Faire Stuff I love: Wondrous Works in Wood

One of the things that no one tells you about performing at Festivals when you first start out is how much STUFF you're going to end up buying. Costume Stuff, Camping Stuff, Travel Stuff, Storage Stuff, Food Stuff, Unidentifiable Prop Related Stuff, Mint Julep Stuff...the list goes on and on and on.

One category of Stuff that one would HOPE they don't have to buy in very often is the drinking vessel. For those of you who aren't aware, when we are working, we are not permitted to drink out of paper or plastic drinking cups. There's something jarring about seeing someone in a lovely period costume holding a paper cup (or wearing tennis shoes, but that's another rant). So - one of your first purchases is for something to drink out of.

When I first started out at TRF, a friend of mine was kind enough to hand-turn me a wooden drinking goblet. It worked really well - but I worried constantly about losing it, since it was made for me and I was dragging it around the site all the time. My second year, I purchased a relatively boring metal goblet to replace it. Now, metal goblets look lovely and very period, but they do have a few drawbacks - the first being that they get HOT when you put warm drinks in them. This is great to warm up your hands on a cold day. It's less great when you forget and burn your lips on the rim trying to sip coffee. Because the metal heats up so much, the drink inside tends to get cooler faster as well - so it can be a bit of a painful race to finish your coffee without scalding your tongue before it goes ice cold. The other huge problem I have with metal drinkwear is that its heavy. Not atlas-carrying-the-world heavy, but heavy enough I can feel it banging around back there on its mug strap. As an unfortunate side effect, I'm sure several men could tell you tales of woe concerning a metal mug and a codpiece that didn't quite have enough stuffing in it, if you catch my meaning.

Enter Master Ken and Wondrous Works in Wood. If I remember correctly, they opened their first booth across from the Maypole out at TRF in 1994. Master Ken, and his daughter Sherrie, have been like family to the Maypole maidens ever since - they took us in, let us chill behind their shop, and have been nothing but wonderful ever since then. Talking about all the kindness they have extended to not only myself but to everyone at every faire they participate in will be another post altogether...this one is about the awesome mugs they make.

Remember how I was telling you about how metal goblets heat up and try to kill you while you're drinking? Not so with one of their gorgeous mugs. Take a lookie at this one - its pretty close to the one I have:



Isn't it cute? The small ones exactly fit a can of coke in there, in case you were wondering. They don't get blazing hot, nor do they cool down your drink. I LOOOOVE mine - and I know almost everyone on cast eventually gets one.

But Genevieve, you might say, what about the lovely layer of schmutz that gets on everything out on site? The dirt / leaves / who knows what that floats around and ends up in your mug and in your shoes? Never fear, gentle readers. Sherrie and Ken spend time on site too, and they came up with a solution:



It's like a little mug hat! They stay on securely, even when you're running like a crazy person across the inner circle, and keeps out all the bleh that can accumulate inside your mug during the day. That's wonderful, Genevieve, you say again, but I'm a noblewoman, and I don't want to be seen drinking like a unwashed mud beggar. I have all this lipstick to worry about.



Voila! Wooden straws! See why I love these guys? They think of EVERYTHING!

Want some of your own? Visit Sherrie at their online store here or out at Faire!