Dawn launches new monthly boxes of nostalgia delights
Chichester vintage entertainer Dawn Gracie has marked her 50th birthday and the tenth anniversary of her Dawn’s Vintage Do 50s and 60s events by launching a novel new business – nostalgia in a box once a month.
Dawn has taken the popular business format of postal subscription boxes, which are huge in the States, and put her own nostalgic spin on them.
Month one (March) completely sold out within 48 hours; now she’s working on April (month two).
The idea is to continue the celebration of nostalgia which has been at the heart of all her live events throughout the decade. Dawn describes the new adventure as a ‘hug in the post with a nostalgic vibe and suited to people who like the feminine aesthetic’.
You sign up through www. vintagefeelgoodbox.com and can order a one-off box or choose a subscription for three or six or 12 months and enjoy a discounted package in exchange for your commitment. A three-month subscription box is £99.
“This means you can sit back and forget about it until it comes in the post to put a big smile on your face,” Dawn says.
And it’s great news for the local producers: “The Vintage Feel Good Box ethos focuses on supporting creative businesses and well-being, spreading the love one feelgood box at a time.
“It all started ‘back in December when everything was seeming so pointless and lost when it comes to the entertainment world, and being an insomniac, I liked to lie awake and watch Youtube videos… and I found myself watching unboxing videos.
“It’s an American thing really. The business model is subscription boxes and you can subscribe to anything from toilet rolls to beauty projects or gin or whatever you want. People treat themselves to, say, beauty products every month, but they don’t know what is going to be in the boxes – and they film themselves opening the boxes.
“Sometimes people are sponsored to do it and they are obliged to be positive!
But you can also watch things like the most popular top-20 subscription boxes reviewed. It is huge in the States, but you also see it over here with things like vegetables boxes.
“And I actually dreamt that I had created a subscription box. I woke up and thought ‘Wow! What shall I do?’ I really thought long and hard.”
The Vintage Feel Good
Box is the result. As Dawn says, all her work, from the entertainment events to the dementia parties she holds, is all about making people feel good: “And this is about all things nostalgic. I like the thought of all the nostalgic things that people will open in the boxes that will make them chuckle. I just found myself thinking vintage feel-good box. It will be all sorts of things, gifts, edibles, wearables.
“And I know lots of crafters who make gorgeous things with a nostalgic feel.”
The first box, for instance, contained items including vintage hair bands, hot chocolate on a spoon, fortune fish with a couple of tea bags, postcards with original artwork offering little positive quotations etc.
Marking her birthday in March, the March box had a bit of a birthday feel, but each month the boxes will be different, always within the huge scope that nostalgia and vintage offer.
Each month the recipients will be invited to an online zoom party complete with bingo and raffle.
Thinking 50 for her 50th, Dawn originally ordered 50 boxes for March. They sold out within two days. She ordered more, taking the number to 75. She is hoping to reach 75 again for April as she develops the business.
“I am all about sentimentality, and there is just so much that you can do. For me this is a really important year with my 50th birthday and with the tenth anniversary of doing Dawn’s Vintage Do.”
West Wittering musician
Ollie Belcher – performing under the name BOYA
– has got a new EP out on Australian label
Metal Postcard Records (metalpostcard.bandcamp. com).
Ollie, an interior design student at Falmouth University, has put the lockdowns to good use for the release.
“I suppose the silver lining of the whole horrible situation is that it has given me time to really focus on the here and now. It has given me time to work on the songs and for me to be really creative. It has given me time to have that tunnel vision.
“And fortunately I am in a really good head space. I always try to remember that there are people less fortunate than myself but also there are lots of people who are more fortunate.
“I used to play music a lot when I was younger but then
I stopped for quite a while. I used to play county rugby, and then I started music again when I was about 17 and after that I took it more seriously from about 18. I have been doing it properly for a few years now.
“I had a friend who got me into it again. I have always played a variety of instruments, and he was just saying ‘Play with me!’ so I just thought I would give it a go again. I had a few lessons when I was really young, but I am pretty much self-taught. I have always been interested in the finger-picking artists and have just watched videos and Youtube and so on.
“But I don’t find my inspiration so much from other musicians. I went travelling to India and Sri Lanka and Nepal and listened to a lot of stuff and really got into meditation. Really, a lot of my inspiration is from the ambient sounds around me. It is ambient music. A lot of it is very experimental, very fluid. I try not to have a beat. I just want it to be really natural. I am just trying to steer away from all the barriers. Everything I have put out until now has been completely instrumental, but I would love to get more vocals. I just really like the process of taking in the sounds around me.”
The EP has been released on Sean Hocking’s label in Sydney – a connection Ollie made through his father: “I got in touch and sent him some stuff and he really liked it, and it just went on from there really. He likes a lot of the ambient stuff so it was just a really happy situation.
“It does mean a few issues (the fact that Ollie is in
West Wittering and Sean in Syndey), things like making contact which would be so much easier if he was in England or London. But I am quite independent in my thinking and he likes me to experiment as I want. I just send it to him and he gives me feedback. I am quite strong in knowing what I want to do so he is quite happy for me just to get on with it.”
The new EP is called Momentary Moments: “The idea of Momentary Moments is that it is what it defines.
It is taking moments from memories. It has taken a while. I started it back in the summer, and the first I made is now the last song on the album. The whole album is about taking moments from my personal memories and from my life and honing them.
“I am now studying interior design at Falmouth University, and I really want to get into sustainability but also using Eastern philosophies and making conceptual work.
“I want everything to be sustainable. I want to be able to make like experiential designs in my architecture and in my music… things like virtual reality where the music controls the waves around you.”
Bandcamp – https:// metalpostcard.bandcamp. com/album/boyamomentary-moments (most recent album out)
Soundcloud – https:// soundcloud.com/boyamusic (personal soundcloud)
Instagram – https://www. instagram.com/ollie_belcher/ (profile)