Three New Gift Shop Finds

I love findings items of all kinds that are a little out of the ordinary. Over the years, I’ve found that gift shops including museum gift shops are the places to do just that.

I Bought This, Gifts, Affiliate Links, Informational Links

The Pewter Shop, Rockport MA

A dear friend gave me an interesting holiday gift this year. It was a gigantic pewter octopus with very long arms that you put on top of an open bottle of wine to keep it fresher in between pours. He also gave me a bottle of wine to put it on. But in spite of my interest in octopuses and their intelligence, it kind of creeped me out. Plus its size left me with no place to store it. Fortunately, he attached the hang tag from the store where he bought it, so I was able to exchange it.

The Pewter Shop in beautiful, seaside Rockport MA is the oldest gift shop in the town, established in 1935 (I thought it was even older). It’s in a little red wooden building with a peaked roof right at the junction of the two small streets on what is called Bearskin Neck, a promontory that is alongside the harbor and sticks out into the ocean. One tiny street is residential, lined with teensy fishing shacks that have been made into summer residences. The other street is lined with little shops that are filled with merchandise to tempt the tourists, as well as the locals, who visit this spot.

Right before Christmas when I went to exchange my gift, the shop was jam packed with merchandise. They carry lots of items that are made from pewter, as you would expect, as well as other gift-y things, many in a nautical or seashore theme. I actually had a hard time choosing because they had so many nice things that I would enjoy. 

I had thought that I was going to get a jar of guest soaps that looked like sea glass, but I am not entertaining as much as in the past, so I changed my mind. They are super cute, however, and come in two size jars.

What really made me change my mind is that I saw the cutest pewter mermaid ring holder. I discovered when looking at their website today that there are two different versions, but I only saw the one I got in the store that day. They’re both very sweet. I change up the rings I wear quite often, so the ring holder is both adorable and useful.

That octopus was pricier than I expected, so with the money left over after selecting the mermaid ring holder, I got a pair of pewter scallop shell mini studs (those are the ear jackets in back that I should have removed before taking the photo!). I don’t see the scallop shells on the website, but they have anchors, lighthouses, and sand dollar studs for $9.95. They’re shiny, pretty and a fun change from my pearl studs.

If you ever make it to Cape Ann, MA, be sure you visit Rockport MA. There’s plenty of great shopping as well as gorgeous natural surroundings.

Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester MA

We are lucky in Essex County, north of Boston, to have two fine small art museums right in our area so we don’t always have to go into Boston. One is the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem MA that I have written about a number of times (here, here and here), and the other is Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester. I have been a member of PEM for a long time, and I have gotten lots of fabulous PEM gift shop finds: jewelry, clothing, housewares, candy, cards, and the cutest hat.

About a month ago, we went to Cape Ann Museum to see a new exhibit, and I overheard the woman at the desk who checks you in explaining a benefit of membership at the Contributor level that I had never heard of before. There’s a program called the North American Reciprocal Museum Association with member museums and other cultural institutions all across the U.S., Canada, Bermuda, El Salvador, and Mexico. If you are a member at a certain level at one institution, you can get into the others for free. Since both Peabody Essex Museum and Cape Ann Museum are members of NARM, I could join one of them at a slightly higher level than I typically would, and I would get free admission to the other one (I hope this will work!) as well as hundreds of museums across the country and North America. Win, win. 

I decided to join Cape Ann Museum this year because:

1. the membership level to get the NARM benefit at CAM (Contributor level: $125 for 2 adults) was less expensive than PEM by a lot!
2. they were having a members-only holiday party to celebrate the re-opening of one of their most important permanent collections and that night the discount in the gift shop was going to be 20% off.

Anyway, the night of the holiday party, I bought an item I had had my eye on for some time: a tote bag with the famous gossipy women motif called “Gossips” created by Virginia Lee Demitrios, the artist and illustrator who started the Folly Cover Designers on Cape Ann in the 1930s.

Virginia and other women artists from the area created block prints with their designs, and then they printed and sold curtains, placements, aprons, skirts, and other items. I wish that all of their patterns were reproduced on household items that we could use today! If you are of a certain generation, you may know Virginia Lee Demetriios as the author and illustrator of two well-known children’s books: Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel and The Little House.

The “Gossips” carry-all tote is really handy.  Complete with a magnetic closure, two slip pockets on the outer sides, an inner zippered pocket, and phone sleeve, it measures 18″ x 13″ x 7″. 

Allison Cohen

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