The Stories

I think the thing that worries me the most at this stage of my life and genealogical research is the stories that we lose with each passing of a family member.  I realized the other day while doing some much needed dusting that I am letting the stories of my own 'treasures' go untold.  I have not even documented my trove for my kids - how will they know that "this is so-and-so's tea pot" if I never write it down?  And the really scary thought is that I may not remember all the stories myself.  I have decided to remedy the situation with my own version of an estate sale/antique auction booklet!

I plan to take pictures of each item, write a description of the item including any monetary value/antique status/other than sentimental information, and then add the information on where I got it, who it belonged to and where they are in the family tree.  While this could certainly eat up a lot of my so called 'spare' time, I think it will be a worthwhile project.  Some things I have collected specifically for each of my children and it would be kind of sad if they never knew why!

Here is my idea for the type of page I will make and how much (or little) information it can include and still be valuable for posterity, most pages will include several items.

This set of china has dinner plates, cups, saucers, creamer and sugar bowl and a serving bowl.  My husbands maternal grandmother (Irma Belle Guyton Herring Olson) owned these dishes and they were passed to me by his mother early in our marriage, this was my first set of 'good' dishes.

They are fine china from Japan with a stylized M and the words 'Arbor' and # '5566'.  The retail value is between $400 and $500 as replacements.I believe them to be from the 1950's as that was a common time for china to come from Japan.

This set of dishes has a little more history.
My paternal grandmother (Charlotte Frick Kiehn) owned these dishes.  Not long after my parents married, my mother commented on how pretty they were, grandma replied that she was thinking of getting rid of them as she never used them, my mom said she didn't think her mother had ever owned any pretty china plates. Grandma sold her the plates, which she in turn gave to my maternal grandmother (Nellie Corinne Quint Medlin) who had them until her death in 2014 at the age of 102.  I never remember her using them but they were there with her 'pretty things' for all the years that I remember.  When my mother asked me if I would like them I just laughed!  They were owned by both of my grandmothers and they have purple flowers - of course I do!!

They were manufactured by Homer Laughlin china and Distributed by Cunningham and Pickett, Inc. warranted 22kt gold hand decorated Alliance, Ohio. and the pattern is Spring Violets.  They were produced between 1953 and 1968.  The value of the set is around $300 - $400 as a set (retail)

I think this may be a lot of fun if I don't try to finish it all in one day (I have tendencies) and it may also get the whole collection of junk...er...treasures dusted!

Let me know if you have hints for preserving the info on your collectibles.