Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday and I must admit that I am proud to be a Small Business Owner!  Did you know that Small Businesses:

• employ half of all private sector employees
• pay 44% of the total US private payroll

I have heard it said that the future of our economy lies on Main Street America and that as long as our country’s entrepreneurs and small business owners keep innovating, engaging, and planning for growth, we will be just fine.

Here at Crosby & Taylor, we are doing our best to be innovative, engaged, and prepared for growth. We hope that all of you out there will support your favorite Small Businesses tomorrow!

To celebrate  the Thanksgiving Weekend, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday- we have launched a big holiday sale where you can find some great deals on Pewter Gifts.   Remember to shop small!

My favorite Thanksgivings were those spent in Boston with my grandmothers.

I grew up in a very small town in Northern New York but for holidays, like Easter and Thanksgiving, our parents  would pile us into the car (don’t you love that expression? why do we always say we were “piled” into a car – when we know good and well that we opened the doors and climbed in?!) and drive us to Boston. Now that was a pretty long way in the winter in a Dodge Dart, and then later a Buick.

Stopping for lunch out of the back of the Buick - 1965

(This picture was obviously NOT taken on a Thanksgiving trip!)

I loved getting into Boston. It was dark but there were so many streetlights and illuminated tunnels that it seemed really exciting.

My grandmother and grandfather lived in Belmont and my great-grandmother lived in Brookline. When we got to my great-grandmother’s house we would have supper around a card table in the hall – since the dining room was already set for the big meal!

Thanksgiving day was wonderful and we would sit around in the parlor and play games -  like “Twenty Questions” – with other relatives who had come to share the day with us. It was always pretty formal but we thought that was just the way Thanksgiving was. We liked dressing up for the big day! And I was in heaven  – spending the day with my grandmothers.

My great-grandmother and my grandmother and me

Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous, of course.

Then on Friday, my great-grandmother would take us three kids off in her tiny Austin Cooper to go clothes shopping. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. We didn’t have any clothing stores in our town in NY so this was really a thrill.

1968 Austin Cooper

Great Grandma Barbara Crosby was in her early 80′s in those days and she really liked to move out in that car. We rolled around in the back, laughing so hard since we were actually terrified but didn’t know how else to express it!

I never knew my great-grandfather since he had passed away many years before. But he was the grandson of Captain Elijah Crosby – in whose honor I named our company.

Our business started out as The Tin Woodsman Pewter Company. Both of my grandmothers had passed away by the time we changed our name to Crosby & Taylor.  I know they would have loved to see the Crosby name being honored.

Holidays – memories – and family names – they all kind of merge – and isn’t that nice!

All of us at Crosby & Taylor wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you enjoy making new memories together.

Ok, so we may have lost to USC this week-end, but here at Crosby & Taylor we are still big Oregon Ducks fans and we have big news! We recently learned that our trademark licensing application at the University of Oregon has been approved! We are one step closer to being able to make U of O licensed products.

We will keep you posted….in the meantime- lets show the OSU Beavers  how its done this Saturday!   GO DUCKS!

Duck! It's Crosby & Taylor!

I realize that I may be biased, but seriously…..do we not have the cutest mascot?

Cutest mascot!

The Duck with Afro!

Black Friday – Small Business Saturday – Cyber Monday….if any of these make you think of Holiday Shopping, then we hope you will also think of us!

We are offering 3 great specials from midnight on Thanksgiving, November 24th, through midnight on Cyber Monday, November 28th. NO coupon codes are needed – all items will already be marked down for these 4 days.

1) Crosby & Taylor Super Post Sets - on sale for $199 (regularly $265).

Each set includes 4 Measuring Cups, 4 Measuring Spoons and a 15 1/2″ tall Post – designed to tuck right under your kitchen counters. There are 9 different design motifs to choose from – Fish, Celtic, Bamboo, Heart, Heart-to-Heart, Vineyard, Fleur de Lys, Dragonfly, and Bird.  Beautiful and useful – we like to think of them as Kitchen Art! Here is our Dragonfly Super Post:

Super Post Set - Dragonfly

2) Comet Coffee Scoops are 50% off !

Comet Coffee Scoops are  on sale for $12.50 (regular price $25).  Each tablespoon-sized Scoop comes with a small Star hook – so that it can be mounted on your wall. You will hardly have to be awake to reach for this lovely scoop!

Comet Coffee Scoop

3) “Santa” Santa’s Keys are 50% off!

Regularly priced at $25, they are on sale for $12.50. A house with no chimney? Or one that’s too narrow? Hang this key on your knob and worry no more! Jolly Saint Nick will come in through your door! Each Key is beautifully packaged and comes with a little poem, written by yours truly.

Santa's key

We didn’t forget the back of the key…

Santa's Key - back

Santa's Key Poem

Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I heard that our NEW! Angel Measuring Spoons are a Paula’s Pick in Paula Deen’s Cooking with Paula magazine. I immediately turned to pages 14/15 and jumped up and down.

But later that night, when I had calmed down, I actually read through the magazine. And look – there on page 18 – you can find “Turkey 101″. It seemed like this had been written for our family since this year my middle daughter, Petrel, and her husband, Jacob, will be hosting our family Thanksgiving for the first time!

They are a bit nervous about this. Since both of the moms of this young couple consider themselves to be accomplished cooks, Petrel and Jacob probably feel that they have a lot of live up to. Jacob would be content to just run out to a lovely supermarket and order all of it “to-go”. Petrel, on the other hand, is up to the challenge and, if I know her, she will convince him to join in.

