This week’s fresh to market vintage has a flower of the month teacup with lily of the valley for May. Of course, this made us wonder who decided what flower would represent what month. That answer is going to be exactly what you expect, but we’ll start with the more romantic answers.
Sources attribute the tradition as going back to the Romans or the Greeks. The Romans associated different flowers with different seasonal festivals or different gods. And the Greeks had a tradition of giving flowers for birthdays. Or it might go back to seasonal folk festivals across Europe. And, of course, the Victorians had something to say. In the 1800s, they developed a “language of flowers,” where different flowers were assigned different meanings. This led to secret messages being conveyed through gifts of flowers.
All of those are quite lovely origin stories. But of course the reality is that sometime in the 20th century, florists and greeting card manufacturer’s popularized the idea of a flower for each month. There isn’t one standard list. Florists chose flowers based on when they would be available in the northern hemisphere at different times of year. Card makers hopped on and featured them on cards and giftware products.
We don’t actually care if the practice has marketing origins, because it resulted in pretty, pretty things like the Tuscan china teacup and saucer below. We’re good with that. And if you’re wondering what the generally agreed upon birth month flowers are, good news! We have a chart for you. And right below the chart is this week’s fresh to market vintage.
Pair of Vintage Handmade Small Dog Coats
These two handmade dog coats, probably from the 1970s, belonged to a woman who was devoted to her two beloved pugs. We saw a photo of her with one of her pugs lined up with three dudes and their German shepherds, all prizewinners in an obedience competition. The amount we love that can not be measured by conventional means.
These coats are meticulously made, clearly tailored individually to each pug. One is slightly smaller, the buttons are in slightly different positions. And our favorite thing, the collars are different shapes so each pug had it’s own identity. We aren’t sure if the owner made them or if her sister made them for her. But we do know that someone is going to get an amazing pair of one-of-a-kind coats for their modern pooch.
Pair of Vintage 1970s Handmade Plaid Wool Blend Small Dog Coats, $32.
Laurie, NextStage Vintage
Adirondack Style Willow Child’s Chair c 1900s
This child’s painted willow side chair is a nice example of authentic Adirondack-style folk art furniture. It dates to the early 1900s and is handmade from curved willow branches, decorated with silver stripes in a classic Adirondack style. It is sturdy enough to hold a small child, making it a fun photography prop.
Antique Child’s Chair, $225
Linda, Selective Salvage
Gold Tone Leaf Earrings
Upon first inspection, I saw these earrings as single leaves with a pearl at the base. After spending some time with them, I’m no longer sure. Could they possibly be feathers instead? What to you think? Either way, they are fun. The clip on back is set at the base where the single pearl sits, so when they are worn, the earrings appear to climb up the earlobe to a rather dramatic effect ending in the twist at the top.
Leaf Earrings w/Pearl, $17.95
Pam, Vintage Renude
Tuscan Birthday Flowers May Cup & Saucer
The merry month of May is an excellent time to have a birthday, especially if someone surprises you with this vintage Tuscan teacup and saucer featuring the May flower of the month, the lily of the valley.
In the 1950s and 60s, collecting bone china teacups was a trend. And why not, they’re beautiful to look at, beautifully made and beautifully useful. English companies in particular provided collectors with plenty of styles to choose from. Their popularity waned after the 1960s, but came roaring back with the recent rise of shabby chic and cottagecore. Pinterest, Instagram and decor magazines are full of ideas for how to decorate with them. Using them to hold jewelry, a plant or a candle are three of the ten gazillion ideas out there. Our favorite use is to fill it with properly steeped darjeeling, but we’re traditionalists.
This cup and saucer was made by Tuscan Fine China. Like many English potteries, Tuscan has a long history, starting out in Staffordshire (of course) as R.H. Plant Co in 1878. R.H. was joined by his brother in 1915, and the company was renamed the R.H. and S.L. Plant Ltd. The trade name Tuscan was used on backstamps starting in 1902. After the company was purchased by Wedgwood in 1966, the trade name was changed to Royal Tuscan.
The birthday flowers line was made from 1947-1966. You only have to look at it to know why it was popular enough to be made for so many years.
Tuscan Birthday Flowers May Teacup and Saucer, $28.99
Available from this week’s guest, Teas & Thank You
That’s a wrap on this week’s fresh to market vintage. We’re something of a marginally green thumb, and we are baffled how peonies came to be a flower for November when they are available fresh now and will bloom sometime in June up here in the northern tier. We can’t comment on if morning glories bloom in September because we’ve never successfully managed to grow them past the stage where they are an appetizer for the local rabbits, consumed before they move on to the squash plants.
Whatever the month of the year, one thing you can count on is that if you subscribe to our email newsletter, you will get one email a week with links to each of our posts from the previous week. And you will never get spam. We would sooner put a “Groundhogs Welcome” sign on our tomato patch than share your info.
Petty little Victorian language of flowers note for future reference: If you have beef with someone and you’re inclined to be passive aggressive, you might send them petunias (anger/resentment), tansy (a declaration of war), basil (I hate you), yellow carnations (rejection/disdain) or orange lilies (hatred/loathing). You’ll know, but they won’t.
