MACY'S FLOWER SHOW 2015: ART IN BLOOM

We have snow on the ground and it's about 34º outside.  What better day could there be to drive Downtown Minneapolis to take in the beauty of the Macy's flower show?!?

The theme of the flower show is "Art in Bloom" with each installment representing a major movement in art history such as classical art or pop art.   This sculpture of David greets visitors as they enter the show.  Psychedelic colored lights, shining on the statue, created a fascinating introduction to the show.

Notice the changing lights.

Shown below is the Post-Impressionist Garden.

Notice in the very large installment below the flowers beneath the sheer fabric.  A number of paintings from the great Masters were projected onto the fabric.   This was the Renaissance Garden.

The piece below reminds me of the works of Joan Miro.

Below is shown the Abstract Garden.

The floral selection complements this "Piet Mondrian" piece, below, perfectly!  The gardens in the photo above and below are both part of the Modern Garden.

There were a number of installments that were reminiscent of Dale Chihuly's glass works.

Below is the Kinetic Garden.

The amaryllis in this photo appears to be floating.  In fact, there are mirrors which create interesting illusions.

Below is the Art Nouveau Garden.

ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN VIDEO

TURN ON YOUR SOUND AND CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW, ENLARGE THE VIEW, AND DELETE THE AD.  IT IS SO LOVELY!!

BEER FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

I was just brainstorming what to post today for St. Pat's Day... Previously I posted a recipe for Irish Soda Bread, and another time I posted a vintage postcard.  I could do another post of an Irish recipe; or I could do another post of vintage postcards, or something entirely different.  I decided on the vintage postcards, with a twist.  This time the theme will be beer, since many of us associate St. Pat's Day with green beer (or, for some, any beer at all!).

Micro brew beers are a hugely trendy thing at this time with thousands of small brewers making the news.  But, many years ago, we had only very large breweries, many in this area because of the large number of Germans who immigrated here.  

Fox Head Brewing Company, originally located in Waukesha, Wisconsin was one of the smallest breweries in the area.  Opening in 1946 in a building formerly run by a number of other breweries, by 1960 it was allegedly owned by the mob.  In 1962, the brewery was purchased by Heileman Beverage Company, LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and the Waukesha operations were closed.

On the back side of this postcard it says:
"City Keg and Bottle Beer Exchange,
1638 N. 12th Street
M I L W A U K E E"

Once the largest brewing company in America, the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was founded in 1849, and had a huge presence in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.   In 1902 it achieved status as the largest brewery in America.  During Prohibition it changed its name from "Brewing Company" to "Beverage Company" and adopted the slogan - "The Drink that Made Milwaukee Famous."  A 76-day worker strike in 1953 resulted in the company moving to second-place status, and other problems over the years caused additional declines.  Finally, a worker strike in 1981 led to the sale of the company to Stroh Brewery Company of Detroit, Michigan.  According to Wikipedia, what remained of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company products was sold to American Entrepreneur Eugene Kashper and TSG Consumer Partners in 2014.

Miller Brewing Company, was originally organized in 1855 and is still in operation with headquarters in Milwaukee.  In September, 1956 a series of sales led to partial changes in ownership of the company, first to the conglomerate W. R. Grace and Company, then to Philip Morris, then to South African Breweries, and finally, to Molson Coors, some of which companies continue to own interests in the Company today.

This shows the Administration Building of Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee.

One of the more interesting and famous breweries, Anheuser-Busch, began operations in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1852.  Following a long and interesting history, today Anheuser-Busch operates 12 breweries and some of the largest theme parks in America,  including Busch Gardens in Florida and Virginia, SeaWorld, and LegoLand,  

On the back of this postcard it states:
Home of Budweiser, Lager Beer
With 5,000,000 square feet of floor space, it covers 52 city blocks - an area larger than the famous downtown 'loop' district of Chicago.  It has an annual brewing capacity of 5,000,000 barrels of the world's finest beer.  The annual overall taxes exceed $54,000,000. "

On the back:
Thousands of visitors are welcomed and entertained here each year during visits through the huge plant, made up of 110 individual buildings, covering 70 city blocks, which is the home of BUDWEISER and other fine Anheuser-Busch beers.

This is a fold-out postcard.

 BEER OR NO BEER, HAVE A FUN ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

The Young-Quinlan Building in Downtown Minneapolis - Antique Dolls, Clothes and Accessories

When I started this blog five years ago, one of my goals was to comment on whatever life brings - not just recipes, not just gardening, but whatever happens in the course of a day.

Yesterday I was scheduled to work at the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  I was early so had time to kill.  There is a massive network of "skyways" downtown and, in no time at all, I found myself walking through a skyway in the old Young-Quinlan building at 901 Nicollet Avenue.

Second story of the Young-Quinlan building.

As a result of that walk, here is what I found out.  In 1894, the first ready-to-wear dress shop west of the Mississippi was opened at 513 Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis by Elizabeth Quinlan and her partner, Fred Young.   After Mr. Young died in 1911, Miss Quinlan took over the successful business which focused on high-quality, modern apparel for men and women.  In 1926, she moved the store to 901 Nicollet in the newly constructed building designed by Frederick Ackerman of New York, the architect who had designed her home at 1711 Emerson Avenue South in Minneapolis just two years earlier.  His design incorporated Miss Quinlan's desire to have a "beautiful home" for her merchandise.  It was, and still is, an elegant building which was given historic preservation status in 1979.

Fortunately, the owners of the building have set up beautiful glass and wood cabinets (perhaps they are original to the store?) to highlight some of the early Young-Quinlan merchandise.  What a pleasant surprise to come across this display as I walked through the second level of the building!

Merchandise cabinets.

Miss Quinlan traveled to France to find an artist to design the image to be used on the store's boxes and for all other purposes.  He painted this picture of a woman without the gold beads.  Miss Quinlan was concerned that a picture of a nude woman would not go over well in Minneapolis.  With a flourish, the artist grabbed his brush and quickly painted in the gold beads about the shoulders.  With that, the painting became the official image of the Young-Quinlan store.  Notice this image on the hatbox in the photo below.

Mens' Accessories

I was so pleased to see that these charming objects have been preserved and are on display for others to enjoy.  Coming across this delightful display reminded me that there are so many things in life that can fill us with so much joy, when we least expect it!  

To read more about Elizabeth Quinlan's very interesting life, follow this link and this link.