Friday afternoon I drove from my home in Indiana to Liz Cory's home in Huntley, Illinois. She had invited me to stay with her while I was in town for Nancy Falzone's Mares and Tales get together.
One of the first things I spied as I walked into her home was a beautiful Presentation Man o'War displayed on top of a cabinet full of Metlox Poppytrail and other china pieces. I knew then that I was going to be seeing some eye candy during my stay with Liz!
And after helping me get my bags in and a chat around the kitchen table with Sam, Liz's husband (and one of the nicest men you could ever meet), Liz invited me into her horse room on the main floor of the house where she kept her china collection.
(Apologies for the quality of the photos - I only had my phone and it was dark outside so lights and lamps needed to be on in order to see the pieces.)
Eye candy indeed! There was case after case of chinas, especially Hagen Renakers.
There were so many of the vintage Designer Worship Hagen Renakers and in multiple colors as well as variations.
There were lovelies all over - no matter how you were facing in that room, you were looking at a cabinet chock full of horses. (And some dogs, cats, and cattle, too!)
Although most of what was in that room were Hagen Renakers, there were some Breyers, too. (Just look at that woodgrain Longhorn!)
Oh, my! And a woodgrain Walking Angus!
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Liz had displayed the trophy she'd won at this year's Happy Tail show.
Even more so to see a coaster I had made and given her at the very first Happy Trails show.
After we'd spent some time perusing those chinas, we sat again at the kitchen table to chat, looking at Liz's old binders of photos from very early model horse shows.
Her mother, Carolyn Isham, used to hold parties, dubbed "Horsetails," after shows in order to give entrants an opportunity to relax and socialize. It was fun hearing about those.
Liz also showed me a 1:32 scale barn that she'd recently found and brought home to use with her Stablemates.
The roof lifts off and you can customize the inside or simply use it to play with.
I had noticed this miniature merry go round in the horse room and was surprised to find that there was a much larger one in the living room.
Liz explained that both pieces were given to her by Stu Bentley and had been made by a Bentley family member.
Not only did Liz work for Breyer as well as edit Breyer's publication, Just About Horses, she and Sam used to help out Stu and Arlene in their business, Bentley Sales Company, which was once the largest distributor of Breyer horses. As time has gone by, Stu and Arlene have given her some mementos, including the two merry go rounds.
Liz plugged in the merry go round and let me watch it.
It was charming! And I loved the tweaks and nods to the Bentley family, from the flag with the letter "B" on top
to the Bentley Sales ribbons on the deer's hip. What a lovely piece of memorabilia!
Liz and I could have stayed up all night talking horses and hobby history but Nancy had asked us to be at her home early the next day. Since she lives an hour away from Liz, we reluctantly wound things up so that we would be fresh the next day.
Tomorrow's post - some preliminary photos from Nancy's get together.
After reading the history of Great Lakes Congress, LLC that I wrote earlier this year, Nancy Falzone asked if I would write down some of her earliest hobby memories for her.
Absolutely! Nancy is a dear friend and I am always happy to help her out.
The project was expanded to include other early hobbyists who were around when the hobby began crystalizing in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Nancy dubbed the writing project Mares' Tales and with help from Liz Cory, Jamie Rott, and Yvonne Rott, planned a get together at her home for early hobbyists to gather and share their memories of the very beginnings of our hobby.
A list of early hobbyists from North America was drawn up, and invitations were sent out. Since the gathering is to be held in Nancy's home and space is limited, we simply could not invite everyone who was around during those heady days of photo showing and SASEs. I plan to contact some of them and get their stories at a later date.
My goal is to get as many early hobby memories and stories recorded so that they can be shared with others as well as document our history. (Nancy Kelly, author of Exploring the Model Horse Hobby, has offered to take photos throughout the day.) Our focus is on Ellen Hitchins and Simone Smiljanic who ran IMPHSA (International Model Photo Showing Association) and Linda Walter who wrote The Model Showers Journal (later called The Model Horse Showers Journal), THE hobby publication that we all subscribed to and eagerly checked our mailboxes for every month. And, of course, Nancy Falzone's memories, since that is how this project started!
Why not Marney Walerius? Many hobbyists who were not around in those days refer to her as the "mother" of the model horse hobby and have no idea of the contributions that Ellen, Simmie, and Linda made in getting this hobby organized and which Marney built upon. Certainly Marney did a lot in moving the hobby forward and I do want to record memories of her, too, but I will do that at a later date. She is the fourth person in what I and other older hobbyists consider to be the four pillars of our hobby.
Stay tuned for some blog entries from the gathering. Since I have to travel, I may not post anything tomorrow, but check back again Monday for photos and write-up about the Mares and Tales gathering of early hobby folks. I think you will enjoy it.
Last May when I was out in Utah visiting my daughter, Jessica, I also made some time to get together with Tara Oliver and her mama, Cristine Holt, who live just a few miles from Jessica. One of the highlights of our get together was visiting with Tara's horses, so when she and Cris came out to judge at FAMulous, naturally I returned the favor!
Tara with Hokey and Sultanna.
Tara and Cris are true horse lovers - their passion for equines is a lifelong one.
Tara with Trouble, Diablo, and Abby.
