White Horse Bakery: An Homage to English White Horse Hill Drawings

Dept 56, Dickens Village
White Horse Bakery, 56.59269

Memories of a Hill Horse

My best memories are generally shutter flash moments of something new and beautiful, unexpectedly revealed.  I’ll never forget one of these moments in England, about 15 years ago.  It was a clear, warm day.  We were driving on a small road somewhere between Bath and London, when I happened to turn my head, then jerked back in surprise.  In the distance, on a hill, was the shimmering drawing of a white horse.  We pulled the car over and got out, simply in awe.  I don’t know where we were exactly, and I don’t remember the details of the horse.  I just remember how I marveled at its presence.  Years later, when I first started collecting Dickens Village pieces, I was perusing a catalog of buildings. I noticed the figure drawing on the sign of the White Horse Bakery.  Though the building had been retired, I knew I had to find one.  I did, and the modest little bakery is still one of my most highly-regarded pieces.

English White Horse Drawings

Uffington Horse, Oxfordshire

Photograph copyright © Dave Collier of Mugshots

English white horse drawings are actually “hill figures,” which are generally created by cutting into a hillside, revealing the chalk or limestone underneath.  Other times, shallow trenches are dug, and chalk is filled in to create a figure.  In either case, the white of the stone stands out in sharp contrast to the greenery surrounding it.  There have been close to 24 white horses in England, though some have been lost through neglect and the inexorable march of nature.  The greatest concentration of horses are in Wiltshire.

The Uffington Horse in Oxfordshire, however,  is the oldest horse figure in England.  Recent tests indicate that it probably dates from 1200 BC-800BC, which makes it Bronze Age.  It is extraordinarily graceful, with highly-stylized curving lines, about 365 feet long.  No one knows the purposes of this horse, or other ancienthill carvings.  It may have been a symbol of a horse-goddess Rhiannon, or of the sun god Belinos, who was associated with horses.  Most other hill drawings are recent, many from the 19th century.  

Osmington Horse, Dorset

The hill figure that might most closely resemble the horse on the sign of the White Horse Bakery is the Osmington Horse in Dorset, east of Weymouth.  Cut around 1808, this figure measures 320 feet high and 280 feet long, the largest of the hill horses. It is also one of only four horses that faces to the right

New Devizes White Horse, Wiltshire

The new Devizes White Horse is also a close match to the White Horse Bakery, but was actually created in 1999 in honor of the milenium, eleven years after Department 56’s release of the White Horse Bakery!  The original hill figure, the “old” Devizes White Horse, had almost disappeared through neglect.  When this new cutting was made , the basic shape was maintained, but the new figure faced right instead of left.

For an in-depth exploration of English white horses, you may wish to begin at this website: http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/faqs.html

White Horse Inn in Duns Tew

English White Horse Inns

I have not been able to find a White Horse Bakery in England that resembles the Dickens Village model.  However, I did find two White Horse Inns that shared certain characteristics of the Bakery.  The first is the White Horse Inn in Duns Tew, between Oxford and Banbury.  The Inn, a 17^th century coaching house, is made of gray stone and has a central front door, flanked by windows, with dormer windows above.  The inn’s symbol is the profile of a white horse, reminiscent of the one on the sign of the Dickens Village bakery. http://www.whitehorsedunstew.com/index.html

White Horse Inn
Sutton Coldfield

The second White Horse Inn is near Sutton Coldfield, which is north-east of Birmingham.  A building has been on its site since Georgian times, and the present building has interesting paneled windows that evoke a memory of the White Horse Bakery. http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/thewhitehorsecurdworth/

Nantucket: Whaling, and the Sea Shanties That Tell the Story

Nantucket Sleigh Ride, whaling captain, widow’s walk, candles and corsets, and sea shanties.  What do all of these have in common?  They are all part of the history of Nantucket Island, which was the whaling capital of the world  in the19^th century.  The heyday of Nantucket’s colorful history has been honored by a  series of Department 56 buildings and accessories in the New England and Snow Village Series, and they provide the beginning points for a visit.  No exploration of whaling, however, would be complete without hearing some sea shanties, or work songs, so I have included links to a couple at the end of the story. Get ready to shake a leg!

