By Peggy Sturdivant

It’s possible that Ralph Paulette has not been holding court at the counter of Three Girls Bakery on 15th Ave NW any more than usual in the last months, but he has been there every single time I’ve stopped in over the last six weeks. Which is not infrequent given that in our household we’ve pronounced Three Girls’ granola “the gold standard.”

It also may or may not be coincidence that Ralph has been sitting in exactly the same seat in the corner, facing out from the current exhibition on the great wall as though he is its docent. Where usually art is displayed, from jewelry through acrylics, the current display is of maps. Specifically Ralph’s maps, inasmuch as he became their curator many, many years ago after an estate sale find.

It would definitely not be a coincidence to encounter Ralph at a garage sale, or making his near-daily rounds at Goodwill and Value Village. I haven’t seen his vehicle but I suspect that when Ralph Paulette pulls up to a sale his car is already packed with treasures. When I asked him what he collects, he countered with, “What don’t I collect?”

Let’s start with the maps. Perhaps 20 years ago Ralph was invited to an acquaintance’s estate sale for her grandparent’s home in Magnolia, both of them artists. The garage was completely decorated in maps from all over the world, each embellished with mementos. A Metro and Louvre ticket pinned onto Paris. Envelopes containing the local currency, receipts, photographs … when he asked about the price the granddaughter told him, “Take it all.”

Those maps along with extra accoutrements, such as luggage tags and baggage stickers, have formed an exhibit the last two months at the Three Girls’ retail bakery location in Ballard. “We thought we’d do something a little different,” owner Atarah Levy said. “Take a break from monthly art and really change it out.”

Customers were invited to use pushpins to identify all the places they had visited. A black-and-white photograph of a group in Paris asked, “Is it Julia?” It certainly looked like it could have been a photo of Julia Child. I will have to check on the final vote tally.

On another wall, over the bakery counter, hung an almost garishly green and blue map, the colors more dated than the actual neighborhoods. But on that map of Puget Sound, there’s only one bridge across Lake Washington and no I-5 at all. Another of Ralph’s treasures.

Three Girls Bakery has been part of Ralph’s life for a very long time. He remembers doing some work at the 100 year-old Pike Place location when owner Jack Levy was still in high school. Now retired, the Ballard location is part of his daily rounds. On one visit Candace Bergerson had baked him a Southern-style corn pone (he was originally from Georgia). He had given her quite a bit of his cast iron collection.

When I asked him what he does with all his finds, Ralph mentioned at least one rented garage that needs to be cleaned due to a leak. Also that he and his wife of 35 years both had full households when they married and are still trying to consolidate. He’s never had a plan for collecting; it’s just whatever interests him. And a lot interests him.

Hence the collection of maps that have been a delightful backdrop and vicarious destination for customers during the two-month run. The exhibit has been almost interactive, especially with Ralph in his corner at the intersection of the Mediterranean and 15th Ave NW.

“My brother just arrived in Paris for three weeks and my son is in Northern Spain,” a man offered when he saw me looking at the pins on the world map. He shook his head at the suggestion he might be jealous. “I’m content to be right here,” he said.

Mother’s Day is coming and Atarah Levy is ready to start displaying art again, hers and those of fellow artists and jewelers. I didn’t want to ask what would happen to the maps once they are no longer inspiring dreams of travel at Three Girls. But I am sure that Ralph Paulette will keep them safe, along with too many other collections to name.

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