I left them tonight with a new set of Angel spoons and Turkey 101. Everyone in the family will be there to help them and I know it will be the best Thanksgiving ever!

Here is a reminder that we have two great Holiday Offers, good through November 15th!

First, all of our Nativity Sets are 30% off. These miniature stylized sets are always a classic Crosby & Taylor Holiday favorite.

Use coupon code: 11nat15

13 piece Miniature Pewter Nativity Set

Secondly, we are including a free 2011 Collectible Snowflake Ornament with each set of Angel Measuring Spoons. New this season, these spoons have been flying out the door – ever since they were featured in Paula Deen’s latest holiday magazine.

2011 Collectible Snowflake Ornament

NEW! Angel Measuring Spoons

Since we have this wonderful connection here at Crosby & Taylor with Paula Deen, it seems we also must have some connection with butter.

I was thinking back on my history with butter. As unbelievable as it sounds, I actually can remember the time when I started eating butter. No joke! We spent my 7th grade year in Chapel Hill, NC so that my mom could get a Master’s Degree in Library Science. (Side note: Best year of my childhood! Thank you to everyone who welcomed me to the “Southern Side of Heaven”. If you were a 7th grader in 1979 at Grey Culbreth Junior High – give me a holler!)

When we returned back to Northern New York, my mom got a job as a Reference Librarian at SUNY Postdam! (Before that, she had been a stay-at-home mom and super volunteer in the community and in our church.) Suddenly my parents had a second income! They decided right away that there were two major things we could now afford….Drum roll…

1) We no longer had to fill our glasses half up with powdered milk! We got to have full glasses of real milk. You laugh but that was life-changing. All of us are big milk drinkers – still are! – and that meant so much to us!

Carnation instant milk

Bottled milk delivered to our front porch!

2) We switched from margarine to butter. Again, this was life-changing! I had experienced butter at my Great Grand-mother’s house in Boston – but that was pretty much it. It was definitely margarine at school on our Wonder Bread. And it was always margarine at home.

Margarine!

Butter!

I have read that Paula came from simple roots so I wonder if she can remember when she first switched to butter? I can, clear as a bell! Thanks, Mom, for going to work and bringing home the butter! I look at the picture of Paula below and wonder if this was pre or post Butter-discovery!

A younger Paula Deen with Jamie and Bobby

Holiday Ornament Sale

We have more ideas for products than we can ever develop! Since we are a small company, our production is a bit limited. So, naturally, when we introduce new pieces, we have to “retire” others.

After all, the end of the year is all about “In With the New, Out With Old”, right?  This year, we are retiring our beloved Tidings Collection of Ornaments and are offering them for $5 each (while they last).

Each one has beautiful color detail, a length of double-faced satin ribbon, and a lovely card about the meaning behind the ornament.

Quantities are limited and when they are gone, they are gone. These were some of my favorite ornaments but the coloring of each piece was very labor-intensive and we felt that our hours should be put to better use elsewhere.

Click here to see our entire collection of our $5 Holiday Ornament Sale.  I hope you will also fall in love with some of our other Pewter Christmas Ornaments!

Some people call them Creche Sets and some call them Nativity Sets. Whichever way you go, we have 3 lovely Miniature Pewter Nativity Sets which are now 30% off through November 15th.

American-made Miniature Pewter Nativity Set

Jim made the originals for these nearly 20 years ago. He meticulously carved them out of a vary hard wood called Purple Heart. They are a stylized design and quite tiny – perfect for a mantle or any small space. Each set is sold in an organza pouch and we have heard that some people pop them in their suitcases and travel with them at the Holidays. Wouldn’t it be great to set something like this up in your hotel room or your condo?

Use coupon code: 11nat15 through November 15th to take advantage of this special pricing.

The sets are available in 3 sizes:

-13 piece Set C (Regular $179 – now on sale for $119)

-4 piece Set A (Regular $59 – now on sale for $39)

-7 piece Set B (Regular $79 – now on sale for $52.50)

Use coupon code: 11nat15.

Our beautiful neighbor, Lily, arranging one of our sets

7 piece Miniature Pewter Nativity Set

4 piece Miniature Pewter Nativity Set

Tina Purchased this Pistachio Garlic Pot

Each person that chooses to buy one or more of our products is obviously very important to us. He or she is contributing to the success of our company, to the American economy, and on a much smaller level, to the livelihood of all of us who work at Crosby & Taylor.

Sometimes we hear from our customers. But, of course, mostly we do not. We hope that they love their purchases and that they will become repeat customers.

Earlier this fall, however, we got a really touching e-mail from a happy customer. This type of message is always very meaningful to us. First of all, we are touched that she took the time out of her – most likely – busy day to compose a note to us. Secondly, it means that she was pleased with her pieces from us.

Here is what Tina from Portland said to us:

I received my pots today, and I am in love with them! The workmanship is so beautiful, and I love the design.  My homegrown garlic looks great inside my new garlic pot as well.

I purchased these since I recently remodeled my kitchen and wanted something different than what everyone else has, with timeless beauty that will always look good.  I had searched stores and websites for a couple of months to find something, then one day I found your website. Now, I can’t wait to buy the whole canister set.

Thank you for a great product, that truly is heirloom quality.  I will treasure these and refer others to your company as well.

Note: The “breathing holes” for the garlic are on the back of the Pot and thus, can’t be seen in this picture.

Petite Pistachio Salt Pot

All of us here at Crosby & Taylor say THANK YOU, TINA! Got some feedback for us? Let us know! Leave us a message on our Facebook Page (I read it every day!) or email us info-at-crosbyandtaylor.com