Which Comes First-Chicken or Egg?

    In this case, the EGG. Victorian hand blown opaque milk glass Easter eggs. Back at the turn of the century these eggs were useful-(Victorian multi- tasking).After Easter when these eggs would have been given as a present, you could put one in a holey sock and the darling needed to repair the hole was much easier. Also if your hens were in a snit and not laying,one could put these eggs under the hen then she would produce. That is the smaller sized ones!These days,I am not much into darning socks,also have no chickens , so I just like collecting these eggs.

One of my favorite things, a French wire egg holder.

Some eggs have blown raised design like the horse shoe on the  egg above. These were blown into a mold and are not as common as the plain eggs.

     The custom of offering Easter eggs has been around for many years. Although there were some earlier societies that gave eggs as gifts at Easter time, the practice was started in 18th century Europe. By the end of the 19th century, a variety of artificial eggs was being made. In Germany,paper mache and card board eggs with hand painted designs were the rage.  Here in America the first known artificial Easter egg was the hand blown milk glass egg. It soon became a cottage industry. The men would blow the eggs using a hot furnace and a rod.Some where blown into a mold while others were blown free hand.  The ladies would hand paint and decorate them. They used water based paint and usually this media has not stood up well to the times and many examples are  missing much of the paint. This is usually because people tend to wash them and rub hard, when a soft dry cloth would usually do the trick The missing paint never bothered me, just added to their charm.

The small horse she design on the center egg is also raised .

I love them when they are all in a pile like this.

This is the pontil, where the egg was cut from the glass rod after  being blown.

    Nothing could be more an Easter Tradition than an egg.The Egyptians,Persians and Hindus all believed that the world began with an enormous egg, this the egg was a symbol of new life, has been around for eons. Edward 1 spent 18 pence to have eggs gold leafed and colored for easter gifts. The first mention of Easter eggs in a book was written over 500 years ago. North Africa tribes had a custom of coloring eggs much earlier than that.

This was a very good artist that painted these two birds.

   Easter eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime.The egg is a pagan symbol of the rebirth of the Earth in celebration of spring and was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ.The first dyed eggs were red to represent the blood of Christ, shed on the cross. The hard shell of the egg symbolized the sealed tomb of Christ. The cracking of which symbolized the resurrection from the dead. Legend is that Mary brought  cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus and the eggs in her basket miraculously turned red when she saw that Christ had risen. Another legend is that Mary went to the emperor of Rome and greeted him with,"Christ is Risen", where upon he pointed to an egg on the table and stated,"Christ has no more risen than that egg is red", after making this statement, it is said that the egg turned blood red.

Don't you just love this sweet chicken?

Sometime in the very large eggs life some one added a decal.

   The egg has long been a symbol of,"fertility" and the,"begining".17th and 18th centuries saw the manufacturing of eggs to give to children to celebrate Easter. The Victorian Glass egg was one of many forms produces in those years.
  The Victorian glass eggs were made by hand and sold in General store, larger department store, traveling salesmen  wagons and from mail order catalogs. The good thing about them was that they would last for ever, had to only buy them once and would become a tradition where they were used every year. They were usually stored in the china cabinet along with the other family treasures. I started collecting these eggs many years ago for my country kitchen. I would  get a bunch, sell them off and usually end up starting all over again. I don't know why I sell anything, as I usually can't stand it and just end up buying more. You do not see these eggs all the time, but somehow they seem to come out of the woodwork around Easter. I looked on Ebay yesterday and there was a long list of them. They range in price from a few dollars to almost 100 dollars. Some of the paint and decorations are in better condition than the others. I have a standing rule that I will not pay more than $20.00 for one. I buy them when I see them all year long. They are usually at a better price when it is not Easter time. I keep mine in an old copper boiler on the floor in the kitchen. When I give tours they always catch peoples eyes and attention. Usually they come out and adorn my Easter table. I am having my family this year so will have to go all out, look for that post next week.

   I hope you all enjoy my Victorian Glass eggs as much as I do. I hope you all have a wonderful,safe and glorious Easter. Please come by any time for a tour. I will leave the lights on and Sissy Dog will meet you with a jump and a kiss.

The one with the baby chick coming out  was made in various sizes. Again blown into a two part mold.

OPEN HOUSE at MY OLD HISTORIC HOUSE

My Dear Friend and Neighbor,Stacy, Sissy's Mom, Stacy found Sissy in the street and took her in and gave her to me. 

