I’m not going to pretend that I don’t have a lot of boxes to go through, because I do. Well, maybe not a LOT, but let’s say more than 3… less than 12. But the boxes I’m going through this week belong to my grandmother, and the stuff in them belonged to her family, the Wilsons of Habberton, Arkansas. There are documents of land ownership, death certificates, wedding notices, obituaries, photos, books, a TON of postcards – most from the early part of the 20th century.
When my mom became sick in 2008 my aunt came up from Texas to gather their mom and transplanted her to a nursing facility near her (mom had been her caregiver before that time). These boxes were left behind in mom’s
care, but now that she’s gone I need to get them to my aunt. But before they go… I’m making sure I look at it all. My hubby and I enjoy geneology, and he has done a lot of research on our family trees and such. Many of the pieces of ephemera in the boxes would be great things to attach to some of my ancestors’ records online, so I’ve been scanning like crazy.
One of my favorite finds was a pile of folders full of my grandmother’s writing. She wanted to be a writer, and sent things off to different contests and even had a professional writer critiquing her work at one point. It was something that she didn’t find time to make a career out of, what with raising five kids, managing a household, raising and putting up a huge garden each year, helping with the livestock… you get the drift. I hope that eventually I can have those things to put in my own keepsake box – since I’m the one in the family with a degree in creative writing. My aunt pulled aside my grandmother’s wedding dress and such because her daughter has a degree in fashion design, so it seems only fair…
So, a box at a time all of this stuff will be put in the mail to Texas, and I’ll start going through my own boxes. I doubt there are as many things in mine that my descendants will be interested in keeping, so I plan to be weeding out some stuff.
What things are you keeping in your “treasure” box(es)?
Oh, good question! In my “family” boxes, there are baby clothes from the 1920s, doilies (what can you do with those??), embroidered and appliqued cup towels and pillowcases, hubbie’s great-grandmother’s Wedgewood china set, birthday cards and valentines from the ’50s, and much more that will be like meeting old friends when I open the boxes.
I have made an effort to use the treasures that my mother had saved in boxes, and since we’re moving to a somewhat bigger house whose design is more compatible with antiques, etc., I’m determined to start using or displaying the treasures in my boxes. Wish me luck!