Story Here

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These don't reach 'heirloom' status at all. I don't think I have anything that really does. But these are some things that I like that were passed to me or I am passing on.

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A little Mexican pot from a nutty spinster aunt who meant well but was hard to be around.

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My dad's old ashtray. Ironic, I suppose, since smoking killed him. This was around the house when I was a kid, and I was fascinated by the words. This was one of the things I specifically asked for when he died.

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A little silver(?) star bracelet I bought at a yard sale for a quarter when my daughter was 6 months old, thinking how I'd give it to her someday. I gave it to her last year when she turned 4.

It's a terrible camera phone photo and does the heirloom no justice, but this is a ruby ring in a white gold setting that my grandfather received as a gift for his bar mitzvah. I've been wearing it since I was 16, much to my grandmother's chagrin, since I am a girl.
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This oil lamp belonged to my great-grandmother down in Florida, who gave it to my grandmother when she moved out on her own. My grandmother had it wired for electricity in the late 1940s, and I originally remember seeing it in her home when I was a kid. She eventually gave it to my mom when I was a teenager, and then after I'd moved out and gotten my own home, my mom gave it to me. I plan to give it to my niece at some point.

The Finger:

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Whenever anyone in the family accomplished anything momentous, a college graduation or 20-year wedding anniversary or 50th birthday or birth of a child, you could be sure it'd show up, usually painted to suit the occasion and elaborately packaged. I wish I had a better picture--the occasion here was my daughter's birth. We buried The Finger with my dad, who invented the tradition.

This lamp was made by my maternal grandfather; its bowl is in storage. Chupahija wouldn't let me take the shade I'd been using for it; I have no idea why.

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My great (great?) grandfather's watch, complete with picture of him and lock of his hair. Someone along the line had it turned into a locket and necklace - perhaps his widow; he died relatively young.

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The sampler done by the first Felicity in my family, which has always hung in my bedroom (I'm her namesake) and alternately impressed & depressed me as a child. It's really ugly but at the same time it's really cool and I would go insane even attempting anything like it. Sometimes when I was a kid I thought of it as a subtle insult, like, look what SHE did, oh useless 20th century child.

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Some ancestor or another. I love this painting - it's from the early 19th century, almost certainly done by a traveling artist who already had the suitably rustic background (hello, there are no hills in the part of South Carolina where my family lived) and the attractive neo classical clothing painted in and just added the face. There's a companion painting, a little girl, but my aunt has that.

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I have a good amount of heirlooms because all of my grandparents and parents have passed but I'm too paranoid to post lots of stuff like that to the internet :) Instead, I'll point out the heirlooms I am using as my office.

There are notes on the picture at flickr, but the long and short of it is that the old desk I am using as my current chair was used both by my grandfather and father in the schoolhouse it came from. My mom bought it when they moved the school.

The steam trunk is my mom's. She used it in her travels for a while, and now it's my end table.

The little brown box peeking out just above the desk part of the old desk is the box of sewing equipment that came with my great-great-grandmother's Singer sewing machine (the kind in the wood table). The sewing machine / table is an end table in my living room, and as far as I know, still works. I still have all the little parts and the wood box they came in.

The mirror was found when we were cleaning out my grandmother's house. It's warbly silver, and the frame is painted gold and black. My SO hates mirrors so I can't hang any of the myrid of old ones I have up, but I love this one so much I wanted it near me.

Way up on my new desk is my grandfather's SX-70 Polaroid camera, which I love and use. I only have one flash bar left for it, so I've been conserving that like mad and only take pictures in the daylight.

O, and just for the record, my window does not look that dirty in "real life" but seeing it on here is inspiring me to remove the screen and clean it, bleah!

This is my family pedigree on my mothers' mothers' side.

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To even have possession of this book boggles my mind. When my grandmother passed, it was lost when the family was going through some of her things. We all sort of suspected one of my aunts. But after my grandfather passed, and their remains were scattered in Canada, my grandmother's sister offered it to another aunt. Apparantely, to save it from the suspect aunt, it was sent to the Canadian relative. And knowing how much I loved this book, my aunt gave it to me!!

This picture hung in my grandparents guest house (actually the small original house on the property) for as long as I could remember. When it came time to demolish the little, old house (the foundation was giving way and it was no longer safe), I asked for this. It's dated 1944. I think the frame is original, too.

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My mom was given this pendant when she turned 18. Years later, when I turned 38, she gave it to me. That's a ruby in the center. I love this!

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O redvixen, how incredibly cool. The pedigree is definitely priceless, and your mom's pendant is something you will always be able to wear and think of her. Who gave it to her, do you know?

I love 1940s stuff - my neighbors in Oregon when I was growing up had pictures like that all over their house and as a child, I thought it was so elegant!

This dresser belonged to my maternal great-grandmother (the mirror belonged to my step-grandfather's grandmother, not sure how I ended up with it or how old it is):
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The nightstands belonged to my mother, I think she and the sperm donor bought them used in the '60s:
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I have more bits and bobs around that I'm too lazy to photograph. And I have stuff at mum's (same ggmom's hope chest full of family linens - quilt, quilt top, blouse my gmom wore as kid, doilies, tablecloths, etc.).

Those end tables are awesome deborah. I might have to make myself a couple copies.

I love this kind of thing--beautiful objects, wonderful stories. Here are a couple of mine:

My great-great grandfather was a bookbinder (or, as he joked, a bookmaker). His speciality was applying gold leaf. He gave this copy of the complete works of Shakespeare (which he did the gold leaf on) to my grandmother when she was in school. A few years ago she gave it to me, because I love to read more than anyone else in the family (her words)

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There are several beautiful colour plates in this book.

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One of the few pieces of jewellery that survived a burglary at my gran's several years ago. My grandad's ring:

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My grandmother was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star; I have a teacup they gave her that I love. It's a bone china cup & saucer with pretty flowers and their logo on it. It amuses me. Unfortunately it's packed away, so I can't show you a photo of it.

Sil, I think my grandmother gave the pendant to my mother. I'm not sure, and I'd like to have it appraised just to see how old it is. I also have a three strand choker of pearls that my grandmother gave me. She thought they were real, but it turns out they're fake. They belonged to an aunt of my grandmother, so even fake they have value. They must be from the '20's.

Beautiful ring, elizard!

I'm not big on heirlooms.

Mitheral - if you need/want better photos and measurements just drop me an email.

I inherited my grandfathers toolbox (which was his fathers before him.) Among the gems in there is this shiny blowtorch.
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