1991, Thanks Dad!

When Tumbleweed opened, I sold traditional and contemporary American crafts. At the time, this was a strong trend both in the U.S. and in France. The style was an eclectic mix of Santa Fe, Amish and Shaker, and contemporary design.

Every year I went to the Buyers Market of American Crafts and the American Craft Council shows to find new work. Gérard would accompany me and my parents would meet us to do the shows. We would also visit the well-known craft shops for inspiration.

In 1991 we were in a shop in Baltimore when my father spotted a surfboard-shaped wine holder that seemed to defy gravity! He was super excited and convinced that I should get some for Tumbleweed. I was skeptical.

The next day we stumbled upon the maker's booth at the trade fair. Again, my father was so enthusiastic and insistent that, reluctantly, I ended up placing a small order.

Needless to say, the wine holder immediately became my best-selling item! On display in the window, people would stop in their tracks and then discuss the physics of it. Customers liked the idea of giving a gift of a beautiful piece of wood with a hole in it... and letting the recipient guess what it was.

The wine holders came in oak as well as some stunning exotic woods. Thanks to my dad's insistence, Tumbleweed was able to survive and thrive for many years.

One of the first things I bought for the shop were these beautiful, collapsible wooden baskets made by Deep Spring in West Virginia. They were very cleverly cut from one piece of wood. They came in different woods and different shapes and sizes.

Open, the baskets could be used for fruit, bread, a bottle of wine... Closed, they became trivets and could be stored easily. I sold them for many, many years and enjoyed an excellent working relationship as well as a friendship with Wendy and Jay Jensen.

 

In the fall of 1989, my dad and I went on a little buying trip to North Carolina. At a local fair we found these beautifully-crafted spaghetti measures! They were to measure dry spaghetti for 2, 4, 6 or 8 servings. I ordered and reordered them for years.

 

On that same trip to North Carolina, we went to visit the glorious New Morning Gallery in Asheville. The gallery was run by John Cram, one of the most innovative retailers I have ever met.

I fell in love with some gorgeous puzzle boxes but there was no way to know how to contact the craftsman. Finally we gathered our courage and asked to see the owner. And to our utter amazement, John Cram actually gave us the contact information for the maker, Fred Buss.

My dad and I ran out the door like thieves and saw a public phone booth. Squeezed in the phone booth, we called Marilyn and Fred Buss in California. And that was the beginning of another very special, long-term working relationship.