Patricia Easterbrook Roberts

Patricia Easterbrook Roberts (March 17, 1910 – December 27, 1987) was an Australian-born floral designer, author, and landscape designer who worked in Australia, England and the United States.

Early life

Roberts was born Patricia Mary Easterbrook on March 17, 1910, in Glebe, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the daughter of Isaac Edwin Easterbrook and his wife Matilda Mary (née Draper).[1] In 1929, aged 19, she accompanied her mother on a trip around the world, during which they visited many famous gardens and greenhouses in England, continental Europe, and the United States, inspiring Roberts' lifelong interest in floral design.[2]

Career

In 1930, Roberts bought a floristry shop in Sydney which she operated for almost two years. Returning to Europe, she managed several flower shops in London and Paris.[3] During the late 1930s, she worked for well-known florists Irene Hayes (at her Flower Store on Park Avenue, New York), and Constance Spry (helping organize Spry's lecture tour in the United States, and arrangements for Spry's New York flower shop).[4]

During the early 1940s, Roberts operated the Roberts School of Dramatic Floriculture in Detroit, Michigan,[5] had a weekly radio program on flower care and arranging, and wrote a monthly column for the industry journal FTD News. In 1945 she published her first book, Technical Floristry, believed to be the first textbook for professional florists written in the United States. The book was made into a color training film by the industry association Florists' Telegraph Delivery Association (FTD).[3]

Seven other books followed Technical Floristry, and chapters by Roberts appeared in several books, such as The Studio Book of Flowers and Flower Arrangements.[3] The Kirkus Reviews noted that Flower Craft (1949) had "Plenty of helpful lists ... sound advice ... with some original ideas."[6] The Book of Table Arrangements (1951) was described as "a "goldmine" for hostesses".[7] An arrangement from Flower Arrangements Throughout the Year appeared on the cover of the Australian Women's Weekly in 1963; Roberts was described as "world famous as a lecturer on flower arrangements".[8] The journal Design considered How to Make Flower Decorations (1958) "the authoritative book on the subject",[9] and Interior Design wrote that the "easy instructions are spiced with so much common sense".[10] Her last book, Table Settings, Entertaining & Etiquette, was published simultaneously in the US (by Viking) and in the UK (by Thames & Hudson). It was well received in both countries, with one reviewer describing it as "a fascinating mixture of the social history of the dining room and practical advice on all kinds of entertaining",[11] and another saying it "the book is both a visual delight and an infallible guide to correct procedure".[12]

Roberts' work was also featured in popular magazines of the period,[3] including Look,[13] House Beautiful, Woman’s Day, Town and Country, and Life, which in 1956 carried a 6 page color spread of floral arrangements designed for it by Roberts.[14] In addition, she appeared in and did arrangements and table settings for live lectures across the US and internationally,[15] as well as radio and television programs and movies.[3][12] In 1950 she was a commentator for the first televised broadcast of the New York Flower Show.[16]

Roberts also designed floral-themed interior decorations for established manufacturers, including W.H.Bossons of Congleton, England, for whom she designed the 'Sentimental Flowers' mirror and plaques;[17][18][19] The Walter Hatches;[20][21] and Beswick Pottery (she was one of several international experts in floral arrangements invited in the 1960s to design a vessel for flower arranging).[22] She established the Patricia Roberts Studio in Stamford, Connecticut, to sell her own floral-themed interior decorations in various materials, including metal, which she also exported.[23] She worked as a consultant on interior design and landscape design for Paparazzo Development Corporation's clustered-housing projects in Connecticut.[24]

Roberts' influential design ideas and etiquette guidelines are still referenced in the 21st century.[25][26][27] The historical information she provided in Table Settings, Entertaining & Etiquette has been referenced by both academic studies[28] and cookbooks with a historical theme.[29]

Personal life

In 1939, Roberts married David Edwards Roberts (an American lawyer for the Florists' Telegraph Delivery Association), with whom she had two children.[30][31] Roberts and her husband divorced in 1947,[32] and Roberts became a U.S. citizen in 1948.[33] Roberts’ last twenty years (1967-1987) were spent living in Southbury, Connecticut.[34] She died aged 77 of metastasized colon cancer on December 27, 1987 in a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut.[34][31]

