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Offhand, it would seem that painted trays are nothing to get worked up about. The business of painting trays has been going on for centuries. The Chinese and Japanese are specialists at it—making good use of lacquers. There are different ones from practically all of the European nations; and the Mexicans produce some fantastic ones with painting and decoration that often put them into the realm of art. But it remained for Mrs. Borris, pretty; red-headed and ingenious, to add the "something new" that produces the customer exhilaration—and the purchase.

Barbara Borris' painted trays are unquestionably different. She didn't know how unusual herself when she first offered them for sale through the Junior League Exchange in Highland Park Shopping Village near her Dallas home. But when her first offerings went like hot cakes never did, she thought she had something. And, when her second offerings produced a flood of orders that swamped her, even with her boundless energy, she knew she had something.

LET her explain:

"My theory," says she, "is that practically everything can be made more attractive and more useful by adding some thought, artistry and ingenuity. I like trays myself, because we like to have friends in frequently and there's always the business of serving refreshments and drinks if you're hospitable—and we are. So there's the problem of making trays not only truly useful as trays, but also truly decorative and interesting for themselves, And what to do?

"Well, first of all I decided to repaint the trays I obtained both from art stores and ten-cent stores. The repainting is done with an ordinary soft brush, using interior house or flat paint. In some instances, however, when I want special effects, I use art oil paints. In both cases, care must be taken to insure a smooth surface even though the color is dead black. The repainting is designed to give a less shiny, less tinselly appearance, and also to aid me in properly painting on the figures and verse which I employ to give an individual and personal touch to my trays. Sable art brushes and tube oil paints are used for the figures and the verses are 'written' on in free hand style.

"Whether one coat or more is used for the repainting depends on whether there is a wide change in color of the tray—in which case there must be two coats. Some are not repainted, but these are the exception. On some of them I used dead black—and I do mean dead black. Others are done in brighter, but still not shiny colors. I puzzled a bit as to how they should be decorated, but not for long because I decided to add a story to them. People like stories—especially about themselves. So, as far as could be done, I told a little story in verse about the particular family for whom I painted the tray. Then I painted whimsical pictures of the family as they appeared to me and of the unusual in their surroundings. For example, the central figure in one was a willow tree around which their lives centered."

HERE'S A typical verse story painted by Mrs. Borris on a tray:

Wayne is handsome, as anyone can see,
And Hazel, of course, is an angel;
They live in a pretty house with trees and flowers
They have many parties with barbecue and dancing
. . . And their hearts are young and gay.

"I showed Wayne as a handsome fellow, Hazel as an angel, pictured the 'pretty house with trees and flowers' and of course, made much of the barbecue—winding up with dancing," Mrs. Borris, explains.

"I wasn't so sure when I got through—but that tray swiftly brought me a dozen orders," she adds.

One of the most attractive she has done is painted on a dead-black background and includes this wording:

Golda is an artist
—her murals in the church
you should really see.
She sews, designs and dances
and is as busy as can be.

Still another shows a family at their favorite occupations: father in the garden, mother designing a dress, one young son hanging suspended from a tree in the garden; teen-age daughter is getting a sun-tan and oh-so-bored; and finally the son and heir fixing his hotrod jalopy while his camera awaits nearby.

"I do not block in the figures or verses," says Mrs. Borris, "but anyone who has not had enough painting experience can trace or rough them in so as not to spoil a tray. I find that my figures are more life-like because of not blocking in, but of course I do block them in mentally. I seem to have a photographic imagination."

MRS. BORRIS' first trays were placed through the Junior League's Exchange. But the additional orders that resulted from sales of the first few came so swiftly that she really had not time to prepare more trays to offer for sale at the Junior League shop—and that continued through the first season, in which she made a much later start than she does now.

Christmas, of course, is the big season for the painted trays. So in August Mrs. Borris starts taking orders for Christmas delivery. The first thing she does is to get on the telephone and call those who have bought trays, or who told her last year that they likely would want additional trays this Christmas. And, when her calls are finished, she has a sizeable list on which to start, many wanting three or four to use as gifts to friends at Christmas. This is supplemented with small displays at near-by antique and gift stores (only three or four) and at the Junior League shop. On these, of course, she must pay a sales commission.

Then begins the business of collecting data for the trays, for a majority of them are done individually. This is quite a task but not as hard as it would be if the buyers were not so enthusiastic about the gift they are about to give to a friend. Mrs. Borris starts turning them out in August, despite the heat of the Texas summer, in order to finish them by Christmas. Most of her work, however, is done on a comparatively cool and highly attractive porch.

Plastic trays in red, green or black (or other colors if ordered) are purchased at art stores or ten-cent stores, averaging about 22 cents each. Individualized painted trays sell for $8 and the plain Christmas variety (with a Christmas tree, etc., in the center—or other conventional or unconventional design) for $5. During the fall season last year leading to Christmas, Barbara Borris sold more than 250 of the individualized type and more than 100 of the Christmas general type.

The paintings are of the cartoonized variety. Three or more bright colors are used for the paintings and they give an extremely gay and bright appearance that immediately elicits inquiries from the guest when the host is serving from them. Indications are that orders this year will likely run to the 500 mark for the individualized trays and it is likely that few of the general type will be made.

PAINTED TRAYS are not Barbara Borris' only productions. In fact, there seems to be no limit to her ingenuity. She has devised four highly saleable and usable articles from practically nothing. Fly-swatters which would grace any porch or kitchen are made from ten cent swatters which are adorned with material-scraps bought from a department store for a few cents more. They sell rapidly for $1.50 each. She buys dust pans for 25 cents each and turns them into silent "butlers" that sell for $2 or more, if individualized. Tin-cup candle holders are bought for a total of 15 cents, counting the shades, and sell for $1.50, while tin-dipper candle holders (made from army surplus dippers which cost 10 cents) sell for from $1 to $1.50.

Mrs. Borris haunts junk yards and is continually producing something like, for instance, a magazine rack from a discarded truck spring. Recently she did a switch and made a candle-holder from an electric light fixture (creating an "antique," thereby) and now she's visiting electric fixture companies to get more to supply the demand.