Just hear those sleigh bells jingling,
Ring ting tingling too
Come on, it’s lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you

One of the most popular holiday songs of all time, Sleigh Ride has been covered by an amazing number of artists, including:  Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, The Andrew Sisters, The Muppets, Johnny Mathis, Amy Grant, Harry Connick, Jr., Debbie Gibson, Neil Diamond, Garth Brooks, The Spice Girls, Neil Diamond, and Clay Aiken. There’s a verse in the song that makes reference to Currier & Ives, probably the first time I’d ever heard of the duo. It wasn’t until years later that I understood that Currier & Ives were famous printmakers.

There’s a happy feeling
Nothing in the world can buy
When they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie
It’ll nearly be like a picture print by Currier and Iives
These wonderful things are the things
We remember all through our lives!

So just who were Currier and Ives? Only the most
successful printmaking firm of all-time. Headed by two men (with the last names of Currier and Ives), they operated in New York City from 1834-1907, producing black and white prints (lithographs) from paintings that were then hand-colored. Lithographic prints could be reproduced quickly and purchased inexpensively, and the firm called itself "the Grand Central Depot for Cheap and Popular Prints", advertising its lithographs as "colored engravings for the people", i.e.  art for the masses.

The company was prolific, publishing at least 7,500 lithographs in the firm’s 72 years of operation. Artists produced two to three new images every week, selling more than a million prints. Currier & Ives had an uncommon flair for gauging the people’s interests.  They employed (or used the work of) many celebrated artists of the day to create the original drawings which were then printed and later colored by hand. Over the years their selection of prints broadened to include almost every subject. There were horses, kittens, the Brooklyn Bridge, Christopher Columbus, historical events and catastrophes (like the explosion aboard the USS Princeton, 1844).  Of course, there were also plenty of winter scenes such as sleigh rides in the country and ice-skating in Central Park.

This is the first year that South ‘n France is offering a Currier & Ives bon bon tin, and we have feeling that just like centuries ago, it’s sure to be a popular seller…

Last year, we followed up with a parody on the film Elf. Both Pascal and I appeared as elves in the catalog that told the story of Leon the Bon Bon and the other bon bon elves. This summer, when it was time to start work on our catalog once again, I emailed our brilliant graphic designer, Brent Holloman, with a list of possible suggestions for the catalog’s theme. Brent liked "Mr. French:  The Grinch Who Tried to Stop Christmas!" best, so we immediately began brainstorming ideas.

Lucky for me, Brent has a talented illustrator-friend who worked for the most famous animation company in the world. I fondly referred to Brent and Brett as my B-Team. Brent created a rough layout for the catalog, and then Brett drew a series of rough sketches that where meant to look like Pascal (as the Grinch) and me (as Little Charley-Lou). This was the most difficult part of the process for us. I just couldn’t see the resemblance in those caricatures; I thought that the very first rendering of me looked like Phyllis Diller! Brett was extremely patient with our vain requests, and considering that we have never met (he was working from photographs), I think he did a great job of capturing our personalities as animated Seuss-like characters. His illustrations are sheer genius (you’ve got to see the "Hand" that dips the bon bons!)

Brett sent his sketches to Brent who colored them in on the computer. I got to spend a few minutes watching Brent color, and it’s such a cool process! It looks like even more fun than coloring with crayons. Brent has a great eye for detail, and he added fonts and dividing lines and lots of graphic touches that further enhanced the idea of our French Grinch story. I really do think that the final result would make a wonderful storybook.

We hope you enjoy this year’s holiday catalog, and we’d love to hear your suggestions for next year’s theme!

The Candy Factory episode is actually entitled Job Switching because Ricky and Fred think doing housework is much easier than earning money. Naturally, Lucy and Ethel think the opposite. So, the boys try doing the housework while the girls attempt to hold down a job at a candy factory. Often, people tell me they wish they had my job; that being a Bon Bon Queen must be an easy life. I’m not complaining, but it often feels like that speed-increasing conveyor belt. It’s not just about sitting around and eating bon bons!

