The year was 1840. They were in love… else why would they marry? It
was to be a royal affair. A gift must be given to the bridesmaids. A
bejeweled trinket perhaps… one for each of the ladies.
The Forget Me Not was the representative symbol of true and eternal
love. It was a beautiful shade of blue. A gem was needed for the
trinket-gifts about to be doled. What could be better than the
turquoise… for it was the color of the revered flower.
It was only a scant 39 years ago that Tiffany & Company published a
catalogue advising brides to allow their attendants to keep the
flowers they carried down the aisle. And perhaps an additional little
souvenir would be nice too. A locket perhaps. Or a brooch. Or even a
bracelet. Parenthetically… it was also suggested that the groom
give out little gifts too. Nothing extravagant mind you. A small
piece
of jewelry would be the perfect touch… a gesture of appreciation if
you will… to each of the bridesmaids at the wedding.
Imagine… Tiffany advocating the giving of jewelry as a gift at a
wedding. How original. How classy. How innovative. How smart. The
world heeded the sage words. Or at least Queen Victoria did at her
wedding to Prince Albert.
She gave each of her bridesmaids an eagle brooch made with blue blue
turquoise and gold and pearls. It resides today at the British Museum
in London. And it is worth a look-see. It suddenly occurs to me that
in this economy there may be a scant few amongst you who might be a
tad reluctant to hop a quick flight over the Atlantic to visit a
museum to see a brooch.
To you dear souls… I offer an alternative. Fortuitous… wouldn’t
you say? It is described in the next paragraph.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Current Tidbits… and you will get to view one of the jeweled eagle
given as a gift by Queen Victoria.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark