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Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept?
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jim Dixon Date: 20 Feb 02 - 01:51 PM Click for Part 2. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 20 Feb 02 - 12:58 PM Hi, bbc: Wow, a message from the British Broadcasting Company! Part of the problem of monikers is that I'm never quite sure who I'm talking to..
I have a square cast iron skillet (but without a divider,) that I picked up many years ago for a couple of bucks at a tag sale, and it's my favorite frying pan. Your message brought back memories of my grandparents on my Father's side... which is what is so great about this thread. My Grandfather was a tinsmith in Denmark and I've been told, worked on some great cathedrals there. I assume that the cathedrals weren't tin, but I'm sure there was tin working to be done on them. He quickly rose to being foreman of the shop. He came over to this country in his late teens or early twenties, and met my Grandmother in the choir of a church in a Danish community in Wisconsin. My Grandmother came over as a maid, working for the Diamond family, who started Diamond match. At that time, it was the major match company and the family was extremely wealthy. I wrote a song about my grandparents and the chorus echoes what you've said about your greatest inheritances being your faith and values.
"Grandpa was a tinsmith, the foreman of the shop Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: GUEST,bbc at work Date: 20 Feb 02 - 12:16 PM Jerry, I loved your song from the 1st time I heard you sing it! I have 2 things from my mom's folks in Missouri that are precious to me. The 1st is the square cast-iron skillet that Grandpa & Grandma used each morning to cook their bacon & eggs. The skillet was divided in half--1 side for bacon & the other side in half again to hold 2 square fried eggs. As a child, I just loved that concept of square fried eggs! I don't tend to use the skillet (low-fat diet & all), but I keep it where I can see it & be reminded. The second things is Grandma's serving dishes. Some are just inexpensive china & some are cut glass. Any time we ate there, Grandma served 2 or 3 vegetables in those dishes. Now, I've realized it was probably because vegetables were cheaper than some other foods. At home, we usually just had 1 veggie at a time, so it seemed quite special to me. I always use Grandma's dishes for our holiday meals. I remember happy family times & recount them to my kids. The most important things I have from my folks are their values & their faith. Those are deep within me--more precious than any material goods--& are things I can share & pass on. Thanks, Jerry! best, bbc |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 20 Feb 02 - 10:36 AM Thanks for the song, Wolfgang... Glad to see you. And Janie, if you read this.. I printed out the first 100 responses to this thread. Now I have to go buy another ink cartridge. But, I'm glad that I did it. At some point soon, it looks like this thread will be getting unwieldy and I probably should start a part II. I'll post a short thread, asking how to do that. If other people are like me, I find it too daunting going back and reading all the messages on Part I long threads, so I think that I may just re-post some of the messsages I thought werre most memorable on this thread on to a new one. As for editing and publishing this, I suspect that would be a headache of major proportions. Might have to get a release from everyone who posted. But, I wanted a paper copy of all the postings so far, and am glad to have it. I know that I'll enjoy going back to read it.
What this needs is Studs Turkle. Or, as Art calls him, Studs Turtle.
Thank you, everyone who has contributed to this thread SO FAR. And thank you to all who will continue to contribute.
I've got some other ideas, too. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Wolfgang Date: 20 Feb 02 - 04:00 AM I might as well link to it: Scraps of paper (in the Forum) Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Wolfgang Date: 20 Feb 02 - 03:57 AM Pictures and memories will be most I'll keep. But I hope the time my parents will leave ios still far away. From my grandparents it's memories that remain and too many unasked and now unanswerable questions (mostly about trivia). Another relevant song that comes to mind here is Eric Bogle's not too well known but beautiful 'Scraps of paper'. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Chip2447 Date: 20 Feb 02 - 03:09 AM After some recent investigation, I.e. talking to my dad about the war axe/hatchet, I've found the following: It was constructed by the first Souix blacksmith in/around Fort Laramie. This was evidently my double great granddad. Records are sparse and difficult to come by. Granddad was born in 1888 and given what we know, that puts the hatchet being constructed mid 19th century. I wonder how many men Native and Caucasian alike said hatchet has killed? And how much blood it's drawn...the last blood was when my grandfather chopped off his own toe with it about 1892 or 93. Great thread... Chip2447
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Songsmith Date: 20 Feb 02 - 02:32 AM In response to what I'll leave behind. My two Sons have taken up guitar. They are progressing very well indeed. They both have a keen intrest in Maritime folk music and are huge fans of the late great Stan Rogers. I hear they even do a few of their Dad's when I'm not around. That in itself is my wish come true. I'll leave behind two wonderful guitars and most likely a bag full of unfinished works. Wouldn't it be wondeful if they finished a few together. Jim
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Deckman Date: 19 Feb 02 - 09:55 PM I agree ... so let's just IGNORE them! CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Herga Kitty Date: 19 Feb 02 - 07:36 PM Deckman Thanks. I just happen to think that the current discussions on Guests, flamers and trolls, ought not to get in the way of reasoned discussion |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Deckman Date: 19 Feb 02 - 07:02 PM Herga ... YES, we do. There is a lot of previously unkown material out there. Years ago, you would have to tramp the hills and back trails to discover the folks to discover the songs. I'm convinced today that there is a LOT of music floating around, maybe known to just a few people. For example, check out the song I posted of the "Haywire Mac" thread .... "YE OLDE BALLAD OF SOMETHING OR OTHER." To my knowledge, it's never been recorded, or known widely. I learned it from a very personal and private source. However, as always, I may be well proved wrong, and if that happens, then I get educated. And that's part of what MUDCAT is all about. Collecting folk material have never been easy, that's part of the challenge, and that's also what makes the rewards so wonderful. Jerry, I think I just posted a HUGE thread creep, sorry. Bob |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Herga Kitty Date: 19 Feb 02 - 06:40 PM Doesn't anyone have a hoard of previously undiscovered traditional songs and music, passed down over generations in their family .... |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Bill D Date: 19 Feb 02 - 05:37 PM ah, Jerry...black memoribilia is big stuff..you know Oprah is a major collector? (you have set me to re-reading the many old postcards my family sent in the eary part of the century...I should scan a few and post them!) as to how...well, there are several ways to show pictures, but I never heard of scanners 'sending'..I suppose it is like my copier also doing faxes. . All I do is get an image on my PCs harddrive (scanned or digital camera), then send to to the little space they gave me with my ISP (1 meg). It takes an FTP program, but is not hard. Let me know if & when you want to play with it. (You can also get space on Photoloft, or Photopoint or several other places for albums...or, there are still some 'free' web sites going, but those are a teeny bit harder) |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: GUEST,Cretinous Yahoo Date: 19 Feb 02 - 04:55 PM If I can't take it with me, then, I'm not going! |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Deckman Date: 19 Feb 02 - 04:46 PM JenEllen ... the "Family Jewels" ... I LOVE it!. Thanks for posting, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 19 Feb 02 - 04:44 PM Hi, Bill: I've got fourteen pages of instructions on how to make my scanner send stuff over the internet. Maybe someday I'll read it and figure out to post photographs. Another good idea.. thanks for sharing the photograph. I have am American Bison statue made out of some weird metal alloy, and a paper weight from the same World's Fair. An elderly woman gave them to me, along with a cast metal ku kux klan figure as a wedding present. No wonder the marriage blew up in my face. I could feel the Ku Kux Klan hooded figurine burning a stigmata in my palm, but I thanked her profusely. Ended up giving to a black friend of mine who had a perverse sense of humor. He thought it was funny to have live tarantulas and scorpions in rather cheap looking aquariums in his living room. