Our Attachment to Old Things
Posted on March 1, 2014 by bob in EdNote
With no relatives in this country until the early 1900s, I always felt my family history hatched on the shores of Ellis Island. My grandparents came here with the barest of items: a suit of clothes, a scarf, a hat. No picture scrapbooks or fancy hand-carved chairs, no antique dressers. There wasn’t room – physically or emotionally – for the sentimentality.
By the time I realized some of my friends’ families owned and valued antique furnishings, I was away at school. My college roommates dreamily spoke of Grandma Jean’s Civil War-era rocker and great-great Uncle Ed’s 18th century writing desk as we decorated our first apartment with Coca-Cola crates. They thrilled at the thought of one day owning those old pieces. What was special about old furniture? I thought our Coke bookshelves were tres’ chic. My grandparents’ mahogany table seemed dark, drab, and rickety, while mom and dad’s mid-century modern furnishings were definitely cool.
It wasn’t till I married that I realized how older pieces in a house enrich a home. More than simple furnishings, old end tables and dusty trunks tell the story of my husband’s family through weddings, wars, and mainly, just everyday life. Old metal pitchers and wood-framed levels, turn-of-the-century christening gowns and cut glass bowls suddenly fascinated me. I’d always loved historical items, but had relegated their existence to picture books and museum tours.
More than a century now separates me from the time my ancestors first came to the U.S., and our little nuclear family has acquired collectibles of its own. Whether it’s Mookie’s oak dining table, or my grandmother’s French hand-sewn batiste pillow shams, I love the look of these timeless items and, even more, the sense of “belonging” they inspire. It’s unlikely any of the items we own are valuable antiques, but the unspoken stories these pieces tell warm our house and emotionally enrich our home.
When PBS’ Antiques Roadshow came to Birmingham in 2000 I was lucky enough to help the show’s production team set-up shop and manage the crowds. It was a long day (with even longer lines) but the items brought through the doors of the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center were fascinating. From an ex-governor’s dueling pistols to the simplistic beauty of a handmade quilt, people dragged their heirlooms into the showroom, hoping to learn they owned collectibles of untold value. Few did.
Bob and I also took pieces for appraisal: an “antique” copper plate purchased in Turkey, and a sword my father-in-law had acquired in the Philippines. The plate was worth less than its purchase price, and the sword had an interesting history but was not very valuable. Regardless, the real fun was in discovering something new about our “treasures.” If you have something you’d love to have appraised, don’t miss the show’s return trip to Birmingham June 21. Go with a couple of friends and make a day of it. You may find you really do own something valuable. Better yet, you’ll create a memory that will retain its own value for years to come.
Sandra Polizos, Editor
