set our Easter table in the kitchen this year with the now full set.

Flowering Vine, Haviland & Co., Limoges, France

Mint Spring Bouquet, Foley, England

As I was organizing photo shoots for my April collection, I realized that so many of the teacups featured a surprise inside like these two green-hued treasures. At top is a most delicate and treasured favorite, picked from Les Puces de Saint Ouen near Paris. It had been Mari's dream to return to Paris for the weekend fleamarket and who am I not to answer that call with a surprise trip for Valentine's Day in 2014 (if you recall, it was the 25th anniversary of my proposal so it wasn't just any old Valentine's Day). Discovered much closer to home (only a few miles away at a local antiques shop) the Foley teacup features an unusual surprise in addition to the usual. I love that a tincture of pale minty green accompanies the floral bouquet inside the teacup.

Without (too much) further fanfare, let me present the remaining items photographed for my April posts.

Wild Roses saucer with Orchid teacup, Regency Bone China, Staffordshire, England

Dainty Pink, Shelley, England

the mysterious "Pattern 6072" and the more obvious Victorian Violets

both Hammersley & Co, England

Pansies, Periwinkles, Poinsettia, Old Country Roses

Royal Albert, England

I noticed a lot of Royal Albert in my collection, including these final four featured keepsakes, and that is probably because its parent company of Royal Doulton is one of the oldest and most popular manufacturers of bone china in the world. The Old Country Roses pattern was created nearly sixty years ago and Royal Doulton declares it to be the world's best-selling china pattern. All I know is that Mari and I fell in love with it (after falling for each other) over thirty years ago and we splurged during our first married Christmas to buy two place settings. Over the years, two more settings and a small tea service have joined the party, but those first two will always have a special place in our history and in our hearts.

As the teacup collection has grown over the years, it has been gathered and recollected in different locations throughout our home. As you just saw, there are some special teacups among my books. There are a "few" others stored away with their matching sets of dishes (no need to bring those up in case Mari is reading), and, of course, still others that are put to regular use and stored conveniently at hand in the kitchen.

I leave you, dear reader, with a casual glimpse of the otherwise "complete" collection above, along with a few other tea accoutrements (love when I can justly use that luxurious morsel of language and get away with it) which may make a "Thirty Day" appearance of their own some day.

Thank you all ever so much for joining me in my fun fleamarket adventures!

The Collections, episode 2. In which the fermacarte come out to play, or "Millefiori di ottobre."

Another month in quarantine, another collection. With the shoes put to rest (only one pair of sandals found themselves in a KonMari donation pile) last month, I turned my attention to a favorite collection that I see daily, but often take for granted. The paperweights are out and about in our home, but I don't often take the time to admire them so they were a perfect candidate for my "millefiori di ottobre" FaceBook posts this October.

I didn't start out with the intention of collecting paperweights, certainly not 33 of them in the past 32 years, but there they all are. I shared 31 of them with you individually this past October during my daily FaceBook posts and I'd like to present them all to you now as Mari and I see them every day.

This is the overhead view, through the glass top of the coffee table
(which is very awkward to remove, especially just for a photo shoot, so on it stayed).

I honestly don't remember where they all lived before Mari and I found "the perfect coffee table" for our living room about 15 years ago, but they were not clustered together in any one place. One of the more exciting things about collecting (anything) is finding items in a variety of different locations (even different states, countries, and continents) and bringing them all together or "recollecting" them as I have been fond of saying in this here blog. While several of these paperweights were purchased at the same location (the Michiana Antique Mall and the West Palm Beach Antiques Festival at the South Florida Fairgrounds come to mind), even those were purchased from different vendors and booths and often years apart.

This is the view from the couch.
I like to think of them all snuggly cozy, each speaking their truest bold and bright selves.

Most of my paperweights have found me during travels when Mari and I regularly visit fleamarkets, antique malls, and garage sales. As you know by now, many of our travels are influenced by the location and timing of these events. 

I didn't realize until I started arranging photos on my computer for the FaceBook
posts that these two looked nearly identical, despite the one on the right being
nearly twice the diameter of Lefty, so Righty is making his public debut today!

More blue.  As you know from my shoe (and sock) collection, blue is a favorite hue.

Fallo blu!  (Go blue!)

Aside from my obvious fascination with blue, Righty includes an example of a portrait cane.
I have never come across a human portrait or silhouette, but the shamrock is a beloved symbol.
Fallo irlandese!  (Go Irish!)

It was fun to discover these two patriotic tributes among my collection.

Aside from all the multi-colored millefiori fermacarte I have collected over the past
three (plus) decades, sometimes the modest varietals can be simply spectacular.

I have to take a moment here to apologize to Italians (and Italian-Americans) everywhere for my attempts at providing language instruction during the past month. Humble and instructional my attempts were, however, and I personally delighted in sharing a bit of fermacarte and millefiori history in my daily factoids. I would like to recommend the following resources upon which I relied for much of my historical information.

All about Paperweights (Paperweight Press, 1992) by Lawrence H. Selman

Paperweights of the World (Schiffer Publishing, 2007) by Monika Flemming & Peter Pommerencke

World Paperweights: Millefiori & Lampwork (Schiffer Publishing, 2001) by Robert G. Hall

Lefty is one of my oldest paperweights. To be honest, I really could not recall the first.
Call it age or (hoarding) just having too many collections in the house.

As you know, when I am on the hunt for collectibles, there is never any one item I seek.
Sometimes it is the size, color, or arrangement of colors that catches my collector's eye.

