Calling NEptune-1
Marblehead, MA — “Operator, give me NEptune-1,” said many callers “back in the day,” during the 1950s in Marblehead, when NEptune-1 was the town’s telephone exchange, “631.”
As of last October, Neptune1 became a business — a decoupage-plate-making studio run by two women who became friends while raising their families in Marblehead. Today, they’ve revived a bit of archived history.
The Marblehead Museum & Historical Society answered the call made by interior designer Phyllis Tracy and graphic artist Susan Newberg, who were introducing Neptune1 Studios, a new business based in Newberg’s home office, from which she runs Foxpoint Design. As town residents, the two were fully aware of the Jeremiah Lee Mansion’s over-100-year-old history, dating back to when the mansion would have been torn down if it had not been for community support. This year, the Marblehead Museum and Lee Mansion are celebrating the centennial of the historic building, and Tracy and Newberg were inspired to participate — in a restorative manner.
The two women have created a unique product line of decoupage plates, reviving 13 images from the exquisite hand-painted scenic wallpaper of the Lee Mansion in their first series collection, “The Lee Mansion Series,” currently on display in the window of the Seagull Gift Shop, 146 Washington St., Marblehead. An open house to introduce a new series of decoupage plates on seafarer Ashley Bowen, along with the Lee Mansion Series, will take place at the Seagull on Sunday, Feb. 8, 4-7 p.m. Neptune1 Studios’ plates will be showcased, of which 10 percent of the proceeds from sales will benefit the Lee Mansion.