Bibliography
  • Technical Floristry (Powers & Company, 1945)
  • Flower Craft (Crown, 1949)
  • The Book of Table Arrangements (Crown, 1951)
  • Party Decorations for Christmas and Other Occasions (Crowell, 1954)
  • How to Make Flower Decorations (Crowell, 1958)
  • Simplified Flower Arrangements (Viking, 1960)
  • Flower Arrangements Throughout the Year (Viking, 1963)
  • Table Settings, Entertaining & Etiquette (Viking and Thames & Hudson, 1967)
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gollark: So, everything into the first one.
gollark: CC because I like the ability to plonk down computers anywhere and OC for compatibility.
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References
  1. Ancestry.com. Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
  2. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
  3. Holme, Bryan, ed. (1956). The Studio book of flowers and flower arrangements. New York, London: Studio Publications in association with the Thomas Y. Crowell Co. p. 10.
  4. Coxhead, Elizabeth, Constance Spry: a Biography, W. Luscombe, 1975, pp 111,115.
  5. Spafford, Aileen (10 October 1940). "Industrial Detroit Becomes Home of New School for Florists". Detroit Free Press. p. 12. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  6. Kirkus Review: Flower Craft. Kirkus. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  7. Lummus, Martha (14 May 1951). "Setting the table can be a chore; make it an artistic achievement". The Miami News: 7. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  8. "Our Cover". The Australian Women's Weekly. 31 (5). Australia, Australia. 3 July 1963. p. 2. Retrieved 28 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Book Review Section". Design. 59 (5): 184. 1958. doi:10.1080/00119253.1958.10743888.
  10. "Book Review: How to Make Flower Decorations". Interior Design. 30: 225. 1959. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  11. "At the table". Birmingham Daily Post: 29. 9 November 1967. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  12. "History of Settings, Traditions Revealed". Alamogordo Daily News. Alamogordo, New Mexico: 9. 3 November 1968. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  13. 'Real or Fake', Look, 29 March 29, 1960, pp. 58-60.
  14. 'Grand Effect with Simple Flowers', Life, 2 April 1956, pp 50-55 https://books.google.com.au/books?id=OE8EAAAAMBAJ
  15. "FLOWER EXPERT ON VISIT". The Australian Women's Weekly. 30 (7). Australia, Australia. 18 July 1962. p. 12. Retrieved 27 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. Table Settings, Entertaining and Etiquette, The Viking Press, New York, 1967, Cover Biographical Notes.
  17. "Modellers and Employees". Bossons Collecting. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  18. "Mirrors". Bossons Collecting.
  19. "S - Plaques (Scene + People)". Bossons Collecting.
  20. "Vintage Italian Import Wrought Iron Tole PAIR of Yellow Floral Buttercup Candle Sconces". etsy. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  21. "Vintage Italian Import Wrought Iron Tole Yellow Floral Buttercup Oval Mirror". etsy. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  22. Baynton, Val (2012). Beswick Pottery. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 978-0747811169.
  23. 'Unique and Elegant Home Accents', (Advertisement for David Jones Department Store, Sydney), The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia), 29 October 1964, p. 26, https://www.newspapers.com/image/123873520/?terms=%22Patricia%2BEasterbrook%2BRoberts%22, accessed June 3, 2018.
  24. Christine Breslin, "Her Work Flourishes for Love of Nature," Hartford Courant (Hartford Connecticut), October 9, 1983, pp. 149,158, https://www.newspapers.com/image/368907383/?terms=%22Patricia%2BEasterbrook%2BRoberts%22, accessed June 3, 2018
  25. Caroline1,"Table Settings - Does this Bug Anyone Else?", https://www.chowhound.com/post/table-settings-bug-480818?page=8, Jan 18, 2008, accessed June 3, 2018.
  26. Andrew Stephens, "The Art of Table Talk," Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia), February 22, 2014, https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/the-art-of-table-talk-20140220-332ff.html, accessed June 3, 2018.
  27. McMurry, Jane Hight (2002). The Etiquette Advantage: Socially Smart Skills for Personal Success. Bowdon, Cheshire: Stellar. ISBN 9780970304148.
  28. Diana diZerga, Wall (2013). The Archaeology of Gender: Separating the Spheres in Urban America. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 122. ISBN 9781489912107. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  29. Elverson, Virginia T.; McLanahan, Mary Ann (2014). Revolutionary Cooking: Over 200 Recipes Inspired by Colonial Meals. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 9781628738803. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  30. Ancestry.com. Indiana, Marriages, 1810-2001 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
  31. 'Patricia E. Roberts, Landscape Designer, 77', New York Times, New York, New York, January 1, 1988, p.64, https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/01/obituaries/patricia-e-roberts-landscape-designer-77.html, accessed June 3, 2018
  32. Decree of Divorce #16804, Macomb County Circuit Court, Mount Clemens, Macomb County, Michigan, USA, December 7, 1947
  33. Certificate of Naturalization #6504896, Supreme Court of New York, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, USA, December 16, 1948.
  34. Ancestry.com. Connecticut Department of Health. Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2003.
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