Good morning! This will be our last rain-free day for a week. April showers, right on time.
Unless I discover that I’ve left a couple of egg cups out of the tour, we reach the end of our journey today. Some of you have asked if I still collect egg cups. Not actively, but if I see something I really want, I might just buy it. There are few available cubbies at this point. I did buy one last year and I’ve been perusing eBay, but nothing has spoken to me. And yes, a lot of you have mentioned seeing what I’ve been talking about: there are far, far less vintage figural cups available online or in antique shops. I think I got into collecting them at just the right time. There were still so many beautiful figural cups available and, in those pre-Paypal days, I spent hours hunting down egg cups and sending – get this – money orders to the sellers. Australia, England, France! I had such fun. Yes, I know the basics on each cup, but in retrospect, I wish I had noted the country, the seller, when I purchased it, etc.
As far as current collecting, I’ve slowed down so much that I’ve almost hit the brakes. And that’s not just on egg cups. I no longer actively seek out McCoy or Roseville pottery. I tend to borrow books from the library and rarely buy one. I’m 73 and I live in a small cottage. I will most likely sell more items in my collections on Etsy or eBay, but not yet. I have enough Blythe dolls. A few smaller dolls, like Ruby or Greta, might come my way, mostly because I love their size and I do the faceups myself. It’s good practice for me. Don and I have really faced the fact that we are creative artists and we have to keep creating. Especially now. That’s why Don writes songs and records them on video. That’s why I do what I do. Otherwise, we would go a little mad.
Speaking of Greta, yesterday I enhanced her original faceup – she needed rosier cheeks, and her eyebrows needed a bit of work, along with some additional tweaking here and there.
Gosh, she’s a cutie.
Okay. Egg cups.
On the left, a newish egg cup from Emma Bridgewater. I found it in her shop in London.
In the middle, another Fannie Farmer eggcup. I have 2 of them and they were sent to me by a reader of this blog.
And a gold lustreware cup being carried by a little bear. My friend Lynnie, who lives in Canada, sent it to me.
A Jadeite double egg cup.
A charming little cup that I watched on Etsy for over a year until I finally succumbed. It’s a souvenir egg cup from Chambéry in the French Alps. Why did I want it? There are two groundhogs gazing at the mountains.
And on the right, another double egg cup – this one by Hankscraft. It has an Art Deco look that I love.
C’est fini!
Stay safe.
Happy Monday.
Not to sound morbid but who will inherit your lovely collection when the time comes (hoping it will not be for a long, long, long time)! I remember my sister and I cleaning out my parents’ home and my siblings and I took a bit of this and that – whatever meant something to us. After that, we gave a lot of it away.
I don’t know. And as I won’t be here, I’ll leave it to others.
Stay safe, Ellen.
All done already? Quite the collection you have amassed, and quite varied. You should be proud. I very rarely add to my collections these days. These are my collections, and my kids have no desire for them. So…eventually they will be sold as well. Until then, I will enjoy them…and yours lol.
It’s going to be gorgeous today, with temps in the 70’s, so more yard work is in order. The rain starts tomorrow here as well, which means we can rest up guilt-free after today’s activities…if you know what I mean lol.
Greta looks lovely….she reminds me of a modern day Rapunzel. Enjoy your day! ;)
There were a few I didn’t feature as they’re fairly plain. But that was nearly the entirety of my collection.
Wouldn’t you love to have Greta’s hair?
Stay safe, Donnamae.
Greta looks radiant! In my younger years I would’ve loved having hair that long….now all I can think of is the maintenance lol. Thanks again for the egg cup tours…much appreciated! ;)
You’re most welcome!
xo
two groundhogs (or almost any other animals) looking at a mountain would get me to buy something, too. :) thanks for the egg-cups tour. always a treat, and your time and efforts are appreciated!
same plan here about not adding to collections except i make no promises if i find “keeper” books, especially about art. :)
hope you enjoy the rain. we have low (20 – 40%) chances for brief rain later this week. hope we get some. we sure need it.
didn’t make it to the “no kings” protest on saturday (my brother and sister-in-law did; said it went well). in a wee hour of the morning, one of our sweet neighbors next door called … one having trouble breathing. we ran right over and my sister took a. to the hospital (faster than calling an ambulance because the hospital is less than a mile up the street) and i stayed with her husband, who has mobility troubles. she was admitted to the hospital and i stayed with him until one of their kids could arrive. the closest one drove about five hours from illinois. thankfully, a. is back home, but they’ve talked about moving into a continuum-of-care place out of state, closer to their family and this emergency has probably ensured that. she is 84 and he is 87. they are such nice people and been great neighbors for over 25 years. glad they knew that they could call us and did so.
time to get back to other things. hope you, don and everyone else have a good, easy, safe day.
kathy
Thank goodness you were there when they called. I’m sure you were an enormous comfort for them, Kathy.
Stay safe.
Thanks for sharing your egg cups again! What a great collection. So many beautiful ones. I think my favorite is the girl in the bunny costume.
That is a personal favorite of mine, as well.
Thanks so much, Carol.
Stay safe.
Oh my goodness … the days of eBay and money orders!! I hadn’t thought of that in years. I spent MANY lunch breaks waiting in line at my bank.
I’ve also slowed way down with my collecting. I still thoroughly enjoy having my various collections surrounding me, but I know longer feel the pull of adding to them like I used to. I’ll be 69 next month, I suppose that’s part of getting older.
Thank you, Claudia, for the 2026 egg cup tour. I enjoy it every single year.
I bet no one who didn’t order then can believe it. But that’s what we did!
Thanks so much, Debbie.
Stay safe.
Thanks for the tour, Claudia. I love Emma Bridgewater ware and am tempted every time I see them. One of these days, I’ll spring for one of the coffee mugs I like but where to put it? My daughter collects Starbucks city mugs during our travels. They take up a lot of space.
I have a couple of the coffee mugs, but they don’t hold enough coffee for me!
Thanks, Wendy.
Stay safe.
I don’t have any memory of your little bear with the luster ware cup. I love him! The Emma Bridgewater cup is lovely also. I have a few of her mugs and someday I will buy a teapot! I don’t need another teapot, but that’s not even the issue. I’ve enjoyed the egg cup tour!
I have several of her pieces. Love them.
Thanks so much.
Stay safe.
Hi Claudia! I get it about trying to collect less…. and even let go of things no longer “treasured”…. and small houses where elbows bump. And I really get it about creativity… with the down side that the created things pile up if the intention was never to be “selling” in the first place. I no longer have wall space to hang all my Christmas Card drawings (8.5×11 inch watercolors) which I have drawn now for over forty years! And my “dollhouse” hobby/mania/obsession has obliterated any sense of order in my collections and lifestyle. But making little things and telling the stories is essential to my well-being! Now even more than ever before… I will not give up. They keep me more than sane… they keep me in love with living… every day! So I am all in favor of living the creative life any way we can! Thank you for sharing your creativity here!
So well said, Betsy! Thank you for your wise words.
Stay safe.
Oh, ,my goodness! Greta is the cutest!
Thanks so much, Sue. I’m rather fond of her!
Stay safe.
Love seeing the last few egg cups. I’m in the same boat Claudia, as I’m not collecting any longer and even down sizing my collections. My children have not shown interest in my ‘old’ things. I will still keep special items that mean a great deal to me, but so many others are finding new homes.
I have no children and I know my nieces and nephews would have absolutely no interest!
I’m not ready to pass on any egg cups, but there are other items that I’m ready to release.
Stay safe, Linda.