Today, I have the unexpected gift of spending a rainy day with my favorite little girl. She had a scary reaction to a black fly bite and we both need some quiet time together. We're making the most of our spontaneous date by playing with her new collection from the weekend's flea market date... in her mind that flea market was heaven. Yes, I'm carefully cultivating the next generation of thrifters. She fell in love with a little box of Wade Whimsies. We bought an elderly lady's entire collection of porcelain miniature figurines that used to come with boxes of the Canadian tea, Red Rose.
These little creatures are perfect play figures for a 5 year old, and I believe we will be keeping our eyes open for more in the future. Although I wasn't familiar with Wades, I had a little collection of porcelain animals as a child, too. Do you remember your childhood collections?
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In other news:-Please check out my interview that made the front page of yesterday's HandMadeNews. I included some new tidbits you might not have known.
-Isn't Felt-o-rama fun! Congratulations to the winner of their felt bundle give-away:
Kate-
"What a lovely bundle of felt! Those colors are so vibrant. This is a wonderful giveaway."
Please get in touch with me with your mailing address so that I may pass it on to April.
Off to play!
Congrats on making the front page! I used to love to play with my Great Gramma's collection of porcelain animals. They were so much fun.
ReplyDeleteBecca
We have a large collection of these too. We drink a lot of tea in our household! I should bring them out today... thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteI had a china animal collection as a kid and I loved it! So tiny and precious, it felt really special to play with them.
ReplyDeleteI used to love these too as a kid. Red Rose is Canadian, not British, though. :D
ReplyDeleteI want to remember porcelain animals, I know my Grandma made lots of them, but I can't seem to really visualize them. I used to paint porcelain houses for my other grandma's Christmas scene, I know that, and we have a huge porcelain Christmas nativity...
ReplyDeleteI wish I had gotten that felt, I wanted it! Oh well, congrats to Kate!
In honor of SMS's giveaway day, I have an unofficial giveaway going on at Just Some Boobs. You like yarn, right? Check it out!
My husband used to collect tiny porceline animal figures as a child, buying them whenever he could with his allowance or money earned for chores. We still have a tiny mama squirrel and her four wee babies that were part of his collection.
ReplyDeleteN. thanks for the info... just corrected it to Canadian.
ReplyDeleteI had (and still do) a collection of those, started for me when I was a little girl. The elderly couple up the street from us would save each figurine for my sister and I. We loved them and now my girls do too.
ReplyDeleteOh! I had some of those when I was a little girl, given to me by my father's sister Jenny. I don't know what happened to them, but now that I know what they are, I will try and collect them again!
ReplyDeleteThey are so nice for little hands to play with and are very durable, not easily broken.
I loved your article! It is always a treat to find out more about who the bloggers I follow are and what I might have missed from past posts.
ReplyDeleteAnd so glad I found HMN... such a cool resource! I'm definitely going to check out the blogs you mentioned, too.
Love your blog, your creations and that you are gaining notoriety! You deserve it, my friend!
What a great idea! My mother collected these...although they aren't very vintage, she passed away at a young age just a few years ago. I am going to get them then next time I am at my father's house to bring to my little one.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea when I asked about childhood collections how many folks collected these... or other porcelain animals! I used to have a tiny glass cabinet for mine... wondering what we'll get to house these. Suggestions?
ReplyDeleteWow! I had that giraffe porcelain figure when I was a kid! I haven't seen or thought about it in years. It's so great to see it again and learn a bit about its history.
ReplyDeleteWhat an adorable collection!
What a special day! We had these minatures in the UK, but they came in Christmas Crackers and I've got quite a collection too. They're wrapped up in a tin somewhere, thanks for the reminder! The animals look slightly different but I'm sure it was Wade. Much better than all the plastic stuff you get now!
ReplyDeleteOoh! I remember those! We didn't buy much tea (my mom was a coffee drinker)but I remember playing with them at an elderly Irish lady's house (I'm Canadian so I totally recognized those).
ReplyDeleteUg, did you say "used to?" I loved those figurines - I'm pretty sure they're what turned me into a devoted tea-drinker. I wonder if my parents still hove all of our old ones...
ReplyDeleteI love Wade animals and we have a collection of them I cherish. The rabbit is just precious. I love and collect rabbits, sot that was particularly touching for me. This was a lovely post. Thank you.
ReplyDelete-Phyllis
Hay!!! I remember those from the breakfast table when we were kids - In fact I am sure my mom has a whole bunch in her printers tray still... I am going to have a look for them next time we visit. My favorite was always the turtle - don't know why!!! Thanks for the memory flash back - again... and again!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm still collecting these figurines in Red Rose Tea!
ReplyDeletemy mom used to drink that tea. It was horrible tea but the little extras and the bright green box with the rose on it made up for it I guess.
ReplyDeleteHope you little one is healing well from her bad bite.
Oh gosh, I'd forgotten about these! Yes, I collected them, wonder where they are now?
ReplyDeleteI remember when tea came with these! Such a great find!
ReplyDeleteI had a wee squirrel that looked like those. With the way that the rest of my family inhale tea, it might well have been the same type of thing. I don't drink tea - I'm a failure as an Englishwoman...
ReplyDeletei remember collecting these same figurines as a child. now my 8-year old collects them, although she only has two...that is a lot of tea to drink for one figurine!
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute - really they came in a box of tea? How cool - I just realized that none of the cereal boxes have little gifts inside anymore... ;(
ReplyDeleteCongrats on making the front page ;)
Very Good website. I like the contents. From www.flowerschennaitoday.com
ReplyDeleteThose photos bring back memories!I collected Wade Whimsies when I was about 12, but here in Australia, they didn't come as gifts with tea:I remember buying them individually and just loving them.I wonder where my collection went?I so wish now that I'd kept them
ReplyDeleteLook after them, in the Uk some Wade Whimsies are worth a fortune!
ReplyDelete"One of the most important ways we're going to turn around our disposable society and end rampant consumerism is by supporting handmade goods and indie artists. " Hear Hear! That is a great interview, Maya.
ReplyDeleteI have a few Beatrix Potter animals that I still cherish! But it was the smaller, less fragile ones like the Wades that I played around with. My mother and I like to put them in our potted plants, too.
My grandparents collected these and kept them in a box in a kitchen cupboard. I remember being very small and always dragging a chair over and playing with them on the counter top. :)
ReplyDeleteoh, I have a collection of these from when I was a kid. my father used to drink Red Rose at his studio all the time. I must find them and let my 5yo. play with them.
ReplyDeleteAs kids we used to collect these. My grandparents, as well as my mom, used to drink Rose Tea. I imagine a few are still around somewhere, but I wish we would have kept them! I hope your girl's bite has calmed down and is healing well.
ReplyDeletei have bought a few boxes of Red Rose in the past year or two (i often use it for dyeing) and they still have the figurines! maybe they stopped at one point, but they are doing it again now. your daughter might get a thrill out of finding a new one in the box of tea...
ReplyDeleteI live approx 3 miles away from where these were made! My first one that I ever had was a fawn bought for me after I had seen Bambi at the cinema with my mum. Carry on collecting they will make great memories xox
ReplyDeleteI used to collect these! I would make my parents tea constantly so they would run out and buy a new box! If I can find them in the basement, I am going to make the trip to Squam to give them to you! (I'm in NH)
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled on this post and does it ever bring back memories! My family used to vacation in Canada and we had good friends there who owned a camp. They had so many of the Wade figures that we'd come home with several after every visit, and I still have and cherish mine. What a happy flood of memories you've sparked--thank you!
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