I will say, Lucy’s job interview at the candy factory felt a lot like my first interview with a professional in the chocolate industry:

Supervisor: Ricardo, I’m going to put you to work chocolate dipping. You say you’ve had experience.
Lucy: Oh yes, ma’am. Yes ma’am. I’m a dipper from way back.
Supervisor: Yes?
Lucy: They used to call me "the big dipper."

Of course, Lucy’s only dipping experience (like mine) was dipping her hands into a box of chocolates. Reportedly that epsiode was Lucille Ball’s favorite, and I can’t help but wonder if it was because she knew it was a piece of comic genius or if it was just because she loved stuffing her mouth with all of that yummy chocolate. It wasn’t the only episode where Lucy downs a whole lot of sweets: on one show, Lucy goes to Schwab’s Drugstore because she wants to be discovered by Lana Turner. While she waits to be discovered, she has 3 chocolate malts, 2 hot fudge sundaes, 1 banana split, and 1 pineapple soda!

This summer, I was lucky enough to receive a custom handmade bag that encapsulates the fun of that wonderfully wacky piece of television history. You’ll notice that my bag even has a little front pocket, perfect for transporting bon bons. I have a few more things in common with Lucy besides job experience in a chocolate factory. Here’s more insight via some memorable lines from the show: 

Ricky Ricardo: Lucy’s actin’ crazy.
Fred Mertz: Crazy for Lucy, or crazy for ordinary people?

Ricky Ricardo: Lucy, you got some ’splainin’ to do!  

Arthur: But… You’re a woman.
Lucy Ricardo: Yes, my husband likes me that way.

Ricky Ricardo: Fred, I’ve got an awful problem on my hands.
Fred Mertz: You should have thought about that before you married her.

Lucy Ricardo: [at false seance, introducing Ethel in disguise] This is Madam Ethel Mertzola. She’ll be our medium tonight. She’s psychopathic.

Ricky Ricardo: What’s the matter with you? Are you crazy or something?

When Pascal and I got married, long before the idea of bon bon business had ever been conceived, we had chocolates at both our wedding dinner (in Manhattan) and our wedding reception (which followed six months later in Wilmington). My friend Jannette bought us white chocolate Eiffel Towers to serve as favors to the twenty guests who attended our actual wedding. When it came time to plan for the reception, we decided to buy more white chocolate Eiffel Towers, but pair them with liquor-infused truffles that we would put in favor boxes at each place setting.  They would also double as placecards for our guests.

Our wedding colors were lavendar and white, which were determined by Pascal. He wore a suit instead of a tuxedo to our small, intimate wedding, and chose his tie at Thomas Pink. I told him that whatever tie color he chose would determine the color scheme for our wedding.  Et voila!

I bought favor boxes online and lavendar silk flowers in the wholesale district of Manhattan, and spent weeks creating handmade gift tags, the backs of which I dipped in glue and then white glitter. When we started assembling the boxes, they didn’t look nearly as lush as I wanted them to look. Something was missing–poufs!! I decided that we needed an organza pouf under each silk flower. The poufs had to be sewn by hand, and I recruited my long-suffering friend Cory (who has been roped into a million crazy jobs like this at Dupray family parties) to sew poufs which I would then glue along with the silk flowers to each favor box. After many delirious hours (and many hot glue gun burns), the boxes were finally assembled.  Then, because I simply couldn’t leave anything to chance, we went through the 120-person guest list and tried to determine which of the four truffle favors each guest would like best. At the time, I didn’t consider myself to be a Bridezilla, but as I tell this story, I’m thinking I may have to reconsider…

What I know for sure is that my first serious favor-making experience taught me a lot in preparation for the bon bon business. Since then, we’ve made thousands of custom favors (our largest order to date was 650 for one event), and I’ve learned what to do and what not to do. I also try to caution do-it-yourself brides against taking on this task. It seems quite easy, but it’s much harder than it looks.  Our last do-it-yourself bride delegated the assembly of her favor boxes (which she purchased independently before consulting us) to her parents who put every last one of them together backwards. They all had to be re-folded so that the bon bons wouldn’t fall out the bottom! At just $3 per completed favor box with one bon bon nestled inside, it’s more than worth it to leave the work to us professionals!

