"April showers bring May flowers". Or so they say! Although it wasn't quite May when I set this table, spring was certainly on my mind, along with all the flowers, trees, shrubs, grasses and other plant and animal life that comes along with warmer, sunny weather. I was thinking "What do I have in my collection that is rain-centric?" I have a covered sugar and creamer set in Depression glass green of a pattern called "Raindrops", but those are in storage and in a currently unknown box. (My big COVID19 time off/summertime project this year is to go through as much as possible before the cold weather sets in the autumn. I'm sick and tired of not finding my great stuff!) But, this neat little snack set does the trick nicely!
The set is made by Continental Can, who purchased Hazel-Atlas in 1956. There are no markings on the pieces or the box, so I had to do a little research on this set. This is a pleasantly shaped set (rummage sale), and I like how the cups are patterned instead of plain. Since it was still March, I used the Campanile flatware by Gibson (Herberger's), and yellow hemstitched linen look napkins (Mainstays, Walmart) to compliment the daffodils in the Charles Gallen and Company runner (QVC). Marquis by Waterford's Brookside highball glasses are used for water (these are Jamey's glasses), and each setting has its own individual salt and pepper shaker (Mainstays, Walmart).
The centerpiece on the runner is a nod to the Irish as well as their contributions to American, and specifically Montana, society. The tower vase is by Belleek (QVC) and reminds me of the tower on the Bachelor Officers' Quarters at Fort Assinniboine, Montana, just a short drive from my hometown of Havre. The little cottage (eBay) is a likeness of "The Quiet Man" cottage. "The Quiet Man", starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, is a St. Patrick's Day staple in my home! As so many Irish immigrants came to Butte, Montana, to mine copper, their hard work is honored in the candlesticks by Gregorian (thrift store) and the two-tiered server, which is made by the Butte Copper Company (thrift store). I forgot I had little acrylic shamrocks that I purchased from Michael's craft store in Great Falls, Montana, and came across them quite by accident the day before I set the table, so I used them and I think they really added something neat to the table!
A word about copper: unless it is properly tinned and/or coated with a protective substance, never, ever, ever, ever eat off of or drink out of copper! You will make yourself sick or you could kill yourself. I have a neat hammered copper bowl I would never serve food directly out of; I use a glass bowl to line the copper bowl so the copper doesn't leech into the food.
I purchase most of my copper from thrift stores and rummage sales. I don't find it often, but when I do I bring it home. Why? Because I don't want people buying it and melting it down! Like all precious metals, copper prices flux with the market. When copper prices were high, people were going into thrift stores specifically looking for copper pieces to buy and melt down. These are pieces of art and shouldn't be melted down for someone else's greed! Therefore, I purchase it when I can find it...and pure copper at that. I leave the clad pieces that are in poor shape for those people to deal with...and be disappointed over!
On the menu:
Homemade chicken soup (served in milk white Fire King chili bowls)
Chicken salad sandwiches (I needed to use up some leftover chicken!)
Lemon cake with chocolate frosting (a la Duncan Hines)
Earl Grey tea
