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To answer the question sent to me via rep by Grandview Gloria - I didn't say that all the original art we have is 20 of my mom's original paintings. My mom has NUMEROUS (I haven't counted them but probably over 10) original paintings in her own apartment. I have at least 20 in my own home, probably more. Since most of them are large, I don't have room for more. My adult kids have numerous paintings. There are some in storage. My brothers each have some (not sure how many each of them have).
We are an artistic family so in addition to my mom's paintings, several of our immediate family have some of their own works. And then several are also like me - if I see an oil painting that I like, or a piece of some other type of art, I'll generally buy it.
My point is that AFTER most people have furnished their own homes with their paintings, my mom's paintings, other family members' art work, etc - we still have some left over. That's where the "20 original oil paintings" statement comes in. I really have no idea how many are sitting around in storage, in peoples' closets, etc. For instance, I have at least 3 that I rotate out through the year, because one of them is seasonal and my gosh, I have more paintings than I have wall space.
And yes, I could give them to cousins and I probably will but we're a military family and are widely scattered and frankly, I'd rather give them to my own kids. When they live overseas or many states away, I just have to wait - which means I become a sort of storage facility.
I'm not going to throw good oil paintings away. I am not sure I was clear about just how many original pieces of artwork our family owns. In addition to several family members paintings, we also have etchings, sketches, quilts, pastel portraits, mounted/framed items, even painted furniture pieces. And then I have several originals that were given to our family by other artists. And that's not even counting the random art pieces that I've run across and nabbed over the years because they "speak to me." So yeah...lots of artwork around here.
Rosie, I had an old but nice piano that I wanted to get rid of so I went around to some of the local churches to see if they wanted it. One of the little fundie evangelical new start ups was thrilled to get it. They came and picked it up and thanked me profusely (or should I say blessed me profusely). Even brought me cookies. That was where I found it a good home.
Yes, new start up churches.
How many resources do they have to make purchases? Not many I'd guess.
I brought some older bible story books for children to one andthey were very happy. Their daycare room was a little barren. I'm not particularly religious, but I don't think you can go wrong teaching bible stories to little kids. (at least the ones that teach moral behavior, which I think most of them do)
Good for you janellen.
I had to look this one up. Oh Oh, You have a problem, you should probably go to a heart surgeon and get them removed. Attachment 187850
You scared me for a minute! ;-)
But a quick google search-
Warms the cockles of my heart-
First documented use in 1671. Corruption of Latincochleae (“ventriclesâ€) in cochleae cordis (“ventricles of the heartâ€)
Learn something new every day.
Thanks for the rep.
To which sites do you recommend uploading the old photos? I have many photos, and a memorial thing for my great grandmother and her son who both died in 1918 that hung on their wall, etc. etc. I don't have kids and my cousins don't want them. Sometimes I think I may have a big bonfire and burn all this because I can't just throw it in the trash.
Go to Ancestry.com (you can get a free trial account) and do a search for your great grandmother's name, her husband's name (if you know it) and her son's name. If a family tree pops up with those names in it, you will be able to send a message to the owner of that family tree on Ancestry.com and you can ask if they would like the photos or memorabilia.
I've found several photos in junk/antique stores of young people who died in 1918 (big flu epidemic that year, plus the start of WWI). They died young without any descendants. Yet, when I found their names on family trees on Ancestry.com, the owners of the trees were very happy to take the photos of their ancestor, even though they were not directly descended from them.
My father's mother (my grandmother) died in 1930 when my father was 10. His father shipped all of the kids off to orphanages immediately afterwards and threw out all photos of my grandmother. I am named after my grandmother, and I would LOVE to have a photo of her, but I'm pretty sure none exists.
So, I was thrilled when I found a wedding photo of her sister on Ancestry.com.
I will never know what my grandmother looked like, but I like to think that she had at least some resemblance to her sister. After all, it's clear from the picture that her sister had the same nose as my Dad and my son!
Also, if you can't find someone on Ancestry.com, some local and state historical associations, history museums, and libraries (especially university libraries) accept photos and historic memorabilia related to former residents of the local area. So, if your great grandmother and her son lived in a certain city or town for a long period, you could see if the local history association might want them.
Seems like a lot of work, I know. But, it is better than letting your great grandmother's memory go entirely up in smoke.
Reading all these stories makes me smile and they drive me crazy at the same time, because WOW can I ever relate!
My dad - was it his generation or what? If anyone in his immediate family or any of his ancestors had ever owned anything, and he found it, he kept it. Heck, he even made little brass labels for some things, with the name of the original owner on the label! Sheeze! I mean, it's cool but enough already. He had multiple barns, several houses, and the most organized oversized garage you ever saw - he had the room for all this, but I don't. Thank God I've got a brother who is just as much a "hoarder of prized possessions" as my dad because he's come down several times and gone back up to his state with trailers loaded down with furniture. So thankfully I haven't had to purge a lot of furniture. Also, surprisingly so, both my daughters wanted the formal dining room sets (YES, TWO SETS) that my parents owned. I think the only furniture pieces I came home with are an antique desk, a treadle sewing machine, and two very small occasional tables (good for sitting beside a chair so that was OK). Oh, and a prize - my grandmother's antique mirror that she bought for her first house in New Orleans - and it looks quite "New Orleans" and I've always loved it.
