I have a very few old things from my family, not many. My mother used to have some old quilts her mother had made from feed sacks. I don't know what happened to them; I'd love to have them. I do have a quilt her oldest sister made for me and gave me when I got married, 31 years ago (I wrote letters to my aunt on a regular basis when I was a teenager).
I don't have daughters, only sons. I know which one I want to get certain things, because I know which one will appreciate the value of their being family things. I'm writing down where certain things came from, and what I remember about them, as well as telling him about them.
Merry Christmas!
Expect a visit from “American Pickers”.
Although I still think that those guys do most of their business at estate auctions. Those vultures probably take note of the eccentrics they try to do business with and then pounce when they croak and the old whackos’ estranged children just want to unload the contents of their garages and attics.
The only authentic vintage kerosene indoor lamp I ever saw was fifteen years ago that had long ago been converted to electric. Is it true that if you don’t adjust the wick on those things properly you can step out for an hour and come back to see the whole room covered in soot?
I enjoyed your meditation. You are fortunate to have had a family that was unsullied by the consumerism of the post world war 2 culture. TO place value on permanence is a lost art. I study history and some of the most fascinating things I have read are the wills from the 18th and 19th centuries. Almost all of them never mention money, but they do mention things like tables, and pots and pans. ITems that today would get a chuckle from most Americans. Who would want Great Aunt Fanny’s saucepan? But things made in an earlier generation were crafted not factory made and more importantly were designed to last giving a sense of permanence that is absent from things we accumulate today. Anyhow, I think your Christmas present from your Mom was lovely and of far significance than any electronic toy could ever be.
I have made tools I needed in order to avoid buying them, they didn't look good but they worked. Those people knew how to use things until they completely wore out, as the old saying goes: Use it up wear it out, make it do or do without.
I still live by it.
I’m the collector in my family as well - though there weren’t many things to pass on I have 4-5 bibles, old tools ad knives, some hand crotched doilies, a hand made chest, and have scanned and distributed copies of all the photos I could get my hands on. I’m the genealogy hobbiest as well and made my dad proud when I should him our ancestors rev war pension app. (bayoneted, pow, paroled, and returned to action). Most of the rest was lost in fire flood or to older siblings of my parents.
Your right in that it seems that most don’t care about such things as much - but there is hope - I didn’t start until about 10 years ago really paying attention up until then it was more just a sense of reverence for old things and where they had been and who had used them. I’ve noticed one of my kids keeps things - not everything but just the odd item here and there...I’ve a feeling she’ll be the next family historian she just doesn’t know it yet...and I’m not about to mention it until she gets through these skeptical teenage years.
I’ve found it isn’t a matter of living in the past as much as it is passing down the stories of the trials and if course the occasional laugh riot. It’s the sharing. Keep the faith and merry Christmas to you fellow freeper.
“Antique furnace”.
Hee! Hee! Is it a coal-fired furnace like the one in “A Christmas Story” that little Ralphie’s father had to do battle with on a regular basis?
You know you’re looking at an old building when you catch sight of the tell-tale coal chute on the side facing the alleyway.
WOW!!! You got a WONDERFUL gift!!! I’m proud of you, that YOU’RE happy!!
I have my hope chest sitting here. ;) It now has my Daddy’s Navy Uniform in it, and Brad’s baptismal suit that I made him.
I’d give anything to have Grandma’s table...
My sister and I are on a quest to let NO old quilt be sold for the ladies who like to cut them up & make teddy bears (no offense if someone reading this does....). I have many... Don’t know what to do with them, other than display them proudly.
This is a great thread...thank you. Merry CHRISTmas!! :)
Sergeant Major Plumley: How the hell do you know what kind of God damn Christmas it is?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZBbQm1avEY
What a treasure you received.
I have 3 unfinished quilt tops, one of which appears to be made of worn men's shirts. The patterns/fabric are what you would associate with a man's shirt, anyway.
We gave our daughter a cedar lined ‘hope’ chest for her high school graduation. It was important at the time, but even moreso now, I
appreciate the ‘generational’ lasting quality of the gift.
I have a serious detachment from material things, but hearing other’s stories helps me to understand the value of çherished family heirlooms.
Thank you sir for your willingness to open up and share your delight gift with us, and allowing us to share in that blessing.
Blessings and mercy to you and your family in the coming New Year.
Merry Christmas Sir..... Stay Safe.
I will enjoy breakfast this morning sitting at the sturdy round oak table used in the farmhouse of my great great grandparents. My wife wants to replace it and several other family pieces with new. I’m staying with the old. Fortunately our mid 20’s daughter loves both the old furniture and the family stories. This furniture will stay in the family for at least one more generation.
Merry Christmas! This Christmas my brother-in-law called me down to his house (formerly my deceased in-law’s farm)because he wanted to give me something. He had laid out 3 quilts that my mother-in-law and the ladies in the community had hand made. He wanted to give them to me to use. I explained that I had all the quilts and blankets that my husband and I could use, but that I would distribute them to my 3 children. The quilts were needing a cleaning and it looked like the moths had been feasting on one of them that had some silky inserts. So I took them and with some trepidation decided to wash them, hoping they didn’t fall apart. They did hold up and I replaced patches by hand in the moth eaten one with pieces from one of my husbands old shirts and one of mine. So now it has a personel touch and a generation forward. I was really surprised that the kids loved getting these old quilts. I let each one pick which one they liked (depending on when they arrived so no one was fighting over one)and the best thing is that when they use them they will think of their grandmother.