Patsy Cline’s Salt and Peppers

Patsy Cline collected salt and pepper shakers. She picked them up in her travels and had quite the collection. Who would’ve thought?

I always find it interesting to know what people collect when they travel. I have a friend who brings home rocks and gems and another who buys a charm for her bracelet. For me, it’s Christmas ornaments for the travel tree.

I wonder why Patsy chose salt and peppers. Although, they are cute and packable so it does make sense. In fact, I have more than a few sets of my own including some vintage pieces that I noticed Patsy also owned!

If you’re interested, you can see the salt and peppers pictured above at her childhood home in Winchester, Virginia. The Patsy Cline Museum in Nashville also has an extensive collection on display with her dining room furniture.

The Nashville Museum has a somewhat small but extraordinary collection that is worth every penny of admission. Winchester is one of my favorite destinations of all time for its celebration of Patsy, Civil War history and small town charm. The tour of her home, was one of the most informative and best home museum tours I have been on.

If you’re interested in any of this, just hit the search bar and look for Winchester, Nashville or Patsy Cline to see what else I did while visiting these towns.

Down A Rabbit Hole

It takes precious little to send me down a rabbit hole when I have time to go pursuing random and unneeded information.

For example, my 100th book of 2020 was “Love, Lucy,” the autobiography of Lucille Ball.

This book is superbly done and it felt as though Lucy was sitting there chatting away about her life through the mid-sixties. Throughout, she mentions a number of movies, plays, actors, places and other subject matter that kept me reach for Google.

Her mention of beloved actor Gale Gordon reminded me of early mornings a few years ago when I would get up early for reruns of “Our Miss Brooks.” This sent me looking for information on actress Eve Arden who starred in this show that was produced by Desilu Studios.

She always reminded me of Lucille Ball but I didn’t realize that they had worked together and that she had also played the school principal in the Grease movies.

And then I went looking for other shows from the Desilu production family. All were long before my time and many unfamiliar to me. However, a number of hit shows were filmed at their studios including Andy Griffith, That Girl, Gomer Pyle, My Three Sons and the Dick Van Dyke Show.

I used to love the Dick Van Dyke Show and so I went looking for clips which led me back to this awesome music video by the Dust Bowl Revival that stars Mr Van Dyke.

Really, it never gets old so watch it.

It was about this time that I remembered my visit to Stonewall Jackson’s Headquarters in Winchester, Va. where I learned a story with a Mary Tyler Moore connection. Click the link above for that story!

And then I went looking for pictures from my Winchester trips.

This microphone was used by Patsy Cline and can be seen at her childhood her home.

And this is a brief glimpse into my mind when I have too much time to think and peruse the internet.

Exhausting, isn’t it?

Patsy Cline Museum

Let’s go back to Nashville, shall we?

One of the best decisions I made during my last visit to Nashville was to check out the Patsy Cline Museum. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing to go there. My original plan to tour the Ryman was impeded by a matinee interfering with afternoon tours. There are  many museums in town but I couldn’t get out of my head the idea that I needed to see the Patsy Cline Museum.

It’s on the second floor of the Johnny Cash Museum. By the way, that one was a madhouse – noisy and with people standing everywhere. In comparison, the Patsy museum was a bastion of quiet, sophistication and the smooth sounds of Patsy’s voice.

This isn’t a large museum but it’s extremely well done and there appears to be room for growth as they acquire more pieces for the collection. They have some stage costumes (made by her mother and beautifully done), furnishings from her her home and even a booth from the soda fountain where she worked as a young woman. Costume jewelry, the watch she was wearing when she died and lots of music can be found here.

A jukebox plays “Crazy” on a loop and a video tells her life story.

It’s all very well done and tells her story, which is quite old now, in a way that feels timeless – much like her music.

I was torn because the experience was so pleasant with only a handful of other visitors in the museum during my visit while other attractions like the Cash museum downstairs, had lines out the door. I hope their attendance picks up and that they’re able to survive. The thought of a Patsy Cline museum not surviving in Nasvhille is shameful.

Want to go? Get more details here.