Author: HarpieLyn

It is always a distinct feeling of joy someone gets when a happenstance occurs that we previously thought to be impossible.

Today, readers, was a microcosmic nugget of happenstance that was just enough to get Harpie to smile from ear to ear until ebullience became the sound of laughter that echoed through the Ginkgo trees at Duke’s Estate.

The adventure for today began with a simple ride around the circle that fronts the 1907 Conservatory, where I started a sketch to practice depth in watercolor. (Authors Note: Harpie is an expressive art therapist, which hopefully explains the artsy component of her existence.) I couldn’t recall specifically whether or not the Statue of Athena was once flanked by overgrown trees or shrubs. Something in my memory fabricated tall pine-line trees, but as I paused to sketch, no such trees were there anymore. Apparently, recent vandalism replaced the trees with a sturdy black fence that now protects Athena. I tried to think nothing of it and continue my dabble in the arts.

I hit the Orchid Range for some color pop and floral inspo. Status Quo. Day was going great, cardio is done for a solid 2 weeks. Next stop was Great Falls. As usual, I missed the waterfall itself. It was a splendid struggle uphill filled with cramps and internal crying over my tiny legs. But… I made it. So after careening down the hill from the Old Foundation, something pulled me toward my old favorite… the Eagle Gate Fountain.

This sad little corner of Duke’s was once the grand entrance for guests. It featured a bi-level fountain with a basin where water flowed at ground level. For as long as I’ve been going to Dukes (~2013), this fountain was inactive and decrepit- the main features were rusted out pipes from an era bygone and a large collection of rocks. Today, in the still of the silence and absence of many visitors, I thought it was a mirage.

Although not to rival its former glory, the sweet sound of a waterfall cascaded against the faint whooshes of traffic beyond the gates. Was I dehydrating? Was I developing heat exhaustion? It wasn’t even that hot out…

It was real as day. I stood dumbfounded, overjoyed, and felt outwardly ridiculous. A simple gesture like fixing a fountain changed the atmosphere completely from ‘forgotten’ to ‘full of life’, and it was palpable. Maybe someday, the full restore of these incredible testaments to water display will be implemented, but for now- we are so excited to see the baby steps of meshing historic integrity with a natural feel. It’s almost like the Dukes themselves gave us an entire blueprint to follow 😉

I realize that it is also a form of modeling for good behavior; there have been several instances of vandalism beyond the Statue of Athena. The Blue Boy’s well was severely mistreated as well. It is assumed that the perpetrators recognized that no one was caring for the property, so it wouldn’t matter if they graffiti’d up the place. It is not acceptable, quite simply. With the steps toward revitalization and balancing intended aesthetic with new-wave eco-think, it is my professional opinion that possible perpetrators will be dissuaded by this simple mindset. The new norm seems to be that the property is cared for and monitored neatly, which is a vicarious teaching method for visitors to copy themselves.

Congratulations to the Duke Estate proprietors; in one small way, you have illustrated that, for the second time this month, you are capable and willing to restore the memory, preserve the legacy, and integrate a reminder of the past into the visions for the future.

It’s the Dukes way of doing, after all. Let’s hope from here, only more is done to preserve what’s left.

Once again, Manny Dylan breaks all records for the best and most thoughtful Christmas gifts. In doing so, he also brought to my immediate attention the underrated beauty of handmade quilts.

I’ll be honest. I’m a duvet person. I haven’t had a traditional quilt in years and since shifting from a quilt to its fluffy counterpart, I never went back. Then I discovered the snuggy joy of queen-sized fleece blankets for twin-sized beds to become a full-fledged burrito. With the gifting of an absolute work of art, a Quilt by Jennifer (see link: https://www.quiltingbyjennifer.com/ ), I have been revitalized and spooned by the thermal cuddles of a quilt.

Quilting as a craft has long been a staple of traditionally-women’s hobbies, dating wayyyy farther back than Colonial America. It is a simple way to take scrap fabrics or specially-picked out fabrics (or both artfully patterned together) and create something new, unique, and cozy as all hell! Quilting also is a form of paying it forward in modern times, often with their patchwork practices resulting in charitable acts, honorary arts, and other homages to meaningful causes and organizations.

These incredibly handmade staples deserve a review and resurgence into the spotlight as the crafting trends continue to grow (both by necessity of today’s economy- in America and abroad- and by desire of more individuals to learn new practices). Now typically it would take about a single column for us at RRBlog to discuss origins and what makes the topic of our discussion so timeless, but the techniques associated with quilting are so ancient that historians can’t trace a single isolated incident where quilting began. From the earliest civilizations that prepared textiles for clothing, the use of fabrics sewn or formed together was often done out of necessity before it emerged as an art form.

Quilts as we know them today were used on beds as far back as 14th Century Italy, where they depicted scenes from myths and sometimes religious references. Their intention remains the same: stay covered and cozy. For a full history of quilts, we did manage to find this rather comprehensive reference from Emporia University: https://www.emporia.edu/cgps/tales/quilte~1.html

So let’s fast forward to Christmas 2018. Manny Dylan strikes a perfect pastiche of Harpie’s favorite things- one being at the forefront of our minds in wintertime- including my blanket burrito-ing habits to stay warm. (Author’s Note: Harpie Lyn is always cold in winter.)

The significance of preparing a quilt as a gift is also rather timeless because of the aforementioned value of the handmade, the thoughtful, the sentimental, and the elaborate methodologies used to build a quilt that is uniquely representative of the recipient. Now, I’ve been blessed for 6 years to be the nerdy bestie of this strapping young sir, and I can attest that he’s outdone himself with this particular gift, especially as the Northeastern Corridor gets slammed with ice and snow this week.

