What to do with "heirlooms"?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My grandparents on both sides of the family are long gone. After each grandmother died, I was given items that had been theirs. Unfortunately, these “heirlooms” are meaningless to me.

From my paternal grandmother, I’ve got a pair of glass candlesticks. There’s nothing unique or beautiful about them - they look like something that might have come from Woolworths in an earlier era. And I honestly don’t remember ever seeing them in my grandparents’ house. I’ve carried them with me for over 40 years and for some stupid reason, I can’t bring myself to toss them into recycling.

On the other hand, before she died, that grandmother gave me her Singer treadle sewing machine. I actually used it to sew myself a dress, just to see if I could do it. It’s sitting in front of our bow window today, the drawers full of thread and notions for when I do sew (on an electronic machine.) I remember playing with this machine as a kid, so it means a lot to me.

When my maternal grandmother died, my mother gave me a diamond ring and a “collectible” vase that had belonged to her mother. After much agonizing, I gave the ring back to my mom because she really likes diamonds and I don’t wear jewelry other than my wedding band. Plus I’d never seen that ring on my grandmother’s finger, so it meant nothing to me.

The vase is one of a set of four that was divided among my siblings. I’m pretty sure it’s one of those Franklin Mint “investments” that my grandparents were so fond of. Again, I don’t recall seeing any of the vases in her house - I assume they acquired them after I’d left home. I suppose the set of 4 might have some value to a collector, but my lone vase is just a dust collector. I offered it to my daughter, but she doesn’t want it. Maybe I’ll see if one of my sisters is interested…

The one item from my maternal grandparents that I have and love is a print that hung over the mantel in their living room when I was a child. It’s not a great work of art, not a print of a masterpiece or anything, just a picture of a boat at anchor at sunset. The frame is slightly damaged, but it means a lot to me. I expect when I die, my daughter will toss it, but in the meantime, it’s special.

Make me feel less like an ungrateful brat - tell me about things you’ve inherited that you can’t or won’t toss because of guilt.

2

My mother was sick a couple of years before she died, so she had a period of decline. For a while she would paint those plaster items you find at craft stores. She found one that had a vase with flowers, and painted it for me. It’s big, and heavy, and nothing that I would get for myself. She has been dead for 40 years, but I still have that plaster vase and flowers in a box in the attic.

My great-aunt gave me a box of linens about 25 years ago that belonged to her mother, my great-grandmother. I don’t really remember my great-grandmother, and the linens are not in the greatest condition, but I still have them.

My daughter, who never knew my mother and barely knew my great-aunt, will wonder what in the world I’m doing with these things when it’s time for her to clear out my stuff.

And photos! I do genealogy, and have collected family photos for years. No one else in my family is that interested, and I don’t know what will happen to the photos of my father’s cousin Otis who lived in Oklahoma in the 20s, or my my father’s cousin’s First Communion pictures taken around the same time.

3

My grandmother gave me all of her cobalt blue glass, which I’d mentioned looked pretty in the sun (she had them in a sunny kitchen window). I got rid of most of it because knick-nacks get knocked over by the cat.

I still have a lot of her glassware, though. It’s pretty and makes me happy.

4

Family photos for genealogy, as mentioned. I got rid of the old china plates that my mother left me: gave them to my own kids to tote around for the next 50 years. I still have the silver serving pieces that I remember from every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner ever held in our home, and I use them for the same purpose. Otherwise, nothing.

5

If it has no meaning for you and you don’t use it and nobody else in your family wants it, take a good photo of it and then get rid of it.

6

I’ve been purging photos in recent days. I scanned the ones I wanted, tossed a lot that were bad quality or unidentifiable, and gave a pile to my daughter to do with as she wished. I still have a carton full of albums and most will probably end up in the trash - no one has looked at any of them in over 10 years.

For that matter, we’ve got vacation photos from the last 5 years or so, all electronic, all backed up, none looked at since I uploaded them. I kinda wonder why we bother taking pictures during our travels.

7

My mother had a bunch of Hummel figurines. I hated those kitschy things all my life, although I guess they are worth something. My mother and one of my aunts were all about things like the “teardrop eyes” kids, Keane paintings, ick.

So when my mother died my aunt asked me if I wanted the Hummels and my quick reaction was “God, no!” which I then modulated into “Of course she would have wanted you to have them.” (Let them be my cousins’ problems.)

