Anne here, and today the wenches are talking about antiques, mementos or family heirlooms that we treasure. The topic arose (as many of ours do) from the wenches chatting in our email group, and at some stage someone said, “We should talk about this in an AAW.” And so we did.
We start with Christina:
I have quite a few family heirlooms I treasure so I found it difficult to pick just one. Most are the usual things, like jewellery, furniture or porcelain, but there is one thing that is a little bit different – a set of hand sewn sheets. That might not sound terribly exciting, but these are very special sheets because they are not made out of ordinary linen.
They are made of used flour sacks. My Swedish great-grandfather (on my mother’s side) and his father before him were bakers. It would seem that the best quality flour was delivered in sacks made of the finest type of linen and my great-great-grandmother being frugal apparently used some of them to make sheets for the family. No waste of something that could be repurposed when, perhaps, material was scarce or they didn’t have enough money to buy new. She has sewn them together with the greatest of care and they are incredibly soft. And she added her initials as was usual back then.
Her name was Augusta Grunditz (nee Lorentsdotter) and she was born in 1858. (We think this photo is of her but we’re not sure – and speaking of old photos I consider those heirlooms too as they are precious!). Looking at the sheets really gives me a sense of who she was – a woman making do with what she had and not wasting a single thing. Isn’t that amazing? I love them! Needless to say I don’t actually use them and I’m thinking of donating them to a museum because they are kind of unique. For now, they are staying in my cupboard until I decide.
Pat said:
I believe I’ve mentioned this in the past but both my parents were orphans, my mother as an infant and my father when he was just a boy. His family lost everything in a fire and my mother never had anything to begin with. So family heirlooms really don’t exist. I have a collection of silver that belonged to my foster grandmother and to my stepfather’s family. They have no sentimental value since they were never used at any table I ever sat at until I inherited them. Maybe they’ll hold sentiment for my daughter someday, although I think I’d recommend that she just melt them down and have a nice necklace made. <G> Which, come to think of it, might make a good family tradition since my mother had one of my stepfather’s rings melted down and had a lovely gold and diamond necklace from it. Wearable heirlooms are convenient!
Susan said:
Between grandparents and parents, I’ve ended up with some family heirlooms. One is my great-grandmother’s humpback trunk, which held her belongings when she immigrated from France to America in 1892, age 18, with a brother and twin sisters (their parents and other siblings came over first). Her trunk, an unwieldy piece of luggage, is beautifully tooled metal over wood; the interior is lined with peeling parchment and an engraving of King Louis XIV. Today it sits at the foot of our bed, keeping my tartan wool blankets safe from moths. She was an adorable little old lady with a mischievous streak, and I think of her when I see that trunk.
Another family treasure belonged to my Canadian French grandmother, who as a girl played piano in the silent movies (as kids we danced around while she played Charlie Chaplin music for us on her baby grand piano) — I now have the Persian carpet she chose as a bride in the 1920s. It’s a gorgeous pattern of cream, pink, and pastels, and she paired it with pink velvet sofas. No thanks on the pink velvet, but it works with our beige sofa and holds lovely memories.
Now for Andrea:
The mementos I cherish most are not things that have great monetary value, but are priceless to me for the connection to my family and its history. Mmy mother, who I’ve often mentioned on the blog, was an amazing artists and one of her creative endeavors was to keep a photo history of our family, She made elaborate yearly scrapbooks filled with snapshots, funny handmade birthday and Xmas cards, report cards, etc. I have become the Keeper of the Books . . . and I will them lovingly preserve for the next generation . . . though at this point they’re all shuffling their feet, clearly not very enthusiastic about “ancient history.” Sigh—we’ll see.
But perhaps the heirloom I value most is the family signet ring that my Mother received from her father when she was sixteen. I was fascinated by it as a kid—I loved reading books on King Arthur and the Round Table, and thought it was so cool that she has a coat of arms! She knew how much I loved it, and when she passed away it came down to me. It has such a special connection to her, and that means the world to me.
Mary Jo here.
Perhaps the most memorable family piece I have is this large brass clock. I have a vague idea that it might have come from Vienna, but that’s not much more than a guess. I think it was acquired by my traveling American maternal grandmother, who also acquired my grandfather, an absent minded American professor, in Vienna, though probably not at the same time. It depicts Apollo, the sun god, driving the chariot of the sun across the sky while his sister, Artemis, the moon goddess, naps until night falls so she can take over. It’s 19″ across and heavy! At Christmas it sat on the mantel piece and with three feet, it could support a stocking for each of us children.
