STILL HATING FIG NEWTONS, STILL LOVING OLD HOUSES AND CHIPPENDALE FURNITURE

FIG NEWTONS: YUK

In the 1940s an older couple moved into the house next door to ours.  I liked this husband and wife, the Norwoods, and even as a child was impressed by some of their furnishings and decorating.

For example, in their kitchen was a table surrounded by a set of four Mexican hand painted chairs with rush seats.  They were in vivid blue, cheerful and quaint adding a warm friendly touch to the kitchen.  I had never seen anything like those pretty chairs and thought they were wonderful.

Mexican chairs brightly hand painted with rush seats.  The Norwoods,
 our new neighbors, had a set like these in their kitchen.  They were bright blue.

The set of dishes used in this charming kitchen were French Quimper ware.  I adored these colorful peasant looking dishes with the quaint painted chairs.  Most children wouldn't even notice someone's kitchen chairs or the neighbor's kitchen dishes but I did!  And I wished we had some just like them.  (either that or a chrome dinette set)

In the Norwood's dining room was a Chippendale lowboy with ball and claw feet.  It was clearly vintage, but barely, and certainly not antique but I had never seen one before and I knew I wanted a lowboy.

In the living room was a so-called Governor Winthrop secretary bookcase.  These were very popular and common but I hadn't seen one before.  Like so many others those days, my mother had a Governor Winthrop desk purchased at Jordan Marsh Co. in Boston for $100 but it didn't have the glass doors and bookcase on top.  So I added that to my list of favorite things, a must have for a beautiful home.

During these years my best friend was Susan.  (I hope you're reading, Sue)  Her grandparents lived way out in the country at the top of a steep hill called Norcross Hill with sweeping views of the town and with Mt. Monadnock and Mt. Wachusett off in the distance. On summer days Susan and I would walk up there to visit.  It was quite a long walk and toward the end we were climbing the terribly steep hill.  On the side of the road was a stone watering through put there years before in the days of the horse and buggy for the horses to drink as they struggled up the hill with their wagon loads or buggies.  There was also a brook that went under the road.

But back to the Norwood's.  After several years as our neighbors they bought an antique house with fields around it.  It was on the hill near Susan's grandparent's house and we would pass it just before we reached our destination at Susan's grandparent's big antique house in this old rural neighborhood.

One day on the way home we stopped at the Norwood's and Mrs. Norwood gave us a package of fig newtons to eat on our long walk home.  I detested them and I believe Susan did too because my memory tells me that when we got to the brook we threw them in.  I have never tasted another fig newton from that day to today.

Before too many years Mrs. Norwood passed away.  Mr. Norwood was selling their things.  My mother inquired about the Quimper dishes.  My recollection is that they were $75 which my mother thought was too much for those post war days.  So she passed on them and I don't know what happened to them.

While I was away on summer vacation there was an auction.  When I got home a neighbor told me that Mrs. Norwood's things had been sold at the auction.  What happened to the furniture?  The neighbor told me that the nearby antiques shop owner, Dave of Dave's Used Furniture, had been the successful bidder for the lowboy and the secretary.

Here is an almost identical secretary bookcase to the
 one that so impressed me in my youth.

Over we went to this shop and there were the coveted pieces.  My recollection is that the lowboy was $27.00.  How could I ever get enough money to buy it?  I didn't have any money.  But wait.  How about that $25.00 war bond for which I had bought stamps every week at school.  Mother let me cash it in for the lowboy.  Perhaps I had the necessary $2.00 to complete the sale or maybe my mother kicked in the $2.00.  The lowboy was mine! My first piece of furniture in a long life of collecting and buying furniture.

This vintage Chippendale lowboy is very similar
to the prized lowboy I purchased.

The lowboy was ensconsed in my mother's dining room with a tea set on top.  It went with me to CT, then back to Newburyport, MA; always in my dining room.  When my son bought a big house I passed it on to him because I had moved to a smaller house and needed to thin out quite a few pieces. It isn't period but it is still a handsome piece of furniture.

After practically a life time of buying property, selling property of our own along with many years as a Realtor I still can't resist looking at the ads and following new listings through Realtor.com.  From time to time I check the listings in my home town.

A few days ago I did just that and there was a new listing.  I recognized it instantly.  It was the Norwood's old house on that country road.  I looked at the photos and read the description claiming it to possibly be the oldest house in the town.  That is very doubtful but it is still a nice country place, off the beaten path, with fireplaces, old stonewalls and pasture land on five acres.

This is an old picture of the house found on line.  It is more as I remember it than the newer photos.  It has a lovely Greek Revival door and inside the house there are Greek Revival doors and mantels.  The house is dated 1750 but it is probably closer to 1840.  If it was 1750 it would be facing south and the front door would not be in the gable end of the house.The newer picture is easily recognizable but this is more the way I remember it.  It was white not gray but had more detail than it does today.

Seeing the pictures of the house set me off down memory lane reminiscing about our hikes up Norcross Hill, my fond memories of the Norwoods and my introduction to Chippendale furniture. The only thing the Norwoods had that I didn't like was those awful fig newtons!

Old pastures and stonewalls add just the right touch to this country property.

Some things never change.  I still love old houses and Chippendale furniture and I think I would still hate fig newtons, not that I have checked lately.

Thanks for wandering down memory lane with me on a snowy January day.

Pru