When I decided to open Joie de Vivre, I had no credit history. My only potential bankrollers were my parents, and they were kind enough to make me a loan. After I was able to pay them back, I wanted to get them a very very special thank you present, and as they were both dedicated bird watchers I chose the Reuge mechanical singing bird music box pictured above. We sold Reuge boxes here years ago, when they still produced a "lower end" line. (and lower end did not mean cheap!) One of my early Gift Show joys was visiting the booth of their sales representative, the charming Alice Sturzinger, and looking at all the amazing mechanical boxes that were truly way too expensive for the store. The singing bird box was one of those, at the time it would have sold for $2000. (Now the least expensive version of same is more like $7000) Anyway, I took a deep breath and ordered one to give my parents. Thirty years later - it sits on my piano - I couldn't bear to part with it, and convinced myself that my parents would never love it as much as I did. A rationalization yes, but probably true. I had discovered more than one special gift from the store "downstairs" in their rarely used basement office. I don't remember what I gave them in its place, but they were happy. And so am I! (For a video performance, visit our Facebook page.)
