Category: Uncategorized

EL PHOENIX STORY (TO START)

April 2, 1919.

Picking up her eraser, Kathy Leonard goes back to her arithmetic homework. More interesting than English class and the new paper having to be written, true, but needing to erase bits ten times more often and that not seeming to be a good thing.

One good part, each problem being like its own little house with that good feeling when one was finished. Not like most of the classes where you could read and read and it still seemed to take forever to finish. If only “Silas Marner” was as interesting as the books in the library, she thought. If it was you could read if in a jiffy not a month when the teacher said two weeks.

These are the first paragraphs of Scene I in my upcoming coming of age 5,000 word piece which will be over on my Substack with a link here. I’ve written more than the first two paragraphs here so you can read them at the link of you like

https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/el-phoenix

Gardens of Flatbush back before they built the big Sears Roebuck store. Flatbush is part of Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. These images are from 1908; I’m not sure how accurate they are. My mother was a baby in a different part of Brooklyn but they moved long before she could have remember the neighbors’ flower beds.

Front cover, Image 1 of Brooklyn’s Garden, Views of Picturesque Flatbush. Published and copyrighted 1908 by Charles Andrew Ditmas, Brooklyn, New York. The Albertype Company, Brooklyn, New York, printers. In the public domain due to age. Collections of the Library of Congress. via https://archive.org/details/brooklynsgardenv00ditma/mode/1up
Albermarle Road. Image 4 of Brooklyn’s Garden, Views of Picturesque Flatbush. Published and copyrighted 1908 by Charles Andrew Ditmas, Brooklyn, New York. The Albertype Company, Brooklyn, New York, printers. In the public domain due to age. Collections of the Library of Congress. via https://archive.org/details/brooklynsgardenv00ditma/page/n4/mode/1up
Tennis Court. Image 6 of Brooklyn’s Garden, Views of Picturesque Flatbush. Published and copyrighted 1908 by Charles Andrew Ditmas, Brooklyn, New York. The Albertype Company, Brooklyn, New York, printers. In the public domain due to age. Collections of the Library of Congress. via https://archive.org/details/brooklynsgardenv00ditma/page/n6/mode/1up
Boat House – Prospect Park. Image 22 of Brooklyn’s Garden, Views of Picturesque Flatbush. Published and copyrighted 1908 by Charles Andrew Ditmas, Brooklyn, New York. The Albertype Company, Brooklyn, New York, printers. In the public domain due to age. Collections of the Library of Congress. via https://archive.org/details/brooklynsgardenv00ditma/page/n22/mode/1up
Melrose Park, Residence of W. A. A. Brown. Image 35 of Brooklyn’s Garden, Views of Picturesque Flatbush. Published and copyrighted 1908 by Charles Andrew Ditmas, Brooklyn, New York. The Albertype Company, Brooklyn, New York, printers. In the public domain due to age. Collections of the Library of Congress. via https://archive.org/details/brooklynsgardenv00ditma/page/n35/mode/1up
Beverley Road. Image 42 of Brooklyn’s Garden, Views of Picturesque Flatbush. Published and copyrighted 1908 by Charles Andrew Ditmas, Brooklyn, New York. The Albertype Company, Brooklyn, New York, printers. In the public domain due to age. Collections of the Library of Congress. via https://archive.org/details/brooklynsgardenv00ditma/page/n42/mode/1up
Ocean Avenue Entrance to Prospect Park. Image 50 of Brooklyn’s Garden, Views of Picturesque Flatbush. Published and copyrighted 1908 by Charles Andrew Ditmas, Brooklyn, New York. The Albertype Company, Brooklyn, New York, printers. In the public domain due to age. Collections of the Library of Congress. via https://archive.org/details/brooklynsgardenv00ditma/page/n50/mode/1up

I have other relatives who live or have lived in New York City too and a large chunk of my following too. So here is a Substack link – this author has a very interesting substack with an article on a different part of New York City nearly every week. This is his Flatbush article.

https://theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/flatbush-brooklyn?utm_source=publication-search

Sphinx candlesticks. Some looking ancient, some not. One of the world’s most enduring design ideas. She never really goes out of style.