Nantucket:  Captains, Candles, Corsets
At the turn of the 19th century, Nantucket became the third largest city in Massachusetts, and one of the richest cities in the US.  As many as 150 ships a year made port in the island’s bay.  Whaling captains' bounty caused Nantucket to prosper, not only from the sale of whale and "spermaceti" oil, but from the growth of ancillary industries like candle-making, nautical provisioning, paper and wick manufacturing, and shipping.

Depart 56, New England Village Series
"Platt's Candles and Wax", 56.56614

Between 1815 and 1860, whalers unloaded more than1.3 million barrels of precious whale oil, which Herman Melville described as “…rare as the milk of queens.”  There were essentially two kinds of oil.  Whale oil was rendered from whale blubber  on the whaling ship and brought to port in barrels.  "Spermaceti" was an oil from the head of the sperm whale, and was rendered in try works after it arrived in port.  Whale oils were used for fine candles, ointments and cosmetic creams, and luminants for lamps and even lighthouses, in addition to being a lubricant for the machines driving the industrial revolution.  Department 56 New England Village Platt's Candles & Wax

These were not the only products of the whaling industry. Baleen, comb-like plates in a whale’s mouth used for filter feeding, also became commercially important.  Called whalebone, the baleen was valued for its use in corsets, hoop skirts, buggy whips, collar stiffeners, and parasol ribs.

Whale Bone Corset

The most valuable product of whaling, however, was ambergris, a secretion of the whale’s digestive system. This rare find was used primarily as an odorant and fixant in perfumes and cosmetics, although there is also a history of its use as an additive in beverages and medicines. Around 1880 ambergris sold for $10,000 for 1/8 pound, an extraordinary amount in any day.

Dept 56, New England Series
Captain Kensey's House, 56.56651

The whaling trade was good for the seamen, financiers, and merchants of Nantucket, many of whom  began to grace the town with lovely residences in downtown Nantucket, many close to the wharfs.

Hard Life as a Whaler
Everyday life on a whaling ship, however, was hard, dangerous, dirty, and yet frequently monotonous.  Whaling voyages generally lasted 2-3 years, and sometimes much longer.  Whaling “widows” would say good-bye to their men, not knowing if they would return, when, or whether they would even derive income from the voyage.  Department 56 Captain Kensey's House

At sea, sailors could face weeks of heat, cold, and boredom, looking in vain for a pod of whales. And then, suddenly, they could face hours of terror, being hauled on a “Nantucket sleighride," their small whaleboat lashed to a harpooned whale, flying through the waves at speeds up to 23 mph, sometimes far away from the mother ship.  If the men were lucky, the whale didn't thrash the boat with its flute as it tried to escape, or turn on it and attack intentionally.   If the seamen made the kill, backbreaking work was then needed to tow the whale, weighing up to 40 tons, back to the ship, sometimes miles away. Then the ship would then be converted into a floating factory, where the sailors rendered the whale fat into oil by boiling it in vats, called try works, while black clouds of sooty smoke roiled into the sky.  Whalers earned their money.  

Rockwell Kent, illustration
from 1930 edition
Moby Dick

Herman Melville commemorated Nantucket’s whaling prowess by basing his novel Moby Dick on the Nantucket whaling ship, the Essex, which was rammed and sunk in 1820 by a whale about 2000 miles west of South America.  Goaded on by hunger and thirst and its resultant dementia, the surviving sailors were forced to resort to cannibalism in order to live for the three months in their small whaleboats before being rescued.  Ironically, one of the ships who came to their rescue was from Nantucket also, the Dauphin.

Sea Shanties
Sea Shanties were songs sailors used on-board whaling ships.  Many shanties were sung to create rhythms to synchronize hard and tedious work.  Listen to one of the most famous “Blow the Man Down,” a bawdy “halyard” or long-haul shanty sung while the sailors the hoisted topsails or performed other time-consuming tasks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOza9I92TU0&feature=related

One of my favorite sea shanties is the mournful song of men who are returning from the Arctic south toward Hawaii through the ice, wind, and rain after “…six hellish months ... passed away on the cold Kamchatka Sea.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F_f7xYOD3g

