Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Today however we have headed slightly west from Mayfair, across Hyde Park to Kensington Gardens, where on a bench along the path overlooking the Serpentine, not too far from the statue of Peter Pan* stands, Lettice’s maid Edith and her beau, greengrocer delivery boy, Frank Leadbetter sit. Around them, the bells of central London ring in the distance, calling the faithful who have not yet visited to prayers and masses, for today is Easter Sunday. Unlike last year, when the pair spent the Easter Monday bank holiday amidst the leafy green surrounds of Hampstead Heath**, the young couple have eschewed the crowds that fill the Easter fair** that is held on the Heath, preferring the quieter and more genteel surrounds of Kensington Gardens where only the splash of the Serpentine, the tweet of birds, the calls of ducks and the chatter of couples not unlike them punctuate the air around them.
“I say Edith, I do think your new Easter hat is jolly,” Frank compliments his sweetheart, admiring the straw hat she is wearing with its wide brim decorated with a gay blue green and red ribbon and artificial flowers in matching colours. “It suits you.”
“Do you really think so, Frank?” When the young man smiles broadly at her and nods, Edith continues as she pats the brim edge with her white cotton glove clad hand, “It was a bit of an extravagance, but Mrs. Minkin finally wore me down, telling me how much it would suit me with my blonde hair.”
“And so it does!” Frank assures her, before quickly adding, “Not that your black straw hat doesn’t.”
“Admittedly she had brought down the price from twelve and six, which I simply couldn’t justify.”
“Ahh,” Frank taps the right side of his nose with his finger knowingly. “But if I know my Edith, she probably still bargained down the price further.”
“Well,” Edith blushes coyly and glances down into the lap of her pretty homemade spring frock covered in a floral pattern of blue forget-me-not sprigs that she made using the sewing machine she bought from Ken, the son of Lettice’s char, Mrs. Boothby. “She did have it for nine and six, but I managed to haggle Mrs. Minkin down to seven and six.”
“That’s my girl!” Frank laughs good naturedly, clapping in delight. “No wonder my Granny loves you. Are you sure you aren’t really related to a canny Scotsman?”
“No Frank!” Edith laughs in reply. “I think Mrs. Minkin just enjoys the banter that goes with haggling. As she tells me, her ancestors have haggled over everything for centuries, so why should she rail against years of Jewish culture?”
“Well, it is nice seeing my girl in something new for a change.”
“Not that it’s the sunniest of days.” Edith says with a sigh, looking up to the overcast sky above with grey rain clouds roiling menacingly overhead. “It looks like it may rain, which may make my hat, and yours,” She points to Frank’s straw boater with it own pretty tricolour grosgrain trim atop his head. “Rather pointless.”
“Well, at least you were smart enough to bring a brolly.” Frank taps Edith’s black umbrella. He looks more closely at it and notices the damage along the black leather hook and the gently fraying edge of some of the black fabric in the furls. Sighing he adds as he worries a tatter, “I just wish I could afford to keep you in stockings and fans as you deserve.”
“Oh Frank,” Edith replies, noting his fingers on her umbrella. “You’ll have plenty of time for that later, after we save enough money to get married and I become a housewife.” She takes her beau’s long, slender hand in hers as much to get him to stop further damaging her umbrella as a sign of affection. “But we have plenty of time for that.”
“Well, I don’t know if your dad will ever want to give me your hand in marriage when the time comes, after that disastrous dinner at your parents’ last Sunday.” Frank shakes his head sadly. “Me and my big mouth.”
“Yes, you and that big mouth of yours.” Edith says not unkindly, rubbing his cheek consolingly with her spare hand as she pulls a face that is a mixture of love, pity, and admonishment. Her right eyebrow arches over her cornflower blue eye and her lips curl upwards in a sad smile.
“You did try to warn me, didn’t you? You told me before we went that I needed to mind my manners and not just go spurting off whatever was on my mind. Gran warned me of the same thing.”
“Don’t worry Frank. Mum is just a bit set in her ways, and she likes things the way they are because they work for her.”