Sphinx candleholder. ca. 2026. Resin. Image © 2026 ACACUSS. Fair use license. https://acacuss.com/products/resin-figurines-candleholder-retro-ancient-egyptian-goddess-sphinx-anubis-shape-candlestick-crafts-home-decorative-ornaments?srsltid=AfmBOorp9GQDti_-wQ6xaE4h2cv4H4oLLnMoluSVVm8swRdPWxzN5Pr3
Majolica winged sphinx candlestick decorated with golden tresses, lions, mythological birds, dragons, an antlered animal and hieroglyphics. Late 19th c. Austrian/Bohemian. Majolica, ceramic. Gerbing & Stephan, maker. Maker’s marks: the bottom marked with the incised marks G. & St. Model #2079 II. Image © 2026 Chairish, Inc. and Susan Silver Antiques. Fair use license. via https://www.chairish.com/product/2448079/antique-french-majolica-winged-sphinx-candlestick
Pair of patinated bronze and gilt sphinx lustre candlesticks. The sphinxes on rectangular bases, supporting foliate urns with ten arched branches suspending tapered lustres, below a drum sconce with detachable drip pan. 19th c. No further information available. Image © 2026 Martel Maides Auctions Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Fair use license. https://www.martelmaidesauctions.com/auction-lot/a-pair-of-19th-century-patinated-bronze-and-gilt_6E540A78AC
Black Basalt Wedgwood Sphinx-form candlestick. The sphinx with a scalloped-edge candle nozzle mounted atop the back of the seated figure set on a rectangular base. Loving the way her tail wraps around. Early 19th c. English. Ceramic. Wedgwood, maker. Impressed mark. Inage © 2026 Hieronymus Objects. Fair use license. https://www.hieronymusobjects.com/black-basalt-sphinx-candlestick-wedgwood
Pair of Wedgwood majolica sphinx candlesticks, polychrome decorated and modeled with a candle nozzle atop the head. ca. 1869. English. Wedgwood, maker. Maker’s marks: impressed mark. Image © Bonhams 2001-2026. Fair use license. https://www.bonhams.com/auction/32313/lot/302/pair-of-wedgwood-majolica-sphinx-candlesticks-england-c-1869/

The homeplace of a British lord with Ancient Egyptian doodads sprinkled around. Not as odd as the lord who managed to illegally purchase a sarcophagus that had been buried in a desert tomb so he could be interred in it later, however. Imagery from the privately published 1851 work “Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell.” Written by W. H. Smyth and found in a back corner of the Internet Archive.

Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell. Captain W. H. Smyth, Royal Navy, author. Printed in London in 1851 for private circulation by Jobn Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street. Title page. Collections of the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age via https://archive.org/details/deshartwellianor00smyt/page/n10/mode/1up
Hartwell House, Reduced from a large view painted in 1749. James Basire, Engraver. Image 61, Plate III of Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell. Captain W. H. Smyth, Royal Navy, author. Printed in London in 1851 for private circulation by Jobn Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street. Collections of the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age via https://archive.org/details/deshartwellianor00smyt/page/n61/mode/1up
Lees of Cheshire (left) – Lees of Hartwell (right). Coat of arms. James Basire, engraver. Page 98, Image 126 of Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell. Captain W. H. Smyth, Royal Navy, author. Printed in London in 1851 for private circulation by Jobn Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street. Collections of the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age via https://archive.org/details/deshartwellianor00smyt/page/98/mode/1up

The Muniment Room at Hartwell House. James Basire, engraver.Page 101, Image 128 of Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell. Captain W. H. Smyth, Royal Navy, author. Printed in London in 1851 for private circulation by Jobn Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street. Collections of the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age via https://archive.org/details/deshartwellianor00smyt/page/101/mode/1up
Three statues carved in oak (out of a total of twenty-four) that decorate the staircase leading to the main apartments at Hartwell House. James Basire, engraver. Page 111 image 140 of Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell. Captain W. H. Smyth, Royal Navy, author. Printed in London in 1851 for private circulation by Jobn Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street. Collections of the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age via https://archive.org/details/deshartwellianor00smyt/page/111/mode/1up
Two Ancient Egyptian mummies included as illustrations although it appears from the text that these two mummies were not in Dr. Lee’s Hartwell House Collection. James Basire, engraver. Page 170 image 199 of Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell. Captain W. H. Smyth, Royal Navy, author. Printed in London in 1851 for private circulation by Jobn Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street. Collections of the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age via https://archive.org/details/deshartwellianor00smyt/page/170/mode/1up
Ancient Egyptian women wearing headresses (left) – female of the Tlascaltecas (Mexican) right. James Basire, engraver. Page 182 image 211 of Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell. Captain W. H. Smyth, Royal Navy, author. Printed in London in 1851 for private circulation by Jobn Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street. Collections of the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age via https://archive.org/details/deshartwellianor00smyt/page/182/mode/1up

