Southend Holiday Market

(Photo: Kamilah Hauptmann)

I received a very late notice about a Market Day in Southend from Mr Jameson Despres:

With the holiday season upon, I have taken the liberty of engaging Radio Riel to play for us a suitable programme of holiday music for us and our guests (and customers) this Saturday, December 13, from 12 noon to 2 pm. SLT. I have given this event the title "SouthEnd Holiday Market... Plan to join us at the party and welcome Caledon and the Realm to our little piece of (retail) heaven!

With practically no time to prepare and hampered by the fact that our maid school now floats very high in the air - making it impractical to invite people in from the street - I decided that the best way we could contribute would be to get out and serve tea to the people on the street. This proved to be a very smart move.

I recently served with Miss Rosina at the Victorian Ladies' Society Christmas Ball and I'm beginning to realize that the simple act of serving drinks at a Caledon party or function is an extremely good way to bring favorable attention upon the maid school. It's also a good way to earn tips in it's own right.

I've been serving food and drinks from the kitchen at ECCHI for six months, and in the Temple in the Wilds for nearly as long. For a couple of months I've been hosting events and serving at the Dashwood. So for me it feels like a natural ordinary thing to do. But Caledon people are very impressed by the class and specialness a couple of polite and well trained maids can lend to an event, the tips roll in and so does the Patronage... It's just an unbelievably good way to publicize the School.

So in matching Victorian maid uniforms Miss Stina Edman and I set out to greet and welcome the crowds to Southend Holiday Market. It was a cold day with snow on the ground and I was glad of the warmth of the teapot in my hand and the long woolen long johns under my skirts. We walked a couple of blocks pouring tea for thirsty marketgoers before the party really began to hot up at the crossroads in downtown Southend.

Visitors were most impressed by the Ferris wheel at Southend Pier. The highlight of the show was undoubtedly the arrival of two Jaeger Magi on camelback. Apparently they've been looking for Bethlehem for 2000 years but somebody moved it, or held the map upside down or something. Attendance at the event was great, I was pleased to welcome Vicerine Kamilah Hauptman - imagine, me hobnobbing with royalty! - Mr Alastair Whybrow and his lovely fiance Miss Alexx McLaglen, the team from Radio Riel, the lovely Miss Muse Carmona and Little Miss Minako Masala.

This was a fun, successful event and I'm sure it will serve as a model for many more future events to showcase the bustling community of Southend.

Vicereine Kamilah Hauptmann wrote an excellent article about the Southend Holiday Market.