Trouble and Diablo moved on after some petting and went back to grazing
but the ever social Abby stuck around. She really does enjoy being with people (even after all the treats have been munched!)
That sociability trait of Abby's was what led to my decision to bring her home with me when I found her at Indiana Horse Rescue. She simply loves people.
Even after Tara walked away, Abby stayed by the gate hoping for some more interaction.
I couldn't resist - if she wanted more people contact, then I would give it to her!
It was fun showing Tara and Cris my little corner of the horse world, simple though it may be
because they, too, find joy in those simple aspects of a horsey life.
In early September after writing about Midwest Tumbleweed, I said that I would write about my third 1970s r/r/h piece in the next blog post.
It didn't happen. Why? Partly because The FAMulous Collectibility Show was right around the corner and that was keeping me hopping. But it was also because I could not remember her name. Her old show photos with her name on the back were tucked away in a tub in my hobby closet, and because I am under a post-op weight limit for lifting, I couldn't drag out my tubs and go through them.
Midwest Tumbleweed and What's her Name.
Yesterday as I was working on my entries for the October Great Lakes Congress show, I came across an old photo of her in my show documentation materials. And on the back was her name!
Sycamore Scoj! The memories came flooding back. She was named after the two horses down the road from our home that I cared for all through high school - Sycamore Lass and Scojeadon.
Like Midwest Tumbleweed and Pace's Hi Hopes she is showing her age, and of the three, she has the most damage to her finish. I've thought about having her touched up, but I always hesitate - those scuffs and marks are a part of her 47 year history. (Her painter was Sherry Cook who also did the other two.)
I am intrigued by the bottoms of her hooves - they're unpainted and a dark grey. (So are Midwest Tumbleweed's.) I got both pieces in 1972 or 1973, they have the USA mark (no B stamps), and are from the oil crisis era. I have often wondered just what color their plastic is.
Even as I write about Sycamore Scoj, I am tempted to strip her and see what's underneath.
But then, I look at that sweet face, the face of early hobby photo showing and fun, and I just cannot do it. Not only is she a historical piece, she's also a piece of my heart.
Vintage Breyers are my collecting focus (er, besides circus ponies...) and Breyer's Vintage Collectors Club is my favorite out of all the clubs they offer. Saturday, the last offering of 2019 arrived.
Lillian (the mare) and Molly (her filly) are done on the old Thoroughbred Mare and Foal molds.
They're not an overly popular mold unless you are an avid vintage collector like me and I absolutely love this pair.
Breyer has been using the old picture boxes from the past, too, another aspect of this duo that I really like.
All that is left for 2019 club members is the free Stablemate to be released and that usually happens in November. And I'll be joining up again next year - included in the box was a photo of one of next year's offerings.
They're bringing back the old grooming kits!!
I can't wait to see the other pieces in the 2020 Vintage Collectors Club.
I have wanted Poppy, the Performing Pony by Cybis for a long time. They come up on eBay occasionally and are usually listed at $200. That's more than I wanted to pay for the piece, so I have watched as they have come and gone for several years now.
Last year, one popped up for $149. It sold fairly quickly, and then another was listed for the same price. I have been watching it for months. $149, while better than $200, is still more than I was willing to pay to acquire a Poppy.
Last week I got an eBay message saying that the seller was willing to accept $99 if any of those watching the auction were interested. Most definitely, I was!
And now I have my own Cybis Poppy, safely ensconced in my china cabinet.
Poppy was made 1976 - 1979 and was a limited edition of 1000 according to the Cybis archives. Mine is #363 and bigger than I'd realized. There are no chips or breaks.
She's a nice addition to my circus horse collection and I am already thinking of taking her to Great Lakes Congress' October show for a special collector's class they are having.
Pony Pal Corinne was not the only one who sent a gift home with Boompa - Adelaide sent me something, too.
Addie and Snickerdoodle during a visit to Indiana in 2017. (Naturally I took all the kids out to the barn!)
What Addie gifted me with was highly unusual and is very, special to me. See if you can tell what it is that she sent. (I made this video to thank her.)
Could you tell what it was?
Addie is a violinist. Her bow is made from horsehair, and she has been carefully saving the strands that break for me.
Definitely a unique gift that is reflective of Addie's interest in the violin as well as her thoughtfulness and love for me.
Two weeks after my surgery, our newest granddaughter, Melissa Jean, was blessed in Church.
Sadly, because of my surgery, I was not able to travel all the way to Florida and back, so we decided that Craig would go without me.
Two of our adult kids, Lisa and Curt, live nearby, and they kept an eye on me during his absence.
Pony Pal Corinne (the girl in the white and blue striped dress) was born the day I brought Abby home from Indiana Horse Rescue, and a joke between Corinne and me is that she and Abby are twins since they share a birthday. In fact, when she was little, Corinne called Abby, "my tin hoss."
The "twins" enjoying their sisterhood (and a candy cane) in 2107.
Corinne is a very thoughtful girl, and she wanted to send me a little something with Craig when he came home. She chose a candy cane that she had been saving since last Christmas and told him that it was for her twin horse. (She can say it correctly now; I miss that sweet little baby phrase!)
We took it out to Abby the day after Craig flew home from Florida.
I decided that it would be nice if Corinne could see her twin horse enjoying the gift she'd sent.
So Craig took a couple of videos to share with her.
