The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On

Have you ever wondered how this now so famous slogan came to be all over the place? It is a rather romantic story!

Enjoy!

Happy Friday, everyone!








Photograph by V.Zlotkowski

Hudson supermarket

There is a supermarket in Hudson, NY, the sort I would not mind buying the daily needed things...Well, alright, it's not your average market for milk, butter and bread.
There are other yummy things, such as vintage pieces, furniture, old, really old and modern.
I love to browse there, finding so many things I would carry home or to share with you!
I love glass, and the way light plays with it, so here are some adorable pieces:

Beautiful blue & green vessels.

Light streams through a slotted shelf,

Creating a shadow play

Hard to ignore!

Walpole School of Art sign

Numbers

And classic china!

And then I found a small diary, written in 1903 by a Milo Nellis, a tiny, tidily written account of sums paid and received! But so old and neat!

He might have been a farmer and he pays a certain Leila $3.55, this entry repeats every week. Maybe the girl to keep his home? Who was he?
He has had a wagon wheel repaired for $2.50...
There are entries on payments to different people, contacts to seed companies and dealers.
It says on the front page:


 Milo Nellis
 Railway postal blank (?)
 St.Johnsville, NY

And a small cut-out image of a Ginseng plant is glued to the page! Who would take the effort to do this, but a farmer? Or perhaps a plant lover? Exotic ginseng?
Or was he at the railway? Would be interesting to know!

Another link to the past! Now the small booklet sits on my desk, not too far from where it originally came from!
Reminding me how 'things' survive us! A memento mori of sorts!












All images byV.Zlotkowski

Then and now

I saw a photography by Helen Lukens Gaut at this site, and of course it provoked an immediate comparison to our own recently taken road trip, about 100 years later.

Helen Lukens Gaut, California coast ca. 1911

The road seemed a little narrower then, but the immense nature and  beauty of the Central California coastline have stayed the same.
  

 Not the exact spot, but...  the California coast 2011

It is wonderful to know, that there is such steadiness in nature and that there were people before me fascinated with this beautiful part of the land. Such loveliness. 


Helen Lukens Gaut (1872-1955) was born in Illinois, she moved with her parents to Pasadena when she was eight years old. Her father, Theodore Parker Lukens, a friend of John Muir, became known as the "Father of Forestry". He served twice as mayor of Pasadena in 1890  and 1894.

Helen Lukens Gaut ca. 1900

She married, had two children and later divorced. She remarried in 1905 and with her second husband James H. Gaut discovered California per automobile and taught herself photography. Her talent eventually led her to becoming a rather well-known  photojournalist. She rarely published after 1922 and turned her interests towards her love of music and song writing, in which she as well excelled.


It fascinates me, to discover a woman from so long ago I had not known at all. To find her not so far removed in interests and lifestyle and now to re-tell a sliver of her life...
These are magical moments of connection.

Image via site and my own.

Connected

I have a longing interest for all things past. History, ranging from literature to art and architecture, from
grand homes to cottages, from antiques and vintage items to private treasures. The list is endless.

I am drawn to old china, transfer ware, blue and white Meissen or Delft, old silver, cutlery, dishes, old photographs and letters, books of course and many pieces, which do not always fit easy description.
Just look at the beautiful clock my husband brought back many years ago from Amsterdam. Somebody made it it, had it sold to a Dutch family, it was sitting on a mantle, chiming their times high above the canals....and finally it found its way to America! A small house in New York.
Although unknown to me, I think of all of them.

All these things hold beauty and collective memories. When I gaze at an old picture I am moved towards these times, try to imagine the lives and circumstances. It fills me with compassion and melancholy of sorts.
I love the stories I hear. I feel like a collector of worlds. Its looking into mirrors.

When I touch the handle of the wonderful silver coated coffee pot, I bought on eBay a few months ago, I think not only of the friendly woman who sold it and turned out to be of German decent and her mother, whom the pot belong to, but also the times it has been used. It is an elegant piece, used perhaps at weddings or birthday parties?

Now it sits heavy and pretty on my window ledge and gets used again at parties and just recently was a centerpiece at my birthday.
If these pieces only could talk...

I particularly love old silver. The knowledge of how many hands have held on to the knives and forks, the circumstances under they were acquired, the places they have been...
I bought vintage silver from Connecticut and the Midwest, china from Florida and photographs and letters from Brooklyn. 

