If you love to travel and, by the by, to shop, then you’re well aware that the key to any trip is determining exactly what you will be lugging home. Go to Belgium, get the lace. Find emeralds in Australia, pearls in China, Venetian leather in Italy. Pick up antiques, Liberty prints, hats, and tea in London. In Paris? Buy scarves and purses. Truth be told, I fork over euros for anything in the City of Light that could even remotely make me look like a native.
But what do visitors to St. Louis and its environs buy to remember us by? When I resided elsewhere, I continually craved Steak ‘n Shake and Miss Hulling’s lemon cake. When queried, others on staff mentioned longings for donuts from McArthur’s Bakery and Old Town Donuts, Imo’s Pizza, the salad at The Woman’s Exchange of St. Louis, Ice Mountain water (it’s a regional thing), Charlie Gitto’s toasted ravioli, Ted Drewes’ custard, The Blue Owl’s Levee High Apple Pie, and brownies from Baileys’ Chocolate Bar.
But these aren’t exactly souvenirs. Aren’t there things uniquely our own that guests can take home? Yes. For starters: Crown Candy Kitchen’s chocolate squirrels, cherry dresses from The Woman’s Exchange, Bissinger’s molasses lollipops, and for kitsch, metal replicas of the Gateway Arch and anything emblazoned with the birds on the bat.
But there’s so much more that’s less obvious yet still unique to St. Louis, and worthy of purchase. In the coming pages, we visit some of the city’s top artisans, taking a look at items from Retta Leritz’s fabrics to Amanda Verbeck’s art prints to Rocio Romero’s new line of outdoor furniture. We go inside the Lemp Avenue warehouse that is Jermain Todd’s workshop to see his extraordinary furniture. We sit down with the Vines twins, two young men who are making a living out of their love for our city.
The breadth of possibilities is impressive, even to a hometowner. And you won’t need your passport.
