In 1977, the Ladies Village Improvement Society commissioned this beach plum print found in the L.V.I.S. collection, and it has remained a signature pattern for the organization. The revenue from the use and sale of it has been a source of funding for the society since then.
As part of the 1975 L.V.I.S. cookbook, the group commissioned Josephine Watkins Little (1915-1998) to design a pattern for the cover, which celebrated the organization’s 80th year. Her pattern was so lovely that the L.V.I.S. decided it should be used to create a fabric. Lynn and Boris Kroll worked with Lee Jofa, a luxury textile manufacturer, to produce a fabric the organization sold as a fund-raiser for over 25 years.
Little, an artist from Georgia, moved to the South Fork in 1951 with her husband, John Little (1907-1984), also an artist, who bought and restored Duck Creek Farm. The Littles joined the growing artists colony in Springs on the recommendation of their friends Lee Krasner (1908-1984) and Jackson Pollock (1912-1956).
At Duck Creek Farm, Josephine, John, and their two daughters, Jacqueline (b. 1953) and Abigail (b. 1952), tended their home garden, the products of which were often canned to be enjoyed into the winter and shared with friends. This love of flora likely inspired the pattern Josephine designed for the L.V.I.S.
Following its commission and creation, the fabric design went through iterations until both the manufacturer and the L.V.I.S. were satisfied, and the beautiful printed fabric was finally displayed at the society’s 1977 fair.
Beach plums, a fruiting shrub native to the Mid-Atlantic States, grow widely across East Hampton’s beaches. The stone fruits themselves are a deep blueish purple and bittersweet if eaten right off the bush, or they can be made into a sweet preserve, like those sold at the 1979 L.V.I.S. fair at Mulford Farm.
Though the L.V.I.S. still owns the rights to this pattern, it is no longer produced, making what pieces remain all the more precious.
Moriah Moore is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.
