Adventures in Winchester, Virginia, Part 1

“Come on in and sit right down and make yourself at home”

Donna and I visited Patsy Cline’s house in Winchester, Virginia, back on May 26. We could not “sit right down” – generally you just can’t sit yourself down during any historic home tour – but we did make ourselves at home in the small house at 608 South Kent Street. Thanks to two knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides – one for each floor – we were treated to a tour that shed much light on the years before Virginia Patterson Henlsey found fame as Patsy Cline.

The house is filled with many artifacts from Cline’s life, including record albums, photos, clothing, and copies of Cline’s hand-drawn designs for her own dresses. But I was most drawn to Patsy’s salt and pepper shakers.

Novelty S’n’P shakers seem to have been a huge deal in the mid-20th century and Patsy enjoyed them. My understanding is that the shakers in the Winchester house are actually duplicates of Patsy’s original sets, which are in a Cline museum in Nashville. Despite that, I was fascinated by them, in part because my grandmother – another no-nonsense Appalachian “Patsy” who wasn’t really a Patsy (Grandma was a Frances) -- also collected them.

Patsy and Patsy clearly would have enjoyed each other’s company.

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