I was immediately dazzled by the bright hues of Righty, so different from the green-imbued Lefty.
As much as I love symmetry, too, I was overwhelmed by the resplendent randomness.

Both of these weigh in at 1.75 inches in diameter, but are so very different!

Lefty is the first micro millefiori paperweight I discovered in my collecting.
I was delighted, but not surprised, to learn that he was made in Murano.
The seemingly "Starry Night" inspired fermacarte on the right is a recent addition.

While Mari and I made it as far as Venice back in the summer of 2013, we did not have the opportunity to visit the glassworks on Murano. Finding the micro millefiori (above left) with its Murano stamp was a most special treat, just a few thousand miles closer to home.

As you know from traveling with me second hand as I look for secondhand collectibles to bubblewrap for their journey to their new home, I necessarily look for small-scale items that are easily packable (and oh so bubble-wrapable) and paperweights have long fit that bill as they are easy to fit in the hollow of a shoe or tucked safely between other suitcased necessities. That is why so many of my collections are made up of so many small-scale items (cuff links, typewriter ribbon tins, pens, owls, teacups, cameras, snuff bottles, you-get-the-idea). I hope to share more of those maxi mini collections with you some day soon, but for now we'll return to the fermacarte who came out to play today.

Similarly hued, these are both on the mini side at 1.6875 (Lefty) and 1.75 (Righty) inches in diameter.
Purchased thousands of miles and decades apart, they now live together in perfect harmony.

One of the most recent alongside one of the oldest in my collezione.
Lefty was discovered during our recent yet-to-be-blogged Maine
adventures and was the subject of my first ottobre FaceBook posts.

I compared Lefty to a snowflake despite his hefty 3.5 inch diameter. So very delicato!
Righty is making his debut today and has tales to tell. He was recovered from one of the many stops we made at the World's Longest Yard Sale in Tennessee and Kentucky back in 2008, my first blog series.

Not all millefiori or paperweights are multi-colored or multi-caned, some are large and delicate, others small and robust, no two alike. That is one of their best qualities and what makes them so fun to collect. When I discovered Righty (above) during our 2008 summer fleamarketing travel adventure, he was unlike any paperweight in my collection, but sitting there atop a precariously poised card table on a Kentucky family's driveway for all of one dollar, he spoke to me and I heeded the call of a kindred soul who yearned to explore the open road. Among his multi-colored, multi-caned, and seemingly more cosmopolitan brethren he now resides.

This unusual cuideam pàipear hails from Crief, Scotland and was made by Perthshire Paperweights.
My only flat-top (slightly concave) was found far from his Scottish ancestral home at a Manhattan flea.

Not quite like the others, but also living in harmony today as you can see at top.
Lefty is a mystery to me in his flirtatiously murky fluidity. I found the colors deliriously soothing.

As mentioned in one of my final posts, the paperweight on the right, above, was a special gift to myself. On September 25, 1989, Mari and I received our first professional paychecks as high school teachers. We treated ourselves to a visit to Corpus Christi's annual Bayfest, a combination music and cultural festival with a variety of activities and events celebrating the end of summer and beginning of fall. Along with the beautiful beach front, Mari and I were drawn especially to the antiques and craft festival at the convention center, naturally. The 3.25 inch diameter paperweight (among the largest of my collezione) was purchased new from the artisan, one of the only times I have had the opportunity to meet the individual who crafted one of my favorite collectibles. It is elegantly aqueous and mesmerizes as much as it gently envelopes every color of the spectrum.

This was an anniversary gift from Mari back in the late 1990s.
She was thinking of me on our special day while thousands of miles away at her June AP reading.
(You aren't seeing double, I just didn't want it to be lonely in case it was giving us the evil eye.)

I presented this true fermacarte millefiori last because it is a special souvenir.
It proudly and literally represents the history of Italian millefiori.

High on my souvenir search list during our trip to Italy in 2013 was a millefiori paperweight from the home of millefiori paperweights. It didn't take long for this unique piece to find me on our first full day in Venice. Along with several thousand other out-of-towners, Mari and I strolled the shops in St. Mark's Square, enjoying the creamiest and dreamiest hazelnut gelato. The basilica bells were tolling, birds (and tourists) were everywhere, and, of course, the souvenir shops beckoned. Mari and I restrained as best we could because three weeks of punctiliously budgeted travels (and luggage space) awaited. It was as we rounded the last corner in the Square that my collector's gaze narrowed its focus and I drew breath for the first time.

Sorry, the melodramatic flows easily when I'm in reverie mode.

Seriously, seeing an entire shop full of millefiori beauties on display must have set my bald spot aglow so that radar could detect me from space.

If you recall, dear reader, the same feeling erupted when I discovered
this Limoges M&M sorter at the Paris flea back in Paris, episode 9.

Technically, my Venetian souvenir is not a millefiori paperweight, but a collection of carefully crafted canes yet to be enveloped by molten glass. I had never seen such a thing and was thrilled to make room for this very minuscolo memento (2.25 inches diameter but only 0.875 inches tall). My deconstructed paperweight now sits within reach and easy sight by my desktop computer. Owing to his vertical challenges, my piccolo italiano doesn't play well with the others and their pinguid personalities.

As you can see in this final view, the collection has room to grow. They will soon be packed away for a seasonal slumber, however, as some beloved Christmas collections come out of hibernation for their own days in the South Texas sun (sorry, that's a lot of glare on the table top). Thanks to all of you who tuned in today and who took the time to comment on FaceBook. It was divertente to share such a beloved collection with you this ottobre!