Message Boards

As I've mentioned on other threads I am seriously editing my house and have given away and sold a lot of home decor accessories which I accumulated over many years. Of course I am keeping family 'treasures' and one is this cedar chest which belonged to my DM. She told me many years ago that it was a gift from her sister and was filled with stationery. What makes it even more of a treasure is that on the bottom of the box (outside) she wrote the date (1935) and that it was a Christmas gift from her sister. I have a similar, altho smaller, cedar box which was also filled with stationery and was a Christmas gift to me sometimes in the 1950's. Wish I had written the date and who gave it to me but I never thought to at that young age. I'm going to start marking family treasures so my children will know where various items came from and the approximate date.

I wondered if others do this and perhaps it might be something some would like to start doing also.

Does anyone have family treasures they'd like to show?

I think one should and with technology today, what better way to keep the stuff than to take a picture and perhaps write what memories you can about the item. And give the disc to your children so that they can see and read about the family treasures.

Martha

Joyluck - this is a lovely thread. I shared this last week but it fits here, so I'll share again:

Sketch drawn by a family member who died too young. Don't know how I ended up with it, no one else remembers when he gave it to us, but it is wonderful to have it framed up nicely and preserved for other family members who might someday be the keeper of such things. I was afraid it wouldn't survive if not framed correctly.

My mom passed away last summer and since there are six of us siblings among whom things have to be divvied up, and since she spent her last years in assisted living (small space), she did not leave all that much behind.

She did however leave an explicit list (made before the dementia kicked in), under which she left me her engagement & wedding rings along with another few pieces of jewelry. I had her engagement ring and a couple of the diamonds from other pieces re-set and am thrilled with the result. I wear it every day and think of her whenever I look at it. :-)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: azul99,

My mother also left me a Waterford crystal bowl, which my favorite aunt had given my parents for a wedding gift in 1951. My brother brought it to me when he visited at Christmas, but he packed it very poorly in his luggage (which he checked), and it broke. :-( I was devastated and angry but told myself "it's just a *thing*", and tried to move on.

Weeks later, an identical bowl arrived in the mail - he and my sisters had replaced it via Ebay. Their love is more important to me than the origin of the bowl, and I think of that whenever I look at it. (I'm pretty sure my mom would feel the same, but she'd be mad at my brother for his carelessness too!)

My parents were married for over 20 years when they took their 1st vacation. Went to St. Petersburg, FL. It was back in the 50's - no heat in the hotel. It was cold and rainy. They were so glad to leave. Brought me a little cedar box full of candy much like Joy's.

Love the diamond ring. Its gorgeous.
And the story of the Waterford bowl is priceless.

I don't know how people live without family momentos (sp?) around them.

and Junk Collector. Would anyone else in your family like a copy of your drawing? If so, you can take it to Kinko's and have it copied on a photograph quality copier so that everyone who wants one can have it. My darling niece has had copies of my Great Aunt's oil paintings put on canvas by a local photography shop. She has the originals and I have copies that are just as good. I treasure them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Love, Lu,

I have many "treasures" that I received from my grandparents.

One is a small sewing rocker that has a drawer under the seat that opens from either side. It belonged to my DGM's sister who passed away in the 1918 influenza epidemic.

Another is my grandparents old wooden ice box. My Mom doesn't like it, because as a child it was her job to empty the drip pan under it, so she associates it with a chore from her childhood.

I also have a horse collar/hames from their barn that I made into a mirror.

Another treasure is a wood cook stove from my 1st husbands DGM that she used to use to make homemade lye soap.

Lucky, I have a similar cedar box. I use mine to store old photos.

JC, I also have 2 oil paintings, one by DGM and one by her Aunt.

Azul, I have my wedding ring set from DH1 and I would like to do something with it like you did with yours. Also, a few pieces of silverplate from DGM, and a crystal sugar and creamer.

All of these items mean a lot to me because they were from family and I know their history.

Candy

Azul99, my mother had an EAPG bowl that belonged to her mother. She was always careful with it, but it broke when she put hot gravy into it. I was able to find one like it on eBay, so now she keeps the broken (and repaired) one on display and uses the replacement. She was so excited to receive the replacement because using the bowl had become a sort of tradition for her.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Graciepj,

I have a pair of these chairs. they belonged to my mother's, mother's mother. She was born in 1863 and I remember sitting on her lap. I'm sure they would have been tufted originally.

I also have a small child's rocker that probably once had arms. I have my grandmother's desk. Also the pastel portrait over it is a family heirloom. We always called it "the oldest girl" because family lore said that it should go to the oldest daughter. I am the second daughter but the first got a much more valuable work of art.

I have a cast iron muffin pan and just plain old 9" baking pans that belonged to my mother's mother. (funny that I cherish them as much as anything. . . they have a metal slide thing to loosen the cake from the bottom of the pan)

From my father's mother I have a fairly large dovetailed bread box (to rise dough in . . . she had 12 children so needed a big one!)

Also have a few pieces of china.

quote:

Would anyone else in your family like a copy of your drawing

When my sister got the better work of art, I asked DH to make me a copy of it. (exact size but of course he always marks such things "copy" with the name of the artist)

This is the copy in our d.r. (to the left) The artist of the original is famous. His name was Severin Roesen or the "williamsport painter" that was the home of my family so they probably bought this directly from him, it has always been in my family.

JC in order to have your bird copied it would have to be reframed so that would be a nice thing to do but maybe no one wants it anyway. People are funny about what they cherish.

If anything, I'll pass it on to one of my nephews - I'll wait till they grow out of the awkward years and decide which one I like best

One of these days I'll get my Sony Vaio fixed so that I can again post pictures.
I have so many family treasures in this house that my husband calls it a museum. Not worth any ** you understand but priceless to me. My beloved Grandmother treasured them, my mother treasured them and now I am the caretaker.

I have several things from the family and I treasure the pie pans and bread board and angel food cake tin as much as I cherish the crystal and silver and linens.

Martha

One of my grandmothers wrote dates, names, and such on the pieces--or taped to the pieces. She was the only one.

Not many in the entire family really have an appreciation for all her notes. It seems more like a noose to them. I find it interesting, but it doesn't make me any more sentimental about various pieces.


I've documented a bit of what I know of pieces for my stepson. Not overkill, though. These things aren't his "style" so it's more for storytelling for his children.

I have a pressed glass butter, sugar, etc. set from my paternal grandmother. My mother never cared for antiques so there won't be any antiques left behind. She does have a duncan phyfe coffee table and one end table She has a few older dishes but other than that, no substantial furniture pieces or art or anything like that.

The thing I would love to have more of would be pictures. My maternal grandparents lost all pics in a fire. I only have one picture of my grandmother (who died when my mom was only 5) It is not a good pic of her and I'd love to have seen more of her. Photos are the most important thing to me, especially when you've never met a loved one.

quote:

Photos are the most important thing to me, especially when you've never met a loved one.

Am en! I never knew my paternal grandparents and cherish the picture I have of the whole family, when my Dad was about 6 and wearing a sailor suit with a whistle! There were 12 children and I only met 4 of them besides my Dad.

quote:

Originally posted by victoriangirl:
Photos are the most important thing to me, especially when you've never met a loved one.

I have quite a few ancestor studio photos, the only problem is that I only recognize some of the people in them. Wish I had thought to ask my DM to write out the names of the relatives.