Who's Your Daddy? Celebrating 7 Typical Types of Dads

Who's Your Daddy - Is He Here?

Your Dad - The Anchor of Your Family

F A T H E R S   D A Y 

is around the corner, (June 15 - for those wondering which corner.)  

 It's time to celebrate the man who brought you into this world, and all his lovable eccentricities. My dad wore black socks with sandals at the beach and this is a true story. He did not know how to dress casually. If he wasn't in a suit he looked like he may have been dumpster diving. 

1. He was a "Type A" dad, but, back in the seventies, this kind of dad was a lot different than today's Type-A dad.

Similarities: workaholic, white collar, successful, driven.  They are "doing it all for the family-dads", (although they were not around much.)

Differences between then and now: Type-A in the Seventies: 4 martini lunches; 

Today: 4 Triathlons a year.

Sterling Wax Seal Monogram Key Chain - Father's Day Gift for the Guy Who Has Everything

2. "Hip-Pop or Pal-dad: He's "down" with your friends and wants to hang with you any chance he gets. Your friends love him and you do your best to make him feel included by sharing "just enough" information. He lives for his family.

Sterling  Realistic Wolf's Claw Pendant for Dad!

3. The "Older" Dad: All of your friends had cool young dads who wore blue jeans on the weekends.  This dad has never owned blue jeans. "Traditional" barely begins to describe this solid, wise, family man

Your Father Has Always Kept You on Course

4. The "Glory Days" Dad: He wears his original Grateful Dead tee-shirt any chance he gets and blasts the classic rock station while mowing the lawn. To your horror, you have seen him playing air guitar when he thought no one was looking.  He's more than happy to recount again and again, stories of his mis-spent youth. He keeps a close eye on his kids because he knows what he was up to at their age. He would do anything for his family.

The "Perfect" Mens Chain - Sterling 3mm Oxidized Ball Chain 

5. Hard-ass Dad:  Maybe he’s a cop or ex-military, but you grew up knowing  the boundaries  (and how to sneak around them). Your friends are still scared of him even though you are all in your thirties now. You know that deep down he is a softy, who would probably kill or at least maim for his family.

Over-sized - 9-11 Never Forget Pendant - Father's Day Gift Idea

6. “The Renaissance Dad.”  This Father is all about family togetherness, and makes a point of being home for dinner every night.  When not with their families, he is  usually out jogging. Weekends and vacations are spent as a family;  camping, church activities, volunteering, or just being together somehow. 

Moving away and having your own family is no excuse for not being all together on the holidays. This dad's motto is "family first, forever".

Hand-carved Eco-friendly Arrowhead Men's Pendant

7. The Bad-dad: This guy has to be mentioned. Even if you never met your dad, or if he hurt and/or abandoned you long ago, you feel his presence on Father's Day. If you bum-out every Father's Day, this year, try being thankful for him and letting go of some of your anger. Someone once said to me,

 "Holding onto anger is like taking poison and hoping the other guy suffers"   

It is pointless and hurtful only to you.

Without him, you would not be here, and who you are,  and that is worth celebrating.

The Combo-Dad: No dad can fit perfectly into any of these categories, and I could come up with a lot more dad-stereotypes. Your dad probably has some characteristics of several of these dads, but one common thread runs through all the dads discussed here. They are all about their love for their family. That's worth celebrating on Father's Day. 

Thanks for visiting and reading!

Men's Heraldic Shield Pendant  - Your Daily Jewels on Etsy

Here's the Skinny Behind 11 Common Wedding Rituals

KerriArt on Etsy

Its wedding season, here in the US, and as a handmade jeweler, I have been busy making lots of bridal necklaces and bridesmaids gifts. This is my favorite story I have to share:  A lovely bride-customer of mine is getting married in her favorite whale-watching seaside town and ordered eight of my petite whale's tail pendants!

Handmade Recycled Sterling Whale's Tail Necklace

 

Rituals we take for granted are deeply rooted in centuries-old tradition

1. Something Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue

Everyone knows this common rhyme used when someone gets married, but what is the meaning behind it?

Wearing "something old" symbolizes continuity with the bride's past, and  "something new" symbolizes the couple's happy future. The bride is supposed to "borrow" something from a  happily married woman in hopes that some of that person's good fortune-mojo rubs off on her; and "Something blue" denotes fidelity and love.

Something Blue Moonstone & Quartz Wire Wrapped Wedding Earrings

Well, that was easy, but what about some of the other wedding traditions and/or superstitions that have become solidly engrained in the special day?

2. Wearing a Veil

Ancient Greeks and Roman brides would wear a veil down the aisle to disguise themselves from the evil spirits who were jealous of their happiness.

3. Not Seeing Each Other Before The Wedding

This superstition dates back to the time of arranged marriages, when people believed that if the couple saw each other before the ceremony, it would give them a chance to run for the hills before their life long commitment began. 

