OK, you probably do not spend a lot of time thinking about chickens, the egg you eat at breakfast, the types of chickens and the color of the eggs. For a long time, brown eggs were believed healthier. Then there is the American world-beater Rhode Island red, now the global No. 1 preferred breed (for eggs and meat). And so on … chickens and eggs are a big part of our lives.The problem with chickens is that they are messy when confined, suffer terrible psychological and physical stress when caged or packed tightly. And whenever some do-gooder organization shows pictures of battery hens’ conditions, egg sales slump and chicken producers slaughter and discard thousands of birds into landfills. And it has to be said — and here I speak as one who kept chickens and ducks for almost 20 years — that chickens can be the most clean, industrious tick eaters (no Lyme disease on our farm), good parents, fearless protectors and fine egg producers when kept outdoors during the day.Years ago, several European countries, whose citizens were revolted by images of deformed legs and concentration camp-like conditions of battery hen farms, took a binding vote and passed laws that told farmers they could no longer keep chickens in cages. They also mandated a minimum square yardage per chicken in any pen. Farmers predicted that egg prices would triple, that egg and chicken (for meat) production would become scarce, the sky would fall, the world was over, etc.They were wrong. Three years later, the same numbers of eggs were being produced by the same number of chickens, there was 300 percent less disease (and fewer antibiotics being administered), the egg content was 14 percent higher in protein, and the feed bill was reduced by 10 percent on average in Switzerland alone. So, why had they been so convinced battery cages were the more productive way to go?What the farmers reluctantly admitted, in hindsight, was that improvements in feed content and improvements in egg handling that took place at the same time they started using cages … well, cages were wrongfully given the credit. Given the same food on open ground, in the sunlight, eating bugs and greenery, these same poor chickens started producing better than they had in cages.OK, there are a few downsides. Instead of acres of barns, they have one barn for nighttime and loads of open space for the day. In the barns, they have nests that allow the eggs to make their way to processing. All that construction had to be paid for. Hawks and foxes sometimes take birds now, too, but as one farmer told me, they lose less a day than they used to lose to disease.So why am I bringing this up? Arizona and a few other states are successfully fighting the cage/no cage battle in the legislature. New York and Connecticut spend tons of money on state troopers responding to cruelty complaints against battery farms. Advocates against this cruelty spend tons of charity money opposing battery farming. And yet, since it has been proven that more profit can be made from getting rid of battery farming, instead of helping the farmers recapitalize their farms to open range design, each side spends money opposing the other. Meanwhile, the chickens suffer on, making your breakfast egg.Peter Riva, formerly of Amenia Union, lives in New Mexico.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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