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Bill D Date: 19 Feb 02 - 04:34 PM in this day of instant technology, why not SHOW some interesting things? Who remembers bronzed baby shoes?...here are my shoes from 1939 beside my fathers shoes, NOT bronzed, from 1907! and in case anyone is interested, here is my grandfather's tonic bottle (mentioned above) from about 1915-20.. beside a glass my Grandfather Day bought my grandmother at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Steve in Idaho Date: 19 Feb 02 - 03:29 PM Welcome Songsmith!! This is a great space - If you clik here you will also find a great thread on the live music we do on Sundays! Gotta throw a plug in guys!! Steve |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Mrrzy Date: 19 Feb 02 - 03:09 PM Interesting thread. I really have nothing of my late father's, to my dismay; I now wish I had (ghoulish though this may seem even to me) some of his ashes. Mom lately gave to me (after discussion with all of us) a portrait we'd had done of Dad back in the 70's by an African sign-painter, it has him caricatured as a Superman kind of body-builder... but I LOOK a lot like him, apparently! Companion thread idea: What have you LOST? I want my white-cheeked rabbit back, that I lost I think on a transatlantic Pan Am flight about 35 years ago... and mu poor Willie left his black stuffed doggie (which used to be MINE *fume*) at the zoo last weekend... offering a reward! |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: JenEllen Date: 19 Feb 02 - 11:48 AM Thanks, Jerry. Actually, I owe you an apology. I lied. I got to thinking about it last night, and I DO have a totally useless keepsake! In the bottom of my jewelry box, wrapped in a tiny piece of velvet and notepaper, are two rubies. One is about the size of a quarter, and the other the size of a pencil eraser. When my parents got married, my father's grandfather came over from Scotland for the wedding. He fell for my mom like a ton of bricks. The two of them quickly became co- conspirators in all sorts of mischief, and years later he would still tell me that she "set ma wee heart a'flutter". One of the running jokes they had was him teasing her about being an escaped belly-dancer that was trying to walk the straight and narrow after living a life of all sorts of sordid pleasures. (she was actually the daughter of a preacher) One afternoon, she got fed up with all the teasing and did an impromtu belly dance. I wasn't born at the time, but what I hear from my aunts and uncles is that it was a legendary performance that would have made Salome take notes. When he returned to Scotland, he sent her a package with the big ruby in it, for her navel. When I was born, he sent a second package, with the smaller one. The notes, in his scrawling hand, say they are for "the best bellies in Texas". The other note, in my mother's neat hand: "the Family Jewels" |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 19 Feb 02 - 11:46 AM Thanks for sharing the song, Jim.
The reason I am enjoying this thread so much is that it is more conversational and personal than most threads. I still see people saying, "I'd like to say more, but I don't want to take up any more space," or, this is the last time I'll add something... I was looking at the back of my computer, and it looks like there's plenty of space left in there. Think what a conversation would be like if you got fifty people in the room and told each of them that they could only say one thing..
I've watched this thread grow from a fairly straightforward listing of objects, to why the objects are so important to us, to family memories, anecdotes, photographs, songs, values, and what we hope to leave behind. I have enjoyed every posting, and look forward to many more. Because this all grew out of a Handful Of Songs, I wonder if your kids are going to carry on the music. Neither of mine are, because neither of them are musicians. They don't listen to folk music much, either, even though they always enjoyed it. But, you never know.. I hope that some of you have kids who will help to carry on the tradition..
C'mon, in! There's plenty of room!!! Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Songsmith Date: 19 Feb 02 - 08:12 AM Hello, I just joined this wonderful site today. This thread is so wonderful to read. I come from a family of twelve children. Music was a very important part of my younger life thanks to my Mother. She once told me the following almost word for word and it's the final verse of one of my songs. "As down the road of life you travel. There will be times you'll need a friend. Someone to mend your broken spirit. Or help you find your smile again. At times when no one can be found. A song will help you come around. A melody will sooth your soul. Just sing the sweetest one you know". Other than her constant unconditional love the joy of music been her greatest gift to me.
Last night I visited the old home. With friends and family gathered 'round. To share a glass and sing some old songs. No better time in life I've found. For every song is like a key. Unlocking special memories. That take me back to years ago. And happy times in this old home.
I hope this thread never ends. Jim |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 19 Feb 02 - 07:34 AM JenEllen: Yes, there is something very special about having keepsakes that you can use. Too many get put away so successfully that you can't find them. I think of my Grandfather often, because I still have his hammer. It's a very small hammer, just right in scale for a man who wasn't much over 5 feet tall. He must have used it a lot, because the head of the hammer is so worn that it isn't flat anymore. That makes it almost impossible to pound a nail in without bending it over. I have two larger new, "good" hammers that I normally use, but so often, I can't find them... either my wife or I have misplaced them. But, somehow, my Grandfather's hammer is always there in plain sight saying "Use me." And I do. I've finally gotten the knack of pounding a nail in without bending it, most of the time.
