People sometimes ask for an explanation: Why Anabaglish?
I tried to get a couple of other brand names registered, but MiMo and Mo&Co were taken.
Anabaglish was a third try. Anabaglish was the name of my grandparent’s farm in Southern Oregon. I like the way it honors the family that came before me. We registered the brand name and the name works!
My memories of Anabaglish are of waking up to the sound of a crackling fire and my grandfather’s expert birdcalls; the smell of hay as we spread it on the snow for the cows; and heading out to find Grandma’s favorite Indian sagebrush for a bouquet.
Anabaglish is the magic of the closet upstairs full of all the 1940s gowns my mother and her sisters had worn to the many events. They were all handmade by my grandmother. We played dress-up in them.
Anabaglish is the stand of aspen trees with our names etched into them. My Grandpa taught us about trees and how to count the rings of years beyond 300 on a ponderosa pine that had been cut down. It is all the ponderosas that still stand there today.
Anabaglish is the dead birds and animals found around the farm that Grandpa would gather and save in the freezer to show us when we got there. It is the smell of the red and white petunias and watching the hummingbirds around the fuchsias on the porch.
So what does all of the above have to do with bags?
There was a lot of leatherwork around the place. Slings for firewood, bags, and containers for hunting and camping, and saddlebags, bridles, and halters in the barn. I loved the smell of leather.
And then, there was the constant sewing. My grandmother had a sewing station in her bedroom. She made clothes for her three daughters and for my sisters and me. My mother was voted “most popular” in high school. Grandma would say that title really belonged to her because she made all of my mother’s clothes.
When Grandma taught me to sew she said, “Those directions are ridiculous. Who doesn’t know what a sleeve looks like?” She never looked at the directions and didn’t think I should need to either.
I am not a seamstress. The lessons didn’t really take. I can sew if pressed. Grandma did pass along a love of design and creating beautiful useful things. Grandma Georgia is still with me.
And so that is Anabaglish: casual, natural, vintage-inspired.
