Mine didn't come...but I hope it will tomorrow...it will be a nice weekend surprise. Weather is cooling...easy chair, cup of tea, fire in the fireplace and Victoria. Oh yeah!

no magazine tody, either. Boo hoo.

Hey, Pam53, I "saw" you at the Victoria forums and left a message for you there.

I haven't subscribed yet, want to check out the 1st issue of the new Victoria before subscribing. I'll get it at the newstands. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until Oct 30.

Can I join the tea party?

ARGH! I didn't receive mine today either. I'm getting impatient!

They will be on newsstands on the 30th? Then I won't look earlier. I was only vaguely aware of this magazine before. I think I must take a look and see now that it is coming back.

Rosefolly

reader-of course join the tea party! I will look for your message.
sadly, no magazine for me today either....

Sheri, thanks for the message. I shall start baking some virtual scones for the tea-party. Do you prefer yours served with butter and home-made jam or clotted cream . . . or both?

I got my copy yesterday. The new magazine is missing a soul - the soul that the ones had. It is so sad. Why didn't they have Nancy revive the magazine? These people know nothing about the heart and soul Nancy put into it.

I saw the cover of the magazine and my heart already sank. I did not even have to open a page and I knew.

I sent an e-mail to the publisher and told them to cancel my subscription.

I just want to cry.

loveinamist, thanks for your candid opinion. I am very disappointed to hear this, but I was afraid it would happen. Nancy L. may well have moved on to far greener pastures by now. The original magazine was just too good to be duplicated......

Don't be too disappointed, it is only the first issue. I didn't expect them to come out of the gate fully formed into a perfect reincarnation of the old magazine. Email the editors, let them know what you are looking for - hopefully it will get better.

I loved the photos of the antique dresses. Can you imagine actually wearing one of those?

loveinamist, I didn't think it was bad at all (I'm about 3/4 through it, taking my time). In fact I was impressed with how closely they adhered to the original magazine's structure (right down to featuring Tasha Tudor) and I thought the photos were lovely, though perhaps not up to the Toshi Otsuki quality (which was over the moon wonderful, IMO). Granted, I don't have any back issues to compare it with, but still, I found it very pleasing.

Vee, clotted cream and strawberry jam on my scones, please!

My issue came today and I have to say I agree with Siobhan. It is very nice--lovely in places--and gives me hope for its future. I would like to see more substance in the articles--text, information. But it does cover material ignored by other magazines. I certainly think it's worth a trial year and I do hope they listen to readers. If we support it, advertisers will come and that's what keeps any publication afloat.

The cover is beautiful tho I'm more in an autumn mood than Christmas at the moment. And did you see that the Tasha Tudor antique dress collection is going up for auction in November? Can't imagine what they will bring....I met Tasha Tudor once at a book-signing, wearing a dress like those. Got my picture taken with her, which I keep in that particular book about her garden. Quite a thrill, I must say.

The article about Tasha Tudor's dresses inspired me to google her - I was pleased to find out that she is alive (91!) and apparently well and living in her lovely home in Vermont. I found a couple of books about her in my local library - one about her garden - probably the same one you have, ginny, and one another about the crafts she has mastered. As I was leafing through it, I spotted a curious object just like one that my husband and I had seen in an antique shop recently. We speculated what it was used for, but didn't ask anyone. Well, now we know it is used for combing flax!

I called him at work to tell him (hey, it was a slow news day) and he was amazed that I would have run across such an object. To my surprise, he was very interested and read the information about turning flax into cloth.

Just a bit of serendipity I wanted to share!

Please accept one more into the tea party - I am on the hunt for my copy now, also. The one article I remember most fondly, and in fact, still have filed away, is about the love and warmth of a small bookstore. I'll have to find it and share it. Does anyone else remember it?

PAM

Just received my copy today -- and I am quite pleased with this first New issue!

Granted -- it is NOT like the original ones that were guided by Nancy Lindemeyer BUT -- I am willing to wait and watch and keep reading!

I have a complete collection of Victoria mags -- and some are simply masterpieces. BUT I do understand that those days are well and truly over for traditional-based mags -- too expensive (based on ad revenues)

As the virtual tea party --- I'll take a cuppa of good Assam with milk and two sugars (milk in first please!); and a couple of very thin smoked salmon sandwiches; perhaps a cucumber sandwich ....... and save the sconces, jam and clotted cream for the second round ......LOL!

Shall I put on the kettle for a another pot? :)

I agree the new Victoria was a bit of a disappointment but I'm going to hang in there and see how it goes. I agree that the cover and first issue should have been fall related, not Xmas-my heart sank when I first saw the cover also. It is lacking in substance.....maybe because i so want it to do well I'm going to subscribe anyway.

