Things from the Past

This week, we went through a number of things belonging to my mother.  As some of you may know, she passed away at the end of 2010.  My father is making some changes in his life, and part of that is clearing out a lot of things.

Some of the interesting things found:

My very first piece of jewelry ever - this bakelite pin.  Once upon a time it was much more colorful, but time and age and, well, me wore it off.  I got it when I was so young, it took up a place in my mother's jewelry box and stayed there until this week.

Some fairly rare dolls - the tiny one is a china doll, as is the one on the far right. The middle doll is early plastic.  Alas, as I was wrapping the dolls up, the elastic on the far right one gave up, causing the arms to fall off.  At least it is easily repairable.  Not sure what to do for the plastic dollie - the connector is clearly broken off inside the doll.  For now, we shall leave it armless.

A lot of ribbons and embroidery thread and fabric.  My sister took the fabric this time, I took the ribbon. I love this dotted swiss from the 1940s-1950s.

A tin play teacup.  When I was little, we used to play with these at my grandparent's house; this is part of a set that originally belonged to my mother in the late 1940s.

An assortment of medallions and pins that belonged to my great aunt, my grandmother and my mother.  The Greek key is my great aunt's from her sorority, the 4H pin was my mother's.

Two rather unique pieces - the top is a seal that belonged to my great aunt. what makes it unique is the chain which is made out of woven grass.  The bottom necklace is made of seeds - the last whole one of a larger collection when I was younger.  Large beans, some red seed, and apple seeds.  Both of these are over 60 years old!

More dolls!  Some have felted or paper heads, the one missing a foot has the other foot made out of lead.  Those with hair have human hair on their heads.

A pincushion from my great grandmother, made of felt.  Likely from the 1920s or 30s.

A turn of the century costume jewelry ring.  The glass s a bit worse for wear, chipped and a few scratches, but still interesting.

These used to be bracelets of coins - the clasps taken off long ago.  Both my sister and I had a gypsy costume; these coins were pinned to a headscarf and draped over our foreheads. The other was attached at our waists.  We're not sure if they are real coins or not; daughter has claimed them and is looking them up.  My sister has taken the other.

Two enameled pins - not sure of their age.  All I know of them is that I've always thought they looked like doll house serving platters.

Two handmade sequin and felt pins, probably from the 1930s.  Likely made by my grandmother or great grandmother.

This box alone is interesting. I really like the old plastics; effort was made to make them look nice.

This necklace is singularly unattractive and very heavy, but was kept because of what was inside:

Now to find out who this was - and when.

The worry dolls! When I was little, I LOVED the worry dolls. Even though I was not supposed to, I often snuck in my parent's room and played with them.  Over the years, several were broken and/or lost, leaving only these few.  I know my mother had then for a very long time - the quality of the box and the detail on the dolls shows it.  Modern worry dolls are much different, and a cheaper box.

Other things were found - photos, including my great grandmother on my grandma's side, my uncle as a baby, standard family photos with droll commentary written by my uncle on the back, all the way through school photos of my sister and I in the 70s - ack.  A collection of letters from my uncle to my mother when she was a little girl and he was in the military.  But we'll save all of that for another day.  No need to blind anyone.