Christmas Cheer on the Move

Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.

 

Today however we are northwest of Lettice’s flat, in the working-class London suburb of Harlesden where Edith, Lettice’s maid, grew up. Edith’s father, George, works at the McVitie and Price* biscuit factory in Harlesden as a Line Manager, and her mother, Ada, takes in laundry occasionally at home. They live in a small, two storey brick terrace house which opens out directly onto the street, and is far removed from the grandeur of Lettice’s Mayfair flat, but has always been a cosy and welcoming home for Edith. We find ourselves at the rear of the house in Ada’s cosy kitchen. It’s Wednesday, a free afternoon for Edith, usually kept sacrosanct for Edith to spend it doing something pleasurable with her best friend and fellow maid-of-all-work, Hilda, perusing shop windows or shopping for trimmings at Mrs. Minkin’s Haberdashery in Whitechapel. Yet today, Edith and her fiancée, Mayfair grocer’s delivery boy Frank, who also has managed to arrange to have Wednesday afternoon off until four o’clock, have come to Harlesden together. The couple and Ada have been shopping down on the Harlesden high street at Woolworths*. The trio, well rugged up against the cold December weather, come into the terrace through the back door off the scullery, leading from the small courtyard garden, laden with festive Christmas decorations.

 

“Oh, thank you so much for all your help today, Mum!” Edith sighs with relief as she places a box of Christmas baubles and a box of Christmas crackers onto the kitchen table. She then turns to Frank as he places Ada’s shopping basket full of Christmas decorations next to the box of crackers. “And thank you for your help, carrying Mum’s basket for her, Frank.”

 

“Anything for my best girl,” Frank replies, his cheeks flushing red at his fiancée’s compliment as he smiles at her. “And my future mother-in-law, of course!” he adds hastily as he glances at Ada, as she hangs her red velvet hat decorated with flowers and feathers on a hook near the kitchen door.

 

“Of course!” Ada agrees as she adds her heavy winter coat, cold from the December chill in the air from their walk back from the Harlesden high street on the hook beneath her hat. “Yes, I must say it’s lovely to have a spare set of hands today, Frank love. I’m most grateful.”

 

“It’s a pleasure Mrs. Wat… I mean, Ada.” Frank stumbles, blushing more. He sighs. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to calling you Ada, Mrs. Watsford.”

 

Ada chuckles as she turns around and faces her daughter and future son-in-law, smiling broadly. “Oh, you’ll get used to it soon enough, Frank love.” She walks up and stands next to him, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. “It took me an age to get used to being called Mrs. Watsford after I married George. Mrs. Watsford, to me anyway, was always George’s mother. When George and I were first married and we went anywhere socially, if anyone mentioned Mrs. Watsford, referring to me, I never answered, always thinking they were talking to, or addressing my mother-in-law, until George gave me a gentle husbandly prompt.” She chuckles again at the thought.

 

“Well, I’ll keep trying… Ada,” Frank says, emphasising her name. “And I’m sure you’re right.”

 

“You’ll also learn, Frank, that Mum is always right,” Edith giggles. “Even when she’s not!”

 

Frank smiles and joins in, his good-natured and easy chuckles intermixing with Edith’s girlish laughter as they echo around the small Harlesden terrace house kitchen.

 

“Aye! Aye! Less of your cheek, Edith!” Ada chides, wagging her finger at the young couple, yet smiling as she does, indicating that she isn’t really cross with them. “You too Frank! Is that how you repay my generosity at paying you a compliment?”

 

“Ahem!” Frank clears his throat and suddenly stands a little more upright. “No Mrs… err… Ada.” He turns and glances at his fiancée, a gormless grin on his face.

 

“You’re both awful!” Ada laughs. “Although Edith is right. I am usually right… in the end.”

 

“She’s right, Frank!” Edith acknowledges her mother as she proceeds to hang her handbag over the knob on the top of her favourite ladderback chair drawn up to the table before removing her black dyed straw cloche that she decorated herself with feathers and purple satin roses from Mrs. Minkin’s Haberdashery.