I also don't count keeping things as keepsakes because they are the latest collectible rage. My Father had a set of duck decoys (which he bought when they were already old, and paid 50 cents a piece for. After he couldn't go duck hunting anymore, they sat in a loft up in the garage. I asked Dad if I could have one, and I think my sisters thought I was nuts. He said, "Sure, I'll never use them again." So, I picked the best of the lot, with the paint mostly worn off, and kinda banged up. When duck decoys became the latest decorating fad, my sisters decided they wanted one, and even my Dad decided he wanted to keep one in the house. They had theirs sanded down and varnished with so many coats that they looked like decoupage ducks. Totally non-functional. If you ever put them in a lake, you'd probably scare all the ducks away. I still have mine, as beat up and worn out as usual. When I see something worn out and beat up, like your tea pot, I know that someone loved the thing and used it until it became a part of who they were. In my mind, that makes them far more valuable than something new. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: JenEllen Date: 19 Feb 02 - 12:55 AM I can't say that I was ever a pack-rat, we just weren't raised that way. We moved so much, and when the next move came along, my father would bring a cardboard box into each of our rooms and whatever didn't fit, didn't go. I learned to choose very wisely. In adulthood, I never really caught on to 'stuff', partly because I hate dust, and mostly because I hate dusting. The keepsakes I have are small, and functional. Every time I use them I remember where and who they came from. The spirit of the 'thing'. I always imagined keepsakes so lonely just sitting in a hutch somewhere, not being used for their purpose because they might break, or rust, or fade. My 'things' are used and abused, and when they go, they are gone, but at least they will have lived. I have a teapot that my mother painted for my grandmother (her mother-in-law). The two of them used to have Sunday tea together when I was young. I remember the two of them sitting together, drinking tea and talking. A few years after my mother died, my grandmother gave the pot to me. It is chipped and dinged up, too many cupfuls have passed through that spout to be otherwise, but it gets warmed every time I have friends over to visit and sit round for a chat, and I remember two friends who met through the sad coincidence of a marriage and shared a cuppa. I have my grandfather's shotgun. He taught me how to shoot, and when he died, I asked my grandmother for it. I don't shoot things, as a rule, but when I have to, it is with a little bit of him beside me. Example? The last time I had to use the gun was just a few days ago. There was a deer on my property that was severely injured and needed to be killed. I was a wreck for having to do it, but having that little bit of solid matter in my hands, with the same worn spots where my grandfather's hands had been, it made me feel so 'not alone' while doing a very ugly thing. I also have bowls from all of the great women in my life. That drives my family nuts. (If someone offers you a set of dishes, you should take all of the dishes and not just one bowl) Each one has a particular story, and a particular use. The blue one from Aunt Eileen, it is perfect for cutting shortening into pie crust. Every pie I make, I think of her and her lusty life. The flowered one from Dulce is perfect and balanced, just like her, and makes bread dough rise like magic. My personal favourite is a hideous glass thing from my ex-husband's Aunt Shirley. I only met her once (she was pretty hideous too) and she died well before my ex had ever asked me to marry him, yet shortly after we were married, one of his other aunts gave us this gift. The glass bowl, with a handwritten note from Aunt Shirley, telling us (by name) to be happy in our lives together. We looked at each other in pure horror, the gift from beyond the grave, then burst out laughing. When he and I broke up, I told him, I HAD to have the 'Dead Aunt Shirley Bowl' as it had come to be called. He consented. Now I use it mostly for fruit and nuts. What I will leave? Who knows. Whatever is left, I guess. I just hope that whoever takes it, does so because they want to use it and think of me too. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: katlaughing Date: 19 Feb 02 - 12:05 AM I'd just like to make a note that it was Spaw who suggested that Jerry move his original posting from a thread it would have been lost in to a new thread, so thanks to Spaw, too. This has been wonderful! Thanks to all so much, kat |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 18 Feb 02 - 11:28 PM "some may leave lessons, hard in the learning." While it is hard to believe when your kids are teenagers and think that you are the dumbest thing on earth, they are soaking up the lessons that you've taught them. I laugh at my 32 year old son when he says that one of the wisest things that he learned from me was the answer, "We'll see." When my sons were little, if I was foolish enough to promise that I'd do something with them, and then couldn't (no matter how valid the reason) they'd wail, "But Dad, you PROMISED!" Never mind if you were in intensive care. You PROMISED you'd take them to see The Empire Strikes Back. So, I learned to always say, "We'll see." I drove my sons nuts with that one, until my oldest son got married and had kids and started getting hit between the eyes with, "But Dad, you PROMISED!" Now, he tells me that he always says, "We'll see." Not a bad attitude in life.
