I have three lovely teacups I want to show you;
the very beginning of my collection. :)
The first is the most precious and my favorite of the three.
It was given to me by my Grandma, whose beautiful teacup collection inspired me to begin my own.
She wrote a note that I'd like to share with you.
Dear Rebecca:
I understand that you have started a tea cup collection. So for part of your graduation gift I wanted to give you one of my cups that I have been collecting over the years.
This particular cup belonged to my grandmother, your great great grandmother, Nellie Hartog Wiersma. Neeltje ( her Dutch name) was born on February 21, 1883 in Goes, Zeeland, in the Netherlands. When she was nine years old her family immigrated to the United States. They first lived in Colorado but later moved to northwest Iowa.
She had seven children, three girls and four boys. During the Great Depression they lost their farm in Edgerton, Minnesota. Later they moved to Lynden, Washington. She died in Lynden in 1947 at the age of 65. Her youngest son, Elmer, served on the USS Bullhead during WWII and was lost at sea in 1945. Her last words to her husband were: "God's will be done. May we meet again in heaven."
May this cup and saucer remind you of some of your grandmothers in the Wiersma family.
Love,
Grandma Canaan
The second teacup was a graduation present from some dear friends of ours.
By the Art Deco style we are guessing it was made around the 1920's.
We think that M. Carner is the artist who painted the wild rose design.
Wouldn't that be a fantastic job?
The last, but not least, in my collection is the most recent addition.
Mom found it in an antique shop and knew that I'd love it :)
Dandelions, a cheerful and determined little flower that most people consider a weed...
I love them!
Don't they look elegant on this teacup?
"Tea! That's all I needed. A good cup of tea. A superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for heating the synapses. "
- Tenth Doctor, Christmas Invasion
The tea cups are absolutely beautiful! It's so special that you got one that has been in your family for a long time!
ReplyDeleteThank you Bethany! Yes, I love having a little piece of family history :)
DeleteWhat a special treat to hear about your family history! One doesn't come across that sort of thing very often in the blogging world. My favorite is the dandelion tea cup! Oh and did you know that dandelions are edible and that their roots can be harvested, roasted, and then made into a tea that closely resembles coffee?
ReplyDeleteIt will be fun to see you continue to update us all on this delightful collection of yours!
Fondly,
Jessica
The eldest sister & singer
Thank you Jessica! Yes, I did know you can eat dandelions, but I hadn't heard about the coffee before... that's neat!
DeleteHOKEY PETES! I was just calmly reading this post thinking, "Aw, how sweet..." And then I got to the third paragraph in the letter and completely freaked out! My grandparents live in Edgerton! My mom grew up there! How crazy is that?? There's only about 1100 people in that town! We go there almost every summer to visit! It wasn't even on the map until the basketball team won state in 1960! Wow, how crazy is that?! My mom knows Wiersma's and Hartog's!
ReplyDeleteYou wouldn't happen to be any relation to the Wiersma known as Sietze Buning, would you? One of my mom's best friends married his son.
Wow that is crazy! :) And yes, after writing to our Grandma, we learned that we are distant relations to Sietze Buning. He is our Great Grandpa's first cousin.
DeleteAbbey, our grandma was wondering what your mom's maiden name is. You can reply via email, if you'd like: bpc(at)itctel(dot)com
DeleteHer parents were married in Edgerton. It's fun to find this connection!
I'll send you guys an email. =) I don't like to make my address public, but the title will be "This is Abbey."
DeleteI love those tea cups!! I have a 80+ set of dishes that I collect made around 1945 in germany :b
ReplyDeleteWhat pretty tea cups you have! :D How neat that the first one is a piece of family history.
ReplyDeleteOh those are so lovely!!!!!!! And elegant!
ReplyDeleteI just love those tea cups! I have a 300+ piece collection that came entirely from thrift stores or yard sales. Nothing in it matches, except a few cup and saucers. Almost all of them have a good re-sale value (not that I would re-sell them)
ReplyDeleteIf you have a tea cup collection, look in thrift stores, especially not high-end ones (high-end type thrift stores tend to know what china is nice) I spent under $125 on my entire collection.
Thanks Clara, I love them too :)
DeleteWow that is an impressive collection! I don't know where I'd even put them all if my collection grows that big.
I can't display them all! They are kept stacked in a little three foot by one and a half foot cabinet. I have to have very big tea parties occasionally to display them!
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