Johnson Brothers Turkey Platter

Johnson Brothers Woodland Turkey is one of my favorite Thanksgiving patterns because the turkey is bolder than in most of their other patterns. The orange and green turkey accents are truly beautiful. You can pick up on these with simple green candles or orange pumpkins. Because of the intricate pastoral patterns that Johnson Brothers is famous for, I keep the rest of the table very simple. I use a simple tan table runner that lets the dark wood of my table peek through. I admit that I use my Waterford crystal every single day. It makes everything look better and truly does make a gorgeous display for important Thanksgiving dinners.

I live in northern Maine and the fall season starts really early here, so I start decorating for Halloween and Thanksgiving on October 1st. My "turkey plates" appear at that time in the kitchen. I have a mantle that I dedicate to my grandmothers. My great great great grandmother, who lived in the same small town that I still live in, embroidered the Eat, Drink and Be Merry Sign that I display over my kitchen mantle year round. It is one of my most prized possessions. I decorate the kitchen mantle for the season. The plates you see belonged to my great grandmother. I don't have enough to serve the entire family, so they have become Thanksgiving display pieces. No they aren't Johnson Brothers china, they are King Tom. If you like the pattern, it is possible to buy it on ebay. Click Here to see what's available.

Friendly Village is one of the most popular and available of the Johnson Bros. china patterns. You could certainly display this pattern the way I do King Tom starting in October, then take it down and use it for Thanksgiving Dinner. It's fun to place other items such as flowers and crystal on your mantle as well. So if you have a few extra place settings blend them into your Thanksgiving decor.

The Wild Turkey Johnson Brothers patter has two possible designs. One with the wild turkeys in flight (my favorite) and one with the turkeys grazing. Both are beautiful though.

When you shop on ebay, you have two possible ways to buy things - Buy It Now or the Auction system. If I'm not in a hurry, I check to see how many identical items, like turkey platters, are available. Then I see if they are BINs or auction. Usually it's both. So I watch the auction items and I see how much they are going for. Then I check the BINs and see their price level. If the BIN is priced below the current winning auction bids, I'll usually scoop it up.

As you can see there are usually several ebay sellers, with the same Johnson Brothers turkey platter for sale. So you can plot a strategy to get the best price. Of course you have to be careful about the quality. If you see a turkey platter priced much lower than the others, take a good look at the photographs and check out the quality carefully. Take a little extra time checking out everything can save you lots of money in the long-run.