I have old roll clothes, used for pressing bedding and tablecloths from Germany and France, wooden candle holders from Belgium and vintage chandeliers found on City Island in the Bronx, NY.

And the books....well, this is another story!

There are also new things from our times, well made and precious to me. They also will be things of the past one day. I am keenly aware of this. 
For that reason I try to look for lasting things, well made furniture, fewer but better.
I am less interested to collect as much as possible anymore. Though I used to...
Now I look for the quality and our needs. What sense does it make to have a cupboard filled with china I never use?
I am a collector of things, but I have learned to be selective.

I am also a caretaker, a keeper of things close to me and I will pass them on. There will be again some one to take them from me, when I am gone and just my touch and memory will remain. There will be a story added. This connects me and I love the thought of being a part of the long chain of time.







All pictures by V.Zlotkowski

Savannah

On Chatham Square

I fell in love with the city the first time I wandered the squares and tree lined streets a few years back. On our way to Florida it had been on our must-see list. At that time we only had two nights and the children were much younger. There was just time for a trolley tour and a few short walks among the small park like squares in the historic downtown.

We had to part reluctantly.
Life did not bring us here again until now and my first impressions from so many years ago have not changed.
Spending the summer in South Carolina, only 20 miles outside  Savannah has given me finally a chance to come to the city more often, walking the streets again and discover more then the paths laid out for tourists.

Savannah has the beauty of a Southern Belle of a certain age, sitting pretty, cocktail in hand...
Self assured and confident, not afraid of the wrinkles which have appeared and full of confidence and youthful energy. There is such poise and grace to everything there is around Savannah.

The  local pride in preservation is something I notice this time much more then at my first visit. Even the smallest alley is well kept and without being overly groomed glows gently in the heat of an afternoon or the sparkle of an early evening.

The influence of the SCAD, Savannah's foremost art and design institution has made it's mark and I have heard more then a few times about their positive impact on the city's need for maintaining and restoring historically important structures. Walking the small streets I have come to see that the school owns quite a large amount of properties around town and it's industriousness can be felt literally around every corner.

Walking with my daughter along Bull Street

There are shops operated by the Savannah College of Art and Design, short SCAD,  selling great student design from artwork to well designed cloths, jewelry and pottery and surely the sales of not only Savannah related items must give the city much needed finical support. There is also a online shop here!
It still feels as if everybody knows each other and the fruitful exchange among the city's inhabitants and their mutual love for "their" town is visible.

More then one time have I wished now to be a part of it. There is a friendliness radiating and for many reasons I feel right at home here. The climate is wonderful and the heat is bearable. The old fashioned ways of Savannah suit me well.

The food reminds me of back home, although it might seem strange to think that my mother's home cooking back in Dresden, Germany could have anything to do with Savannah! But apart from the Southern influences and the more spicier versions of everything I eat it's the hearty and earthy feel of the food which reminds me. Skillets with fried meats, bacon and potatoes, grits and sausages, cool refreshing beer or coffee and cakes.

Then of course there is the seafood, the shrimps and gumbos, different from what I know but it agrees with me perfectly.
The only thing I would perhaps avoid is the deep fried everything one can find here.
The deserts are to die for. Key lime pie, all kinds of French pastries, chocolate tarts and most delicious coffees. And the ripe peaches, apricots, plumes...
I am afraid living here I would hopelessly dive into the rich local fair!

People love their gardens, the smallest spaces between houses are carefully planted and decorated. There are entire outdoor rooms, complete with chandeliers and sofas, water fountains fill the air with the refreshing sounds of splashing water and birds can be heard singing. Sitting under the tall trees laden with Spanish moss I also can hear the crickets and cicadas. Their sound is so soothing and seems to keep the time in Savannah!

More then once now I have found empty places here calling my name and maybe one day my husband and I will be be back for longer...

For the first time after leaving Germany I have found a place where I feel instantly and utterly comfortable. It is also maybe the first time that I feel that not having roots reaching deep anywhere in the world anymore has benefits too. I can freely choose to put them in wherever I feel the most suited. What a difference between the suburban wealthy, homogeneous and sometimes emotionally depleted neighborhood where I live now and a place like Savannah!

I know, I am not being fair right now, but I am in love, what can I do?

Cultured and artistic, Savannah has pulled me close and I am holding on to the embrace.








All pictures by V.Zlotkowski