 

“Oh, don’t put it there, love.” Ada cautions her daughter. “I keep telling you, it might get spoiled, if you hang it there. Such a pretty hat should sit on the table where it’s safe.”

 

“And I keep telling you that it will be fine, Mum.” She pats the hat with satisfaction. “Besides, with all these new Christmas decorations from Woolworths, there isn’t really much room on the table.”

 

“As I just said, Edith love: I am usually right… in the end.” She wags her finger admonishingly at her daughter again. “You’ll see. One day you’ll regret hanging it there.”

 

“Yes Mum!” Edith acknowledges her mother, rolling her eyes. “But not today.”

 

“Now!” Ada claps her hands together, clasping them in anticipation. “Who wants tea then?”

 

Edith looks at Frank and Frank looks at Edith, both smiling broadly.

 

“Oh, I do!” Edith exclaims.

 

“I do!” Frank concurs.

 

“And I know I do,” Ada agrees. “That walk from Woolworths in High Street** may not be far, but it’s so cold out there today. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we didn’t get a dusting of snow*** a bit later.”

 

“If you can see it through the dense fog out there.” Edith remarks disparagingly.

 

Ada turns and stokes the dying embers in the range to bring it back to life before adding a scoop of fresh coal to it. “Be a good girl, and set the table, will you, Edith love? I’ll see to the tea.”

 

Edith walks over to the big, dark Welsh dresser that dominates one side of the tiny kitchen and picks up pretty floral teacups and saucers from among the mismatched crockery on its shelves: one of her mother’s many market finds that helped to bring elegance and beauty to Edith’s childhood home.

 

“Biscuits too, Mum?” she asks cheerfully.

 

“What kind of a question is that, Edith love?” Ada gasps. “Your dad would be furious if we didn’t serve up some of his biscuits from the factory. Besides, what kind of hostess would I be, if I didn’t offer Frank a biscuit of two?”

 

“Thanks Mrs. Wat… Ada.” Frank says, looking to Edith.

 

Edith smiles indulgently and momentarily allows herself to reminisce about years past as she reaches for the familiar McVitie’s**** Petit Beurre***** biscuit tin, its lid battered and the pattern on the top worn and chipped from years of use.

 

Ada turns back to Frank. “Sit down, Frank love.” She gestures with a flapping hand for Frank to settle down in a chair at the kitchen table. “You’ve earned a chance to put your feet up after carrying my basket for me.”

 

“Oh, it was a pleasure, Ada.” Frank says, slipping in at the table as Edith starts to set down the tea things. “It will put us in a festive mood if it does snow.”

 

“Help yourself to biscuits, Frank.” Edith says, opening the tin and placing it in front of her fiancée.

 

“Thanks Edith.” he replies gratefully, picking up a Chocolate Homewheat Digestive******, taking a hungry bite out of it, crumbs spilling onto the blue and white floral plate directly in front of him.

 

Edith finishes setting the table, whilst Ada pours hot water from her large kettle hanging on the hob into her old, glazed Brown Betty******* teapot, before setting it on the table to steep.

 

“So,” Ada asks with a groan, settling comfortably into her own round backed Windsor chair. “How’s your grandmother then?”

 

Frank swallows his mouthful of biscuit before replying, “It’s a slow recovery, but Gran’s definitely improving, thanks Mrs. Wat… Ada.”

 

“It’s so awful having influenza at any time in life, but at her age,” Ada tuts and shakes her head. “Poor Mrs. McTavish. George and I were talking about it when Edith told us she was poorly. She must have caught it going home from the Lyon’s Corner House******** the afternoon of the party George threw for yours and Edith’s engagement. He feels terribly guilty.” She pauses. “We both do, Frank love.”

