Ivy Dishes

When I purchased The Bungalow in 2017, these dishes, the Franciscan Ivy pattern, were found in the bottom of the bright yellow cabinet. Because storage is at such a premium in the house, I boxed up the dishes and took them back to my home in Houston, knowing I would likely use them more often there. Until today, the dishes remained in that box, in my garage, waiting for me to actually wash and dry them and use them to set a lovely table. Finally, today, I did that.

I was motivated by the need to clean out my garage. There were too many treasures in there; many I had never enjoyed myself. So, I decided to open the boxes - one by one - and use the time-tested, declutter technique of “donate, sell or save” to decide what to do with all their contents.

Today, when I opened the box with these dishes and saw the pretty green ivy, it made sense to bring the box into the house and use them to set a seasonal table - with a nod, of course, to the Irish and that side of my family tree.

It was a fun project. I already had a few Irish decorations (like the shamrocks in the centerpiece) and the perfect shade of green goblets and linen napkins. The copper chargers, too, were already here, waiting to be set out and appreciated again. After all was completed, I was most proud of myself for finally doing the right thing by all of the ivy dishes.

Always curious, I opted to Google “Franciscan Ivy Dishes” and found out a lot about them.

First, I learned they were first produced in 1948 (an important year in my life) by California-based Gladdng, McBean & Co. They had only been in existence a few years when, in 1951, I Love Lucy had them on the kitchen table of Lucy and Desi Ricardo’s New York apartment.

After that, the Ivy pattern became a popular choice for everyday use by new brides all over America, throughout the rest of the 1950s and 1960s.

The ivy dishes will likely stay on my dining room table for awhile. And, afterwards, they will be saved to enjoy again and again in the years ahead. At some point, they might even be returned to The Bungalow.