Little Blue House by Hatley
Back in the 80s, Alice and John Oldland moved from Toronto, Canada, to the lakeside village of North Hatley, Quebec, where they opened a gift shop called the Little Blue House (la Petite maison bleue). Alice, a painter, was inspired by the surrounding countryside and designed a series of aprons featuring her whimsical farm animals. The aprons sold like hot cakes and it wasn't long before other stores wanted to sell them too. And thus, was born the Little Blue house gift line. Alice and John quickly grew their cottage business supplying stores with the best cow and pig aprons the world had EVER seen! Soon after, cows and pigs gave birth to moose and bears; aprons led to apparel and many other gift items.