White on White

I've collected white dishes since 1965.  
I was in high school then and it was long before Martha was Martha,
and long before my last name became White.

My sister Sandra and I never had real hope chests (although my 85 year old mother still has hers which Sandra, the eldest, will inherit one day), we just collected stuff.  Sandra collected Elvis albums, and still has a complete collection, and I collected decor, dishes, art, and

household things, knowing even then I wanted to be a homemaker extraordinaire -- a wish that turned into a career in decorating, design, creative consulting, catering, and writing.

My cherished chili bowls.

Two sizes pasta bowls, 9" and 11-1/2"

I remember when I moved into my first apartment -- a studio at Grove Bay Village in Coconut Grove, in the F state to the south.  I say F state because the first friend I made when I moved to the mountains, was Molly Sellers Robinson Seaver (in the pre-Seaver days), who upon my informing her I was from Florida, in turn quietly informed me, "We locals don't use the F word."  

Oval Servers

Dad helped me put together a wicker day bed that would also serve as sofa (little did I know within two months he would pass away from aggressive cancer), and I searched thrift stores and yard sales to complete the picture.  The only new things I bought were down pillows, solid white cotton sheets, and solid white fluffy towels, all of which reminded me of hotels.  Along with my solid white dishes, I could've opened a spa named Bianca.

Rectangle trays and bakers

I invited my boyfriend over for the first dinner I cooked in that chic little studio, and when he saw the table beautifully set for two with flickering candles and all white dishes, his only comment was, "What did you do -- rob a restaurant?"  That was 1976, and I'm still on a mission to rob more restaurants of their white-ware, and find more white dishes at yard sales and thrift stores that I don't need and will never use, but then I'm a woman obsessed. 

Mortar & Pestles and ingredient bowls

Saki set and butter keepers

In 1965 when I began collecting whites, my friends were searching for perfect patterned dishes.  My mother has several complete sets of bone china and serve ware in patterns from Haviland, Noritake, & Royal Doulton, and she mixes and matches them, which I love.  But for me, it's white.  Isn't it interesting with my passion for white dishes, sheets, towels, and slip covers, my last name became White?

Small ovals -- the scalloped ones from Cathy Jarrett's yard sale

Some of my dishes remind me of my former husband, J, and other dishes remind me of apartments and houses, of shops and sales, but for the most part I think of them as universal, transcending space or time, and ultimately, the perfect clean palette for well, food!

Breakfast Bowls and small plates

I do admire beautiful hand painted bone china like my mother has in her china cabinets, and place settings like many of my friends got for wedding gifts. 

White serving bowls, pie plate and souffle bowl

By the time I married, I had so many white dishes already, it didn't seem important to register a pattern for gifts.  Since I was marrying a man named White, I just told anyone who wanted to, to bring me whites!

5 ways to drink coffee!

Batter Bowl and Apple or Potato Bakers

Milk pitcher, tea pot, and gravy bowl

And some even with their own little casserole keeper

I'd like to invite you to send me photos of your white ware to blairsvillager@gmail.com, along with your name and a short caption and I'll be glad to print as many of them as I can.

XOXO
~Jo