Quilting by Jennifer, I want to extend my gratitude to you for the upkeep of a melleniae-long tradition of art and craft as well as for the loveliest, most custom-made gift I’ve ever received. We guarantee that your quilts will stand the test of time and surely, like quilts from our ancestors, this one is sure to  make excellent conversations as the years go by.

Stay curious & warm!

You all knew it was inevitable. This Christmas season has made people across the nation (and beyond) watch eagerly at the windows of favorite stores while decorations and red-green merchandise glitter for us. What seems to be the most significant and widespread craze of this year is none other than the crowning achievement of a ‘kitschy’ Christmas: The ceramic lit trees. These tabletop gems are a necessity for the season as a reminder of tradition and family and what timeless values the holiday stands for.

Although the Kitch ceramics have been making a comeback for several years, this year has made tree-lovers and kitch-lovers rejoice more than ever. Unlike the previous years, this Christmas offers the elusive replacement plastic bulbs for all those empty slots in both new and old ceramic trees. As a proud recipient of my family’s originals, I can attest to the fact that these bulbs were impossible to find unless  (1) amazon was good to you this year, (2) you found them deep in the catacombs of your grandpa’s attic, or (3) you interrogated every antique store for them within a 50 mile radius of your home. To make matters more difficult, prior to the revival of these precious pieces, bulbs all differed in diameter and type. Some looked like pins with baubles, others were birds, and then there was the classic shape too. Now it seems like every major retailer has found the joys of these little light-ups.

Apparently this love of Christmas found its intersection in the 60s and through the 70s as more and more individuals (primarily women) sought after their artsy side and pursued ceramic-painting classes. These classes were so popular in fact, that these ceramic creations spilled over from strictly holiday items through just about everything. The more a lady loved her ceramic classes, the more frequently families like mine would end up with dozens of keepsakes that were painted especially by Nana.

The trees, however, are one of her crowning achievements. Glazed and illuminated, these trees became a great reason to sign up for a class or two to keep up with the latest homemade, hand-crafted trends. Much like we see a resurgence of knitting today, tree-painting was a fad back then!

So now the trees are making a comeback as a well-deserved and sought-after (if not sold out) tabletop classic. Except of course, there have been additions made- these trees come in new forms too! Nightlights, tabletoppers, and battery-operated darlings all grace the stage for this season’s nostalgic must-haves. Have you got an original or a new age tree? Tell us about your retro Christmas! We would love to hear from you.

The title of this post is one that I hope sticks with every reader. Over the course of a year of successful blogging, I think it is important now to write up a disclaimer of sorts. So many people talk about the “olden days” as being overly-romanticized, biased, and viewed through a stereotypical and stigmatized lens. In order for anyone to truly appreciate the past, it is so valuable to be aware. At a time in the US when coming together and giving thanks is just a staple of this season, it is more important than ever to emphasize this pillar of our revival antics.

The sad realities of the past are the same ones that plague us today. Previous to the hippie/beatnik movement, racism was rampant and it seemed like the Caucasian population was having all the fun. Today, we are fighting racism and bias tooth-and-nail in hopes that someday equality will be true to its word. I’m stressing this because sometimes people will address me or my colleague Manny Dylan with concerns that those who advocate for the past find these traits of yesteryear to be acceptable. Darlings, I promise you all, that this will never be the case. Revivalism focuses its energy on giving a second life to the best bits of decades past, not the regrettable bits.

We try not to use the term ‘cherry-picking’, only because it suggests we amend material to be in our favor. However, that is the idea. It is so important to pick apart revivalist ideas and lifestyles because if we take too much modern or too much vintage, we end up on the extreme sides of the spectrum. With too much modernism, we wouldn’t have something to write about, social media would become a dependency issue, and the top priority would be economic value. Too much retro would translate to a paper newsletter, no mass media, and no blog. 😦 In order to truly understand revivalism and living a retro lifestyle, we need to talk about moderation. It’s been a theme since the very beginning, but no post has centralized around it.

In the wake of recent hate crimes in the greater New York area and the political climate that wrongly pits parties against one another and tosses out offensive names like ‘snowflakes’ and ‘extremists’… this is more important than ever. Loving thy neighbor may not have been the theme of the heavily=gentrified 50s, but we are in 2018 now. Now is the time where ‘letting the good times roll’ shouldn’t be specific or unequal to any population.

The title “Aesthetics and Racism” is to display the very contrasting morales we can observe in decades past. Aesthetics, such as the craftsmanship of artifacts from each era or the overall ‘flavor’ of the past are the attributes that revivalists encourage. Racism (perhaps one of the most severe juxtapositions to the beauty of the ages), on the other hand, is extremely discouraged for obvious reasons. Going forward, it is vital to our culture not to bring back all these traits, because some of them are just plain wrong. Those bits and pieces that are morally justified are the ones that are worth pursuing. On a small scale, how many of our readers remember Randy from ‘A Christmas Story’? This sweetheart probably shouldn’t bestow the same frosty immobility of his snowsuit onesie to his own children. However, a hand-knit sentiment like a scarf or mittens to keep warm is a classic alternative to not being able to put your arms down.

On a macro-level, all people should be treated equally and respectfully. Welcome hard work and cherish the time you spend impacting the lives of others, even through the little things. So for any further clarification, the vintage/retro ideals (the real deal ideals), do not participate or approve of the past’s erroneous tidbits. We at the Retro Revival want to thank those who posed questions about morality, because without these complete answers, we wouldn’t be representing revivalism at its best. Until next time, stay curious!