I'm a little teapot, short and stout

The second set of every day china that I purchased was a Franciscan set in 1969. Franciscan Cantata is from their Whitestone Line. It was produced from 1965 to 1972. It has a white background with olive colored leaves and blue and turquoise flowers. I just loved it. My most vivid memory about this pattern is I had set the table and was ready waiting for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law Jean and her two daughters Julie and Joan to arrive for a visit from Indianapolis. They had a terrible time finding our home on Abington Road because there is another Abington on the northeast side of Columbus, and ours was on the northwest side. They spent hours driving around the city looking for us. All I have left of the large set is a little tea pot, and I keep it on the counter next to the coffee pot. I looked at some china resale sites, and tea pots must be fairly rare, because I didn't see any. It must have been overlooked when I gave this set away (when or where I don't remember), so it is still with us.

 https://gmcb.com/franciscan_archive/index.php/library/franciscan-dinnerware-and-art-ware/

Franciscan Ware, or Franciscan Pottery as it was first named in 1934, was manufactured by Gladding-McBean and Company of Glendale, CA. Scores of different styles and patterns were produced. In 1962 Gladding McBean and Company merged with the Lock Joint Pipe Company and became Interpace. Franciscanware was produced in California until 1984 when the facility at Glendale was closed and all production moved to England. Johnson Brothers of England then produced some of the patterns in England (later some patterns/pieces were produced in Japan, China and Portugal). It is important to note that not all pieces carry a “Franciscan” mark. Unless you are familiar with a particular pattern, you may not recognize it as “Franciscan.” (Hill House Wares)

  

“I’m a Little Teapot” Lyrics (1939)
I’m a little teapot
Short and stout
Here is my handle
(one hand on hip)
Here is my spout
(other arm out straight)

When I get all steamed up
Hear me shout
“Tip me over
and pour me out!”
(lean over toward spout)

I’m a clever teapot,
Yes it’s true
Here let me show you
What I can do
I can change my handle
And my spout
(switch arm positions)
Just tip me over and pour me out!
(lean over toward spout)

Monday Memories--the treasure found and lost, and found again

On Memorial Day week-end here at Lakeside, many families have yard sales (for the most part, we have no garages or basements). Some street corners will have four. So it is fun to walk or ride around and poke through musty boxes or old treasures. I was riding my no-speed bike (now 40 years old) down Third and whizzed past a card table with a few items, and there I saw it--a memory from my childhood. I put on the brakes and turned around.



My neighbor, Mike, and I were probably about four or five years old and poking through the neighborhood trash cans when we saw a lovely (or looked that way to us) brown china tea pot painted with white and orange dots trimmed in gold). We carefully lifted our treasure out, wiped it off, and I took it home to my mother. She turned it over looked at the gold painted single word on the bottom, JAPAN, and told us it had to go back to the trash can. We didn't understand war; we didn't know how to read; both our fathers were in the military. All we knew was that our treasure was something awful to adults. Suitable only for the trash.

I picked the tea pot up from the card table, inspected it--covered with dust with a hairline crack near the spout. The owner came out of the house.
"How much for this tea pot?"
"One dollar."
"I'll take it," I said.I wrapped it in a plastic bag and continued on my bike ride. Later I washed it and showed it to my neighbor, Steve, who is an antique dealer and auctioneer. He confirmed that it was probably a pre-WWII tea pot, maybe 1930s, very common. A dollar, he said, was a good price for a childhood memory. I put it on my bookshelf. It can hold some flowers when the time comes for that.