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People all over the world collect and trade cigarette cards; in fact, cigarette card collecting has a name: cartophily. Who knew? British cigarette manufacturers created some of the most fascinating and beautiful cards, including lots of gorgeous flower sets.
The cards started out as practical—in the 1800s cigarette manufacturers inserted cardboard "stiffeners" into cigarette packets to help reinforce and protect the contents. Some enterprising individual came up with the idea of using the cards as a marketing tools: enticing customers to buy more cigarettes in order to collect the whole series. Very clever actually.
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Even though it was late September, St. Ives was bursting with color. Today it's 30 degrees in Cincinnati. All the flowers are dead. Sigh. This slideshow should help. The Brits do window boxes right. No skimpy, plant-the-flowers-far-apart-to-stretch-the-budget in this country. British window boxes are the word profusion exemplified.  This photo is chock-a-block with texture. Stucco wall. Textured glass. Sharp crisp window frame. Brilliant flower arrangement. Soft gathered curtains. Really, it's a perfect picture. Click photo to get an in-your-face profusion of perfection.
The wonderful man, Ray, from University College, has taken Bob and me down to the rugby (soccer? football? badminton? whatever) field to show us where and how Bill Clinton's Chinook blasted out the greenhouse windows when he and Hillary came to visit Chelsea. Ok. So Bob and Ray are getting all excited over the Chinook details. I am bored to tears and can no longer fake interest. Then I notice these roses.
Years ago we took the boys to Stratford-upon-Avon to see all that Shakespeare stuff. Part of the trip included a foray into the Cotswolds, where we were greeted by shrubbery that has its own personality. |
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