What do you cherish that's old?

[wannabee]

This always brings a great big smile to my face.

[maianhvk]

I'm too young to post in this thread, many of the objects here have been with you for longer than I'm alive But I enjoy all the stories

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

I'm too young to post in this thread, many of the objects here have been with you for longer than I'm alive But I enjoy all the stories

Then take from the thread the idea of keeping that cherished toy, souvenir, letter, etc. no matter where you go or how many times you move. The memories are worth it. I just discovered a crayon drawing my son made when he was about 3 or 4. It was tucked away under a bunch of old pictures, and I hadn't seen it in the last 33 years...


Stitchawl

[BelleZora]

I've de-cluttered and simplified my life several times, passing on family objects to my children, so that I have little left. Since I can't count two civil war era objects for the purposes of this thread, a letter from Katharine Hepburn is the only treasured item left.

In the early 1980's she came to Seattle to perform in the play "West Side Waltz" four evenings a week for several weeks. It was her custom to have a New York steak for dinner before every performance which either her chauffeur or companion Phyllis picked up from our family meat market at the Pike Place Market.

In the last week of the play her chauffeur conveyed an invitation from Ms. Hepburn to my husband and me to attend the play and to meet her afterward.

It was exciting to be swept from the crowded alley after the play back into the theater and into Ms. Hepburn's dressing room. She shook our hands warmly and as though we were doing her the honor, and said that she wanted to meet the people who took such good care of her.

My husband, who'd had a lifelong crush, afterward wrote a note thanking her for her invitation. Perhaps two months later we received a handwritten note under the letterhead Katharine Houghton Hepburn: "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Loback, thank you for your kind letter. It made me happy."

The letter is a reminder of a happy encounter with a gracious lady.

[QuantumIguana]

I have an antique set of brass aperitif glasses inlayed with mother of pearl, along with the matching brass tray. I have a French 2 Sol coin from the 1790's. It's not valuable, I just wanted something that old. And my house was built in 1900. I only wish the woodwork hadn't been painted over. Stripping the paint isn't a realistic option, and if I put in new woodwork, it probably wouldn't have the look of old woodwork that I like. Our house didn't have a built-in buffet like a lot of houses of that era did, but we did find one that had been pulled out of a house built in 1888. Unfortunately, the buffet was painted black by someone who thought that black would look better. Savages... There are some parts of it that weren't painted, and you can see how nice the wood looks. It's a nice deep red-toned wood. Unlike the woodwork, that could reasonably be stripped, if I only could get around to it.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

........There are some parts of it that weren't painted, and you can see how nice the wood looks. It's a nice deep red-toned wood. Unlike the woodwork, that could reasonably be stripped, if I only could get around to it.

Here's your round tuit. No doit!


Stitchawl

[exscentric]

I'd say me wife but she'd not like bein called old nor woud she preciate me tellin ya I picked er up though being called cherished might make up fer it.

[phenomshel]

What's left of a baby blanket. It was my "security" blanket til I outgrew such, but I still have it. It lives in my nightstand drawer.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

What's left of a baby blanket. It was my "security" blanket til I outgrew such, but I still have it. It lives in my nightstand drawer.

I carried mine around for years too! It was an old, scratchy green wool Army blanket my father brought back from WW II - and used it as a crib blanket for me. It finally dwindled down to a 4 x 4 inch square .... and then drifted away into the ether of lost keepsakes.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I carried mine around for years too! It was an old, scratchy green wool Army blanket my father brought back from WW II - and used it as a crib blanket for me. It finally dwindled down to a 4 x 4 inch square .... and then drifted away into the ether of lost keepsakes.

I have no idea what this originally looked like, except that it used to have satin trim. The scrap I have left is probably 5 inches wide and about a foot long. It's frayed and holey, and resembles nothing so much as a used up cleaning rag....but it's precious to me.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I carried mine around for years too! It was an old, scratchy green wool Army blanket my father brought back from WW II - and used it as a crib blanket for me. It finally dwindled down to a 4 x 4 inch square .... and then drifted away into the ether of lost keepsakes.

Originally Posted by phenomshel

I have no idea what this originally looked like, except that it used to have satin trim. The scrap I have left is probably 5 inches wide and about a foot long. It's frayed and holey, and resembles nothing so much as a used up cleaning rag....but it's precious to me.

Didja ever wonder where the rest of the material went? Or how effective the human digestive system really is?


Stitchawl

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

What do I cherish that is old?

Not necessarily an antique... ...

Stitchawl

My nose.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by wodin

I have a walking stick (shillelagh) that I carved from a live oak branch in central South Carolina about thirty years ago. The handle is part af a large branch, about two inches in diameter and four inches long; the staff is a smaller branch coming off that. The staff part is about the diameter of my thumb and is rather crooked, so the whole thing has some spring to it.

I fire hardened it and finished it with many rubbings of tung oil so it is rather a dark brown with a satin sheen.

I cut my hand rather badly while carving it, so it literally has my blood sweat and tears in it.

[JohnTRN]

My 1947 Plymouth P15 Convertible. Dad found a '48 just like this in '59. Got this '47 from a friend of his in '74. Now sits in my garage.



John

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by JohnTRN

My 1947 Plymouth P15 Convertible. Dad found a '48 just like this in '59. Got this '47 from a friend of his in '74. Now sits in my garage.

Spoiler:

John

Didn't that particular model come out with PINK fluffy dice?