In one of his Pacifica Tribune “Reactor” columns in the 1980s, Paul Azevedo commends the Emdes’ business in his column entitled: ”Service is the Key to Success”. He wrote:”When I took a class at Skyline, the teacher told us of a great place to buy supplies for the course. "Periwinkle in Pacifica,” he said. I had no trouble believing that. Enid Emde and the rest of the staff seem to follow the Rotary Club concept of ‘Service Above Self’. The Emdes are willing to innovate. They are also willing to admit to themselves when they make a mistake, and go back to more “primitive” ways of doing business They have carefully built a firm customer base with friendship, quality and service."
In addition to service, there was skill and craftsmanship. The Emdes studied framing, often by going to classes and framing conventions. They developed techniques and used materials that they took pride in. Most Pacificans knew the Periwinkle staff as the "Winkle Workers". These were the Emdes, plus the people who worked for/with them, often also a talented bunch of artists who presented the "Winkle Workers Art Shows" annually.
"People who work here are a real family," Enid explained in a 1990 Pacifica Tribune article.
Deb: “I noticed that one of your Winkle Workers was a grey tabby CAT. A working cat! Who was that?”
Enid: “That was Big B (for Big Baby). He lived in the gallery. We’d gotten him from a lady named Wanda Spellman. He moved with us to all of our locations – Pedro Point to Linda Mar, and Eureka Square. He was so mellow, people could come up to him – he would jump up on the framing table, and customers would say: ”Oh, he likes me! But he liked everybody.
When we moved to Linda Mar, I accidentally shut him out – I didn’t mean to – but he went back to the Point, and we didn’t know this - he was gone for two weeks. His picture was even on the front page of the Tribune! Everybody was looking for him – they were just heartbroken. Finally, we had had a meeting at the Firehouse, and I heard a meowing at the door. I went over and opened the door, and everybody screamed....he was o.k. When we finally moved to our last Palmetto gallery, we took Big B home to live.”
Deb: Tell me about the other Winkle Workers.
Enid: “The first of the Winkle Workers was Sarah Gates, who, at 13, was hired to teach macramé after school to kids. She obviously had skilled hands, so I taught her to frame. She worked off and on, depending upon her school hours. In Eureka Square, she became our “midnight” framer. We left a stack of orders, and they were all done the next day. This worked well for all of us. Sarah studied for three years in the University of London's Textile Conservation Program. Following that, she worked as an intern at the de Young Museum's Textile Conservation Lab for 5 years. After that, she was hired and is currently the head of the new Marie Hecksher Textile Conservation Center.”
When we shifted from Art Supplies to Office Supplies, and then to gifts, we brought Kay Scott in. Lionel taught Kay framing. Kay was a meticulous seamstress – she was wonderful! So, Kay did all of the sewing jobs. She worked for us for quite a few years. I remember one time, she wanted some thread, so I told her that I had some in a great big sewing box, and gave it to Kay – my sewing box was a complete jumble. Well, Kay took that sewing box, and cleaned it out, wrapped the thread perfectly – very organized, bless her heart. Kay is no longer with us. In fact, the last time I saw all of the Winkle workers was at Kay’s memorial.
Winkle Worker Deb House moved to Pacifica from Hope Valley, Connecticut. We were delighted to hire her, because she fit the character of the Winkle Workers: good with people, great sense of humor, and liked to act goofy once in awhile.
This reminds me of an incident at Periwinkle Prints and Gifts in Eureka Square. One night, Big B had been nervous around a chest with one big drawer. Deb, Shirley, Donna and I were getting ready for a Winkle Worker show. Someone looked out the back door and saw a police car parked there, but thought nothing of it. We finally opened the drawer, and a huge rat jumped out. What do four women do when seeing a rat? They scream at the top of their lungs. Deb trapped the animal, by slamming a waste basket over it. The screams continued as we took the captive to the dumpster. Oddly, the police did not come in, and were gone after the dumpster lid closed. Anyway, Deb moved back to Rhode Island, and has been working as a shipkeeper at the Mystic Seaport for several years.
Other workers included Donna Reid, who was one of our longest-term employees – about 18 years. She lives in Tahoe now. She used to take the orders, & was the fitter (the fitter is the person who washes the glass, nails the artwork into the frame, covers the back with paper, and wires it)."
Reid is currently an oil painter in Lake Tahoe, and is a member of the Tahoe Art League. "Painting is not my work, it is my love, my leisure, and gives emotional balance to my life," Reid said in a 2005 article in the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
"Shirley Petersen cut mats and did fittings. Sandy Kavanaugh was also a fitter, and took framing orders – I mean, everyone took framing orders."