“But the old order doesn’t work for everyone, and that’s why it’s broken and needs fixing. Has your Mum ever walked through the rookeries**** of Stepney or Poplar?”
“Probably not, Frank, and that’s why she probably doesn’t think anything is wrong, because nothing is wrong in her world.” Edith smiles across at Frank and looks earnestly into his face. “But I have, so I’ve seen the filth and squalor and poverty that offends you. I’ve seen the children with rickets and pale skin who are all skin and bone.”
“So, you understand me Edith, when I say that the world needs to change, and is changing for the better with improvements to people’s lives?”
“You know I do Frank, but you have to accept that Mum is a bit old fashioned, and she doesn’t really want change. She was concerned that you were a Communist.”
“A Communist?” Frank splutters. “I’d never get involved with that mixed up political movement. I don’t think they’ve done such a good job in Russia anyway, based upon what I’ve heard and read.”
“I know, Frank, but in Mum’s eyes, the likes of Miss Lettice and her family are people to look up to and admire, but not to aspire to be like. She doesn’t want me getting too far above my station. She feels that we all have our place in the order of things, and if we move out of those, it will create the upheaval like we heard happened in Russia.”
“But that’s preposterous!”
“See, even that word would frighten Mum because it’s foreign to her, just like me calling tea, dinner. Preposterous or not, that’s just how Mum thinks and to rail against her won’t do your cause any good.” She wags a finger admonishingly at her sweetheart.
“You believe in my cause, don’t you Edith?”
“Course I do, Frank.” Edith lets her gaze drift away. “I’ll admit you weren’t quite rabble rouser***** I’d ever imagined myself fancying in my life before the war, but we were all different people before the war, weren’t we?”
“I certainly am. I want change for all of us. I don’t want a world like we had before the war, where there was no equality and no rights for the working man, or woman.”
“I know, and Mum will come around too. Just give her time and do what she asks and try and temper your arguments. You’ll win her over with gentle persuasion over a longer period than you ever will with a hand raised in frustration.” She looks back at her sweetheart and smiles. “Just try. Alright, Frank?”
“Alright Edith, I’ll try.”
“Well, the roast dinner last Sunday wasn’t a complete disaster you know.” Edith consoles. “You may not have converted Mum to your cause, but you both believe in women’s suffrage, and,” she adds. “She did appreciate you giving her those yellow roses, and she was impressed by the fact that you knew what they meant. You heard her say that manners were very important to her, and she can’t fault them.”
“Unlike the wine.”
“Oh poor Frank!” Edith giggles. “I enjoyed it, but I think it was a bit too fancy for Mum’s taste. It’s the thought that counts.”
“I promise, I really will take you to Giuseppe’s up in the Islington****** one night, Edith, for a grand slap-up meal.”
“I’d like that, Frank.” Edith blushes. Then, returning the conversation to her parents and their opinion of Frank, she continues, “And you and Dad have a common interest in reading.”
“I don’t think your dad and I quite have the same taste in reading.” Frank looked doubtfully at Edith.
“That may be true, Frank, but you didn’t hear Dad complaining about you reading to better yourself. Mum might not believe in improving your lot in life so much, but Dad does, and that puts you in better stead for being a prospect for his only daughter.”
“You’re always so positive, Edith.” Frank remarks, looking in admiration at his sweetheart. “I really need to take a leaf out of your book.”
“Well, life isn’t always perfect, but I think you make of it what you want. And I’d like to make my life with you, Frank, so we better use those advantages that you have, to further your cause. Not that you’re proposing marriage any time soon.”
“Not right now I’m not, not that I don’t want to, but…”
“I know.” Edith nods. “You just want to be able to support me, and you can’t just at the moment. It will give us both a chance to save up some money. And by the time we’ve done that, you’ll have won both Dad and Mum over with your natural charm and care and consideration for me.”
“Oh!” Frank exclaims, tapping the crown of his straw boater as he does. “Thinking of care and consideration, I nearly forgot!”
