What's in a Name? A brief history lesson.

Flossie Willy at the beach. Photo collage by me.

People often ask me why I named my company Flossie Willy, well, here's why.

First of all, I love the name, it has a sense of playfulness, it's rolls of the tongue, but the main reason is that Flossie Willy was my Great Grandmother, and yes that was her name. She grew up in eastern Tennessee, about 20 miles outside of Knoxville. She was a homemaker and a tailor. Her father had a business in downtown Clinton, called Taylor & Son that was a dry good store. The building is still standing and is now being used to house an antique store. You can still see the Taylor & Son on the building.


Taylor & Son building in downtown Clinton, TN

I recently asked my parents about Flossie Willy, she passed away when I was little, so I don't remember much about her. They told me that she was short in stature, a bit over 5 feet tall. She had really long hair that she always braided and then wrapped it in a bun. They said that she was an amazing cook although she could barely see over big pots on the stove. My Mom said when she cooked frog legs, she jumped every time they jumped in the pan, it seems as though something I might do. She could sew pretty much anything, and I'm thinking that this is where I got my love of crafting.

My sister Kate, Flossie Willy and me, carrying a vintage handbag.

My sister, Kate,  and I grew up spending our summers in Tennessee. Half of the time was spent in eastern Tennessee at Gigi's house, Flossie Willy's daughter, my Grandmother. Her house sat on top of a hill, with 20+ acres of land, Flossie Willy's house was at the bottom of the hill. The first thing I did when we arrived was run down to the basement and get a pint of frozen blackberries and a container of homemade peanut butter cookies and sat down and enjoyed myself. Most of our days, Kate and I spent many hours playing dress-up wearing vintage dresses, high- heeled shoes and putting on plays.

The other half of our summer vacation was spent at my Dad's parents' house in Charlotte, Tennessee. Grandma Ruby and Grandpa Loggins, they lived on a farm. We spent hours exploring caves finding arrowheads and playing with crawfish in the stream behind the house. The day usually ended with a friendly game of badminton on the front lawn or just sitting on the front porch and waving to cars as they drove by.

I have to admit as I got older, teenage years, I may not of always wanted to go on our road trip to see the Grandparents, but oh, how I long to spend just one more summer as a grownup doing what I did as a kid.

So that's the story behind the name and a bit more just for fun.







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