“Back in the olden days . . .”
I have a relic of the past in my possession. It was given to me by my mother on the occasion of my wedding day in 1974. I don’t even know if they are made anymore, and if they are, does anyone buy them?
The funny thing is this: I’ve always hated anything to do with sewing, but I hang on to this. It still contains needles and thread lurking in its depths. And I still use it . . . but only if I absolutely have to, because I still hate everything sewing.
But when I do (have to) lift the lid, I see my mother’s beaming smile as I opened her special gift to me fifty years ago. I think that’s the real reason I keep it. 🙂
What do you have in your possession that reminds you of the Olden Golden Days? Has it ever popped up in your writing? Tell us about it.
I can’t think of an heirloom example, but about 35 years ago I attempted to paint John Audubon’s “Snowy Owls” (here’s a print of his famous work as example: https://www.amazon.com/Audubon-Bedroom-Painting-Decoration-16x24inch/dp/B0CPBDSVGZ).
While my version certainly isn’t up to his quality, it’s the best of the few paintings I’ve done and I really like it. That says a lot because I tend to be very hard on myself creatively. And it was one of the first paintings I ever tried.
I keep it in my living room to remind me to get back to painting one day (in my spare time. Ha!). I believe we’ve all been given the gift of creativity in some form or fashion. Whether it’s writing, painting, sewing, etc. I hope we all persist in using our creative gifts. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to write ALL the stories in my head, but I want to nail a few of them. 😎
Good morning, Brenda. That painting is gorgeous! We have lots of owls who (pun intended!) visit our property especially this time of year. They are fascinating creatures.
I believe we’ve all been given the gift of creativity in some form or fashion. Agreed. And we must grease our creativity wheels, as you said, as much and as often as possible. And, encourage those around us to do so. The variety of creative efforts is endless, and that makes life on earth so beautiful!
Thanks for your comments, and I’m virtually handing you a hammer. 🙂
My mother was into birds and my father collected books, so, of course, at home we had two Audubon books with all of his bird paintings.
Love it, J!
I must live in the past. My great, great grandfather’s books on the Indian wars are in my living room. I did buy a modern copy of one to read it. They are all between 100 and 150 years old, now in a special case.
The Hot Wheels and Corgi cars I had as a child are on their shelf. New ones seem to join them.
When my oldest child moved into her first apartment, she took a pot and pan my mother was given when mom moved out of her parent’s house. My children are third generation grads of the high school my wife and I attended. The youngest likes wearing mom’s class of 1981 shirt even if she is a Lion and we were Indians.
What a gift those books must be, Alan!
And Hot Wheels…you snagged a memory for me. When my kids and my sister’s kids were all under 3 feet tall, they all received (that’s 5 kiddos) Hot Wheels for Christmas. That’s 5 vehicles! We were all camping out on our parents’ living room floor that year, and the adults woke up way too early to Hot Wheels zooming around the room, rolling over our sleeping bags. Kind of annoying back then, but what I wouldn’t give to re-live that Christmas morning! 🙂
And I love that your kiddo wears her mom’s 80s shirt-priceless!
Have a great day!
The irony of time. Great, great, grandfather was a war hero after the War for the Western Continent. Being an Indian Fighter isn’t what it used to be. My Uncle hated wearing his uniform if he didn’t have to. People spit on him and called him a baby killer. He served in Vietnam.
3G’s books
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That’s sad, Alan. I was in college in S. CA in 1972, & had friends who’d served in VN. They went through a lot just trying to resume their lives & get an education. I’m all for free speech, but they deserved better.
I was close to my great aunt (actually my grandmother’s half-brother’s ex-wife, if you can follow the tangled branches on that family tree!). She taught me how to make bread. In the 1920s, she’d been the cook for a fish camp in British Columbia where the crew packed in in Oct and didn’t come out until spring. Meaning she had to order tons of flour to make 20 loaves of bread to feed the crew every day.
She had a magical machine that she called a “Bread Mixer”, a five-gallon tin bucket with a bracket across the top. Attached to the bracket was a crank handle for mixing the dough. Much less work than hand-kneading. After her divorce, she gave it away.
When my husband and I got engaged, she put an ad in the Canadian “Pennysaver” and tracked down a bread mixer stamped with the date 1904. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_309749
When it arrived, she recognized the same dent in the bucket. She’d found her old machine 50 years later.
And gave it to us for a wedding present. We still have it and always will.
Ahh…what a story, Debbie! I’ve never seen one of those contraptions until today. And I can’t imagine making that much bread-I can’t even crank out one loaf, let alone 20.
Thanks for sharing this morning, and have a good one!
When my brother and sister and I were still very little, my mother splurged a little and bought a limited edition cookie jar from a local ceramic artist. It was a humorous depiction of a small cat sitting on a large cow whose tongue hung out of its mouth. The cat served a the handle of the lid. Mom loved that cookie jar passionately. It was nearly always full. Whenever we moved (which was a lot since Dad was a marine), she carried that thing on her lap since she knew she would have zero chance of replacing it if it were damaged. It became the mainstay of her kitchen, and we kids grew used to seeing it on the kitchen table. My brother even showed how the cow’s head was hollow and you could fit three Oreos in it so when it looked like the jar was empty, there was always one more cookie for each of us hidden away. After mom died, the cookie jar went to my nephew. I wanted that jar, but could understand his connection to it. So I started searching antique stores, yard sales, flea markets, ebay, anywhere I thought I might find it. About six years ago, I found it in an antique store. It was missing one horn, but otherwise was in pristine condition. The price tag said $35 so I snagged it immediately. The check out lady said there was a 50% sale on that table, so it was only $17.50. Then she said it was damaged (missing horn) so she knocked it down to $15. I told her the story of how my mother came to own one so she reduced it another $5. I paid a grand total of $10 to own a memory from my childhood. Today, it sits in our butler pantry, out of the way, safe from any harm. It contains no cookies, just memories.
