WHAT’S HOT WHAT’S COOL

St. Louis Homes and Lifestyles Magazine
“June/July 2001Crowning Glories”

To Marjorie Pingel, the fourth oldest in a local family of 10 kids, furious siblings long protested: You’re the boss of EVERYTHING!

Marjorie couldn’t have agreed more. Today, atop her curly brown locks, she often wears a colorful bell-topped crown that makes the epithet official. In gold glitter, the front of her crown reads, The Boss of Everything.

The message invariably draws laughs. With other crowns designed by one of Marjorie’s sisters, Mary Brown of New Orleans, outcomes have been more poignant. One recipient, a valiant cancer patient named Elizabeth, attended a wedding at a time when her hair had fallen out due to chemotherapy. To complete her outfit, she wore a regal glittering crown that proclaimed her Queen Elizabeth.

The crown proved a real icebreaker. Guests, who may not have known what to say otherwise, rushed up and exclaimed: “I love your hat…And how are you doing?”
For years in New Orleans, Mary had presented homemade crowns to everyone from her son’s bus driver (King of the Road) to a bluesy crooner (Queen of the Blues). “You’ve got a gold mine here,” Marjorie then a marketer of high-tech equipment, told her. “If you can make a kit, I’ll market it.

Eighteen months ago, their computer savvy heightened by sister Jane Protte of Memphis, Marjorie and Mary produced their first Imperial Party Crown Kits. Complete with craft and glitter glues, crests, sequins, an adjustable felt band for child- to adult-size heads, precut foil layers and simple instructions penned by Julie Britt of Houston, the kits retail for $16.00 apiece and are sold in five states. Special party packs are priced at $30.00 for 10 crowns.

Local venues for crown kits include Small Indulgences, the St. Louis Art Museum Gift Shop, Spicer’s 5 & 10, Down by the Station and area Borders Books and Music stores. Borders also periodically hosts free crown-making workshops where another sister, Dottie Graham of St. Louis, assists.

Estimated assembly time for each crown: about 45 minutes. But for those inspired to rummage through drawers and personalize crowns with old photos, magic wands, feathers, pearls, cutouts from greeting cards, etc., completion rates vary. “I worked 12 hours on my crown today, and it felt so good,” one exuberant gift giver told Marjorie.

For time-pressed – or creatively challenged – buyers who prefer suggesting themes and details, then letting Marjorie scout from trimmings, the sisters offer made-to-order, assembled crowns priced from $30 each. Signature crowns are ready for pickup or mailing within a week. (314) 389-5381.

Mary, whose meticulous, often wacky projects have been praised for years as “so-o-o-o creative they’re on the edge,’” had no problem naming the family enterprise. She dubbed it Sister from Another Planet.

- Susan Fadem

This article, which appeared in the June/July 2001 Issue of St. Louis Homes and Lifestyles magazine is reprinted by permission of writer and editor, Susan Fadem.