THERE'LL BE BLUEBIRDS OVER THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER

        About a week after returning from the Seattle Convention of the International Bossons Collectors Society meeting, an evening was spent at home watching the recent video of "Saving Private Ryan." It is a World War II story that brings back many torturing moments to those of us who lived through the 1940's. As a small boy, I still remember the family agony when my Aunt Adele answered her door to the Western Union carrier bearing a note from the War Department: 'We are sorry to inform you that your Son...' The family was left with a small flag and star hanging in her bedroom window. This was to commemorate the memory of her son, and my first cousin, a graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy and Commander of a submarine, who was lost in the waters near the coast of Japan. This is all we ever knew.

    If you visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Honolulu, there is a tribute to the men lost at sea from the USS Scamp Submarine. Included is a special section in which all of the Navy personnel from the USS Scamp (SS-277) that "vanished along with her" are listed including my first cousin's name, LT. T. H. Wilkinson.

So what does that have to do with Bluebirds, The White Cliffs of Dover, and the Fraser-Art "Osprey On Wave" by Bossons?

May I try to tell you?

FIRST, In my subconscious, the impressions of the movie 'Saving Private Ryan" and the words and melody of the World War II popular song prompted me to think thoughts of bluebirds, the White Cliffs, and War and Peace. Here are a few lines from the song that kept going through my mind.

                                 There'll be bluebirds over, the White Cliffs of Dover, Tomorrow, Just you wait and see.

                                       There'll be love and laughter, and PEACE ever after, Tomorrow, 

                                                                                                                                                        When the World is free.

(Words by Nat Burton and Music by Walter Kent, Copyright (c) 1941, Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc., New York and Walter Kent Music, Copyright Renewed):

These lyrics were commingled with the "Ryan" movie we had just seen and with the subsequent pleasure of returning home from the Bossons meeting in Seattle where at  auction I had won a perfectly matched and boxed set of three very coveted Bossons pottery BLUEBIRDS.

But how was I to bring this trilogy of thoughts into reality and share these Bossons with others? Major problem: where was I going to find a perfect view of the WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER? A friend from the United Kingdom came to the rescue and was kind enough to send a full color poster of the Cliffs. My pictorial dream was about to be realized.

What must have happened in my thoughts was a complex triple vision of FIRST; the Bluebirds flying over the white cliffs;

SECOND the magnificent vision of "The White Cliffs of Dover." Then enter WWII, the "Saving Private Ryan," the war torn beaches of Normandy, and in a musician's musical mind the memories of a beautiful and emotional WWII song. The words were describing Bluebirds flying over the White Cliffs of Dover. They symbolized that peace might finally come to the world.

BUT WHY THE MAJESTICALLY BEAUTIFUL AND OMINOUS "OSPREY ON WAVE" clutching his prey for survival in the foreground of our picture? 

                                          As we know,  in the subconscious mind,  and in life,  most anything can and does happen!

 FINALLY, IN THIS STORY, and shown in the following picture,  the symbol of death was juxtaposed over prospects of hope and survival. History tells us men will always war;  but akin to birds of prey we survive through the beauty and grace of God's foregiveness.

When they dream and hope through the mediums of music, words, and pictures, so too can we be guided by positive expectations for the future, as with the

BLUEBIRDS FLYING OVER THE MAGNIFICENT WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER.

WILL WE EVER HAVE PEACE?

TOMORROW,

WE MUST WAIT AND SEE.

Written by Don Hardisty, July 14, 1999

The prospects seem to get dimmer everyday, but we must have faith.  August 16, 2006

The link to a large "Osprey On Wave" is one of a kind shown with the graceful SET OF THREE BLUEBIRDS flying over the Dover Cliffs. The Blue Birds are part of the pottery collection from Bossons. The 'Osprey On Wave' was planned by Bossons to be part of the 'Copper Collection' of historical characters and wildlife studies. Though one or two mounting experiments were tried as part of the 'Copper' edition, NONE of the colored 'ON WAVE' versions was ever released. Besides taking too much time for painting, it became too difficult to keep the Osprey standing upright. A partial solution came when at the Bossons factory they filled the wave stand portion with cement; but then excessive weight made it very impractical to market and ship for distribution around the world. However, the separate edition of the FRASER-ART OSPREY was put into production from 1970-1982.