  Sunday April 17,2011, I hosted an open house at, My Old Historic House, to promote and introduce the Victorian Homes Magazine article that is coming out soon. . It is not on newsstands yet, but since I was featured, I got the magazines early. I was very fortunate that our two local papers,The Louisiana Press Journal and The Peoples Tribune,both gave me some great free coverage. I sent out a few announcements and listed it on face book several times. It was a very beautiful day. Cool in the morning, but when I opened up at 2:00 it was a nice sun shining 69-70 degree. I had the screen porch open and people really enjoyed that. People came from far away and old friends topped the list. People I had worked for in the past, customers from my shop in St.Louis and one of my favorite bloggers,Ms. Pat from Back Porch Musings. As usual, I had very few from my home town,one dear friend and neighbor,Stacy, closed her shop and made time to come by and get a copy of the book and that meant the world to me. Ms. Stacy was the person who found Ms. Sissy Dog and gave her to me. So she is a very special person in our lives.THANKS STACY.
    I would say that there was way over one hundred people. Every one had fun and enjoyed the cookies and punch. Another dear friend entertained us for awhile with selections on the  my piano, some which were period Civil War Tunes and my favorite was "Dixie". I was proud of," My Old Historic House", and proud that so many people took the time to come by and get a copy of the magazine and give me a nice pat on the back.

I worked for this beautiful lady for 25 or so years as a floral designer, we have remained friends every since then.

Sissy thanks she's a cat, Up on the table, to greet Mary.

    I just wanted to share with all of you that have become my friends via my Blog. I know you are far away and could not come by so this will have to be the next best things. I so enjoy doing my blog about,"My Old Historic House", and I love getting your comments. They are the high light of the Blog experience. Thanks for coming into my life and thanks for stopping by.

On the right is My Niece Linda , always there for me.

The beautiful and sweet lady in the back is my   Sister.
She made all the curtains and things for, My Old Historic House.

Wanda and Wanda, good friends and good customers.

My pretty food buffet.

My friend DiAnne gave me the beautiful Lilacs.

    Come by any time for a tour. I will leave the lights on and Sissy Dog will meet you with a jump and a kiss. Don't forget to go out and get a copy of the magazine. Victorian Homes- May/June issue. Love and Dog Kisses, Richard and Sissy Dog.

This was in our local paper, The Louisiana Press Journal.

This was in out County paper, The Peoples Tribune.

PARLOR DOMES a Different Kind of Flower Arranging.

  If you had a fine home during the high Victorian Era,(1860-1880), you most likely had a Parlor Dome, at least one, in your Parlor. Sometimes they were in pairs and would adorn the fireplace mantle, others would reside on the, center of the room table. Sizes and shapes varied from big to small,shot to tall and oval or round. Glass parlor domes were kinda a Victorian oddity,housing almost anything you could imagine. The domes made for the formal parlors were more or less full of flowers. Flowers made from paper, wax,silk,shells and real flowers dried. The art of artificial flower making was at it's height  around 1860. Classes  at ladies finishing school were offered. Kits were available to be order  through the mail. Parlor Domes were not all home made, as a lot of department and jewelery   stores offered them for sale, right  off there show room floors. Large cities also had fine flower shops were a lady could purchase one for her home. This art form probably started in Europe,England or France, I am sure, as most home fashion trends of that  day did. The empty  glass domes could be purchases as well for those who liked to do it yourself. The domes always had a wood base and most of the time it was painted a shiny black. Little bun feet held it off the table. A braid or cord was put around the base of the glass dome to protect it. A grove was cut into the wood base for the glass dome to rest in.The glass is always very thin.All theses are hints in telling if a dome is old or not.

   The flowers under the domes were of several forms. Often silk flowers that hat makers used, were the subject. Ladies hats and dresses were often decorated with these flowers. They could be ordered from a mail order catalog and most came from France. Some large cities like New York had department store that would have these flowers in stock.  Hand made flowers from crepe paper were another favorite. Patterns were again available by mail. Kits were also sold. Some of these paper flowers were also dipped into hot wax after they were formed. Some people also dipped real cut flowers from there garden in wax. This was a very tricky process as the hot wax would often harm the flower. One trick that was used, was to let the real flower dry first, hand paint them and then dip it in wax. The wax flowers are very delicate  and tend to break apart after say, 100 years or so.