Once Apollo had a long strip of brass that he was snapping over his team to drive them, but that piece is long gone. As a kid I would sometimes polish the clock, especially the horses because I liked horses. <g> After my mother was widowed and moving to Virginia to live near my older sister, my sister, aka “She who must be obeyed,” told me I was taking the clock. Naturally I obeyed. <g> I like having it. Occasionally I look at it and wonder what tales it could tell…
Anne again.
Like many of the wenches, I have a number of things I treasure. Some are valuable antiques, many are only valuable to me. As a friend said to me recently “So many of your treasured bits and pieces have stories attached to them.” It’s true. So I’ll share just one very special antique, a family heirloom. It’s a revolving bookcase that was made from salvaged oak and pine from Admiral Nelson’s flagship, the HMS Foudroyant, which served as Nelson’s flagship in the Mediterranean from 1799 to 1801. (See blurry photo of the plaque .)
The bookcase was passed down from my great grandfather, who was a great lover of books, and this was his treasure.
The bookcase contains a matched set of the one hundred “Best Books of the 19th Century” as recommended by Sir John Lubbock (1st Baron Avebury). A brilliant scientist, polymath, liberal politician, philanthropist, banker, and more, Lubbock was a proponent of easy access to books for all and was deeply involved in the passing of the Public Libraries Act, 1892. A great supporter of self-education for working people, in 1886 he published a list of “One Hundred Books” as a guide to acquire a solid education. It was widely publicized and used in its day.
It’s a hugely comprehensive list, with many authors and titles familiar to us today, from The Bible, The Koran, Confucius, to Jane Austen Thackeray, Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species, Aristotle, Homer, Virgil, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Danté, Swift, Spenser, Capt, Cook’s Voyages — the list goes on. He didn’t include living authors. You can read the full list here.
I tried to read through them all one summer when I was 16 or 17, but eventually gave up in favor of the beach. <g>. But reading all these books would certainly give someone an impressive and thorough grounding in many areas of cultural and other knowledge.
So, over to you, wenchly readers — do you have any antiques, mementos or family heirlooms that you treasure? We’d love to hear about them.
Thank you all for this unique blog. The only things I have as mementos are in the area of jewelry and photos, but I’m grateful to wear them and see old images of family.
Thanks, Patricia. I am enjoying everyone’s memory sharing.
I loved this post. I have several pieces of jewelery from my mother, which I would consider heirlooms. But actually, my most precious heirloom is a miniature wooden chest of drawers. It even has a mirror. My grandfather made it for me. He was going to build me a doll house-but he died before that could happen. I was ten years old. I still have the chest of drawers. As for the doll house, I used it as part of the inspiration for my third book, Baby Love. The heroine was a woodworker, whose craft honored her grandfather.
Binnie Syril, your little chest of drawers sounds lovely. No wonder you treasure it. I wish we could incluse photos in the blog comments, but I guess it would open an invitation for spam.
I also love that you were able to use the idea of the doll house in your fiction. I like the sound of a female woodworker.
My treasured items are a beaded embroidery from my great great grandmother and then I have very beautiful ones from my mother they are at the bottom of my stairs and welcome me every morning
Thanks, Vanessa. That sounds lovely — and how nice to be greeted by your mother’s embroidery every morning.
It’s lovely to hear about all the beautiful items here as keepsakes. I’m afraid I don’t have anything to add. My family through the decades really did have nothing. My Great Grandmother lived in the time of the Famine here in Ireland. They even lost their homes so possessions were non existent. My Grandfather was work shy so they in turn had nothing and on it went. My mother died eight years ago aged 88 and I do have some small bits and pieces she owned and she had some nice bits of jewellery all which had a story attached and she gave them all to my daughter (who was her favourite Grandchild) before she died.
Andrea, I love the idea of the books! Some fabulous memories there I imagine
This was a lovely blog!!
Thanks, Teresa. When my brohers come to visit, we always sit down and go through the scrapbooks. It really makes us smile, and we always find things that spark memories about funny incidents.
Last year, when my younger brother was visiting, we came across a school paper he had done for first grade about Christmas gifts, and he was saying how much he loved getting a small animal toy (the German company Steiff made wonderful stuffed animals!) It was a moose.
I excused myself for a moment and went up to my bedroom, where I have a wooden chest filled with childhood stuffed animals. I actually had the moose! He was flabbergasted—so delighted—when I gave it to him! That was a very sweet moment.
What a lovely story, Andrea. I’m so pleased you’d kept his moose for him.
Thanks, Teresa. I don’t have much from my mother’s side of the family, but one thing is a beautiful rabbit-fur coat. During the Depression, my grandfather used to trap rabbits. He stripped and cured the fur, and my grandmother cooked the rabbits to feed the family. That period included one of the worst winters in decades, and when my mother took the furs to a furrier to make a coat, he commented that they were the best rabbit furs he’d seen. Nobody wears the coat these days, although I think it shouldn’t count in all the anti-fur objections. The rabbits weren’t killed for their fur, they fed a family through some very hard times. And besides, rabbits are an introduced pest in Australia. But still, people just see fur and object on principle.
