More Shakers

These colorful salt and pepper shakers, stamped on the bottom "Handmade in Japan", belonged to my Mom and Dad. They sat on Mom's little curio shelves when I was very young and I found them in those beautiful built in cabinets in their formal living room when we were sorting through things after they were gone. In the 30's and 40's, whenever anyone took a trip, souvenirs were always brought back to family members left behind and souvenir shops back then usually had large selections of hand painted items from Japan. None of us kids knew for sure how Mom came about having these, so I think that could be their story. G'ma and G'pa Hanle made many different driving trips and when they would stop at our farm on the way home from their destinations, there was always a souvenir gift given. Neither my sis and brother wanted them, so another family memento has a home in my china cabinet !

Gift for Mom

In the early 50's when my sis and I started exchanging gifts and pooling our money to buy something for our parents, this little salt and pepper shaker set was a gift we purchased for our Mother. One of Mom's friends that we used to exchange those "Sunday dinners" with had the entire set of dishes in this design. Shirley and I thought it was just beautiful and we wanted to get Mom started on a set just like it !! Unfortunately, (or maybe it was fortunate,) this was the only piece ever purchased. Every special dinner, without fail, the shakers were filled with salt and pepper and used as part of the table setting. We knew Mom loved them and the bit of elegance they lent to her table !! Of course, they have a special spot in my china cabinet !

Catch the Crumbs

Another wedding present to my Mom and Dad ! In the "good old days" of always having a nice tablecloth on the kitchen table, rather than taking it off after every meal to shake the crumbs, this little combination was used. Scrape the crumbs into the "catcher", throw them out ! So easy !! I don't remember ever seeing Mom use this -- I just remember it always being on display on a dresser in her bedroom. We did, however, always have a tablecloth on our kitchen table. It would be removed after a meal and taken outdoors to shake any crumbs off... Those tablecloths were usually made from those printed cotton feed sacks that the meal for the chickens came in. The "egg man" not only picked up the fresh eggs laid by our chickens, but, he also delivered feed for them. It was always fun to look at his load of feed in those pretty cotton sacks - Mom would try to get 3 or 4 sacks with the same print so she could make herself or us girls dresses. When she saw one that she loved and there would be only one sack with that particular print, a table cloth or apron would be made. "Feed sack dresses" - Mom would see a dress in a store, then go home and make her own pattern. She would sew our dresses to be more beautiful than any she would have purchased ready made !! AND, at a mere fraction of the cost !!!

Pot of Beans

Great G'ma Lottie told that this wonderful stoneware bean pot had been in her family for 150 years when it was given to G'ma Ruth and G'pa Paul in 1967. They passed it on down to your Dad on his birthday in 1980. For once in my life, I wrote the information down and stored it inside the pot. Wish I had done the same with a few other things - certainly can't depend on my memory for specifics !! I found similar pots when researching, but, nothing exactly the same. Inside the pot, I have stored a few old paper mementos from family dealings--a hog feed contract dated 1950 and receipt that it was paid in full, two savings account booklets from the 40's that belonged to my Mom and Dad, three receipts for sugar purchases in 1942 when sugar was rationed during WWII, and a WWII stamp album that was your Dad's. These could be filled with 10 cent "war stamps" purchased at school or post office, then exchanged for a $25 savings bond. It has $1.40 worth of stamps in it --I'm sure it would be worth way more than that to a collector. The pot was difficult to photograph with the shiny surface wanting to reflect everything around it. It is deep brown, almost black, in color, measures about 7 1/2" tall, and is home in my china cabinet. There is still room inside for more mementos !!

To Dance

When Willa was unable to shop for gifts last Christmas, she had me wrap and mail some of her precious belongings to a few different relatives. A figurine to one niece, a necklace to another, and two of her beautiful LLadro's to two of her great-nephews. These were some of her very favorite relatives and she wanted them to have something that was special to her, hoping that it would be the same for them. She knew that I loved her LLadro's also, and asked me to pick one and wrap it as my Christmas gift from her. This little ballerina that stands about 10" tall on her mahogany pedestal, is the one I chose because I had just the right spot in my china cabinet for her. Willa, my dear neighbor, was always so very generous to me throughout our 20+ years of friendship. I miss her and all of her beautiful holiday decorations this season. She loved this time of year more than anyone I have ever known.

The Four "B's"

I like to call my fetishes "the 4 B's" -- bears, boxes, butterflies, and books, the books being altered ones, of course ! Before I retired, it was the "3 B's" !! I began collecting and creating those altered and handmade books in 2005. Of course, anyone who enters my home instantly knows that I love bears. The butterflies appear here and there throughout my house and I love using them in my creations. The boxes - another story !! They must be decorative in some way or contain music and not be too large. It is also fun to find something inside them. I especially like the few vintage powder boxes I have collected over a number of years and this is one of them. The box is amber colored glass with a celluloid lid and it came with the matching manicure tools and button hook -- a set picked up on one of our antique mall excursions about 5 years ago. We do have fun just perusing all the booths at those malls, don't we ? Now and then, there is something I "just can't live without" !!

Christmas Past

When we were young children, gifts did not appear under the Christmas tree until Santa made his visit, be it for Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. Boxes that came in the mail from grandparents were also delivered by Santa ! We never had a clue ! We also "knew" that Mom and Dad "had to pay" Santa for toys or what ever we asked for and there was always a limit. Even after we were aware that Santa was a myth, gifts were not under the tree until he "made his visit". This tradition was held even after we were grown and gone from home. As my sister and I approached our teen years, we began to exchange Christmas gifts with each other and would pool our money for a gift for our Mom and Dad. The glass "powder box" with the dog on the lid was a gift from my sis sometime in the early 50's. It still has the original Gardenia body powder box inside. We were shopping together when we saw these two powder boxes and chose to buy them for each other. I always loved the one I gave to my sister with the little reindeer on the lid, too. I pointed it out to you on an antique mall excursion a few years ago, and that following Christmas, it appeared under my tree ! They both love their home on the counter in my downstairs bathroom.