A French Wire Basket  dipped in wax forms the base for this arrangement.

See all the broken pieces in here. I hardly ever take these domes off to clean,just too hard on the insides.

    Many forms of vases and baskets were used to hold the flowers under the domes. The favorite of most was a Vieux Paris,(Old Paris), flare vase. These were sold again by mail order,floral shops,or department stores. Holes were drilled in the bottom so they could be attached to the wood base. Plaster of Paris was most often used to hold the flowers in place.Natural wicker baskets were used and they too were dipped in the hot wax some times. Hand made baskets  of seed and sea shells were also common. French wire baskets were also found in many a parlor dome

This is my favorite, a man walked into my shop in St.Louis one day caring this, I P-----my pants. He wanted to sell it and didn't  want much for it. LUCKY_LUCKY DAY!!!!!!Guess who bought. Same man latter brought me 2 domes with birds. I love this man!!!!

I love these roses. LOVE,LOVE,LOVE them!

  Often a fake feathered bird would be added as an extra touch. Some people also chose tiny pieces of wax fruit, again these could be purchased from a hat shop, flower shop, mail order or department store Once in awhile life size wax fruit pieces were also added. The domes with the large fruit pieces were more or less designed  to be in a dining room.
  If you were to looked  at   a mail order catalog around 1860-1860 you might see a dome listed like this. WAX FLORAL STUDY UNDER A GLASS DOME.     SILK AND WAX FLORAL ARRANGEMENT WITH VIEUX PARIS PORCELAIN FLARE VASE.        FLORAL STUDY WITH BIRD  UNDER A PARLOR DOME.     A PAIR OF FLORAL PARLOR DOMES SUITABLE FOR ANY FINE HOMES MANTLE.      STRAIGHT FROM THE SALONS OF EUROPE-A FLORAL STUDY UNDER A GLASS PARLOR DOME.

This one came with a note telling who made it and who owned it.

These flowers are all wax.

   I was a grown man before I ever had seen a Parlor Dome. I was in college and my roommate was from St.Louis.I was a farm boy, had never been to St.Louis, I spent the week end with him and he took me to a museum house. There in the parlor was this large glass dome on the center table full of  flowers and birds. I was hooked and didn't rest till I had one. The first dome I bought was at a country auction. I was just out of college and teaching school. I went to this auction  and there on the bed of a farm wagon, was this glass dome. It was full of wax fruit and candy. They were displayed on a glass cake plate, compote and a mug. I was in LOVE!!!!!!! Things were going high. In those days people were crazy about antiques and auction prices could go out of this world. It started to rain and a lot of people left.Not me, I just stood there in the pouring rain. The dome was one of the last items to sell. There was one other person interested in it, a dealer from out of town. He had to re-sale it, so could only bid  so much. He stopped at $150 and I won with $175.Sound cheap,but you have to realize that was 1972 and that was a lot of money to a first term school teacher who was making $12,000 a year, I had to eat beans for awhile -but I had a DOME. I have carried that dome with me all these years,every time I move,it goes and goes and goes. After that, other domes have came into my life. I never could stop with just one of anything. If I saw one today, I am sure I would try and buy it. I told one of my friends,"IF I ever try to buy another Dome,break my arm"! The dome disease has rubbed of onto others ,I know,once they see mine. It is an awful sickness. I hope you never catch it.And the prices can be really high now days.So the cost of Dome medicine is dear.

  I am sharing with you today a group of my domes that contain floral displays. Most of them are on the side board (Victorians called a table a board, a side board is a side table, so the word side board was born), in my dining room. One is on the center table in the Down River Parlor. The last is in the purple bed chamber on the second floor. The flowers  are made of wax and silk and have various items holding the flowers. I hope you enjoy this collection as much as I have enjoyed collecting them. Stop by any time for a tour. I will leave the lights on and Sissy Dog will meet you with a jump and a kiss.
  

    Several years ago there was a article about my domes in Romantic Homes Magazine. It was written by a St.Louis friend,Elizabeth Maxon. If you have old issues you might like to look it up.

      I am having open house this Sunday 2:00 to 4:00 to celebrate the article in Victorians Homes Magazine. My Nieces and Great Nieces are all coming to help. They love to get dressed all up and we all pretend it is 1860. I will post the party pictures  Sunday evening or Monday. I hope we have a big turn out. Wish you all could come

Mother and Daughter

Don't you just love those period shoes???