Bryn Mawr on a Platter

MONIQUE LOH ’79

NUMBER OF PLATES: 14

HOW DID YOU ACQUIRE THEM? When I first got to Bryn Mawr they sold them in the bookstore. I think they were pretty reasonable—maybe $20 for a box of four. And then I was told they destroyed the mold, so you can’t buy them anymore.

You can still find them on eBay and when I’m in antique shops I always look for Bryn Mawr plates and Mah jongg sets.

My mother [Class of ‘51] found a bunch at an antique show in New Jersey and gave them to me.

DO YOU USE THEM? We only use them once a year for a family holiday dinner and then they are carefully washed and put away for the next year.

WHAT DO THEY MEAN TO YOU? They represent wonderful memories of walking around campus, just being there. There’s one of Taylor and years ago my mother, my sister (Class of '87), and I donated to have the windows repaired there, so that brings back special memories.

My family says I’m obsessed, but I have such strong memories of Bryn Mawr and I’ve been so involved over the years, as a past chair of the Annual Fund and class president for a number of years.

YOU JUST MOVED. HOW DID THE PLATES FARE? They all survived. We double wrapped them in bubble wrap and a towel and that was one of the first boxes we took off the pod.

BETH POSNER ’89

NUMBER OF PLATES: 31

HOW DID YOU ACQUIRE THEM? I would see them periodically online on eBay or Replacements. They were never very expensive. And then for a while, every time my parents saw them, they would buy them for me. Like constantly.

DO YOU USE THEM? Having that many means you can have an enormous dinner party. So, for a while we used them for special occasions like Thanksgiving, Passover. I would pull them out on May Day and my kids would have strawberries and cream on them.

And then I just decided to use them every day. So, we ate off them all the time.

At some point, I think as my house started to whittle away—one daughter went off to college and then my husband died—it seemed crazy to have these 31 plates out, so I put them away and we just use regular Fiestaware now.

WHAT DO THEY MEAN TO YOU? I know Wedgewood made plates for a lot of colleges and universities, but I don’t know anyone else who has them or is interested in them in this way. I look back on my time of living with and being supported by and supporting really brilliant women as so unique.

In some ways the plates, and my other BMC memorabilia, just remind me of that fabulous time. They’re like good luck charms. I have a piece of Bryn Mawr with me, which makes me feel powerful.