 

“Oh, it wasn’t your fault, Ada!” Frank insists. “It was cold enough for a dusting of snow that day too, and even with her fox fur collar, I guess she still wasn’t quite well rugged up enough. It was just unfortunate that she caught a chill.”

 

“And you did say she was improving, Frank.” Edith adds helpfully.

 

“Yes,” Frank chuckles. “She was telling me how to make our pot of tea the other day when I visited her after Edith and I had been to the Premier********* over in in East Ham, to see ‘A Girl of London’**********, so that’s a marked improvement.”

 

“She’s very particular on how Francis makes her tea.” Edith adds cheekily, using Frank’s proper name, which he loathes and thinks unmanly.

 

“Edith!” Frank exclaims as his face flushes with embarrassment as he looks at his fiancée, who feigns innocence as she blows a kiss to him over the table.

 

Unaware of the teasing going on between the pair, Ada remarks as she pours Frank his tea, “Well that’s a good thing, Frank love.”

 

“And it’s a very good thing you and Mr. Wat… George, are doing Ada,” Frank says, indicating to all the Christmas decorations they have brought back to the Harlesden terrace with them. “Uprooting Christmas festivities from here as we’d originally, planned and moving them at short notice to Gran’s house. All these lovely new bright decorations,” He fiddles with a box of green and gold baubles in a brightly patterned box and a boxed green tinsel garland. “Will add some festive cheer to Gran’s house, and I know she is looking forward to having Christmas at home, even if she isn’t well enough to help cook the Christmas turkey herself.”

 

“Ahh,” Ada scoffs with a beatific smile and a dismissive wave of her hand as she passes Frank his cup of tea. “You’re welcome, Frank. It would be too much to expect Mrs. McTavish to travel all the way to us, even if it isn’t far from the Tube************ station either way, in her poorly condition. Besides, it wasn’t even my suggestion. Edith should take credit for that.”

 

Edith remains silent, but smiles proudly as she munches quietly on a jam drop biscuit*************.

 

“That’s true Ada. Credit where credit is due**************, Edith,” Frank acknowledges his fiancée. “It’s very good of you to think of Gran’s comfort and health first.”

 

“Oh, that’s alright, Frank!” Edith replies breezily as she finishes her mouthful. “I think anyone else would think the same.”

 

“Not just anyone, Edith - you!” Frank insists. “You are so kind and caring, and that’s one of the many reasons that I love you.”

 

“Oh Frank!” Edith exclaims with a beaming smile. “You are sweet. I love you too!”

 

“Frank’s right, Edith love.” Ada adds kindly. “You are a very good girl to think of Mrs. McTavish and her needs when she hasn’t been well. The lady you have grown up to be makes your dad and me proud, love.”

 

“Well, it stands to reason, doesn’t it?” Edith reaches across the table and picks up a boxed angel dressed in a white lace gown with gilt cardboard wings and a halo destined for the top of a tree. “Gran’s not been well, and after all, she does have a parlour every bit as large as our kitchen, so big enough for all of us, especially since Bert won’t be home this Christmas.”

 

“He was lucky to get shore leave last Christmas, Edith love.” Ada tempers. “That was two Christmases in a row we had him home for. We knew we couldn’t have been lucky enough to have had him for a third.”

 

“I know, Mum.” Edith replies. “He just better make sure he gets shore leave for our wedding!”

 

“He will, Edith love. Nothing will stop Bert being here for your big day, when it happens.” Ada insists.

 

*Woolworths began operation in Britain in 1909 when Frank Woolworth opened the first store in Liverpool, as a British subsidiary of the already established American company. The store initially sold a variety of goods for threepence and sixpence, making their goods accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy upper and middle-classes. The British subsidiary proved to be very popular, and it grew quickly, opening twelve stores by 1912 and expanding using its own profits to become a fixture on the high street. The stores became a beloved British institution, with many shoppers assuming they were originally a British company. In 1982, the United Kingdom operations underwent a management buyout from the American parent company, becoming Woolworth Holdings PLC. This followed the American parent company\'s sale of its controlling stake to a local consortium. Later, in 2000, the company\'s parent (by then known as Kingfisher Group) decided to restructure, focusing more on its DIY and electrical markets. The general merchandise division, including Big W stores, was spun off into a separate company called Woolworths in 2001. Unable to adapt to modern retail trends, the company faced increasing competition and financial difficulties. The last Woolworths stores in the United Kingdom closed their doors in December 2008 and January 2009, marking the end of an era.