And yes, isn't this a wonderful thread? I go back and re-read it, marveling at the love that flows through these postings. Not sentimentality. Love. I'll pass on one more bit of wisdom I picked up somewhere regarding love, honesty and sentimentality:
"Love without honesty is sentimentality
I hear honesty and love in these postings. Not sentimentality. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Ironmule Date: 18 Feb 02 - 10:24 PM To add to WesleyS's list of things from our family, there are photo albums and many small nicknacks we found interesting as kids in our Grandparents homes. Some treasures to be passed on in our turn: are a complete collection of Mark Twain from our Paternal Grandfather, and if I don't ever have any kids, our Maternal Grandfather's Fiddle, ordered out of the Sears Roebuck Catalog in '32 or so, and played at North Dakota barn-dances, will go to Brendan as well. The kid'll have quite a collection of instruments. Wesley better make sure he loves music ;^) I think that the objects however, are touchstones to our memories of those who've gone on ahead. We have a responsibility to our kids to give them a love of family history, and what good has been created in us by their teachings. My love of a job done well comes from my machinist Father, and my Maternal Grandfather the farmer, as well. Both sides of the family have an Old World sense of "Honor" in the best of ways. Doing the right thing isn't imposed from outside, but grows from within. Not a perfect family, Lord knows, but a good one deserving of pride in it's history. Jeff Smith |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: CarolC Date: 18 Feb 02 - 10:05 PM I think the things my son has gotten/will have gotten from me that he will value the most, will be, for the most part, intangibles. My love, of course. Maybe a little excentricity; a tremendous appreciation for humor and an ability to laugh at himself; appreciation for beauty; willingness to forge ahead into the unknown without waiting for permission from anyone; basic values of honesty, integrity, kindness, and concern for others; and perhaps most importantly, my unconditional acceptance and appreciation of who he is as a person. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Janie Date: 18 Feb 02 - 09:59 PM To the Universe of Mudcat, This is an absolutely wonderful and amazing thread. I don't know what the rules are about this, but Jerry or Mudcat as an organization should edit and publish it. It is inspiring. It provides a very profound examination of the ways who we are, or who we perceive ourselves to be, are influenced by the people, places and social times of the generation(s) before us. I don't think it is coincidental that this particular discussion is happening on a folk music site. All Our Relations! Janie |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: DougR Date: 18 Feb 02 - 09:41 PM Seeing as how I've been told I can't take anything with me, my kids are going to get everything. DougR |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Deckman Date: 18 Feb 02 - 08:58 PM Jerry ... You are teaching us quite a lesson here! If you have an idea for a good thread, as you have, your responsibilty does not end with just posting the question. Like a good teacher, and I suspect you are a good teacher, you keep 'nursing' the question along. And look at the result. You are drawing out many heartfelt and valuable comments from many good people. As a final comment, I would like to add somthing directed to everyone that has posted here: we all have talked about what we have saved and what we value. But there is another side of the coin, one that is not adressed often. I would simply say this ... we have all EARNED our treasures. CHEERS and GODD THOUGHTS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Amergin Date: 18 Feb 02 - 08:32 PM I would like to leave behind my notebooks.....filled with poetry and stories....a painted chainsaw blade an aunt gave to me....photos of my grandparents and aunts and uncles.... I would like to leave them happy memories...memories that could bring a smile when they were down... I would like to leave them the sense that I was still with them...watching them....proud....letting them know they would be with me once more... |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: DougR Date: 18 Feb 02 - 08:27 PM I also have, and forgot to mention, my father's double barrel New Eba Nitro Express .12 gauge shotgun, which had belonged to his father. It is well over 100 years old, and were I inclined to lose a hand or arm, I would shoot it. DougR |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 18 Feb 02 - 08:17 PM And that's the next part of this thread. What do you think that you'll leave behind. I realize that, if you're 28, that's hard to imagine. But some of us are getting to an age when our kids are expressing their special affection for something we have. One of my sons has been eyeing up a coffee table I made out of barn board. He always bragged to his friends when he was a teenager, that you could drive a truck up onto to coffee table and it wouldn't break. Some folks have mentioned leaving instruments... what a great excuse... "it's not for me, honey, it's for our kids!!!!" For many years I worked in a Museum, and one of the heart-breaking jobs that I had was talking to someone who wanted to donate something that meant everything to them, and none of their kids wanted it. I tried to take it, even if we weren't going to keep it, just to find a home for it, and make the person feel that SOMEONE appreciated what they had done.. