PUFFED SLEEVES, THE POST OFFICE, AND LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD

Inspiration to live a storied life from rural 19th-century Oxfordshire

My husband likes one kind of show, I like another, and rarely do we find something we like to cuddle up to and enjoy together, but recently (always late to the game, I know!) we stumbled upon the 2008 BBC series “Lark Rise to Candleford.”

Written as a trilogy from 1939-1943 by Flora Thompson, it’s a semi-autobiographical account of her life in late 19th-century Oxfordshire, and in particular it deals with the changes brought about by industrialization and urbanization on rural populations. That’s one way of saying it. Another way is to say that it’s an homage to the simple English way of life, and if you’re prone to nostalgia like I am, then you’ll love indulging in a bit of Victorian time-travel.

For Jane Austen film buffs, if you look at the two figures in the center of this photograph, you’ll see the two scandalous women: Victoria Hamilton on the left (blue dress), who was Maria Bertram in “Mansfield Park”, and Julia Sawalha on the right (grey dress), who was Lydia Bennett in “Pride and Prejudice”.

Here’s an art and lifestyle inspo round-up from the world of Lark Rise…

As an ex-academic, I usually read THE BOOK first, but in this case the damage is done and I’m going to have to read the book second. My mother is currently listening to the audiobook because she can’t see very much anymore, and she’s loving the story, although it’s bittersweet since it’s reminding her of the idyllic years we spent in England many years ago, when rural villages weren’t so different than they are in the novel.

My husband is also enjoying the fact that everything centers around the post office. Before he quit his job for us to work together last year, he was the postmaster of a very small, poor town in the prairies of rural Oregon, where he got to know the characters of the locals (one old codger used to ride to get his mail on his lawnmower), and was as bad as an old woman with all the local gossip.

As for me, I have a thing for antique organizers, map cabinets, file cabinets, specimen cabinets, etc., etc. Here’s an antique POST OFFICE CUBBY HOLE ORGANIZER. I know I’d find a use for one, no matter what my husband says. Look at it: how could it not be incredibly useful?!?

This week, my mailbox has been stuffed with envelopes and papers, a couple of which were bills to keep and most of which were advertisements trying to sell me something to toss. The Candleford post office, however, processes invitations, naval assignments, billets doux, letters from overseas, and Parisian catalogues. We’ve all done it before, and let’s do it again: promise to write more LETTERS. By hand. That mean something.

Read this great blog post on writing letters in the 19th-century (a little earlier than Lark Rise, but close).

And read this great blog post by Paul Bonaventura on letters in art.

À propos, the contemporary artwork of ANN CARRINGTON is sublime, especially with her mix of high/low, old-fashioned/modern. Most known for her pearlized button stamps of Queen Elizabeth, here’s one of Queen Victoria. Buttons! It’s made of little buttons!

I’d never heard of WINE JELLY before, but they made it look so good in the show that now I have to make one. Here’s a recipe for Mulled Wine Jelly with Cinnamon Cream.

LEG-OF-MUTTON SLEEVES. They were ridiculous….but were they? Or were they wonderful?

Here’s Sea New York with some modern-day more-is-more leg-of-mutton sleeves.

And here are PUFFED SLEEVES, a more wearable variation, and easier to accommodate with sweaters and jackets.

Ulla Johnson is the master of the modern puffed sleeve for the working woman, if one is hoping to channel the inimitable postmistress Miss Dorcas Lane (and who wouldn’t want to?):

And I also love PORTRAIT BROOCHES, here worn by the Pratt Sisters:

A few months ago, I started painting not just miniature portrait brooches, but portraits of ladies wearing miniature portrait brooches - in this case, miniature Lover’s Eyes.

All this nostalgia has me longing to go to England, and I’ve just found this inn, THE LION BICESTER, in the town that inspired Candleford.

Dogs are welcome in the bar and hotel. Agatha, let’s pack up! It’s time for a trip!