 

**Woolworths at 37-41 High Street in Harlesden was was the eleventh UK store and the third London store. It opened in 1911 and closed in 1991 at the end of its lease. The original store was rather smaller, expanding to the below frontage in two stages in the 1920s and 1930s. The outlet took a little longer to get established than the first two London stores Brixton and Woolwich, possibly because of the middle-class pretentions of Harlesden at the time when housewives might have been ashamed of shopping in a store that’s byline was selling goods for threepence and sixpence, but had built such a large clientele by the 1930s that it was doubled in size.

 

***It snowed in London in 1925, with significant "snowy northerlies" occurring in late November. While heavy snowfalls were reported in the midlands and north of England in December of that year, London experienced a period of dense fog in December, as well as a very mild, windy, and wet January at the start of the year.

 

****McVitie\'s (Originally McVitie and Price) is a British snack food brand owned by United Biscuits. The name derives from the original Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie and Price, Ltd., established in 1830 on Rose Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company moved to various sites in the city before completing the St. Andrews Biscuit Works factory on Robertson Avenue in the Gorgie district in 1888. The company also established one in Glasgow and two large manufacturing plants south of the border, in Heaton Chapel, Stockport, and Harlesden, London (where Edith’s father works). McVitie and Price\'s first major biscuit was the McVitie\'s Digestive, created in 1892 by a new young employee at the company named Alexander Grant, who later became the managing director of the company. The biscuit was given its name because it was thought that its high baking soda content served as an aid to food digestion. The McVitie\'s Chocolate Homewheat Digestive was created in 1925. Although not their core operation, McVitie\'s were commissioned in 1893 to create a wedding cake for the royal wedding between the Duke of York and Princess Mary, who subsequently became King George V and Queen Mary. This cake was over two metres high and cost one hundred and forty guineas. It was viewed by 14,000 and was a wonderful publicity for the company. They received many commissions for royal wedding cakes and christening cakes, including the wedding cake for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip and Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Under United Biscuits McVitie\'s holds a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II.

 

*****The Petit Beurre, also known as Véritable Petit Beurre (VPB), is a type of shortbread from Nantes, France. The biscuits of the Lefèvre-Utile company are the most commercially successful variety, although its name is not exclusive to Lefèvre-Utile . It was invented in 1886 by Louis Lefèvre-Utile in the city of Nantes and was inspired by some English products of the time.

 

******McVitie & Price introduced the chocolate digestive biscuit in 1925, which was the primary chocolate biscuit variety they offered at that time. It was a variation of their original digestive biscuit and was named the "Chocolate Homewheat Digestive". Other flavored chocolate biscuits like mint, orange, or those with chocolate chips inside did not exist in this early period.

 

*******A Brown Betty is a type of teapot, round and with a manganese brown glaze known as Rockingham glaze. In the Victorian era, when tea was at its peak of popularity, tea brewed in the Brown Betty was considered excellent. This was attributed to the design of the pot which allowed the tea leaves more freedom to swirl around as the water was poured into the pot, releasing more flavour with less bitterness.