I loved this post, thank you all for sharing your treasures! My 4x great grandfather started a commercial kitchen equipment business in 1880s Philadelphia that grew quite large over the years. I have a copper 1 pint hand made measuring cup from that early time that I treasure. Although I have collected many other company items through the years (EBay is dangerous to collectors) the cup with its uneven hammered surface and soldering is my favorite.
Thanks, Denise — how lovely to have a few hand-made kitchen items, to remind you every time you use them. That cup with its hammered surface sounds wonderful.
What a lovely post and with enjoyable comments, too!
Looking around the living room, I see a number of family mementos ~ a Delft plate and tile from my Dutch grandmother along with a box my father won in a sailing contest, a Persian rug, a NZ Kauri wood bowl, an antique hotel desk bell, and a carved wooden house with my last name from Micronesia. Ooh, and a pair of Korean wedding ducks that my daughter gave us. So treasured mementos from prior generations as well as from our own offspring.
Thanks, Kareni. What a lovely collection of mementos. I googled Korean Wedding ducks and loved the idea. Mementos and things with stories attached are so special. My dad loved ducks and I have several carved wooden ducks. I think of him whenever I see them. I also have a turned apple-wood salad bowl that my Dad’s students made for him as a farewell gift when we were leaving Scotland after a year of living there. The wood was made from an old apple tree in the school grounds that had been cut down earlier. It’s very precious to me.
What a fun blog, Anne. I love reading of some of the family mementoes.
Yes, Mary Jo. I’m loving all the stories, too.
Like Susan, I have my great-grandfather’s trunk at the foot of our bed. It, too, dates to the time that he emigrated from Europe. It is made of wood and metal, but it was originally covered in some other forgotten material that my husband stripped away. He treated the wooden exterior, and lined the interior with cedar. Inside I keep a quilt from my childhood, newly purchased towel sets, guest linens, and extra pillows. I cherish jewelry items from my maternal grandmother and my mother. We also have several pieces of furniture from both sets of grandparents that could all tell stories! Last, but not least, is a large, oval-framed portrait of my maternal grandfather, in which he is dressed in his uniform as a soldier in World War I.
Thanks Patricia. What a great idea your husband had, to line the gorgeous chest with cedar, which repels insects and bugs — and smells lovely. Your antiques and mementos sound wonderful. One of my cousins has a portrait of my maternal grandfather who was in the Light Horse. They had emu feathers in their slouch hats which adds a touch of glamor. The soldiers, being fond of a joke, used to tell people they were “kangaroo feathers.” You can see them here: https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/lhplumes/feathers
I have a few pieces of jewelry from my mother, but my favorite momentos are dishes and cooking utensils. They are not to display, but to use. Every time I use a plate or cake pan or spoon that belonged to my mother or grandmother, it makes me think of them. Another favorite momento is a stainless steel frying pan that my grandfather(a metal worker) made.
Karin, I think it’s great that you use the dishes and cooking things handed down, instead of shutting them away “for best” which of course, almost never comes. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks you dear readers for sharing YOUR cherished items. I’m loving reading about them!
I loved reading thus post, seeing the photos and hearing people’s stories. Alas, what i have are maostly old photos and memories. My grandparents in ith sides come to thjs couutry as teenage immigrants with very little to bring with them. My father was one of five children so my grandparents possessions were divided among them. I prize the old photos of my father as a child and young man. His diplomas from school, college and law school. Likewise my mother(who was also a lawyer). I have a piece of her jewelry that my father gave me (my mom died when I was 7) wheni was in my twenties and old enough to appreciate it. It was an art deco piece from the 1930’s. I don’t wear it because i am afraid i will lose it(it’s a pin). It is in the box she kept it in my dresser and every once and a whike, i take it out and look at it. I also have her small green metal tool box and her fountain pen. I love the pen and had it repaired so i could use it. I can almkst imagine her writing with it. These are not antiques in the usual sense, but precious to me becaue they came from a mother i lost when I was very young and that is all that is left of her along with many photos and stories friends of the family and relatives. Memories of my Dad are much stronger becuae i had him around until he was 91, so lots of memories, books, personal items he liked or that i gave him as gifts.
But mostly memories of places we went, people he knew, things we did, the kind of person be was and all the thungs he taught me and showed me and the values he instilled in me, the importance of courtesy, manners, respecting other people, being kind, helpful,
In other words, being a “mensch”. The kegacy my larents left me is more precious than anything physical, because it cannot be lost,destroyed or remived. But i alao treasure the few thungs they left behind, a reminder of their presence.