It's the smaller stuff that's really driving me crazy because I am very circumspect about furniture. There are not many pieces of furniture that I feel any sort of "obligation" when it comes to passing it down or keeping it or whatever. But it's the mounds of original documents, photos, slides, paintings, antique books, vases, sets of china, handmade quilts (some with names stitched in them - and dates - one even from 1909!), clocks, etc.
Example from just this past weekend of cleaning out yet another outbuilding on my dad's farm:
I found about 10 journals of paychecks and receipts, etc from my great grandfather and my grandfather's little country store. I mean, from the 1920s through the 1950s. They are INTERESTING - the names are often familiar, the prices for items is interesting, etc. They are also large, dusty, heavy and bulky. Where do I put those? YIKES!
I also found a collection of stuff like cowbells (I'm sure they're from the farm), weights (like for measuring stuff in a store), tin cups, etc. Wow, those have history, from that old working farm. I rang the cowbells...and I could imagine my dad's delight when he found those in the barn and rang them and I know he could hear the sound of those cows in the field from his childhood...I know he and the workers and people around the farm drank cool spring water from those tin cups, which is why he saved them. I know my grandfather and great grandfather used those weights in their store. How can I get rid of those items?
I found a collection of cast iron soldiers - they look old. I guess I can donate those to a museum somewhere - but what if one of my grandsons wants them one day?
I found the mug from Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans that my dad always loved to drink coffee out of. I mean, that's cool, right? But I have about 4 of those already because every time I go there, I keep my coffee mug. And I already got one of my dad's...I think...but I'm not sure - because they all look the same!
Antique books...oh my. An antique copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's works...my dad had memorized several of his poems and would recite them at family gatherings...can't get rid of that. Oops, there's two of them...well, can't get rid of either...
But I just had to walk away from some stuff. For instance, the laundry crate that my great grandmother would haul her wet clothes out to the line in - my gosh, it wasn't a basket, it was a wooden crate, not pretty, very heavy...my dad had saved that, and even attached a little label to it. I don't want it. Where would I put it?
Same with the double bed that my great grandmother died in and that sat in my grandmother's house for 40 more years after that, along with the little matching vanity. I don't want a double bed. I don't need one. I don't have room for the vanity. It's cute and in great shape, but apparently no one else wanted it either because no one else came to get it. But I can just hear someone a few years down the road - "YOU GAVE THAT AWAY WITH THE HOUSE? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE THAT FOR SOMEONE, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GAVE AWAY THAT BED, IT WAS OVER 100 YEARS OLD, IT CAME DOWN THROUGH THE FAMILY yada yada yada." You know what I'm going to say? I'm going to say, "You should have come and gotten it then."
That's going to be my stock answer to any compiaints - "If you wanted it, you should have come and gotten it. Why should someone else move and store all this stuff just IN CASE someone down the road thinks they want it?"
My Dad just told me today, he is considering selling the house and moving to an apartment. In part because he is very concerned about leaving us with a heap of stuff we have to get rid of. If he moves, he will have to get rid of pretty much all of it, then no one can fight over it. Much as it saddens me to see the family home sold, I do not want it and no one else in our family could afford it. It would be good if Dad sold it and spends the money, so my siblings have nothing to fight over.
We have enough fighting already. Whenever Dad gives anything to anyone in our family, my sister (who does not talk to Dad or me/my family much anymore) pitches a fit either on Facebook, or through the one brother she still talks to that I and my "minions" (family) are stealing her birthright. (We are talking things like mom's collection of plastic beads, basically worthless costume jewelry, a "clapper" power switch, some plastic storage bins etc. She is convinced it is all worth many thousands - because well, some of those plastic beads might be rare ones.) I cannot imagine the flame war that will ensue if he liquidates everything and dares to give things to the children or grand kids of his choice, or even just asks "does anyone want this?" There are also three pieces of family heirloom furniture that probably everyone will want. I think he should have an estate sale or auction and if someone wants something, they can just buy it.
Ont he other hand, I think it may cause heartache and/or depression for Dad. He has lived there for 47 years and his focus for much of that time has been on yard-work, planting trees and shrubs, moving rocks, leveling etc. Plus all of the kids grew up there (part of the way anyway), grandkids lived with him there at times, Mom's ashes are at the base of a memorail tree we planted, etc. It will be hard for him to leave that behind - worse if someone buys it and tears it down, levels the property and puts in a subdivision. That could be devastating.
Back to no one wants your stuff, my brother lost his house and had to move to an apartment during the recession. HE decided to sell pretty much everything, hoping to get lie $100,000 for his collection of vintage and antique stuff. I think he got about $2,000. Part of it is due to saturation. He had a collection of about 20 WWII rifles. They auctioned off "picks" where the winner got to pick whichever one they wanted, the first three went for about $200 which was close to market rate for those rifles, then one went for $150, then $100, $75, $50 for a few, then $20. Most of these rifles were pretty much the same, However the people that wanted them, pretty much bought as many as they wanted earl on and the others were sold to deal hunters who would just re-sell them over time and hope to make $180 profit. I would not go through the auction process again. Maybe an online auction, not sure. .
Reading through this thread, it occurs to me that we could set up some sort of swap system amongst ourselves so that unwanted cast iron soldiers could be exchanged for unwanted tea cups and unwanted photos could be exchanged for unwanted lace curtains and so forth....
Have you offered the piano to the local school district? How about the local daycare centers? The nearby community college that teaches music courses? I believe local churches have already been mentioned. Is there a musical theatre group in town that could use it?
On Freecycle.com, there is an "In Search Of (ISO)" category. Surely someone on there would give a nice old piano a second home.
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