I have been looking on the newstands all month for this magazine. Still haven't seen it.

karenfl, the Victoria website says it will be available on newsstands October 30.

Vee, I'll let you know as soon as I get a copy for you.

Sheri, many thanks. Out son delivered the computer back to us yesterday, after a major 'mother board' malfunction so I should be able to catch up on all the emails I owe . . . but didn't have the addresses.
Let me know when I should start warming up the oven for those scones.

I've just read through the "new" Victoria. I was not disappointed. I especially enjoyed the Tasha Tudor dresses and noted the MANY recipes (although most are far too sugary for my taste).

Because the issues have been cut back to 6 per year instead of 12, I just think they might make it work, this time. They will, however,need more advertisers. (I missed the large perfume ads of before).

Overall, I was relieved and I think it looks promising. I will have my usual strong Yorkshire tea, please, with milk, no sugar, and scones with clotted Devonshire cream, and fresh strawberries....

I just picked up mine from the newsstand at the bookstore today. How nice of them to decide to release it on my birthday. I'm saving it to read on the plane, since I am going to visit my family in Pennsylvania tomorrow.

Rosefolly

Having never seen Victoria before I probably set my expectations too high based on all the praise and excitement about it returning. While it isn't the type of magazine I usually buy I'm willing to give it a chance and sent my subscription payment.

The article I most enjoyed was about the National Christmas Center with the Woolworth's display. I am definitely going to try to visit that museum; Pennsylvania isn't that far away.

I have a beautiful book called Tasha Tudor's Garden so it was good to see a feature on her.

Actually, now that I look through the magazine again, I do like it very much.

Oops, forgot to say:

Happy Birthday, Rosefolly! Have a wonderful trip and visit with your family.

Haven't seen the magazine yet anywhere, I checked at B & N yesterday, they didn't have it. Then this morning, on my way to work, as I was driving past a Victoria/Shabby Chic sort of shop, I realized they had covered their 2 big windows with huge hand written signs: "Victoria is Here!" on one, and "Victoria is Back!" on the other window. It made me laugh out loud.

The shop was closed then, and I thought I would go at noon and get it there. But didn't happened, we were so busy at work... Maybe tomorrow...

So, has the virtual tea party begun? Shall I bake my Spiced Pumpkin Bread or Carrot-Ginger Cake?

And, please save for me one of those thin smoked salmon sandwiches...

If it's not too much trouble, both!

I'll have English Breakfast of fearsome strength with a splash of milk. In a sturdy mug, please.

I wonder what the next issue will be about? Since this was a Christmas issue, maybe it will be spring in December?

Siobhan, in looking at the new Victoria, it clearly states that the upcoming issue will be Valentine, in theme. Should be quite romantic, judging from past issues.

When does our tea party begin? I will offer to bring dainty cucumber sandwiches with watercress. Despite our summer drought here, we had a wonderful harvest of cucumbers....
Vee, are you the hostess of our party???

I just mailed Victoria to Vee today and the Post Office tells me it should arrive in five business days. Perhaps our tea party can start next Friday??

Sheri, many thanks. I'll be on the lookout for the postman and get the kettle on!
I'm sure we must have a 'best' tea-set around here somewhere, although like Siobhan we usually use mugs.
Mary, your sandwiches sound very tasty and healthy. Reader I'd bake both those cakes; they sound very tempting and more-ish.

Finally got the magazine yesterday at the shop with the signs on the windows. The co-owner that put the signs up was not there to ask her what she thinks about the magazine. I intended to start reading it on the ferry, but just looked briefly at the pictures, and I'm saving it for the weekend. I reserve my opinion until then.

Siobhan and Vee,
Your wishes are granted: I'll bake both the Spiced Pumpkin Bread and the Carrot-Ginger Cake. And I'll throw in an Onion Swiss Cheese Tart for savory counterbalance, in case somebody craves for that sort of thing... Just don't have the cholesterol checked the week after.

Picture the scene.

