Our proprietor was able to find a suitable outfit to wear, created and loaned by creative and talented Lynn McMasters, who also created the outstanding Timeline of Fashionable Hats for Ladies and Gentlemen during the time period of Jane Austen, that was on display at the Public Library in San Mateo.
We had delightful historical and literary presentations by a number of members of the Jane Austen Society, live music and country dancing. Ann Morton provided delicious cakes and other desserts for our consumption. We had a game of Whist, presided over by Deborah Borlase. Our Proprietor offered a hands-on writing workshop for those who wanted to learn or revive their skills with the quill pen and ink, folding paper and sealing it with wax. We had a marvelous turn-out of all ages of people, met some old friends and made some new ones.
It’s now been requested that we help organize a program, like this one, as a fundraiser for the Vassalboro Grange in Maine, with Full Circle Farm founders Jody and Bernie Welch, our Proprietor’s sister and brother-in-law. So stay tuned, gentle readers, for more information about that event, coming your way in August, 2017.
Hello, hello.It’s that time of year when theater, dance and literature enthusiasts from all over the greater San Francisco Bay Area congregate to prepare the Great Dickens Christmas Fair, to go on beginning November 22, 2014, 10 AM – 7 PM– we are open for five weekends, including the Friday after Thanksgiving, through December 21, 2014. Check out this Map of London!
On behalf of the Emporium, Miss Charlotte Badger would like to Cordially Invite You to help us celebrate the holidays in the tradition of Charles Dickens! Miss Badger has agreed to step in to the hubbub of the Fair on behalf of the Emporium proprietor; she’s been helping out at Dickens workshops by hemming pants, finding suitable hats, locating lace and caps and helping our friend Jacqueline with her hand-sewn bonnet commissions. In just a few short weeks, Miss Badger will be singing with the Coventry Carolers and working at the Green Man Publick House at the Great Dickens Fair.
Would you or your loved ones would like to come see the spectacle, eat delicious foods, greet Father Christmas, encounter various characters from the works of Charles Dickens, see Her Majesty Queen Victoria and her retinue, or dance at Fezziwigs? Yes?! Then please contact the Emporium so we may assist Miss Badger with preparing the appropriate amount of discounted tickets for you on the day you wish to attend.
So, do tell! Our proprietor went to her 20th Mills College Reunion yesterday and she saw lots of long-lost pals and even met some new ones whom she had only known in her volunteer capacity as Class Agent from 1994 to 2007 or so. She even did some (gasp) Networking for her day job status, as she has only recently been offered a Temporary Full Time Job at her old stomping grounds, UC Berkeley. Aherm. What does the Queen of England have to say about this? Let’s find out:
We were So Pleased to see our buddy and pal Jane Cudlip King, from the class of 1942, at the lunch on Toyon Meadow! We also saw Redwood Mary and hung out with her for most of the day, meeting friends and classmates of hers, getting caught up, getting our photo taken and hearing part of a dramatic reading of Letters written to Mills College President Aurelia Henry Reinhardt, during the Japanese internment period of American History (talk about infamy, holy cats, why did the government force people to live at race tracks?!) that was being read at Danforth Hall. Our proprietor could only stay for an hour and a half of that before she had to go to her Class Dinner at a classmate’s home, which was also awesome in many 21st century ways, unlike walking back into the past when seeing all the wonderful alumnae and staff who were Kind to her. That is what we take away from the day at Mills.
Speaking of life during World War II, Here are some Photos of the Fires of Wisdom: Mills College Alumnae Oral History Project at a few of the annual Tea outings, which keep the Mills Tradition of Having Tea and Schmoozing up a storm. CAN YOU TELL WE LIKE HATS? Yes. Yes we do. Old hats. And outfits that recall the Tea Parties of Yesteryear. We keep this Fire alive to Stay Connected and share Experience, Strength and Hope. To share our activies and triumphs, stories of our travels and job huts. And to give scoop on what vintage clothing stores and thrift shops are still in business or what flea markets for charity had the best deals on gloves. (not really a huge topic but sometimes…)
The first photo is of the Fires of Wisdom group at a performance of our Dramatic Reading at Alumnae Reunion at Mills A note from our proprietor: HI JANE! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU ARE STILL CONDUCTING THE CAMPUS TOURS! We LOVE YOU and WE HAVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH! I almost burst into tears when I hugged you, yesterday! SEE YOU SOON!
Fires of Wisdom 20062008Fires of Wisdom 2011 Tea at Lovejoy’s in San Francisco2009Cecille, Kathleen, Moya, Betsy, Jane, Beth, Erika and our own Malvena Pearl’s Emporium Proprietor
