Yup, lots of stuff. Mostly my mother’s belongings or purchases, because, oh lord, the woman loved to shop. I like using and having stuff that has my mother associated with it. It helps with the memories and the sadness that is still around. There’s some poignancy to it, though. Especially with stuff of my mum’s, or that my mum bought and never used. I’m so glad to have it around.
Some people might think it’s creepy, but I don’t. It’s stuff. Stuff that can be used. And it’s stuff that reminds me of people that are gone.
We’re the Ultimate Packrat Family, so we have lots of stuff. Our kitchen table originally belonged to my great-grandmother, that probably goes the farthest back. Oh dear, we had an alarming moment at a family party recently – I thought some china had come from my paternal grandmother, and someone asked if it was a family heirloom and I said “Yes, I got it when my grandmother died.” and my maternal grandmother piped up from the couch “I’M STILL ALIVE!” Eek, I guess I mixed up whose china was whose.
I have loads of books from my grandmother’s collections that I reread from time to time. I also have her old math book, which is neat. In my LR, I have the tea cart from gramma and grampa’s, plus the “bouncy” rocking chair circa 1959 which needs to be reupholstered but is the comfiest chair in the room. Also, her drop-leaf secretary, which was a gift from grampa to gramma on their 25th anniversary. I use that every day.
My nighttable was my mother’s nighttable, and my phone stand was hers. I also have her expandable table as my kitchen table. What used to be the puzzle cabinet from the front play room, which was given to Mom by her cousin, I have as a stereo stand, and store CDs in it. Also the rugs in the LR and my BR were from her house.
The question should be, have I actually PAID for any furniture in my house? The and the answer would be: not much.
My grandfather’s pocket-knife is in my pocket as I type this, and has been every single day since a few weeks before his death in August of 2004.
I keep my great-great grandfather’s (b. 1887, d. 1991) wristwatch in the center console of my car and, though it doesn’t run, I still wear it on occasion.
I use the bench from my great-grandmother’s sewing machine for my (computer) mouse It’s the perfect height, and I don’t need to have the mouse on my desk, which makes me happy.
We have wine glasses that we use for holidays that belonged to my mother’s great-grandmother. They’re somewhere between 80-100 years old.
I have to say I only have three things that really qualify as heirlooms. One is my bedstead, an antique that I don’t know if anyone in my family had to do with making. However, the other two are a _mcl-tartan shirt and a wall hanging that were both hand-woven by my late grandmother, so they’re quite precious.
Thanks for all of your nice responses. It’s uplifting to know that the family continues to exist, even though all of its members are not present.
Our telephone with the built-in microcassette message recorder was my mom’s, too. And I brush my hair every day with her hair brush (washed lots of times!), although the tines are falling out. It was hers and I can’t bring myself to throw it out.
My wife and I play Scrabble on my grandma’s early-'60s edition of the game.
Something of my mom’s that is stashed away in a box is her mechanical calculator. It has a series of dials, not unilke phone dials, coupled by gears. You insert a wooden peg into the holes and turn a dial to your chosen number, and do the same with a few other dials, and the answer to your question appears on the whole set of dials as if by magic. I haven’t seen another one of these anywhere. I even have the box, and the peg.
Cisco, maybe you ought to take your great-grandfather’s watch out of your car? If it ever gets stolen, that’s two important things you may never see again. You can always get another car. You can’t get another great-grandpa’s watch!
Grandma’s Complete Works of Wm. Shakespeare, even though the spine binding is falling off. It’s one of the few things I have that was hers–she gave it to me when I was in college–and it’s the book l use when I have to look up a quotation.
Speaking of watches, I have dad’s watches. I used to wear his 1974 Seiko Bell-Matic regularly. I got two duplicates, so when I want to wear a Bell-Matic I wear one of those instead. Dad’s lives in its box now. But by wearing a duplicate, I can ‘wear dad’s watch’ without worrying about damaging it. (I had all three overhauled by Seiko, BTW.)
I’ve worn dad’s Vulcain ‘Cricket’ a few times. (Sorry about the fuzzy photo.) I had this one overhauled too. There’s a funny story about this watch. We were living in Japan, and dad was working on a ceiling light fixture. The hallmark of the Cricket was its very audible buzzing alarm, made posible by a sort of ‘resonating shell’ on the back. I think you can see where this is going. Just as he connected the wires in the fixture the alarm went off. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! It startled him and he fell off the step-stool. Incidentally, Richard Nixon was known to wear a Vulcain watch.
My mom bought my dad this gold-tone Zodiac watch when my sister was born in 1953. Again, this watch was treated to an overhaul. I’ve worn it a few times. The Zodiac Killer got his ‘mark’ from the Zodiac logo.