8

Before discarding old photos, check with your local historical society if you can. They often want old photographs, especially pre-1960s stuff and especially if you can identify the who, where and approximately when of a photo.

9

FairyChatMom, you might consider calling around to some of the senior homes in your area. Some of them have small thrift stores for their residents, with the profits going back to them in one way or another. A friend of ours worked at a senior community with several levels of care for quite a few years. When Pops passed, we had her take the artwork we didn’t want and a lot of his clothes to sell at their thrift shop.

On one hand, it’s still a thrift store but on the other hand, it doesn’t seem as impersonal as the larger, more commercial ones. To someone at a senior home, that Franklin Mint vase might bring back happy memories associated with a similar one they used to have.

10

I think everyone has that relative who was into collecting things and now nobody wants them.

11

I’m sentimental and a collector of “stuff” so usually I’m into heirlooms, but recently I came into possession of a pair of gloves from my great grandparents. When I say gloves, I mean…giant leather oven mitts covered with some sort of unidentifiable fur…or maybe horse hair? I don’t know. I have no idea what to do with the things. I suppose I’ll box them up and store them until my kid throws them out.

My grandparents gave them to me with a box of photos and other family history items that were right up my alley, but they seemed to think I’d be most excited about the gloves. I was like, “Wow, these are very cool…uh…don’t you want to keep them??”

12

This has helped me get rid of a lot of things. I even started a blog about it. Some things get little write-ups, telling their history. Other things have no picture, but only get listings like: “three boxes of old LPs taken to the thrift store - three of the albums were bagpipe music, one was old music box tunes, and one was music from identified carosels.”

13

My great-grandmother crocheted out of cotton thread (very tiny thread, tiny crochet hook) queen sized bed covers similar to this. One for my father and one for his brother, presumably for them to use on their beds when they grew up and got married. My uncle died before using his and my parents never used their to my knowledge. Somehow I have both of them. I don’t use them because I have cats who would basically ruin them. Plus, they really aren’t my style. But how can I get rid of something my great-grandmother so lovingly created for her grandchildren?

14

Maternal grandmother had a cabinet full of those things. Fortunately, one of my sisters *loved *them and we were all glad to let her take them. I’ve got a figurine of a girl reading a book with a dog at her feet. It was a gift from my husband’s aunt. Not only is it not something I’d have ever bought, it’s got a rough, unglazed finish, making it a pain in the ass to keep dust-free. I really like his aunt so I can’t bring myself to toss it. Maybe my daughter would like it??

15

Some Hummels are worth quite a lot. Be sure to check eBay before tossing or giving them away.

I think I might be the worst of all!

My grandmother died last Christmas and my Mom and I cleared out her things. She had this horrible, gigantic, green and clear glass vase with a big red “jewel” glued to the front, and edged in bright “gold”. My grandmother LOVED that thing and grew gladiolas and calla lillies just to have something to put in it.

When we found it, my Mom and I couldn’t get it into the giveaway pile fast enough. When I took the load to Goodwill that had the vase, they were really flinging things around while unloading. When we got to the box with the vase, on impulse I grabbed it. I hate the thing, but I also hated the thought of my grandmother’s cherished possession getting broken because people at Goodwill are so careless.

It’s displayed in my garage in all its tacky glory. My Mom rolls her eyes. I guess I’ll have to start growing glads and calla lilies.

16

My mother, when I bought my first house, gave me a framed piece of lace that was apparently a family heirloom.

It’s doing a bang up job insulting a movie posting and the Christmas lights from the each other in the basement.

17

That must be one very talkative piece of lace. :wink:

18

I told my Mom about posting our vase story and she asked what things other people have hanging around. She suggested that your mitts might be from when people rode around in sleighs and had to bundle up. I was thinking dog-sled gloves myself…

Some of the textiles that people have might sell on Etsy, or maybe even eBay? I hate to think of monetizing heirlooms, but I look at it as getting things into the hands of people who will appreciate them more than me.

19

That could be. I have a photo of my Great great Grandma on skis and she’s using them to cover up the top of the ski poles…which is one reason I haven’t just tossed them or tried to sell them. I actually have a photo of her with them. :slight_smile:

20

:smack:

insulating
runs off and hides in his cave of shame