Well, the fourth of July weekend has proven to be an exciting one for us. We worked on clearing out the dining room and put in a new mailbox.

Mailbox

The mailbox at the Morrissey house has been gone for a bit. So top of the to-do list for this long weekend is putting up a new mailbox. We took a trip first to the little post office at the end of our street to find out about the mailbox requirements. Only to learn that the little post office is only for outgoing mail and P.O. boxes. The post office we needed was in Foxborough. So off we went to the Foxborough post office. We got the needed regulations for mailboxes. And the lovely lady at the post office left a note for the mail delivery person on our route that we have moved in to the house.

We ended up getting a mailbox post that didn’t require digging. We got a bucket and some Quick-Crete just in case. The no digging required post seems to have worked the way its supposed to and everything is together and ready for mail. We had a bit of trouble getting the stake for the post and the post into the ground. But, that is because we really needed a sledgehammer or a heavier hammer and couldn’t find one. I will say that I am DYING to go through the basement now though because I saw some cool stuff while I was looking for a heavier hammer.

Dining Room

The dining room has a china cabinet that is built into the wall, small chest of drawers with a marble top, a larger chest of drawers, and a credenza. There was a table and chairs, but that was taken by the junk guys. The room also has a plate rail that goes around the entire room. I will admit now that the stuff on the plate rail was not investigated very well. But we need the floor space for when the POD arrives.

China

The built-in china cabinet is amazing. I need to get a few more hooks for teacups as I have my own to add to the collection. I eventually would love to take the time to look-up all the china patterns in the cabinet but that is currently a later project.

More china/pottery was found in the chest of drawers with the marble top. Though this one was full of Stangl Pottery. There were pieces from two Stangl collections; Thistle and Country Gardens. Most of the pieces are Thistle though. One of the things Stangl pottery is known for is hand painted dinnerware in floral and fruit patterns. Stangl Pottery was hand painted and hand carved. Thistle was on of their more popular patterns and was produced 1951-1978. The thistle design was created by Kay Hackett. Another pottery company purchased Stangl Pottery in 1978 and the company stopped manufacturing at that time.

Glassware

One of the really pretty finds on top of the several pieces of cut glass that we found was some dinner and salad plates. They took a little bit searching to find as they don’t have a makers mark. I found out through a google reverse image search (which has been extremely helpful) that it is King’s Crown. The King’s Crown pattern was made by two companies; U.S. Glass Co. and Indiana Glass Co. There are some differences between the two that make them distinctive from one another. The salad and dinner plates are from the Indiana Glass Co. This is because the U.S. Glass Co. design has a star pressed into the bottom of the plate in addition to the thumbprint like pattern. The manufacturing date of 1968-1980. The castor set (salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar) is from U.S. Glass Co. with a manufacturing date between 1900-1904. The etching was most likely added 1900-1930. The two companies and their pieces actually have a rather interesting history which can be found here (Thank you Kingscrownglass.com for your help identifying pieces and dates).

Vases

We found several vases in the dining room. One pretty branch-like vase and one with stylized sunflowers on it. The branch-like didn’t have any makers marks or anything other than the painter’s initial on it. The style and coloring of the branch vase are indicative of Victorian majolica pottery. But that may or may not be the case and someone more versed in pottery would have a better idea. The sunflower vase however had both a makers mark and initials on it. The maker’s mark is imprinted into the clay and is the “N” inside of the “C” right above the M.W.B. The “N” is difficult to see in the photo. Newcomb pottery has a pretty special history. Especially in a house that has been lived in by an entire generation of sisters and will be occupied by at least one more pair of sisters. Newcomb College was established in 1886 by Josephine Louise Newcomb who donated money to Tulane University in honor of her daughter Harriott Sophie Newcomb. This donation and the donation made upon her passing established the first degree-granting coordinate college for women in the United States. Newcomb Pottery was established from art classes at the college and the desire to teach income producing skills to students, all of whom at the time were female. This was one of few opportunities for women to find employment. The initials M.W.B. are for Mary Williams Butler (March 15, 1873 – October 20, 1937). She started as a student in the art program at the college and continued on to be a professor at the college. She began the metalwork classes at the college and was influential to many students scholarships, fellowships, and exhibitions.

Plate Rail

There is a plate rail that extends around the entire room. Below are a few sections of the plate rail. There is a ton of stuff on them that will most likely be explored later.

Other Finds

Delft tile

Delft is a city in Holland that became known for it’s tin-glazed earthenware. So well-known in fact that blue and white painted earthenware objects and tiles became known as Delftware. We found two tiles in this style. One can be clearly identified as an original Delftware tile due to the maker’s mark on the back. According to Royaldelft.com this tile was made in 1898. The other tile has Grohn imprinted on the back. Grohn is a more modern tile company. I believe that someone took a Grohn tile and tried their hand at Delft style painting tiles.

Flax Wheel

Susan has said this is a flax wheel which has proven to be accurate. It also lead to many, many questions. Is there a difference between a wool and a flax spinning wheel? Was my first question. The answer to which is yes, but any fiber can be spun on any wheel. A flax wheel has a distaff (the taller “stick” with the hole in it), and the oriface (the distance between the two shorter “sticks” directly in front of the wheel) is much smaller.

Miscellaneous

Next, is a bunch of things that didn’t really fit anywhere else. A saber that can, apparently, only be Uncle Leon’s (Florence‘s husband) as he was the only military personnel in the family. There was a beautiful rose circle painted on a cloth. This seemed like it was supposed to be an embroidery or cross-stitch pattern at some point but I am not sure. And lastly, in a little chest or box or some other something, I found these little metal coins. As it turns out they are just little play dimes, as they so aptly have written on them, that were made in the 1950’s.

And so, at the close of the holiday weekend we now have a new mailbox and a sorted through dining room. The new stove should arrive and be hook-up to the gas this week. I think the next project will be sorting through the master bedroom to clear a workspace for Ben.

Lots of Love,

The McMullins