It is a foggy November morning. The muffled sound of a horn can be heard as the good old Tally Ho mail coach breasts the final hill before pulling up in the inn yard, the horses all a-steaming and a-sweating in the chill air.
Small boys on their way to school get themselves tangled in the feet of the ruddy-faced travellers as they jump down from the roof and make their way into the dining room for a quick breakfast of mutton chops and porter. Ladies are helped from the inside of the carriage and follow the gentlemen into the warmth of the good old Cross Inn. The coachman shouts at the ostlers already unhitching the horses and bringing up a fresh team with a speed indicating a hefty tip is expected. "We made 10 miles an hour on the flat, and only took out 3 fowls and a couple of cats." He pushes his heavily capped, scarfed and hatted figure through the kitchen door, pinching the pert bottom of the bar-maid as he goes. "Oh Sir, you are quite a caution." She blushes too readily.
The luggage is thrown down from the coach-top; out of the unlocked boot come the mail sacks.
Ah! The mail sacks. Among those waiting for the Post Boy to sort through the bills, the lawyers missives, the begging, the thankyou, the pleading, the con-artists, the dutiful, the dunning letters, there is never but one so eager as the ancient crone who has tottered up to the coach every morning and stood patiently through all the vicissitudes of the English weather, waiting, hoping, nay even praying "Will this be the day?"

The Post Boy, a wrinkled old man well past his prime adjusts his spectacles and reads the label on a large exotically stamped and sealed parcel, heavily stained with sea water and tobacco juice.
"Well, here's a rare sight I do declare. A package all the way from the good old colonies. From Americkee it be. I can smell the chewing gum and pop-corn in this here brown paper. Who dust thee know out there old crone?"
"Hand it over, old Post Boy" screams the ancient one "I baint got time to bandy sweet talk with 'ee. And get thy ruddy nose out of my property."
With more luck than skill she catches the package so casually tossed in her direction and, pushing her way through the riff-raff waving to the ready to depart coach, she hurries to her hovel, carefully removes the brown paper (to be used in the privy later), rolls the string onto a large ball, makes a strong pot of tea and settles down for a self-indulgent read . . . .

And your studied opinion is...? We await with bated breaths.... ;-)

Vee, have you had a chance to read the whole of it yet? What did you think?

Sheri, thank you for asking. I've now gone through the mag at least three times and must say the quality and standard of the photography is most impressive. I found especially interesting the article on costumes. Are these all 'genuine' oldies?
The one that really caught my eye was on pages 58-59 the 'morning robe'. Is the embroidery on the cuffs and down the front 'jacquard' weave that would have been produced on a special loom? Just think of all the man/woman hours that must have gone into just one of those gowns; all those pleats and tucks and button holes. A clever combination of later-date jewellery and accessories, although I would have been rather wary of dog hairs on so valuable a costume. ;-)
On a more prosaic note I enjoyed the Woolworth's article. It took me back to my childhood when we spent our pennies there and would buy cheap 'perfume' for my Mother's present. She always managed to keep a straight face when she thanked us.

Can anyone tell me do the recipes actually work? I don't mean do they make you fat (yes, just by looking at them) but if you do them at home will they come out as they should?
Over here many mags/newspapers give recipes that haven't been tried out first or some vital ingredient seems to have been left out and the whole thing fails.
Once again Sheri many thanks for thinking of me. I am going to lend my copy to an American friend who lives locally and is due to have knee surgery very soon. I am sure it will cheer her up.

I've had a chance to look through the magazine in more depth and enjoyed it very much. (Although I must say I enjoyed veer's short story above much more!) As the weather has turned cold, I spent quite a few minutes looking at the pictures of the winter garden, and reminding myself of the beauty in every season.

Mmmmmmmm cakes and savory tarts and big mugs of steaming hot tea....

I read my copy from cover to cover and found it enjoyable. Then I passed it along to my visiting stepdaughter so she could read it on the plane flight home. Apparently she is a fan as well. Apparently fans are legion.

RF

I have not heard of this magazine before coming to RP so when I was at B&N the other day, I picked up a copy. It's a lovely magazine - glossy and beautiful but a little *light* in its content. I suppose you buy it for the pictures and the concepts?

I liked it though but won't subscribe. It's nice to look at for free when I go to B&N though. Thanks for the tip!

Vee, I'm so glad you liked it. I do hope the magazine does well and adds a bit more content-wise.

Weren't those dresses amazing? The article claims they're the real deal antiquity-wise, but they looked so pristine, I wondered.

I haven't tried any of the recipes, but I do remember making one from "Victoria" at least 15 years ago and it turned out very well. It was blueberry gingerbread - delicious, but the main reason I remember it is because I had to drive all over town to find one of the ingredients. I may try my hand at the truffles in this issue, though, they don't look too intimidating.

Did anyone else read the diary entry in the photo (page 85) accompanying the Alexandra Stoddard article? I wondered why she chose that page to be photographed. I rather expected the subject matter of her journals to be happy-happy rather than about family arguments, at least for picture-in-a-magazine purposes. It struck me as a bit odd. FYI, her website reports that she will be the Writer In Residence for "Victoria" for 2008.

