Wedding Anniversary Queen Elizabeth and Philip, Diamond Jubilee Teacup, Thanksgiving

It is torrential rain interspersed with sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest.Forecast to be a drier and warmer than usual winter...it has been exactly the opposite so far...go figure!

Thanksgiving is this week, and we are looking forward to the official national day to be thankful for the many blessings we have. I don't want it to be only one day of the year, but I want my life to be lived in the attitude of thankfulness to God for His blessings!

 November 20, 1947 Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip of Greece, in....as royal weddings go...a small and cost conscious post war ceremony.  They had their 67th wedding anniversary just a few days ago....

The young couple...when they were engaged, and below...just a few weeks ago...a couple aging together....

I love this photo!..My teacup today is one of the few made for the wedding by Paragon, England. And it was another simple post war idea...another previously made design was reused with the addition of the wedding bell border added. Very simple...

The bottom bears the Royal warrants of Queen ElizabethII's mother Queen Elizabeth...wife of King George VI...and her grandmother...wife of King George V...Queen Mary.  Pretty and simple. Robin's Egg blue was said to be the bride's favorite color at the time.

Wedgwood did a fancy and huge mug for their 25th anniversary in 1972 by designer Richard Guyatt which is quite spectacular. The trim is platinum and the mug is gorgeous!

They are very hard to find! I loved this one!

 

I don't have a more current wedding cup and saucer or mug, but I do have a Diamond Jubilee cup and saucer made for the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II ascending to the throne. I love the smiling portrait on that...

Isn't that lovely? I think it's a great image of a wonderful woman who has shouldered a tremendous job and done it with integrity and grace. Her image is surmounted with the crown and surrounded by the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, daffodils for Wales and the shamrock for Ireland.

The teacup and saucer is bone china, made by Heirloom, England, one of the new small potteries to emerge since the last major consolidation and closing of potteries in the early 1990s. May they long survive and continue to make pottery in the UK!

Thanksgiving is one of the times I get out the old issues of Victoria magazine...this is the September/October 2008 issue, and I fell in love with this natural material wreath...

 I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends, and don't forget to share...or at least think about...the many blessings we take so for granted. We are indeed a people truly blessed...don't let the negative get in the way of our appreciation for our many blessings! God is good!

 I am joining these lovely blog parties....

Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Ruth 

Tea Cup Tuesday with Martha

Tea Time Tuesday with Sandi 

                                     Tea in the Garden with Bernideen 

Happy Thanksgiving, Miss Read Books And English Harvest Festival

A very happy Thanksgiving to you all! This is a Thanksgiving angel on my mantle.

Signifying the abundance of the harvest season. In England, although they don't celebrate Thanksgiving as such, their is the Harvest Home or Harvest Festival with links to a pagan past. The adopting of the old agrarian festival into mainstream church life began in 1843 when a Rev. Robert Harkins celebrated Harvest Festival at his Anglican church in Morwenstow, Cornwall. The festival has gotten attached to Michaelmas Day, around Sept. 28-Oct. 4th in the church calendar.

One of my favorite chroniclers of mostly vanished English village life is Miss Read, who has a series of books...I think I have collected them all..about several school teachers in Cotswold villages from the Victorian era to the World Wars. In the 20th century many rural schools were supported or maintained by the church and participated in church festivals.

The Harvest Festival was an important part of the Cotswold villages still so close to the seasons and agricultural roots of the area. The children had the job of decorating the church with produce from their farms and gardens and took great pride in doing so. Harvest loaves are baked as well.

From Over The Gate by Miss Read published in 1964:

For most of us in Fairacre our Harvest Festival is a well-loved and well-supported institution.  It is, after all, a public thanksgiving for the fulfilment of a year's hard work in the fields and gardens, and a brief breathing space before tackling the next year's labours.

Mr. Roberts, the local farmer, gives a mammoth Harvest Home supper in his biggest barn, at this season, but naturally it is the farm workers and their friends who attend this jollification. The service at St. Patrick's caters for the whole village....

The children...decorate the prews and other alloted portions of the church and we guard our privilege jealously. On Saturday the ladies of the village come with armfuls of flowers and greenery to do their share, but they always find that the children have done their part first.

Usually we tie little bunches of corn (Yanks, that's wheat to you!) to the pew heads, and arrange marrows, shiny apples, onions, giant potatoes and any other contributuion which will not whither or fade, along the ledges and window sills which we know by ancient custom are 'ours'.

 

So from my house to yours, my decorated front door to yours, Happy Thanksgiving and may a heart of thankfulness and peace for our many blessings fill your day.

Ruth

 

Thursday Teacups, Stir Up Sunday, Plum Pudding

Welcome to Thursday Teacups and Tea Things with Antiques And Teacups, Vintage Thingie Thursday with Coloradolady and Teacup Thursday with Miss Spenser.

I am covering a few fun things today...all in one! The first, is my teacup selection which is a homey (if your a Yank) or homely (for the Brits) Johnson Brothers, England Friendly Village cup and saucer from the 1950s.

