Transferware sets holiday tone

Thanksgiving is the holiday that warms us. It isn’t just the delicious food, the turkey fresh from the oven, piping hot potatoes and pies cooling on the sideboard. Or the colors, rich autumnal crimson and gold of the foliage. It isn’t just about the family and friends that sit around the table.

It’s all of those things.

As a child, I fell in love with my aunt’s service of transferware. I liked the little stories told on each piece. I looked forward to meals at her house.

When my children came along, and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my own table, I began to pick up individual pieces of vintage transferware. I didn’t look for complete sets. I just picked up pieces that I liked.

The only stipulation was that they were white dishes decorated with shades of brown.

Set around a centerpiece of pine cones and acorns and oak leaves, perhaps something handmade by a schoolchild, lit by candles, the table radiated warmth. It glows as brightly in the present as my aunts table does in my memory.

Thanksgiving doesn’t ask much of us. We aren’t expected to spend hours shopping and wrapping and spending more than we have. All we have to do is gather and remember other gatherings.

To reflect what we have on our plate.

Happy Thanksgiving.