Howe All-School Reunion is Homecoming

September 18-19

, g g ; a tea house with three pillars, a large orange tree; three figures on the bridge crossing to an island, a boat with a man in it; two birds flying towards each other at the top center; and a fence crossing the foreground A border is usually present, but not always

The “Two Temples” blue willow pattern varies in that two temples seem to overlap generally on the left side of the pattern, the fence is in the foreground, two figures are on the bridge, the willow tree is at the bottom, and an island is at the top rather than the two birds There are even slight variations with the Two Temples pattern Sometimes the temples appear on the right The border is usually the butterfly pattern or winged “antennae” design, sometimes called “Fitzhugh” supposedly after someone who commissioned a set of china with this border

Just when you think you can identify these basic patterns, however, you find that there were others:

“Booths” was used by the Booth Company in England and was similar to the traditional pattern except there was no fence in the foreground. A bowknot border pattern was used with this center design

“Mandarin” has no bridge and uses a “dagger” border

“Worcester” was used by the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company and has 3 y Blue Willow in multi-colored Variant patterns

“Canton” includes early handpainted Chinese patterns and English and American copies of these patterns

The blue willow design has held its popularity for nearly 200 years and has not faded with lifestyle changes as many fads do. Perhaps this is because some clever salespeople created dozens of legends about the patterns Here is one: “Once upon a time there lived a very wealthy mandarin who had a beautiful daughter who was in love with a very poor boy To keep them apart, the mandarin imprisoned his daughter in the palace One day she escaped and the two lovers raced over the bridge to a waiting boat, her father in hot pursuit. They managed to elude the mandarin, reach the boat and sail away A storm developed, the boat foundered, and the couple was lost at sea It is said that the two love birds appeared immediately thereafter the spirits of the two lovers ”

If they had been in Texas, it might have been an ice storm or Blue Norther or our recent floods that took the lovers by surprise. In any regard, they remain together into eternity, and are memorialized on millions of pieces of dinnerware.

Dr Georgia Caraway, former director of the Denton County Museums for 14 years, and her friends opened the Howe Mercantile on April 25 Store hours are Thursday through Saturday noon until 8 p m In addition to Tips, Tools, & Techniques: Caring for Your Antiques and Collectibles, she has written four Denton history books and is working on a 5th history about the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo.