Immerse yourself in the extraordinary art and life of Tasha Tudor, Caldecott honor author, illustrator and early American lifestyle icon, in this delightful podcast narrated by Tasha's granddaughter, Amy Tudor. Tasha Tudor (1915-2008) lived a remarkable 1830s lifestyle in the woods of Marlboro, Vermont, just west of Brattleboro. The first half of the podcast focuses on her work as a self-made and self-realized artist and person. Tasha published more than 100 books while raising a family and maintaining a simple lifestyle of days gone by that has, over time, generated strong appeal among especially fans in Japan and Asia. We learn about her fascination with Corgi dogs and how she used them in 'Corgiville Fair', first published in 1971 and still in print, and other books. The second half of the podcast features Amy Tudor guiding us down Tasha's driveway, to escape the noise and cacophony of modern life to enter Tasha's unique and charming world -- her hand-hewn house, candles and letters and specialty tea, bountiful gardens and handmade frocks, dolls and puppets. Amy tells us how the family's Tasha Tudor Society keeps the spirit of Tasha alive among her many international fans.
Host, Lissa Weinmann: Welcome to the Brattleboro Word Trail Podcast
Narrator, Amy Tudor, Tasha’s Granddaughter-In-Law: From an early age, Tasha Tudor was drawn to older times. She was drawn specifically to the 1830s, growing your own food, making your own butter, all that felt natural to her. She really did not blend into the modern world. She liked things her way.
Tasha was born in 1915. She was a young child through the women's liberation movement. She was embarrassed that her mother was a women's libber, yet she lived a completely independent life. She built her world to be this beautiful world. It was almost like an art installation that she lived in.
I'm Amy Tudor, and I married Tasha's grandson, Winslow, about 20 years ago. We lived beside Tasha for about 10 years before she passed away. Tasha is well known for actually quite a few things in terms of her work. She was an artist and illustrator. She was not fond of writing, but she would occasionally write to sort of support her illustrations in the stories.
She came on the scene in the late 30s as a children's book illustrator, and she had to work really hard to get her first book published. It was rejected the first time she made the rounds in New York City, literally going from publisher to publisher with her manuscript in hand.
She published in her career over 100 books, primarily children's books, children's illustrations. From the very first book, she used her family traditions as the model for her books. The way she lived was her work, which is now considered kind of a blogging lifestyle, but she was doing it back in the 30s.
Her first book was Pumpkin Moonshine, published in 1938 and based on her niece, Sylvie Ann. Pumpkin Moonshine is a story about a little girl who goes to collect a pumpkin she's going to turn into a jack o' lantern. But Tasha called those ‘pumpkin moonshines’. So in the book, Sylvie is going to look for a pumpkin moonshine.
Tasha was really an observer who had the artistic eye that didn't miss any details. When you have a child on your lap and you're reading through these stories, you all of a sudden see the world in a completely different way. They are able to see all of the details and Tasha's borders, which also show her sense of humor. (children laughter). So the children have that observing eye, which Tasha never lost.
When I first read her version of Little Women, you get so into the story that I completely forgot these were Tasha's illustrations, and it was just like, Wow, those are so accurate and they're so joyful! My favorite book is obviously The Secret Garden, which was one of Tasha's bestsellers. She didn't write it, but she illustrated the bestselling version and it's still in print today, and she illustrated that in the 50s.
I think Tasha enjoyed the identity of an artist somewhat holed-away in the forest, in the hills. She'd always had a dream of living in Vermont. Marlboro in particular because her son attended Marlboro College and then settled in the area after and then she moved to be near him. She picked a field and there was no electricity, so her son, Seth, (sawing sounds) began building the house using only hand tools. And it's a pretty famous story told and drawn from New England and a few other books.
(dogs barking) Tasha got her first Corgi dog when her son, Tom, was attending boarding school in England. He sent this Corgi home in a crate and it got home before he did. And by the time Tom had come home, Tasha and the Corgi had bonded and were best friends and Tom unfortunately lost his dog to his mother. So from that point on, Tasha was never without a Corgi.
The first book that Tasha heavily featured Corgis was Corgiville Fair in 1971 or so, and that book has been in print since then. It features a small New Hampshire town that is inhabited by Corgis instead of people. And there's a town fair and it's full of humorous events. There are also goats and bogarts and a few other kinds of townspeople that live there, but it's extremely humorous. She loved them, she said they were gifts from the fairies, so they featured heavily in her artwork from the time she got her first Corgi up through her death in 2008.