Here are is the wedding favor that started it all followed by favor boxes we’ve recently created to match the themes and the moods of three very different events:

Just one look at my crazy hat and my campy polka-dotted outfit should tell you that I don’t take myself too seriously. Still, I am a queen because my bon bons rule; I am a queen because I love pomp and circumstance; I am a queen because I’d rather be Queen Bee of my own little hive than a corporate worker bee drone. I am a queen because Queen rhymes with Charlene; it’s catchy and memorable and fun, and I strive to be all of those things. When I introduce myself as a queen, I’m making this subtle suggesion: all I ask is that you treat me no differently than you would the queen. And, as Princess Diana once said: "I’d like to be a queen of people’s hearts". I am the queen of my castle. I am Queen of the Day almost every day.  And yes, it is indeed good to be queen.

But some people just can’t bring themselves to acknowledge my light-hearted nod to my queenly nature. Instead of addresssing me by my proper royal title, they usually end up calling me something like: "The Bon Bon Lady". One time, I walked into a business networking event, and a guy said: "Oh, there’s the Bon Bon Lady." A fellow female entrepeneur corrected him: "Nooo!!", she exclaimed, "She’s not the Bon Bon Lady, she’s the Bon Bon Queen!" Spoken like true royalty.

Is there anything that trumps a queen? Some might say a king. I never truly believed that, preferring to subscribe to that classic piece of wisdom from My Big, Fat Greek Wedding: The man is the head of the family but the women are the neck and they can turn the head any way they want. I believed that queens were the ultimate in royalty until I learned about Peggielene Bartels a beautiful, powerful woman who is a secretary by day and a Ghanaian king by night.

Peggielene is the new king of Otuam, a town of 7,000 residents an hour’s drive from Ghana’s capital. The town elders chose her to succeed the late king. Fondly and respectfully addressed as Nana by her subjects, she has the power to resolve disputes, appoint elders, and manage more than 1,000 acres of family-owned land. In this day and age, I guess that old adage needs a bit of modification: Carry yourself like a queen and you can become a king!

Every trade has its tools. Carpenters use hammers, nails, screwdrivers, drills, and saws. Seamstresses use scissors, needles, and threads. Chefs have their knives, pots, pans, whisks, spatulas, and blenders. Often, there is a strict code of conduct surrounding a professional’s most valued tools. As kids, we knew we’d get in BIG trouble if we dared to touch my mother’s good sewing scissors.  Use someone else’s knife in a professional kitchen, and you could soon find yourself on the wrong end of that very sharp object! 

Chef Daniel Maggipinto expressed it beautifully when he wrote: "I’ve had many of my knives for my entire 25-year career, so they have a special place in my culinary walk. Of course, some have gotten lost and some have gotten stolen, but a chef’s tools are like a knight’s armor and sword… I have a knife for every kind of food preparation: paring knife, straight boning knife, flexible boning knife, bread knife, slicing knife, chef’s 8-inch Japanese style knife, 10-inch chef’s knife, all kinds of spatulas for fish, dessert, temperature gauges, peelers, pastry bags, piping tips, string and various other implements of food preparation. No, you can’t see them or use them, they are my special tools."

That’s why New York Times bestselling author and independent journalist Lisa Rogak started the blog: Behind The Knife. She noticed that during interviews with chefs, the conversation often turned to their toolboxes. Her bio explains: "They spoke of some of the tools like a lover, and told wild stories about others. In fact, she got the feeling that if they ever lost them, they’d pull out the knives and use them on themselves, or on the hapless culprit who borrowed it without asking…" (See, what did I tell you?)

Lisa quickly discovered that in addition to the standard knives and kitchen utensils one might expect, chefs often tote around some really crazy tools to help them execute their culinary pieces de resistance:  bubble wrap, dental floss, power drills, torches and more.  Recently, Lisa profiled Pascal’s most beloved kitchen tool: a standard sewing needle. Read about how South ‘n France became the first company to be featured in her "crazy kitchen tools" category.