Mom's treasures

I come from a family that is... nostalgic. There are all kinds of things that, since I am the end of the line family-wise, I ended up with, a little dish that was great-great grandma's, great-grandma's necklace that she gave me when I was around eight years old, great-great grandma's desk, The Cody Dresser, scrap books from the past. Are my kids interested? Hmm. I know Liv is nostalgic, but I don't know that the boys are. I'm hoping that maybe if I write a little history about things that maybe someone will want them, but... I'm sure I'll give this little kit to someone, who may treasure it, or may sell it on ebay! 

I was just cleaning out my desk this morning. It is not a fancy thing, it was made during the civil war. Back in those days, men would make "starting furniture" for their brides. My grandfather's grandmother's first husband made this desk, and it had a bookcase that sat on the top that went who knows where. He was called into the war just two weeks after they were married, and he was killed in his first battle. I saw this desk in my grandpa's basement when I was 16 and commented to my grandpa how much I loved it. He said, that old thing?? You want it? I said yes, but I didn't know how much trouble the thing would be. My father took it all apart and packaged it up and mailed it to California (from Minnesota). Then he put it all back together, new hinges and such. Its value is sentimental I think since the furniture collectors want Original stuff. But I love it, and the thought of it being used by generations of my family.

I didn't know about this little treasure until not long before my mom died. She said it was her grandmother's, but I am sad to say I don't know what grandmother. My mom lovingly handed me this, and that was about that. I am sad that I didn't ask more questions, but by that time she couldn't answer many anyway. 

I did a little internet digging, and really could not find anything about such kits, except a similarly shaped set of spools from a different company. However, on the spools it says "darning silk" and a light bulb went on. This was probably a little kit someone made for darning stockings. Not many of us even WEAR stockings these days, but then, they wore them a lot. I remember my mom talking about how during the war, they couldn't get stockings, so they wore leg makeup! 

I don't even mend socks any more, I get new ones. But it hasn't always been that way. I can't imagine how they mended runs in stockings, but they did. And this is such a darling little kit. I ought to turn my "china cabinet" into a display cabinet for this stuff, along with a round wooden bowl with a lid that mom got from her cousins who lived in Japan, that little glass dish from my great-great grandma, some wooden boxes that my mom treasured. I know that some folks would just list it on ebay and let it go, but I'm not there yet. I AM trying to downsize, HA.

So it's just a reminder from days gone by, that they got by on much less, and treasured and took care of what they had. I come from a frugal bunch, and I'm sure someday my kids will have to go through all this stuff. I have my grandpa Mills' trunk from 1905 and two of Grandpa Linton's trunks. One is full of my parents' treasures, the other with all their Christmas decorations. 

And since we can't go anywhere, might as well take a trip down memory lane, and get a glimpse into my parents' lives, and their parents, and their parents.