I was too young to remember the Vulcain incident, and I wasn’t even alive when he was wearing the Zodiac. The Seiko is the one I associate whith dad. I normally wear my GMT Master II, or else a Submariner; but I still wear a duplicate of dad’s Seiko from time to time.
My grandmother passed away in the very beginning of this past June and our house is now filled with her furniture. In fact, right now, I’m sitting on her bed. It’s a gorgeous four poster cherry wood frame and it would be a shame to sell it or put it in storage. Our dining room has been transformed by all of her dining room furniture, which is very comforting at family dinners. We always went to her house for Thanksgiving while growing up and I have fond memories of setting out the good china and of her polishing the silver. This past Thanksgiving we used all of her things for the place settings and it brought back such lovely memories.
We have a lot of random stuff of hers as well that get used. My sister, Rachael, has her robe (including some old tissues that she found in the pocket and refuses to throw away) and her ice tea glasses. I have the magnets that she kept on her refridgerator (shaped like two pieces of toast, a strawberry, and a banana that were always arranged like a smiley face) and this weird little sheepdog statuette. Another sister, Jenny, has her mixer and coffee maker. I passed a scarf that I made her the Christmas before she passed away on to my mother. I couldn’t bring myself to wear it, but it seemed like a shame to throw away. It was really soft and made with baby llama wool.
So, yeah, we’re another family that uses the stuff that was inherited. I know there are a few things, like her diamond rings, that are locked up for the time being, but those will eventually be brought out and worn as well once we get them insured.
I have lots of kitchen utensils that were my paternal great-grandmother’s. My mother kept my great-grandmother’s tea pots after my great-grandmother died, so sometimes when I’m home, mom will break one of those out to make a pot of tea instead of just making tea in individual mugs.
My brother got a really cool picture that had been grandma’s, but his wife apparently doesn’t like it, so he passed it to me. If I ever get around to hanging stuff on my walls, that’s one piece that will go somewhere high-traffic, so I can see it often.
My maternal grandparents have taken to shedding a lot of their worldy goods while they’re still alive and kicking. On their guest room bed, they keep an odd collection of things they want to give away, and at the end of any visit to their house, we are invited to take a walk through the guest room and take whatever we want. On my desk right now is a small basket that I use for odds and ends of stuff. The basket was acquired on one of my recent visits to the grandparents.
I just inherited a 50-year-old food cutter from my late grandfather, who died last summer. It’s Norwegian in origin (hence I can date it, because I know when my grandparents lived there). It’s got a wooden platform with a clamp to fix it to a work surface, and a rotating serrated blade with a handle on the right. I have used it to cut bread pretty much every single day since I got it at Christmas. It’s still amazingly sharp, as the cuts all over my little finger from over-exuberant cleaning demonstrate.
You know, it’s funny that you mention that, because I never even thought about is until I typed it out in this thread. My car has been broken into and/or vandalized 4 times in the past year and a half, so it’s a capital idea that I get that watch out of there (lest I have a Butch moment when I can’t find it :)).
And he was my great-great grandpa, my dad always stressed that (unnecessarily) on the few occasions we got to go visit him.
I have a bunch of my grandmother’s things.
I have her old pressure cooker. The cookbook that came with it is dated 1950, so it’s 56 years old. It still works just fine. My husband always offers to get me a new one, but this one works and it’s an heirloom.
I have some luncheon dishes - smallish plates (smaller than a regular dinner plate) with salad bowls and cups and saucers. They’re clear glass with a pretty scalloped edge. My mother says it’s what she used when she had the ladies over for Bridge.
I also have a neat dessert set. It’s cups for serving ice cream fixings. There are two cups like creamers with spouts. One says ‘Chocolate’ and the other says ‘Caramel.’ There are two other cups with lids; one says ‘Nuts’ and has a peanut knob for a lid and the other says ‘Berries’ and has a strawberry knob for a lid. I’ve used them a few times, but they’re really delicate.
Just in the past 48 hours I have used my late paternal grandfather’s Braun electric shaver, my late cousin’s Ray-Ban Wayfarer II sunglasses, and my late maternal grandfather’s Sheaffer Lifetime (and then some - he died in 1955 before I was born) fountain pen, presented to him on the occasion of his election to the Bridgeport, CT, board of aldermen in 1933. Each is the only possession I have from that man.
Almost all of my kitchen and bath stuff is inherited, use it all the time. Refigerator and washing machine, but I bought a new stove. I also have a lot of decorative antique nick nacks.
It’s the perfect height, and I don’t need to have the mouse on my desk, which makes me happy.
Incidentally, Richard Nixon was known to wear a Vulcain watch.
