Elder Craftsmen survivor

It’s funny what survives and stays with you. I can’t say for certain when I acquired this choir mouse. My best guess is sometime in the 60s when Elder Craftsmen had a storefront on Lexington Avenue somewhere between 71st street where we sang in the choir at St. James Church and 63rd Street, where we lived.

This little shop was a wonder. As I recall, it was filled with all types of hand made items – Sweaters, blankets, quilts, and dozens of mice. Things I imagined my mother would have made for me, if she had lived past my 5th birthday. I loved to window shop on Sundays after church, while my father ducked into the deli next door, to pick out one of the rotisserie chickens that turned in their window.

As I went through my winter nesting ritual of replacing cotton with flannels and wools , there she was – Nestled next to the red monogrammed Book of Common Prayer I keep in the top drawer. Long outdated, the book was a christening gift from a godmother six decades ago

This photo doesn’t really do justice to the detail of this gem. The hymnal with real paper inside. The little pin at the throat. The length of the tail. How she survived eight moves, ten dogs and two toddlers, I will never know. Oh, how it filled me with wonder to find her again. A toast to Sundays past

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