He reaches down into a Willison’s Grocery bag at his feet. As his hands slip into its interior, the bag crumples nosily in protestation. He foists out a large white cardboard box on which is printed the words ‘happy Easter’ in pale green cursive copperplate script and the drawing of a large pink carnation. Through a window in the front, Edith can see a large Cadbury Easter egg******* wrapped in pretty green foil.
“Happy Easter Edith!” Frank says, presenting her with the Easter egg with a flourish.
“Oh Frank!” Edith gasps in return, taking the presentation box in her hands and looking at the egg in reverence. “But this is such an extravagance. I know Mr. Willison has been selling these for three and six!”
“Well, I’ll have you know that you aren’t the only person in London capable of haggling a better price, Miss Watsford!” Frank replies, sitting up with more of a straight back on the bench, smiling proudly. “In fact, I saved myself so much money buying this Easter egg for you that I think I can afford to take you for a slap-up tea at Lyon’s Corner House********.
Frank stands up and doffing his straw boater with one hand, he bows and offers his hand to Edith with a winning smile. “Shall we then, Miss Watsford?”
Taking his hand and rising, she replies, “With pleasure Mr. Leadbetter.”
Edith smiles at the thought as she snuggles into Frank’s side. And leaving the empty wooden bench, the pair walk away down the path towards the Peter Pan statue arm in arm as happily as two young lovers walking out together could be, meandering across Kensington Gardens.
*The statue of Peter Pan is a 1912 bronze sculpture of J. M. Barrie's character Peter Pan. It was commissioned by Barrie and made by Sir George Frampton. The original statue is displayed in Kensington Gardens, to the west of The Long Water, close to Barrie's former home on Bayswater Road.
**Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the Heath) is a large, ancient London heath, covering 320 hectares (790 acres). This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, and a training track, and it adjoins the former stately home of Kenwood House and its estate. The south-east part of the heath is Parliament Hill, from which the view over London is protected by law.
***Fairs have been held on Hampstead Heath since the mid 1800s, covering vast areas of East Heath to Spaniard’s Road. Before that, there had been fairs at Flask Walk in Hampstead since the 17th century, and another flourished in West End until it was shut down for rowdiness in 1820. The popularity of the fairs on the Heath exploded after 1871 when, just after the Hampstead Heath Act, the Bank Holidays Act created four public days’ rest. The Heath’s Bank Holiday fairs regularly attracted upward of 30,000 people at the August holiday, and 50,000 on Whit Mondays. Attendance records were broken when an estimated 200,000 people descended on the Heath one Easter Monday!
****A rookery is a dense collection of housing, especially in a slum area. The rookeries created in Victorian times in London’s East End were notorious for their cheapness, filth and for being overcrowded.
*****Rabble-rouse, “to stir up the public’s emotions,” is a back formation from rabble-rouser, which is a compound of the noun rabble, “a disorderly crowd,” and the verb rouse, “to stir to anger.” Rabble is of uncertain origin, but it may be related to Middle Dutch rabbelen, “to speak hurriedly.” An earlier sense of rouse was “to shake the feathers” and referred to hawks, and while the origin of rouse is equally uncertain, one hypothesis is a connection to Latin recūsāre, meaning “to demur, object,” which is the source of English recuse. The term rabble-rouser came into use in the early Twentieth Century, but really became more modern parlance from mid-century.
******The Italian quarter of London, known commonly today as “Little Italy” is an Italian ethnic enclave in London. Little Italy’s core historical borders are usually placed at Clerkenwell Road, Farringdon Road and Rosebery Avenue - the Saffron Hill area of Clerkenwell. Clerkenwell spans Camden Borough and Islington Borough. Saffron Hill and St. Peter’s Italian Catholic Church fall within the Camden side. However, even though this was the traditional enclave for Italians, immigrants moved elsewhere in London, bleeding into areas like Islington and Soho where they established bars, cafes and restaurants which sold Italian cuisine and wines.