The Egyptian Structure over the Hartwell Fountain. After a drawing by Cleghorn. James Basire, engraver. Page 222 image 259 of Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell. Captain W. H. Smyth, Royal Navy, author. Printed in London in 1851 for private circulation by Jobn Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street. Collections of the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age via https://archive.org/details/deshartwellianor00smyt/page/n259/mode/1up

ENCKE’S COMET. As seen at its re-appearance on the 22nd of September 1848, At the Hartwell Observatory. James Basire, engraver. Page 385 of Ædes Hartwellianæ: or, Notices of the manor and mansion of Hartwell. Captain W. H. Smyth, Royal Navy, author. Printed in London in 1851 for private circulation by Jobn Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street. Collections of the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age via https://archive.org/details/deshartwellianor00smyt/page/n385/mode/1up

“Dollhouses and other Miniature Worlds” for May 29th in the 2026 spring show . . .

my series post for today published to my Substack at the link if you’d like to see it

https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/dollhouses-and-other-miniature-worlds-36f

View of a house in Los Angeles, California looking past the courtyard towards the living room. June 2025 image. Faux miniature. Derek Swalwell, photographer. Rob Kennon Architects. via @newfielddesign on Instagram. From their Instagram.

Visions of mid century luxuriousness by Albert Van Luit who dressed up Hollywood. Born in Cleveland Ohio, Albert Van Luit relocated himself to southern California at a youthful age. His wallcoverings defined mid century luxury interior design from the 1950s to the 1970s. These images are in the Huntington Library and were shot by Maynard Parker.

Dining room and wallpaper: Wallpaper setups in the Robertson store decorated by Mary Jane Carson, and at a decorator show. In an envelope labeled “Robertson window by Mary Jane Carson/Booths at Sports arena”. Los Angeles, California, where the Albert Van Luit and Company Complex was located. June 1964 image. American. Maynard Parker, photographer with this image being part of a photo shoot for Albert Van Luit which is archived at the Huntington. Originally under copyright. Fair use license. via https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll5/id/17906/rec/24
Wallpaper Setups. Presumably photographed at the Albert Van Luit and Company Complex in Los Angeles as a different location is not given. California, USA. March 28, 1961 image. American. Color transparency. Maynard Parker, photographer with this image being part of a collection of photographs and color transparencies shot for Albert Van Luit that is archived at the Huntington. Originally under copyright. Fair use license. via https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll5/id/17869/rec/25
Cannell and Chaffin. Display booth and Wallpaper: Wallpaper setups at decorator’s show at Hollywood Palladium. Hollywood, California USA. June 24, 1962 image. American. Photographed by Maynard Parker for Albert Van Luit and Company. Part of a Van Luit and Maynard Parker archive at the Huntington Library. Originally under copyright. Fair use license. https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll5/id/17913/rec/28
Ruth Brand: Display booth and Wallpaper: Wallpaper setups at decorator’s show at the Hollywood Palladium. Hollywood, California USA. June 24, 1962 image. American. Photographed by Maynard Parker for Albert Van Luit and Company. Part of a Van Luit and Maynard Parker archive at the Huntington Library. Originally under copyright. Fair use license. https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll5/id/17911/rec/30
Newport Bluffs Model Apartments (Living Room). Newport Beach, California USA. June 1965 image. American. Photographed by Maynard Parker for Albert Van Luit and Company. Part of a Van Luit and Maynard Parker archive at the Huntington Library. Originally under copyright. Fair use license. https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll5/id/20089/rec/60

Learn a bit more about Albert Van Luit, the business he created and the people who worked for him here https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/discover-lgbtqia-los-angeles-albert-van-luit-complex