Friday, May 9, 2008

Friday Crackberry Pic


This is my wrist. On my wrist are 3 identical bracelets called Cape Cod Screwballs or as they were once called, East Dennis Screwballs. They come from Eden in East Dennis, MA (Cape Cod) and they are my talisman. I never take them off. Never. In the airport once I did have to but a nice security guy told me all I needed to do was unscrew them. It worked! Unscrew you say? Yes, these bracelets are solid all the way around. You essentially have to unscrew the ball and then you can pull the ends apart to remove them. This is another reason I don't take them off. You can make the silver weaker if you do that. I have one for each decade I have been going to the Cape.

There are many imitations being made on the Cape of this bracelet and that makes me angry. The people that created it are very nice people who have a tiny shop in East Dennis where they have been making and selling jewelry and pottery for years. When I was little we would call it "The Buttermold Shop" because before there was the Cape Cod bracelet they sold clay replicas of buttermolds, used in Colonial times. Many people that go to the Cape collect these and we did as well. Most of the houses we rented on the Cape had a collection. The shop had a swing we could use and I think I remember a pretty collie dog that was gentle and sweet. They also had this path that was like a treasure hunt in the woods. They made locations hidden along the path where you picked up an oyster shell at each location and at the end of the path you should have had a certain amount of shells. I wish I could remember how many!


Now, there are lines out the door and 3 hour waits just for the bracelets. There is no swing and no path (deer ticks are very bad now). You come armed with bug spray and something good to read and possibly and umbrella. This is what you must go through to get your bracelet, not some air conditioned store where they don't even know the real story behind the bracelet. (That they were made for a friend of the family who had cancer and wanted something simple designed for her. I know for years they donated part of the money from the profits from the bracelets to cancer research. I can't be positive of that now but considering the family, they probably do.) If you love the place, as I do and almost everyone that keeps coming back, you stick it out for your special piece of the Cape. It is that important to many, many people.

Anyway, that is my Crackberry Pic for today. If you ever find yourself on the Cape, please visit the shop. I linked it at the top of the page.

9 comments:

Suburbia said...

Thanks so much for your nice comment on mine. I forgot it was mothers day for you this weekend. Ours was back in March. (my first post was about it! )
Can you explain Crackberry ? You have probably done so before but I missed it!
Hope mothers day is good :)

scargosun said...

Suburbia - Crackberry is just a fun word for Blackberry. Some of us are so addicted to it we compare it to crack.

Candid Carrie said...

I love the bracelet story and the fact that each one represents a decade. Isn't it amazing that we can almost total recall of childhood memories but can't remember why we went back in a room ...

As Cape Cod Turns said...

I can't believe you have 3! I heard those ladies at the bracelet store compare to Seinfeld's soup Nazi. What do you think?

Tiffany said...

I love that places like that shop still exist. That true artisans are still sought after.

One day Ill have to drag my ass out of Big Lots and find one around here.

Betsy, short for Elizabeth, formally known as Esther said...

LOVE them! I am always envious of others with them, and I keep meaning to get myself one!!!

Ok, let's talk DC-
1. I was pissed at Johnathan for not understanding why his kid needed to bail. I know that was last week, but still.
2. Yeah that kid from the Red Dawn needs to be thrown overboard!
3. How about that fist to cuffs with Matt?
4. Um, the fight between the Captain and his brother on THe Wizard? I was like dude he never said anything about not getting out there!

Suburbia said...

Thanks, I'm still not sure though! Do you only eat blackberries on Friday?!! Am I being a little thick?

Los said...

Yep - imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and also a way to make a few bucks, too ... Unfortunately, we see it everywhere ... American cars (all three seem to copy off each other, leaving little innovation), music (the record companies and radio stations play one song that people like, and then, before you know it, a million other bands that sound exactly the same are on the radio ... sigh).

Suburbia said...

OMG I'm so stupid!! As a mum, a lot of the time my head is thinking about food ,shopping for food, meals for kids, packed lunches for everyone etc. (this is my feeble excuse)I forgot blackberries were not only just a food!!! It all makes perfect sense now. Thanks for bearing with me!!!