 

********J. Lyons and Co. was a British restaurant chain, food manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1884 by Joseph Lyons and his brothers in law, Isidore and Montague Gluckstein. Lyons’ first teashop opened in Piccadilly in 1894, and from 1909 they developed into a chain of teashops, with the firm becoming a staple of the High Street in the United Kingdom. At its peak the chain numbered around two hundred cafes. The teashops provided for tea and coffee, with food choices consisting of hot dishes and sweets, cold dishes and sweets, and buns, cakes and rolls. Lyons\' Corner Houses, which first appeared in 1909 and remained until 1977, were noted for their Art Deco style. Situated on or near the corners of Coventry Street, Strand and Tottenham Court Road, they and the Maison Lyonses at Marble Arch and in Shaftesbury Avenue were large buildings on four or five floors, the ground floor of which was a food hall with counters for delicatessen, sweets and chocolates, cakes, fruit, flowers and other products. In addition, they possessed hairdressing salons, telephone booths, theatre booking agencies and at one period a twice-a-day food delivery service. On the other floors were several restaurants, each with a different theme and all with their own musicians. For a time, the Corner Houses were open twenty-four hours a day, and at their peak each branch employed around four hundred staff including their famous waitresses, commonly known as Nippies for the way they nipped in and out between the tables taking orders and serving meals. The tea houses featured window displays, and, in the post-war period, the Corner Houses were smarter and grander than the local tea shops. Between 1896 and 1965 Lyons owned the Trocadero, which was similar in size and style to the Corner Houses.

 

*********The Premier Super Cinema in East Ham was opened on the 12th of March, 1921, replacing the 800 seat capacity 1912 Premier Electric Theatre. The new cinema could seat 2,408 patrons. The Premier Super Cinema was taken over by Provincial Cinematograph Theatres who were taken over by Gaumont British in February 1929. It was renamed the Gaumont from 21st April 1952. The Gaumont was closed by the Rank Organisation on 6th April 1963. After that it became a bingo hall and remained so until 2005. Despite attempts to have it listed as a historic building due to its relatively intact 1921 interior, the Gaumont was demolished in 2009.

 

**********‘A Girl of London’ is a 1925 British silent drama film produced by Stoll Pictures, directed by Henry Edwards and starring Genevieve Townsend, Ian Hunter and Nora Swinburne. Its plot concerns the son of a member of parliament, who is disowned by his father when he marries a girl who works in a factory. Meanwhile, he tries to rescue his new wife from her stepfather who operates a drugs den. It was based on a novel by Douglas Walshe.

 

***********One of the most famous Christmas decorations that people love to use at Christmas is tinsel. You might think that using it is an old tradition and that people in Britain have been adorning their houses with tinsel for a very long time. However that is not actually true. Tinsel is in fact believed to be quite a modern tradition. Whilst the idea of tinsel dates back to Germany in 1610 when wealthy people used real strands of silver to adorn their Christmas trees (also a German invention). Silver was very expensive though, so being able to do this was a sign that you were wealthy. Even though silver looked beautiful and sparkly to begin with, it tarnished quite quickly, meaning it would lose its lovely, bright appearance. Therefore it was swapped for other materials like copper and tin. These metals were also cheaper, so it meant that more people could use them. However, when the Great War started in 1914, metals like copper were needed for the war. Because of this, they couldn\'t be used for Christmas decorations as much, so a substitute was needed. It was swapped for aluminium, but this was a fire hazard, so it was switched for lead, but that turned out to be poisonous.

 

************People started calling the London Underground the "Tube" around 1900, after the opening of the Central London Railway. The railway\'s deep, cylindrical tunnels resembled tubes, and a newspaper nickname for it, the “Tuppenny Tube”, due to a flat fare of two pence, helped the term stick. Over time, the nickname spread to refer to the entire system.

 

*************A jam drop biscuit is a classic buttery, shortbread-style cookie with a thumbprint-like indentation filled with jam before baking.

 

**************The phrase "credit paid where it\'s due" means to praise someone for their accomplishments or good work, even if you may not like them or have other negative feelings toward them. It is an expression of fairness that acknowledges merit when it is deserved. It was likely popularised by American statesman Samuel Adams, who wrote "Give credit to whom credit due" in a letter in 1777. The expression\'s origin can also be traced to a biblical parallel in Romans 13:7 and reflects a long-standing principle of giving praise or acknowledgement to those who have earned it.

