Picnic Basket Connection

Picnics have been around for a long time. Although the earliest written mention of them was in the 8^th Century when a group of monks were driven by Vikings from their monastery and had to eat outside with their food on their laps, picnics have mostly pleasant memories for most people. England’s King George IV, when he was still the Prince of Wales, founded the Picnic Club in the early 19^th Century creating a craze for eating outdoors that continues to this day. When traveling by train was just beginning to be widely accepted in Europe, picnic baskets were often sold with lunches for the long travels. You could return the baskets, which were the familiar wicker, at any train stop along the way. The tin picnic basket is still found today at antique shops, flea markets and of course, on E-Bay.

Of course, for many of us romance is the number one reason to love an antique picnic basket. By this I mean both the romance of a beautiful picnic basket filled with delicious goodies made by hand by the one you love, and the romance of the idea of an antique picnic basket in days gone by. Poems have been written about taking a picnic with your loved one. What could be more romantic than proposing to someone you love by hiding the ring in your picnic basket? There is a reason that bed and breakfast places always seem to have a set of lovely old antique picnic baskets ready at a moments notice to fulfill your every vision of romance and picnics in the woods with a loved one.

Another great reason why so many people love antique picnic baskets is memories of family picnics when we were kids. For many of us who are old enough to remember a time when grabbing the picnic basket and heading out for the day was a typical Sunday, one of those antique picnic baskets bring back memories of idyllic days with nothing more to do than eat Mom’s sandwiches and loll by the creek with a fishing pole and a good book. One look at an old vintage picnic basket and we are back in the days when most people didn’t think or care about the time, Sunday was a day to be with family and since everything was closed and no one would even thinking of working, it was truly a day of rest.

Of course, these days anything that is old enough to be considered retro would include antique picnic baskets. Fifties styled wooden picnic baskets are hip these days. We all dream of the days when we weren’t so rushed and the retro craze feeds into that dream. Since there are not only whole stores of vintage and antique retro furnishings, but whole streets of these stores, it is fairly safe to say that retro has finally found it’s niche and antique picnic baskets are a part of that movement.

On the other hand, one of the reasons picnics are still so popular is that they are so cheap to do. You would think that this kind of reasoning would leave antique picnic baskets out in the cold, but not true! I have found that many people still have their Grandmothers or parent’s old picnic basket. It may have been put aside for a few years when you were first married, considered too old-fashion. But these days many people are dusting those antique picnic baskets off and heading out to the hills with them. Why go out for an expensive meal with kids in tow when you can make a great meal for all of you, put it in your antique picnic basket and have a great afternoon together. Family time is getting more precious all the time, and the opportunity to do this cheaply is gaining in popularity all the time.

So no matter what your reason for grabbing that antique picnic basket, more are doing it every day. Whether you plan on filling it with your favorite finger foods and grabbing your best friend, new lover or your kids soccer team, don’t get caught without your ultra-cool antique picnic basket. Fish in the river, laze on a summer’s day with the one you love or hang with the kids and fly kites. It doesn’t matter what else you do that day, just don’t forget the picnic. And make sure it is in your antique picnic basket, just to add that last bit of cool to your day.