Dept 56, "Snow Village,"
Nantucket Renovation, 56.54410

Nantucket’s whaling industry declined after 1840 due to the sifting in of its natural harbor, the introduction of petroleum products that made whale products less profitable, the discovery of gold in California, which beckoned the workforce, and a devastating fire that destroyed its wharves.  Nonetheless, historians and hobbyists continue to wish to evoke the island's  colorful history.  Nantucket Renovation - Department 56 (Retired)

Hi-De-Ho Nightclub and Cab Calloway: Christmas in the City

Cab Calloway

New York City in the 1920’s and1930’s had a vibrant music scene, with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Bing Crosby, Dizzy Gillespie…and then there was Cab Calloway, a most interesting and innovative musician.

Cab Calloway and the “Hi-De-Ho Nightclub"

Cab Calloway was bandleader of some of the most popular African American big bands in the 1920’s and 30’s, a ‘scat singer’ influenced by Louis Armstrong,  a dancer and choreographer, an actor, an innovator, and a pathfinder who helped break the color barrier in the music industry with his sheer talent, energy, and charisma.  Cab Calloway became identified with a jazz riff, "Hi-De-Ho" from the song, “Minnie the Moocher,” that he wrote for one of a series of Betty Boop animated shorts.

For a foot-tappin', smile-inducing intro to Cab, watch his performance of "Hi-De-Ho" on Sesame Street in 1978, with the Muppet backup band and singers.  Listen for how he uses  nonsense syllables or sounds, transforming his voice into an instrumental solo, a technique called "scat singing."  Cab's charisma draws you in, and his powerful voice, smooth delivery, and moves keep you there. Not bad for a guy over 70 years old at the time! (Click the following link to see the clip.)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esnDnIK2v1g&feature=related

Rotoscoping
Calloway not only wrote and sang the song "Minnie the Moocher", but he provided the dance choreography for the animation for the Betty Boop short film as well, through the innovation of “rotoscoping.” 

Rotoscoping is a technique where live-action movements are traced over, frame by frame, for use in animated films.  To see Cab Calloway performing legendary dance moves and then the corresponding dance in animation, click on this YouTube site.  By the way, if you think Michael Jackson invented the "moonwalk," watch this very closely…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQyQ4NprVA0

Cab Calloway at Harlem’s Cotton Club

Cab Calloway arrived in New York City in 1929, performing at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom, run by Chick Webb, legendary bandleader and drummer.  The next year Calloway and his band was hired to replace the touring Duke Ellington Orchestra at the famous hip jazz venue, the Cotton Club in Harlem.  NBC began recording twice-weekly shows from the Cotton Club, which raised Cab’s visibility in the public’s eye.  The bandleader became so popular that he was invited by Walter Winchell to be a guest artist on the “Lucky Strike” radio program, and he joined Bing Crosby in performance at the elegant Paramount Theater at 43^rd and Broadway.

Department 56, Christmas in the City
"Steppin' Out on the Town," 56.58885

Porgy and Bess, Sesame Street, and the Blues Brothers

In 1942 Cab returned to the Paramount Theater for a 2-week run, breaking all attendance records.  Throughout the rest of his life Cab performed, not only touring internationally, but appearing in a series of films and plays.  In 1950 Cab starred in the Broadway revival of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” playing “Sportin’ Life.” In 1965 he starred in the movie “The Cincinnati Kid” with Steve McQueen and Edward G. Robinson, and two years later joined an all-black cast in a revival of “Hello Dolly.”

In 1978, at the age of 71, Calloway was still vibrant and engaging, appearing in three episodes of Sesame Street, and then in the 1980 acclaimed film “The Blues Brothers” with Belushi and Aykroyd.  He died in 1994.  If you want to see what I am going to be like at age 81, check this out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqxzT4vXc1k&feature=related

A Final Note
In my very first blog I mentioned that I wield the power to create, in my villages, my conception of a perfect society.  In my Dickens village there are no fires or people with criminal proclivities, so I have no need for firemen or policemen.  In "Christmas in the Village," I would wish to create a society without racism or sexism, where talent and hard work would give a person success.  In my village, men and women would work with dignity, in a job with dignity, with no need to resort to drugs or other vices to make their life palatable.  This is not always the world Cab Calloway inhabited.