*******One of the most iconic brands in existence, Cadbury’s distinctive purple and white logo has been a stalwart image on confectionery shelves across the UK for over a century - and never more so than at Easter. They first began following the tradition already established by some of the great European chocolatiers and began producing chocolate Easter eggs in 1875. Cadbury’s began in 1824 when John Cadbury opened a shop in Bull Street selling, among other things cocoa and drinking chocolate, which he prepared himself using a pestle and mortar. The Cadbury manufacturing business was born in 1831, when John Cadbury decided to start producing on a commercial scale and bought a four-storey warehouse in nearby Crooked Lane. Only a few years later in 1875 Cadbury produced their first Easter egg. The earliest eggs were made with dark chocolate and had a smooth, plain surface. They were filled with sugar-coated chocolate drops known as 'dragees’. By 1923, when this story is set, Cadbury were producing beautifully decorated milk and dark chocolate eggs in elaborate boxes decorated with the imagery of Easter. Whilst large baskets and intricately decorated cardboard presentation shells for Cadbury's Easter eggs used for those eggs promoted to the upper classes, cheaper versions that were still very beautiful were available for those of lesser means to help promote the brand of Cadbury for special occasions, like Christmas and Easter in every household across the Empire.
********J. Lyons and Co. was a British restaurant chain, food manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1884 by Joseph Lyons and his brothers in law, Isidore and Montague Gluckstein. Lyons’ first teashop opened in Piccadilly in 1894, and from 1909 they developed into a chain of teashops, with the firm becoming a staple of the High Street in the United Kingdom. At its peak the chain numbered around two hundred cafes. The teashops provided for tea and coffee, with food choices consisting of hot dishes and sweets, cold dishes and sweets, and buns, cakes and rolls. Lyons' Corner Houses, which first appeared in 1909 and remained until 1977, were noted for their Art Deco style. Situated on or near the corners of Coventry Street, Strand and Tottenham Court Road, they and the Maison Lyonses at Marble Arch and in Shaftesbury Avenue were large buildings on four or five floors, the ground floor of which was a food hall with counters for delicatessen, sweets and chocolates, cakes, fruit, flowers and other products. In addition, they possessed hairdressing salons, telephone booths, theatre booking agencies and at one period a twice-a-day food delivery service. On the other floors were several restaurants, each with a different theme and all with their own musicians. For a time, the Corner Houses were open twenty-four hours a day, and at their peak each branch employed around four hundred staff including their famous waitresses, commonly known as Nippies for the way they nipped in and out between the tables taking orders and serving meals. The tea houses featured window displays, and, in the post-war period, the Corner Houses were smarter and grander than the local tea shops. Between 1896 and 1965 Lyons owned the Trocadero, which was similar in size and style to the Corner Houses.
Although it may look life-sized to you, this idyllic scene is in fact comprised of pieces from my miniatures collection.
Fun things to look for in this tableau include:
The foil wrapped Easter egg in its presentation box is a 1:12 artisan miniature that I acquired from Kathleen Knight’s Dolls House Shop in the United Kingdom, which is also where the bench came from.
Edith’s pretty straw picture hat decorated with a real fabric ribbon and artificial flowers is an artisan piece and was acquired through Doreen Jeffries’ Small Wonders miniature shop in the United Kingdom. 1:12 size miniature hats made to such exacting standards of quality and realism are often far more expensive than real hats are. When you think that it would sit comfortably on the tip of your index finger, yet it could cost in excess of $150.00 or £100.00, it is an extravagance. American artists seem to have the monopoly on this skill and some of the hats that I have seen or acquired over the years are remarkable. Although not as expensive, Frank’s straw boater also comes from Doreen Jeffries’ Small Wonders miniature shop in the United Kingdom.
Edith’s handbag handmade from soft leather is part of a larger collection of hats and bags that I bought from an American miniature collector Marilyn Bickel.
The black umbrella came from an online stockist of 1:12 miniatures on E-Bay.
The setting for this scene is my rear garden, and you can see my circular lawn edged by a garden path in the distance. I think it makes a splendid stand in for the lovely surrounds of London’s Kensington Gardens.