One of the former Winkle Workers, artist Karen Bash, wrote of her time with Periwinkle:
“I remember my days at the Periwinkle very well. My dad remodeled their kitchen/dining area when I was a kid and I remember going over to their home quite a few times. I loved all the cool original art work they had and their two very fluffy Huskies. So, one day when I was a junior in high school, dad came home, and said Enid was looking for someone to work at the new gallery out on Pedro Point that he, Dale and my brother Rich were remodeling. I loved the idea of working at an art gallery, as I was an artist myself. (My maternal grandfather was a commercial artist and I had been drawing, and later painting, for as long I could remember).
It was a great first job! I learned to do custom framing, both in helping customers make aesthetic decisions and doing the framing itself. (I still cut my own mats and do them with Enid's precise guidelines in mind.) I also found out about all sorts of art supplies, which we also stocked. And I had the chance to see and learn about the many artists in the area whose work we showed and sold. Enid and Dale showcased many different forms of art; ceramics, photography, paintings of various mediums, jewelry, etc.
And I got to watch some wonderful musical theater that was performed on Sundays afternoons on a little stage area. We also had a movie night, and the Drama teacher from Terra Nova High School brought old 1930s/1940s/1950s films to show. It was an incredibly stimulating place to be.
The Periwinkle was certainly a gathering place for all sorts of creative folk and local characters. I remember a cartoonist named Tom Jackson (whose daughter Sue was in my grade at school) set up his work table in the gallery and drew the cartoons he sold there. He also did some great murals in the bathrooms, giving us artistic loos. Their lovely dogs were always there as well (shedding everywhere) since Dale was downstairs making frames and cutting glass, while Enid, Sarah Gates and I were upstairs helping customers and putting the artwork in the frames.
And my time at the Periwinkle also started me on a lifelong love of buying original art. Funny you should mention Galen Wolf in your first column, as one of his paintings from the one-man show we had for him was my first original art purchase. Thirty-six years later, it is still one of my favorite works from another artist.
As a former "Winkle Worker" I'm looking forward to the coming column about the Periwinkle Art Gallery!” Karen’s brother, Rich, mentioned that: ”33 years ago, Michele and I married at the Pedro gallery, after Dad, Dale and I rebuilt old stucco building to firehouse chic!”
Today, Karen is a Nature-Art Instructor. Website: www.natureandart.org
The firehouse Karen mentioned is where the Emdes and their staff put on performances. There were also movies.
Dale:“There was this talk show on the radio, and the host was sitting in for the regular D.J. I thought, well, maybe this guy would like to listen to our Flash Gordon Series at Periwinkle, or say something about it...and so, he put it on the air (laughs), and that place was just flooded with people – jammed! And we had this whole series of Flash Gordon films....and they were really bad....but we also had lots of wine, so it somehow didn’t matter!”
Enid: Dave Campbell was the one who brought us the old films. We showed (the silent film) “Birth of a Nation”, and somebody played piano to accompany it.”
Deb: How did these films concerts and events affect business? Did they help?
Enid: ”Well, it made people aware that we were there, that we did framing & all that.....I’m sure that it helped in some way, but overall, I think it was more entertaining than profitable.”
Deb: So, that is why you moved to Eureka Square?
Enid: ”Yes. Well, that, and we tried every way we could to get people to find us from the highway. We put all these sandwich boards up, and the highway patrol would take them down. It made me mad, that I couldn’t even have any kind of a sign to at least tell people we were there.”
Soon after Periwinkle celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1999, the Emdes retired. As a gift to Enid & Dale, Donna Reid and Shirley Petersen lovingly put together a scrapbook of news clippings, photos, ads, postcards and greeting cards as a farewell gift for the Emdes. Within the scrapbook are cards, postcards and news items about either the Emdes, or their staff. Many of the greetings enclosed were from former Winkle Workers, who had kept in touch. Others are postcards from the various places the Emdes’ traveled, addressed to Periwinkle’s employees.
Fifteen years after Periwinkle Gallery closed its doors, the Emdes are busier than ever. Enid is just finished typing up a brochure for the Pacifica Garden Club Tour, and helped with mounting a Buster Posey jersey for one of Lionel’s framing assignments. Lionel's Periwinkle Custom Framing business is still going strong, which is no small wonder, with the example set by his parents, along with the experience he gained when working alongside them.
On a personal note, one reason that I was motivated to write about Periwinkle is that my husband Michael, who started Spring Mountain Gallery in Half Moon Bay 1980 learned much of what he knows about Custom Framing from Enid and Dale. Spring Mountain Gallery even has Periwinkle’s old dry-mount press which still works for us (they don’t make ‘em like that, anymore). Enid and Dale have always supported the arts and artists, and their legacy has had a positive, wide-ripple effect, ever since, for which we are truly grateful.
