The Teapot I Purchased Twice

I once had a large collection of teapots but when we decided to downsize, retire, and move I sold almost all of them at the time of our farm sale - including this one. I changed my mind after the auctioning of the teapots began. My grandson, Zachary, was nearby and had an auction number, so I asked him to bid on the teapots. As I recall the price of 'first bid' was $3.50 which he got. I pointed out the teapot I wanted and he bought it for me - the second time I had purchased it at an auction.

The first time I had the winning bid for this 'Gibson Staffordshire England Teapot' was at the household auction for Grace Dory in the early 90's. As I recall I paid between $11 and $12 for it the first time. Grace was a woman I had known and liked for a number of years. I wanted something of her's as a memento of our friendship and the teapot was perfect.

It was one of those 'it's a small world' coincidences that led to my friendship with Grace. It happened via my employment at Lariam House recording studio in the mid '70's. One of our voice-over talents was Billy Cole - a radio personality at WHO in Des Moines. Bill had one of the most melodic voices I'd ever heard. He hosted 'The Country Call-In' show in addition to being a singer and songwriter. During one of our conversations he asked me where I was from and I told him Corning. That was when he told me one of his regular callers was from Corning and that they had become friends. When I moved back to my hometown and had occasion to talk with Grace I told her about working with Billy at the studio. When Bill and his wife came to town to visit Grace, she told me about it.

Some of the clients Billy voiced commercials for were, John Deere, Pioneer Seed and Massey-Ferguson. 

Bill Kelsey was director of public relations for M-F at that time which led to another of those 'small world' coincidences in the 80's when my daughter and his son were good friends at Valley High School.

Billy was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 2002. He ended his shows with "The best way to have friends is to be one." 

Billy and Bill were two of the nicest guys you could ever meet.

Back to the first time I bought that Gibson tea pot at Grace's sale - one of my high school friends and classmate, Linda Miller, was also there. I hadn't seen her for several years. She was in town visiting her parents. We were talking, looking through items for sale when she picked up something I did not recognize and then bid on and bought. 

I don't remember exactly what she called it - a sap, I think, though it might have been cosh or blackjack. When I asked what it was for she told me it was a weapon, a small, weighted, hand held weapon that could be used defensively. I don't know why she wanted it, nor why Grace would have owned one, but I was impressed on both counts.

 A teapot and a cosh - two very disparate items to link in a blog post. Ah, memories.