Hey, Joe! Another great story of the Olden Days…
I love the part about your mother carrying it on her lap during a move. And, It contains no cookies, just memories. Memories are so much more precious, right? I’m glad you have that cookie jar filled with memories.
Thanks for sharing this morning. 🙂
My father was the attorney for a small art gallery and many of the artists. Some paid their bills in art. The family cookie jar was a large ceramic jar. The artist “hit it big”. My mom saw the prices on his pieces the size of the cookie jar. No more cookies went in the cookie jar.
Smart cookie, your Mom!
😂
When I moved out and married in 1982 my mother gave me her 1920s era blonde wood chest of drawers, with brass drawer pulls. It has a large mirror attached to the back. It sits in a corner of my bedroom, kitty corner from my wife’s dresser, and keeps some of my clothes. Mom loved that dresser and was happy I own it. I use it daily.
Morning, Dale! Your chest of drawers sounds beautiful. My parents had a set which included a low dresser, and tall one, and a small desk which matched. I think one of my kids ended up with it.
We have a 1920s era radio cabinet, sans the radio. It sits in a corner of our dining room. It’s some kind of dark wood and still has the metal stamp on it that says Pooley Radio Cabinet on it. We can’t remember where we got it. ( 🙂 ) Here’s a link if you want to see it: Pooley Radio Cabinet
That picture looks exactly like the one we have.
Thanks for stopping by!
What I have is fragments. My father’s diploma, MIT 1941 and my mother’s Douglass College 1962. I also have my grandfather’s third mate’s license but his master’s papers are gone forever.
I’ve always collected letters and I have a collection of Vmail from a man who was in the Burma China India theater of war. It’s pretty standard stuff but right in the middle of a letter to his parents he says “Sometimes I think this war is going to go on forever.”
A friend of mine had a collection of letters from a Marine embassy guard who was stationed in Beijing before the war and the last letter from 1941 says “The Japanese are here.” The North China Marines were held as slave labor for the duration.
But the most interesting artifact I have is a letter from a man to his wife on the stationery of the Arkansas River Packet Company dated February 16, 1890. It details his arrival at Memphis and how he hopes to be home in a few days, and closes with this: “Good wife darling, take care of yourself”
Who could he have possibly have been, that I am reading his letter 134 years later?
As Spock would say . . . “Fascinating!” It’s amazing that those memories on paper have survived, isn’t it?
I have some memories on paper also. My father’s discharge papers from the Navy, dated the year after I was born. My maternal grandmother’s marriage and divorce papers. And some other random documents belonging to my parents. Sometimes I wonder what will happen to all of it when I dance away off the planet.
Thanks for joining in the nostalgia this morning, Robert, and have a great weekend!
I have the American flag that was draped over my great uncle’s coffin. He was a Marine who died in the terrible Battle of Belleau Wood in WWI. Some years ago I was in D.C. and found his grave in Arlington. That was a moment.
Good morning, Jim!
What a treasure you have in that flag. 🙂 And to find his grave . . . I have no words.
This doesn’t come close to that, but I had, until recently, my father’s Navy ring. I just gave it to my brother for safekeeping. We still have Dad with us, but I did not want to lose track of that ring.
But, I have our father’s cue stick. He was quite a pool shark back in the day.
Thanks for sharing this morning. These are great stories, aren’t they?
I have a dozen or so random pieces of the old Boontonware (melamine) dishes we grew up with in North Haledon, NJ, not far from Boonton. The pieces are solid, almost clunky, but elegant in their own way. (https://bopfish.blogspot.com/2012/08/bountiful-boontonware-bonanza.html ) Some of my pieces are forest green, others are gray.
I’ve also got a coral or orange fiberglass knockup of an Eames molded armchair that goes back to my childhood.There’s a little crack at the top of the back that has “always” been there. ( https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seating/armchairs/eames-herman-miller-mid-century-fiberglass-shell-blue-chair/id-f_27744922/ )
And many of my parents’ books, including my father’s Chernev and Harkness, An Invitation to Chess with my father’s signature and ‘1947’ on the flyleaf.
Items can tie us to the past and past events. My wife, Lynn, doesn’t buy souvenirs, but things like a piece of clothing or a dish remind her of the trip and where she bought them.
Hi Eric!
Thanks for sharing those memories with us this morning. Sometimes all it takes is just a hint, and there we are, re-living a memory through a signature, a cracked piece of furniture, or a dish. BTW, I have my mother’s mashed potato dish. It’s a very ugly yellow color, but I wouldn’t trade it for all the mashed potatoes in the world!
Have a great weekend, my friend.
My grandmother was a phenomenal cook. I have her measuring spoons and aluminum popcorn pot. It still makes terrific popcorn.
Hi Elaine!
Microwave popcorn just doesn’t hold a candle to Grammas, do they? I feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t had “real” popcorn, especially if it’s made in a treasured heirloom.
Thanks for popping in… 🙂
Irving Chernev is my favorite chess author! I loved his “Fireside Book of Chess” (with Fred Reinfeld). Oddly, I don’t have a copy of it.
😭😭
I have my aunt’s books on the History of the Western Reserve as well as The History of Lake County, both where my ancestors settled. I also have various items from my genealogy searches that I treasure.
👍
Thanks for sharing, Traci! It’s cool to have stuff in writing about how you and your forebears came to be, isn’t it?
Have great weekend!