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Wesley S Date: 18 Feb 02 - 04:22 PM I forgot to mention that MY son will receive a VERY nice guitar and mandolin collection { that's one of the ways I justify buying these instruments }. And a nice pocket watch I received for my 5th anniversary. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Wesley S Date: 18 Feb 02 - 04:19 PM From my father - a bible he was given for perfect attendence in a Sunday school class. His wedding ring, some of his cuff links and a plaque with a part for one of the Mercury space missions he worked on. And from time to time I wear the Amewrican Flag pin that he wore during the 60's. From my mother - I gave her wedding and engagement ring to my wife when I proposed, one of her favorite quilts that was made by my grandmother, an old coffee pot that I love, and some glass pieces. From my grandfather on my mothers side I have several silver dollars, a crystal he found, several rocks from the old farm and three books by Edgar Rice Borroughs - Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar, Tarzan the Terrible and the Gods Of Mars. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Mickey191 Date: 18 Feb 02 - 03:40 PM Jerry, Loved your screen door rememberences. For some reason my Dad carried a small piece of Carrickmacross lace in his wallet. Would love to know the story behind it. I saved my Mom's hairbrush with a few silver strands in it. For 5 yrs. on the bathroom shelf, I had my husbands aqua-velva cologne. The smell brought him back to me for an instant.Then the tears-it held up damn well. I'm sure visitors thought I'd gone masculine. One of my best memories is a 8mm. movie of my Mom trying to hitch up a horse to a cart 40 yrs. after she left Ireland. Everyone betting and laughing at her. The horse got to town 10 feet ahead of the cart. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: DancingMom Date: 18 Feb 02 - 03:30 PM We have LOTS of things from our parents and grandparents-My grandfather's woodworking tools, a picture of my grandparents at age 16 and 20, right before Grandaddy left for World War II. My favorite is a quilt. My great-grandmother made the top, a starburst pattern, probably 65 years ago. She kept it in her closet until 1984, when she dug it out, gave it to me, and said, "I'd like to see it finished while I'm alive." I folded it and put it in my closet, where it remained for several years. My mother-in-law was visiting one day and found the quilt. She said, This won't do. We have to finish it." She carried it back to North Carolina and enlisted the help of some of her quilting buddies to put the back on it and complete the hand stitching then mailed it back to me. We took the completed quilt to see my great-grandmother, who by then was in a nursing home, frail and sleeping much of the time. We wrapped her up in that quilt, and she remembered it, and seeing it finished 75 years after she made the yellow starburst top, began to weep. She passed away 2 weeks later. It's one of the most treasured items I have because it was a work of love from my great-grandmother AND my dear mother-in-law. Sharon M.
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Kim C Date: 18 Feb 02 - 03:28 PM I have two rifles that belonged to my dad - a .22 Winchester from the early 1900s that he gave me as a birthday gift years ago, and a reproduction flintlock that I got after he died (and a recurve bow, and two fishing poles). I also have a gold chain of his, the wedding ring he wore when he was married to my mother, and a watch. (I can't wear the watch.... I haven't decided yet what to do with it........) I also have his Purple Heart. He gave it to my brother a long time ago, and my brother asked if I would like to have it for awhile. He kept one of the ribbons from the set himself, but I have the medal. Also I have his copy of The Jacob Feather Family of West Virginia. Jacob Vatter (later Feather) was my g-g-g-g-grandfather who came to the US from Germany in 1775, and crossed the Delaware with George Washington. In 1980 one of his other descendants published this very large book. I have my grandmother's crochet hooks, some of which are microscopic, and her old Singer portable electric sewing machine. It's one of those that was made to look like the old Singers, with the black enamel finish. I also have a little angel figurine that I gave her just before she died. It only cost me a few dollars, and apparently she set quite a store by it, and wouldn't let anyone touch it. It sits on my mantel now. When I was a teenager my mom gave me a couple of pieces of jewelry she didn't wear anymore. I was very fond of an old Gruen watch she had... the little square ones that came with the fabric-rope-band... remember those? Anyway she had it fixed for me and gave it to me, either for Christmas or birthday, I don't remember which. I wore it for a long, long time. It was stolen in a house burglary about 9 years ago, along with the necklace and the onyx pinkie ring she gave me. They weren't worth anything, really, but I was heartbroken to lose them. I do have a couple of other pieces she has given me over the years, though. One of the coolest things I have is a quilt made by my great-grandmother, that was given to Mister and me by my grandmother as a wedding gift. It took me years to get those souvenirs.............. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Amergin Date: 18 Feb 02 - 03:22 PM ok...it hit me today on my way to work....listening to Rick Fielding sing that song..... I do have some things that I treasure...handed to me... I have personal accounts of some of my ancestors....I have one of Eli Wiggell and his life in South africa and when he emigrated to Utah.... I have several others about the emigration from Massacussetts to Utah....In one of them, the fellow talks about this young man named Joseph Smith who worked for his father.... |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Gloredhel Date: 18 Feb 02 - 03:13 PM My father worked with his father and grandfather as a carpenter when he was young, and inherited some of their tools, many of which go back futher than that in our family. He's let me keep some of them, because though my father had long moved on to a desk job by the time I was born, I have really precious memories of the additions he made to our house when I was small and how he let me help. (Help, yeah, took me five minutes to hammer one nail down.) I also have a black cashmere coat that belonged to my great-grandmother, though I find it more useful than sentimental. They don't make coats like that anymore. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: DougR Date: 18 Feb 02 - 03:06 PM Twin rocking chairs that my mother and father were given at their wedding shower in 1922. My brother and I were rocked to sleep many a night in those old oak chairs. A powder dish and vase my mother was given at her shower. My mother's cast iron skillet which I use exclusively for baking cornbread. A shirt my father wore as a member of the Riding Club in Clifton, Texas, with an embroidered horse's head on the back, and his name over the front pocket. DougR
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: VoxFox Date: 18 Feb 02 - 03:02 PM When my parents came to Canada after WWII, they couldn't bring a lot from Birmingham GB so most of what we have left is photos and other small things. Now,Mum is still living (87) and being the practical woman that she is, has already given each of us what we wanted from the house so that there will be no quibbling when she's gone. Other things have name tags stuck on the back for the grandchildren and so on. My only regret is not getting to know our grandparents or aunts from England. I was born in Canada but the others were born in Britain but were young when they came over. Now they are all gone and the sad part about that is no one even let us know when they had passed. It took a phone call to the aunts house one Christmas to discover that she had died months ago, (the last of the line). Sorry for the rant but I'd love to know if she/they had photo albums and what happened to them. Just call me dreamer... Love this thread. VF |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: CarolC Date: 18 Feb 02 - 02:31 PM LH, I think so. I don't keep family keepsakes, but I still have a used Tim Horton's bag, some Canadian money, and a few other little bits and pieces of Canada that I brought home with me from my time in Orillia. I guess that makes you guys up there family for me. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 18 Feb 02 - 11:25 AM Little Hawk: If you think Dyaln and Buffy are family, then they are, to you.
Funny thing about the word "sentimental." It sounds like it's all soft on the inside. I think that the things that we keep are far more vital than they are sentimental. They bring back memories of the values of the people who they once belonged to... values that are good to be reminded of. But, looking forward is where I am, too, Little Hawk. Wrote a song with the line, "The good old days are still to come," and I believe that.
I still have my tickets to Woodstock.. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Little Hawk Date: 18 Feb 02 - 10:48 AM I'm not so sentimental about the past anymore. What is yet to come interests me far more, so I don't really have any family keepsakes. I've still got a couple of Dylan keepsakes, and a couple of Buffy Sainte-Marie keepsakes, though. Does this mean they are family? - LH |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 18 Feb 02 - 10:04 AM The things we keep...
Screen Porch Door
It was made in 1921 of Seasoned Georgia Pine
And it saw Roosevelt and Truman, Eisenhower and JFK
Gliding on the porch swing on a lazy summer's eve
And he saw Roosevelt...
