Tasha Tudor Legacy

I've officially started my Christmas baking.  I baked my Dundee fruitcakes last night and am now anointing them with brandy a little at a time.  As soon as they are sufficiently marinated, I'll freeze them until December 6th, when we will eat them on St. Nicholas' Birthday.  I started doing this many years ago when my daughter was little and we discovered Tasha Tudor.  I haven't always had time the past few years and have decided I really want to revive some of the things we used to do and find some new things to add to our family traditions.

Tasha Tudor was an artist/illustrator/author who loved the lifestyle of the 1830's.  I discovered her in my early 20's and was amazed to find this woman who also liked marionettes, antique dolls, old-style clothing, Nubian goats, Pembroke Welsh Corgis, herb and regular gardens, flowers, art, chickens, and tea parties.  However, while her favorite time period was the 1830's, mine was the 1870's, not really surprising since she was 40 years old than I.  I was amazed at the coincidence.  My husband was amazed at the time to learn we were into so many of the same things.

Under the inspiration of her books, my daughter grew up dressing in old-style clothing, playing with dolls, and buying clothes for her dolls with buttons.  We had Tasha Tudor-inspired advent calendars and tea parties.  We had her friends over for St. Nick's tea on Dec. 6th, and The Doll's Christmas Party on December 23rd (a tea party given by my dolls for Elsie's friends).  We had patriotic parades up and down my mother's block on July 4th, with the little girls waving flags, banging on a drum, and singing patriotic songs while the neighbors in their yards clapped.  We had a Sparrow Post Office run by a stuffed crow, and Elsie and her friends had tiny mailboxes that received mail addressed to their dolls.  We made pumpkin moonshines and hung wreaths in the windows and antique ornaments on the Christmas tree.  In short, knowing of Tasha Tudor really enriched our lives as we incorporated so many of her family traditions into our family traditions.

Now I am part of an internet group of Tasha Tudor devotees and it is so much fun.  We have various swaps throughout the year, send Valentines to each other in February, ornaments in December, and encourage each other through everyday life the rest of the time.  It is nice knowing there are other followers out there.  :)