Pink and Green
Favorite memories of meals at home included Mom’s Desert Rose dishes. Even before she could afford to buy settings of it, she’d fallen in love with it during WWII and bought the rosebud salt and pepper shakers and the darling individual ash trays. Yes, ash trays, but I never saw Dad flick ashes from his unfiltered Camels in one.
When Dad installed Mom’s white Youngstown kitchen cabinets with black countertops. She decorated the kitchen in pink and green, and served porkchops with potatoes and gravy on luncheon sized Desert Rose plates. Colors of my childhood.
I didn’t want china when we got married. I bought Melmac to take to Idaho where Guy was stationed before Vietnam. When we eventually settled down, I admitted that I still didn’t want fine china but I’d enjoy having some Desert Rose dishes like I grew up with. Mom and Guy both enjoyed gifting me something in that pattern, especially if they could find it American made (yes, you can tell the difference), until I sure had a collection of it!
Grandma Leora was here for her last Mother’s Day celebration. I later realized I’d used those dishes against a pink tablecloth covered with one she’d crocheted. After Guy asked the blessing, Grandma leaned over to me–in that perky way she went about such things–and asked, “Do I recognize something?” Indeed, little Grandma. What a blessed memory. 1987
We’re in the season of downsizing. Son Dan and his wife Renee aren’t interested in the Desert Rose dishes. I let most of them go when Mom’s things were auctioned.
But I kept my mother’s old Desert Rose from the farm along, along with those rosebud salt and pepper shakers and the ash trays.
I’m so glad you saved a few pieces from the Desert Rose set. How special.
Yes, I can see why you and your mother liked it so.
Oh my…they’re beautiful, Joy. And so full of memories. I made a graphic to go along with a new post for Heart of the Matter this morning and used pink and green…reminds me of the gorgeous tones in the desert rose dishes. Good morning to you, my friend! 🥰
Thank you, Vicki. Maybe pink and green are about to make a comeback?
Ohhh! I hope so! 🥰
It’s a real struggle when downsizing to know what to keep and what to let go!
It “helps” when your own kids don’t want them! (Hey, granddaughter Kate said yes to the Narnia map yesterday! It now lives in the Twin Cities! They just got started on the series.)
My mother had that pattern, too, at least when I was young. I don’t remember seeing it by the time I left for college. She must have decided she didn’t like it anymore. I definitely remember the pattern, but I don’t think she had many pieces.
Mom used them for Sundays and special occasions, but plastic dishes sure lasted through all those hand washings better than the pretty ones.
I am glad you saved a few pieces! They are so lovely! It is hard to know what to keep and what to let go of with the family treasures!!! I believe you made a wise decision. 🙂
Thank you, Linda. It’s sure easy to hang onto anything that has a story about it!
My mother had Franciscan fine china, too! Hers was the gray Renaissance pattern. She gave it to me when she went into assisted living. I used it every time we had her over for a meal.
What a dear memory. Whenever Mom was here and Dan was home (from college or work), I’d ask Mom to tell her own story about the dishes.
I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like that. But it is odd how we recall the patterns in dishes that held supper long gone. My grandmother used to buy all manner of dishes which God knows what happened to. but one day, in the ARC, guess what I stumbled across. A set of dishes with the exact same pattern. We bought them, of course.
Oh, what are they? I hope you tell their story every time you use them!
Those are very nice pieces.
Thanks, Andrew! You know, Iowa’s state flower is the wild rose, which the little ash trays remind me of.
I believe my mother had some of these pieces…
I’ll bet she might have, Annette. It’s been popular for a long time.
Your Youngstown kitchen made from steel was manufactured in the Steel Valley of northeast Ohio-which is now the rust belt. I don’t live far from there. My father and father-in-law both worked in the steel mills in the area and I’m wondering if they helped produce the steel that ended up in your kitchen! The salt and pepper rosebuds and ash trays are absolutely charming! 🙂
Wouldn’t that be a fun connection, Nancy? She was so happy with that slick clean kitchen. I didn’t know until a few years ago that the cupboards also came in colors, even red!
I just remember the same white kitchen cabinets in other kids’ houses. Maybe a different color cost more or white was just easier to decorate around.
I’ll bet they sold mostly white.
Yes, it’s good to keep a bit of it around as long as you can. Very sweet!
Beautiful pattern-I remember it well! My mom used my grandmother’s china for holidays and I passed it on to my daughter now. Though it isn’t the same as yours, it probably evokes the same sentiments. I do remember your pattern from meals with my friends growing up though. Just loved it!
Thank you, Lori. I love it that you’ve passed on your grandmother’s china to your daughter.
It’s nice that you managed to hold to those dishes that are tied to such wonderful memories, Joy.
It’s a lot easier to hang onto things when you don’t move often. We’ve been here since our son was 2. He’ll be 50 in December!
Lots of memories there, for sure.
Thank you, Tim. It’s so nice that Mom got to use beautiful things after growing up during the Depression and living in a Sunday School room or back with her folks during the war.
My mom had the Franciscan apple pattern. Growing up we had Sunday dinners on them weekly, and also Christmas and Thanksgiving. When my parents passed, my sister took them all as she never had any ‘formal’ china. We have many fond memories of family meals with those dishes…and dreaded the meals at the same time because Mom and Dad didn’t have a dishwasher and sis and I were the ones who dried all the dishes while Mom washed. We always had to be extra careful, and those dishes were heavy!!!
Oh, Shelley, I love your memories with the apple dishes! They are also a little brittle, so some of them have chips on the edges, but they’re still dear.
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