I asked my Dad if he would leave that screen porch door to me
and we saw Roosevelt.. By Jerry Rasmussen
In the days before air conditioning, the front porch was the center of family life in the summer. And, because porches were built on the front of the house (rather than decks that are always on the back of the house these days,) you could sit and watch the street and meet the neighbors out "to catch the evening breeze." We had a big screened porch that wrapped around the side of the house, with a porch swing that hung from the ceiling. There were many signs of approaching spring in our house. About the time that my tennis shoes disappeared under the bed for the summer, we'd put up the porch swing and summer would officially arrive. Never mind if it was only May. It was summer at our house.
My Father was a firm believer in "waste not, want not," and it was a rare day when something had been repaired so many times that he finally had to throw it away. The screens that were on the porch were the same ones that were on the porch when I was ushered into the world in 1935, yelling my head off in the back bedroom. Those screens are still on the porch, here in 2002. My father painted the screens black to keep them from rusting, and over the years the holes between the wires became smaller and smaller to the point where the porch took on a mysterious, shadowed existence. But, you could still see through the screens, and people still go for walks in the evening. In the 40' and 50's, people didn't have air conditioned cars to go for an evening ride. Going for a walk in the evening, you could not only catch an evening breeze, you could "shoot the breeze" with neighbors. If they weren't out sitting on their porch, they'd be sitting in lawn chairs on the front lawn. We knew all the neighborhood news, almost before it happened. The threshold from the screen porch to the front lawn was our screen porch door. My Father put an industrial-strength spring on the door, so if you didn't hold it as you went out, it made a magnificent, banging announcement when it closed. No need for a doorbell. When we ran out the door as kids (I don't ever remember walking out the door) the door would give a loud Slam! and my Father would yell out even louder, "I TOLD you kids not to let that door slam!" And then he'd get in to a real good mutter. We never learned, of course, and as grandchlidren and great grandchilden took over for us, my Father had new generations to beller at. He didn't really swear out loud, although only he and the Lord knew what he was muttering under his breath.
I remember all of this when I look at the old, chipped "knob of crystal glass that I salvaged when my nephew finally retired the door when he bought the house in the mid 90's. That door saw everything. And I remember it all
Thanks for inventing the front porch, Kendall... Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: GUEST,Celtic Soul, sans cookies Date: 18 Feb 02 - 09:29 AM I have my Mothers china and photos of her and of my best friend who passed away in the early 90's. But I'll tell you what means more than the things I have from either of them. I have some tremendous memories, and I take them out occasionally and share them with others. I don't collect much of anything except memories. Things just don't do people or events justice, from my POV. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: kendall Date: 18 Feb 02 - 09:08 AM One of my cousins got an AUTHORS game for Christmas when we were pre teens. I went to his house shortly after Christmas, and he was showing me what he got. Naturally, he started asking questions on authors; questions such as who wore silver buckles on his knee? I answered, Bobby Shaftoe. Well, he was unable to stump me, and he asked his mother, a school teacher, "How does he know this stuff"? I finally admitted that I had also gotten that game. It was fun, if you could find someone who was interested in playing it. That was my problem; couldn't find anyone who was interested in dead writers. |
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Subject: RE: Family Keepsakes: What have YOU kept? From: sian, west wales Date: 18 Feb 02 - 09:02 AM My mum had an aunt, Cordey (Cordelia Jane) who died about 3 weeks before I was born. She left me one and a half things. The one is a very nice Victorian cedar chest (or "hope chest" as they're called in my family). I keep all my best linens in it and part of the Thanksgiving atmosphere is opening that chest to retrieve the white table cloth and having that cedar scent billow out at you. The 'half' was her name. The Family had pretty well decided that I was to be named after her (if I turned out to be a girl). She heard about this and put her foot down; said that Jane was OK but she would NOT be responsible for saddling another generation with Cordelia. Which is a pitty, because I like Cordelia better than Jane (so don't mind the Welsh using 'Sian'). I also have a big meat platter from her household which made its way to me eventually. Garlands of gold and rust flowers, and big enough to hold a 10 pound turkey - so this too is regularly aired at Thanksgiving. Both Mum's and Dad's own parents were too dirt-poor to have much to leave, as well as 8 children each side, and growing up in Canada I didn't have much contact with Dad's family in Wales, but Mum's family were just *fun* to be with, and that's meant a lot. Grampa died when I was real young ... but he sang a lot, mostly things which got censored by the family females before he got more than a couple of lines out. Party poopers! Interesting to learn that Rick's Dad was THE Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy ... Thanks for the memories, Jerry! sian |
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