Golly, yes, sheri, I did indeed read the journal entries in Stoddard's handwriting and was a bit shocked. Why would anyone want to air out their dirty linens in public, like that?? I found it very odd, to say the least. I had wondered if I was the only one with an "eagle eye." I felt rather like a voyeaur.

As for the recipes, I have been collecting some from Victoria over the years and have found the ones for cornish hens, stuffings, some vegetables to be excellent. I am not much on rich ingredients or sweets, so really cannot comment on those. Often, I find the recipes utilize fresh herbs, which I adore....

Woodnymph, OK, I'm glad it wasn't just me! If there's something to be read in a photo, I will try to read it. I've been known to hold magazines sideways so I can read the titles of books in bookcases, lol. Hope that isn't too weird ... In any event, I wonder if AS knew which pages would be photographed, or if the stylist just chose a random page to show her use of multiple colors of ink?

sheri, I'm the same way: I read anything and everything and have been known to get out a magnifying glass when the print is too tiny. LOL. I would feel better about AS if I knew that she did not select those particular pages but that they were done by an editor or stylist....

You know, I read those pages as well and wondered who chose them. It's strange if AS chose them - so perhaps they were just chosen at random.

As for tipping the pages sideways to read titles on bookshelves (Sheri), I've done that too. Just can't resist seeing what people have on their shelves.

I read about the Strand having "Books by the yard" for rent for interior designers who want to fill their bookcases for show. The Strand rents so many random books and you can even choose them by leather color etc.... Pretty interesting, although I would have to go through them to see if any of them would be read-worthy!

I have a friend who also likes to read with whom I visit annual decorator showhouses. Many times, there will be just a few old-looking books on shelves or tables, and she will invariably turn up her nose and say, "Decorator books."

I bought a china coffee mug that has classic books all around it, which I frequently look at sideways to read the titles.

What a relief--I thought I was the only one who did this. In fact, I didn't realize I did it until a friend said, "How weird that you are trying to read the book titles from a magazine photo." I do think one's books--or lack thereof--tell much about one's innermost self.

I also like to read the titles of books when I visit historic houses, one of my favorite activities. Another interesting insight into historic figures--assuming the books were theirs to begin with.

o.k. I am going to revisit my magazine to read A. Stoddard's letters in the photo-obviously I am one who missed it. I am bringing chocolate chip/pumpkin muffins to the tea. I know they are fat filled but perhaps we can cut them in half? Earl Grey tea is great for me with just a wee spot of milk.
I loved the article on Woolworth's too. All my growing up years and when my daughters were very young it was a much loved spot with lots of fond shopping memories. Did any of you lunch at their counter, or have a soda or coffee? my mom and I did quite often and also my nana and I. We didn't have many eating places in our small town. If I remember correctly the food was quite good.

Yes, growing up in Atlanta, I used to eat lunch at the Woolworth's counter, and, indeed, the food was good but not expensive.

I not only ate at Woolworth's; I worked at Woolworth's. At the ripe old age of 17, I had a summer job working on the jewelry counter. This was back when everything was laid out neatly in sections and was supposed to be kept that way. I learned to really dislike the people who came in and trashed the sections.

I bought a Victoria Magazine when I saw it at Sam's today. I hadn't ever seen one before and found this one to be quite pretty. Sorry to have missed the former version.

Woolworth's: I went to college at a State U. in the middle of a city. One of the best places for lunch in my opinion. Usually quiet, not school food, i.e. cafeteria food, and very few students...it was a touch of normal life. Even got to see an occasional child. Colleges are such age skewed places...everyone over 18.

Oh, I do miss Woolworth's! There is nothing like it now.

I got out a magnifying glass and read the journal entries. Ineresting juxtaposition between the idyll illustrated in the article and the unhappy domestic scene described in the handwritten pages. She must have given permission for the journal to be photographed, but I wonder if she gave much thought to the pages that ended up being published?

I love the beautiful papers and journals, but for me, pretty much useless - minor arthritis makes it difficult for me to write much. I am very thankful for my computer with its friendly yet unphotogenic keyboard (and spell and grammar check ;)

I'll share half a muffin with someone.

I just found a recipe for toll house coffeecake, which I will be making Thursday for brunch. I will have plenty to spare for all.

Speaking of straining to read the titles, I have a concrete garden bench made in the form of two stacks of books with a large leather bound book on top for a seat. I hadn't had it long before I realized that there were actual titles on the books. I cannot quite read them, though I did make out "The Oxford Book of [something or other]". One of these days I will have to take rubbings so that I can actually make out the titles.

I love this bench.

Rosefolly