Today, we have generalized this to the potential onset of your basic  "bad luck" if this meeting were to occur.

4. Aquamarine represents marital harmony and is said to ensure a long, happy marriage.

Earthy Aquamarine Bridal Harmony Necklace

5. Rain on Your Wedding Day

In some cultures, rain on your wedding day means good luck; in others, it symbolizes fertility and cleansing. 
I think for most today, it means lousy photos.

6. Spiders are good luck?  Find a spider inside your wedding gown before you walk down the aisle? eeeww.  According to English legend, the creepy crawler is actually a " good luck omen." I'll take my chances, thank you.

Wax Seal Spider Pendant for the Goth Bride - Eco-friendly Recycled Sterling

7. Your choice of flowers (ignore shameless plug  for my upcoming post the "Language of Flowers") Of course, roses symbolize love, but you may want to stop pining for peonies for your wedding bouquet: Apparently, they represent shame. But they smell so good.

8. Carrying the Bride Over the Threshold

This superstition began in Medieval times when many believed that a bride was extra vulnerable to evil spirits who entered through the soles of her feet. To avoid bringing in any evil spirits, the groom carried the bride into their new home. Women in India solve this problem by covering their hands and feet with elaborate Henna tattoos on their special day.

9. Using Your Married Name Before the Wedding

Some think it is tempting fate for the bride to write out her married name or monogram before she's actually married, and that the wedding will not occur if she does. If you're superstitious, hold off on your monogramming for your reception and registry items.

Antique Letterpress and Wax Seal Silver Monogram Pendants

10. Breaking Glass

In Italy, many newlyweds smash a vase or glass at their wedding, and they put a lot of muscle into it, too. The tradition says that however many pieces the glass breaks into will symbolize how many years they'll be happily married.

11. Crying on Your Wedding Day

It is supposed to be good luck for the bride to cry on her wedding day because it symbolizes that she has shed all her tears and will not have any to shed during her marriage. So go ahead let it rip, (a little) just be sure to wear waterproof mascara. And remember, you don't want blubbery red eyes in your photos!

One extra tidbit:

I love this, the Catholic tradition of "posting the banns" to announce a marriage originated as a way to ensure the bride and groom were not related. Wow, bring on the peonies!

Thank you for visiting!
Norah

All jewelry:
www.YourDailyJewels.etsy.com
www.WaxSealJewelrySource.com

Antique Wax Seal Rose Bridal Bracelet, circa 1842

sources:

www.marthastewartweddings.com
http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-customs/articles/50-wedding-traditions-superstitions-facts-trivia.aspx

History of the Livery Button

  

 A Short History of Livery Buttons and Preserving Them in Recycled Sterling Jewelry

 

Happy Bunny on Labradorite Chain - 1850's  Your Daily Jewels

Invicta -" Undefeatable" - estim. 1790.

Sometime in the 13^th century the idea of a buttonhole and button was conceived.

In the 18^th century, buttons were truly tiny works of art. Button making became a profitable sideline for many of the starving artists of the day. Typically, the most exquisite of these buttons was about the size of a 50- cent piece. 

A “livery” is an insignia, symbol, or uniform button worn by one who provided service to a noble or aristocrat to represent their relationship to their employer.

My passion, my quest, my contribution to history:

As a card-carrying member of the National Button Society, one of my favorite pastimes is scouring the earth for 18th and 19^th Century relics in order to preserve them. I cast from them, in order to create beautiful modern heirlooms for you, to be worn and passed on for centuries more.

Initial Pendants are Made from Wax Seal Stamps and Livery Buttons at Your Daily Jewels

The word itself comes from the French “livrée”, meaning delivered. Most often it would indicate that the wearer of the livery was a servant, depend-ent, follower, or friend of the owner of the “livery.” Like heraldic Crests, a livery button was a fast way to identify friend or foe in a time of war.

Notre Dame - Early 1800's - Made to Order at Your Daily Jewels

The fashion for livery buttons started among the upper classes in the mid-eighteenth century, and lasted as an accepted practice into the Edwardian era of the early twentieth century. 

After the first World War, new income tax and changing social and economic conditions quietly put an end to the era of the livered servant among the wealthy upper class. 

Scottish Livery, "I Ready Myself with Arms"

Beyond the prevalent use of Latin, there is a whole cryptic language  and symbolism to livery buttons, heraldry, and crests & shields. I am having fun learning the meaning behind many of them. 

For fascinating history you can read The Big Book of Buttons by Hughs & Lester, http://www.ukdfd.co.uk, and Fairbairns Book of Crests, London : T. C. & E. C. Jack.  I will be more sharing as I learn.

Scottish, Cuff button

Thank you for reading,

Norah

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Spero Melior - Hope for Better Things - 1832