 

This cluttered, yet cheerful domestic scene with its festive overtones is not all it seems to be at first glance, for it is made up of part of my 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures collection. Some pieces come from my own childhood. Other items I acquired as an adult through specialist online dealers and artists who specialise in 1:12 miniatures.

 

Fun things to look for in this tableau include:

 

Ada’s kitchen table is covered with boxed Christmas decorations. The boxed tinsel garland and the tree top angel were a gift to me last Christmas from my Flickr friend BKHagar *Kim* who also collects 1:12 miniatures. She picked these up at a house auction as part of a large miniatures collection. The red box containing hand painted Christmas ornaments were hand made and decorated by artists of Crooked Mile Cottage in America. The patterned green box of red and green baubles at the front of Ada’s basket to the right was hand made by Mick and Marie’s Miniatures in the United Kingdom.

 

The box of Christmas crackers is a 1:12 miniatures made by artisan Ken Blythe. I have a large representation of Ken Blythe’s work in my miniatures collection – books mostly. Most of the books I own that he has made may be opened to reveal authentic printed interiors. In some cases, you can even read the words, depending upon the size of the print! Sadly, so little of his real artistry is seen because the books that he specialised in making are usually closed, sitting on shelves or closed on desks and table surfaces. As well as making books, he also made other small paper based miniatures including boxes of goods. The box is designed to be opened, and each one contains gaily coloured Christmas crackers made from real crêpe paper. To create something so authentic to the original in such detail and so clearly, really does make them all miniature artisan pieces. Ken Blythe’s work is highly sought after by miniaturists around the world today and command high prices at auction for such tiny pieces, particularly now that he is no longer alive. I was fortunate enough to acquire pieces from Ken Blythe prior to his death about four years ago, as well as through his estate via his daughter and son-in-law. His legacy will live on with me and in my photography which I hope will please his daughter.

 

Ada’s shopping basket comes from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering.

 

Sitting on the table in the foreground is a McVitie and Price’s Small Petite Beurre Biscuits tin, containing a selection of different biscuits. There are several biscuits on the plates as well. The biscuits were made by hand of polymer clay by former chef turned miniature artisan, Frances Knight. Her work is incredibly detailed and realistic, and she says that she draws her inspiration from her years as a chef and her imagination. Also in the foreground there are are non-matching teacups, saucers, a milk jug and sugar bowl, all of which have come from different miniature stockists both in Australia and the United Kingdom. The Brown Betty teapot in the came from The Dolls House Shop in the United Kingdom.

 

 

Edith’s black dyed straw hat with purple roses and black feathers was made by an unknown artisan. 1:12 size miniature hats made to such exacting standards of quality and realism are often far more expensive than real hats are. When you think that it would sit comfortably on the tip of your index finger, yet it could cost in excess of $150.00 or £100.00, it is an extravagance. American artists seem to have the monopoly on this skill and some of the hats that I have seen or acquired over the years are remarkable. This hat is part of a larger collection I bought from an American miniature collector Marilyn Bickel. Edith’s green leather handbag also came from her collection.

 

In the background you can see Ada’s dark Welsh dresser cluttered with household items. Like Ada’s table, the Windsor chair and the ladderback chair to the left of the photo, I have had the dresser since I was a child. The shelves of the dresser have different patterned crockery and silver pots on them which have come from different miniature stockists both in Australia and the United Kingdom. There are also some rather worn and beaten looking enamelled cannisters and a bread tin in the typical domestic Art Deco design and kitchen colours of the 1920s, cream and green. Aged on purpose, these artisan pieces I acquired from The Dolls’ House Shop in the United Kingdom.

 

The large kitchen range in the background is a 1:12 miniature replica of the coal fed Phoenix Kitchen Range. A mid-Victorian model, it has hinged opening doors, hanging bars above the stove and a little bass hot water tap (used in the days before plumbed hot water).

Done