Friendly Village is one of the most popular of Johnson Brothers' patterns in the USA. It appeals to our collective memories of rural village scenes of the east coast or colonial days. I think it is perfect for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I love that there are so many different scenes in the set including the schoolhouse, the old well, apple orchard, ice house and may others. The design is hand colored on brown transferware so it is perfect for many fall table options. I love it!

For more Friendly Village pieces including the cup and saucer at Time Was Antiques, click on the photos and go to the Johnson Brothers category.

In Victorian England, this weekend would be Stir Up Sunday...when the plum puddings and Christmas cakes would be made up to be drenched in spirits and then stored to age and marinate! In the lore of the puddings, varoius silver charms and a sixpence would be stirred in as well, to be used to tell fortunes on Christmas day when the cake was cut and eaten. 

 I even have a plum pudding teapot made by Price Kensington, England in the 1930-1940s.

Wishes were also made as each family member took their turn with the required stir of the pudding. The person stirring would close their eyes and wish, but don't tell!! Or the wish wouldn't come true! I loved these customs as a child, but especially loved licking the bowl!

 Here is a plum pudding recipe from the famous Victorian cook, Mrs. Beeton:

 

Mrs Beeton's Traditional Christmas Plum Pudding 1

Recipe 1 (Page 494) - 1923 Edition

Makes 2 Christmas puddings

Check recipe for shopping/store cupboard purposes and grease 2 basins.

8 oz moist sugar (use soft brown )

8 oz chopped suet or modern day equivalent

8 oz sultanas cleaned

8 oz raisins halved and stoned (see footnote*)

4 oz currants washed and dried

4 oz shredded mixed candied peel - Cut your own or use ready cut

4 oz of plain flour

4 oz breadcrumbs

2 oz almonds blanched and shredded

the grated rind of a 1 lemon

3 eggs

a salt spoonful of  nutmeg grated

half a teaspoon of salt

quarter pint of milk

1 small wineglassful of brandy (optional)

Mix all the dry ingredients together, stir in the well beaten eggs, milk and brandy (if used).
Turn the mixture into 2 well greased basins, and steam from 5 to 6 hours.
Time 5 to 6 hours.
Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons.
N.B. Please note that no raising agent is mentioned in this recipe, but the flour must be plain flour, as elsewhere self raising flour is mentioned by type when used.

I also found this Chocolate Plum Pudding recipe which is a bit different from AllRecipes.com.

 Chocolate Plum Pudding Cake

Prep Time:
25 Min

Cook Time:
1 Hr 20 Min

Ready In:
1 Hr 45 Min

 
Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9 inch tube cake

 

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups applesauce
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place raisins in a small saucepan, and cover with boiling water. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain. Grease and flour a 9 inch tube pan.
2. Sift together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in the eggs, then the applesauce. Beat in the flour mixture. Stir in raisins and walnuts. Spread batter evenly into prepared tube pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely; chill.

This is an 1805 caricature or political carton by J. S. Gillray showing William Pitt and Napoleon carving a plum pudding which represented the world. This was the era of the Napoleonic Wars and the Regency in England. Plum pudding was a well understood thing in every household!


Have a great Thursday visiting the other blog parties. And don't forget to make a wish! And don't tell!

 

Thanksgiving Wishes For you

Just want to send you best wishes for a wonderful, warm and thankful Thanksgiving day. Filled with blessings or the table, the heart and hope.
Ruth
Time Was Antiques
http://www.timewasantiques.net 

Wedgwood Blue Transferware Pitcher Jug Ewer Antique

I love any color...as long as it's blue! Well, not quite, but it is my favorite. I also love trasferware and this pitcher or jug I recently acquired and listed on Time Was Antiques just made me smile!!!!

I can just picture the jug on the table full of bronze chrysanthemums or on a mantle in a place of honor. The pitcher is in excellent condition, was made by E. Wedgwood, England from 1908-1925.

Transferware is one of the most collectible things around...and has been for over 100 years. The process revolutionized English china making and has been so popular that thousands of patterns have been made by hundreds of potters in thousands of patterns, some of which are extremely popular today like the Spode Blue Italian.

For historic transferware, I can recommend the Transferware Collectors Society 
for it's extensive records of historic patterns and ongoing research. Check it out! We are members and it is a great organization.

To see more of the above transferware jug or pitcher just click the photo.

We want to post Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation 1863 which you may like to read...it's brilliant.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION 1863

   In honor of the season, I want to share with you the text of Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation from 1863:

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere in the theatre of the military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not
  arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at seas and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also , with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, comment to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward,
Secretary of State





To all of you from us....have a wonderful day of Thanks giving tomorrow with friends and family. We have so much to be thankful for, even if things are a bit tough.

We are dealing with parkinson's disease but are incredibly thankful for all of the blessings we have.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (New International Version, ©2010)

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.