Tuesday Trinket.
This week, allow me to present the possible jewelry box of Dorothy Parker’s relative:
Please excuse the cat hair clinging to the edges.
I can’t seem to remember exactly when I got this, or where, but I know it’s from one of the antique stores I used to frequent five or six or seven years ago. There was a note inside, indicating that the box once belonged to Dorothy Parker’s…grandmother? Aunt? Yet another detail I can’t recall, though I happen to know the note is somewhere in one of my boxes, so I will show it to you when it turns up.
I have had a long, torrid love affair with Dorothy Parker. A Telephone Call was my favorite short story in high school, and Ms. Parker’s voice was one I carried in my head as I slouched grumpily through the halls. Her humor was wicked, and her point-of-view decidedly feminine in a time when much of literature was dominated by a stifling cocktail of Serious Manliness and privileged male angst.
Who knows whether this old, stained, slightly furry jewelry box really and truly belonged to Dorothy Parker’s grand-niece or second cousin or long-lost confirmed-bachelor uncle. You can’t trust everything a little old antique merchant tells you, I know. But the fifteen or so dollars or so I paid for it are no match for the delight this thing brings me as a sort of literary talisman, and I consider it money excellently spent.
And, speaking of jewelry boxes, or at least things one might put in them, after seeing my post about the charm Scott bought for my birthday, Tania of Julian & Co. has graciously extended 15% off to my readers (use the code “FLOTSAM” at checkout). Happy Tuesday!
11 Comments
Very cool! I love Dorothy Parker, too. She’s so eminently quotable.
What a charming box!!! Not to worry, everything I own has a few cat hairs on it. The ultimate fashion accessory, right? I am a HUGE fan of Dorothy Parker. Everything Dorothy Parker. You MUST check out her website, if you haven’t already: http://www.dorothyparker.com/ She rocks.
Forgot to mention, her stone farmhouse is just 40 minutes from where I live, wea ctually were able to find the house after much searching. It’s back a private road but is just gorgeous in “person.”
Is the Sidecar verse from Dorothy? Much of your writing reminds me of hers. Happpy Tuesday to you too! Though it’s now Wednesday. Only 5 more posts to go.
Hi – from your literature nerd friend in Indiana! LOVE Dorothy Parker! “Prince a precept I’d leave to you — coined in Eden existing yet — skirt the parlor and shun the zoo — women and elephants never forget.”
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Glynda–
Well thank you! The Sidecar verse is actually mine, a rip-off of Ogden Nash’s “There’s Something About a Martini” that I composed on a cocktail napkin after one-too-many Sidecars…
Of course you love Dorothy Parker… I never doubted it for a minute.
Didn’t know how to contact you…Here’s a vegetarian stuffing recipe: http://www.theveggietable.com/recipes/stuffing.html I’ve never tried it, so I can’t vouch for its deliciousness! :)
Hi! Do you know how long Julian and Co will be offering 15% off? Just trying to shuffle Christmas funds around to justify buying a really cool necklace. thanks! Jennifer
ohh nice box! I love little boxes, I have a little collection, but none have a neat story like yours!
Dorothy Parker. *sigh*
My mother made me read her at a young age to get me ready for life.