In 2006, I formed the Tasha Tudor Museum, which evolved into the Tasha Tudor Society a few years down the road. So now the Tasha Tudor Society's mission is to connect and inspire people through Tasha Tudor's world. Tasha’s popularity is highest in Japan and even some of the other neighboring countries like Korea and China. In the US, we have eight to 11 chapters currently where people get together and they are able to connect over the Tasha Tudor world, whether it's they go to tour some sort of exhibit together or whether they're doing a craft together or whether they're having tea together, each chapter's different. But the idea is, basically, to take joy in Tasha's world.
(piano interlude by Alec Pombriant)
When I first met Tasha Tudor, I was a student at Marlboro College. I was invited over for tea. Tortuous driveway is fairly long. And it seems like every foot you go down the driveway, you're leaving the rest of the world behind. But by the time you get to the Tudor house, you're in a completely different world. This is a very old world experience.
When you first arrived at Tasha’s House, you would usually hear the corgis barking first, and they would run out and announce your arrival. You'd walk through an eight foot garden gate and come to find out there's fencing around the entire garden to keep the deer out. You have to walk through part of the garden to get to the house.
So you're invited into Tasha's house, and there was one room where the wood stove is the cook stove. That's where she would usually serve tea. More formal tea would be served in the parlor. Tasha, had her own brand of tea that was specially blended for her, it’s called ‘Tasha Tutor's Welch Breakfast Tea’ and probably the last 20 years of her life, she exclusively drank and served that. She was very much in command of her world, she guided it just like an old world hostess. It was like being in an Edith Wharton novel.
Tasha wore a frock that was based on an antique dress her friend had found in an antique shop. It was full length. It was long sleeved. She would typically wear an apron over the front, whether or not she was cooking. She would wear a French silk scarf in her hair and another around her neck.
Tasha had a real structure to her day. She would always have her morning tea and breakfast, she would have ‘11ish’, which is sort of a snack and not lunch. Then she would have her lunch. Then there would be a nap and then afternoon tea, and then she would have just a little bit of food for the evening and then she would be in bed early. But then she'd wake up at 11 and would often write letters or do more reading then.
Tasha was a prolific letter writer --three or four letters a night. She would write to fans, she would write to publishers usually using candlelight, and all the lights that were in her home were 40 watt bulbs. So it was a very dim setting, which again appeals to people living with nature.
Tasha was a self-educated person. She didn't complete school past the eighth grade, but she never stopped educating herself. She had an immense gardening library, and she had a whole separate library of every other kind of book. She typically preferred older books, except when it came to gardening.
Illustration was Tasha’s job. But gardening was her love. So she would illustrate in order to garden with abandon. And she did. She spent money on her garden. Every spring we would go on plant trips. We would rent a minivan and we'd go to all the specialty nurseries. She would fill it up with plants, and any gardener knows that come spring, a lot of the plants are probably going to be eaten by voles or damaged by frost or wind burn, so you do have to keep replacing plants in a garden.
I have been personally drilling down on what it is that appeals to so many people about Tasha's life. The broadest stroke that I have found is that Tasha is able to do her own thing. No matter who told her what or what not to do. She had an absolute line that she never failed to cross.
She really did not blend into the modern world. She liked things her way. So she was very much drawn to an old lifestyle. I think it gave her a sense of peace. It gave her a sense of belonging. It's simply what she identified with as our century has gone on right now.
You know, in the 2000s, things are so fast. Things are so loud (volume increases to noise level) People don't even realize how loud things are everywhere ...
(volume subsides...) You step on to Tasha’s property and you all of a sudden realize that there is no traffic. There are no modern sounds, and it is so pleasant. So Tasha was able to make this space and claim it, make it exactly as quiet as she wanted.
Host: This episode of the Brattleboro Words Trail was produced and edited by Sally Seymour. Mastering is by Guilford Sound with post podcast editing by Alec Pombriant. Narration is Amy Tudor, Tasha Tudor’s granddaughter in law, who also directs the Tasha Tudor Society. Executive Producer is me, Lissa Weinmann. For more information about the Brattleboro Words Project, including how to participate in telling stories for the Trail, visit BrattleboroWords.org.