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Wow, it has never entered my mind to buy collectibles for future. I also don't have anything to show for my childhood, and wish some stuff was saved (nothing breakable!) - my baby dress, my early drawing. It is so cute to hold my husband's christening gown. The space it takes up is a baby hanger space, only.
All I save are my kids drawings/writing, their most cute clothes, and toys that are far from collectible, but all beat up and worn from playing. I think these will be the things that will connect them with their own childhood.
On the other hand, my husband has a house passed down from his grandfather, the original builder. As bad shape as it is in, we relish the thought of the 4th generation living on the same property, and will restore it eventually.
That is, our keepsakes are either very small, or very large unmovable objects.
I remember one person said: "The only memories left after us are our children and photos."
My father was 30 year Army Officer. Back then formal entertaining was very important and a man's career was somewhat dependent on his wife's hostess abilities. And even tho we moved every 2 years, the Army always packed and paid for all these moves so Mother got very spoiled.
Also we were among the first service people in Japan after the war and she bought everything she could get her hands on. I have boxes of Made in Occupied Japan stuff which has some value to people in the know.
Matching linen table cloths and napkins in every table size made, tea sets, ornaments from all over the world, endless china sets and loads of sterling silver. I think she bought so much because she never was able to buy her own furniture as we lived in furnished post housing. And since she loved and cherished it so much I guess I thought I should as well.
When I started entertaining, many of our friends felt uncomfortable with all the "fancy" stuff but I felt like "if you have it use it". After realizing not everybody grew up with the kinds of things I did and not wanting to be accused of putting on airs, I packed a lot of it up to "keep". My own kids don't care a thing about it and quite frankly I don't have the energy to lug boxes up and down stairs or hand wash china with gold or silver trim. So who would want this? I keep putting it off to really purge. It takes so much energy. We have a whole section of our garage filled with just excess Christmas stuff I plan to sell next November in a garage sale. You know if I felt anybody would use it and not just get it to resell I wouldn't object to giving it away.
But then again- why should that matter to me? Funny how the mind works.
My father was 30 year Army Officer. Back then formal entertaining was very important and a man's career was somewhat dependent on his wife's hostess abilities. And even tho we moved every 2 years, the Army always packed and paid for all these moves so Mother got very spoiled.
Also we were among the first service people in Japan after the war and she bought everything she could get her hands on. I have boxes of Made in Occupied Japan stuff which has some value to people in the know.
Matching linen table cloths and napkins in every table size made, tea sets, ornaments from all over the world, endless china sets and loads of sterling silver. I think she bought so much because she never was able to buy her own furniture as we lived in furnished post housing. And since she loved and cherished it so much I guess I thought I should as well.
When I started entertaining, many of our friends felt uncomfortable with all the "fancy" stuff but I felt like "if you have it use it". After realizing not everybody grew up with the kinds of things I did and not wanting to be accused of putting on airs, I packed a lot of it up to "keep". My own kids don't care a thing about it and quite frankly I don't have the energy to lug boxes up and down stairs or hand wash china with gold or silver trim. So who would want this? I keep putting it off to really purge. It takes so much energy. We have a whole section of our garage filled with just excess Christmas stuff I plan to sell next November in a garage sale. You know if I felt anybody would use it and not just get it to resell I wouldn't object to giving it away.
But then again- why should that matter to me? Funny how the mind works.
I like using my good dishes for special meals, etc. I don't really care what people think. They aren't as "good" as people think. The china we got when we were married cost $30/place setting. I wanted to be able to use it without fear of breaking it. We ended up getting 14 place settings because it was right in most people's price range when we got married. I say use the good stuff that you love. Put it in the dishwasher, to heck with handwashing. If you are ok getting rid of it, who cares if it goes in the dishwasher .
I just pulled out my grandfather's copy of Aesop's Fables. I'm so glad I've kept it all these years - what beautiful illustrations. I remember reading that book when I was a kid (grandpa gave it to me in '76). Now my kids can read it, too.
Christmas wise, we have a manger scene and some special holiday ornaments passed down from older generations.
We've never bought china nor had any passed down to us, though - LOL.
I like using my good dishes for special meals, etc. I don't really care what people think. They aren't as "good" as people think. The china we got when we were married cost $30/place setting. I wanted to be able to use it without fear of breaking it. We ended up getting 14 place settings because it was right in most people's price range when we got married. I say use the good stuff that you love. Put it in the dishwasher, to heck with hand washing. If you are ok getting rid of it, who cares if it goes in the dishwasher .
For some reason, I only got 2 place settings of my wedding china, but 12 place settings of the silver. So what I did was collect random Limoges pieces from antique and junk shops--I used them for years for special occasion. Later I collected blue and white china, mostly Spode. A few years ago we bought up as much Denby modern white china, as we could find at various Tuesday Morning stores. We also use a lot of hand built ceramics. The Spode and Denby pieces go easily from fridge to micro, to dishwasher, and make a fun mix. We use these every day. We also use our silver daily. We have no casual dinnerware. I occasionally get out some Limoges-- if I am going to have some girl friends over for lunch or coffee.
I know that none of what I have is my kid's taste but that doesn't matter to me I like it and will use it until it breaks. I've been through many sets of crystal, I hate heavy glassware, but had it when my son was young. I will buy some plastic for when my granddaughter visits. Why keep anything if you are not going to use it?? Or at least display it so that you can enjoy it.
I kept the funeral home books that people sign. They are interesting to read through. I have 2 parents, a grandparents and an aunts.
I kept my dad's wooden shoe trees that look like feet. A few Christmas ornaments that I liked as a kid. Some of his army stuff.(ribbons, stripes,) My mom kept a newspaper obituary from every dead relative over several generations. I have a cigar box full. Those I kept. Family pictures. My baby book. Newspaper articles that mentioned my parents. Everything fits into a plastic/rubber bin.
The things that they thought I would want like a grandfather clock and china are gone. Different tastes for different times.
After my moves and cleaning out my parents house I am a committed minimalist.
No Kudzu I am with Julia you can send me all the stuff and china! I love things like that. What makes me sad is that I think it must be a generational thing. My generation has come to the point where mostly everything we buy is disposable and worth nothing. There is no appreciation for Wedgwood, Royal Doulton or Lenox. I love fine crystal like Baccarat and wish to high Heaven that my family had some to pass down to me. They were more Fingerhut people! My mom never truly saved anything and it annoys the heck out of me. The only thing I have from my grandmother is a jewelery box my grandfather whittled for her and some costume jewelry which I cherish but otherwise if I was your daughter I would probably have been on all your stuff like white on rice.
My dad passed along my mom's china to me. It wasn't really my style but I took it and it sits with my china that I rarely use. He had a zillion cookbooks from her extensive collection and some Hawaiiana books which I just couldn't take (literially hundreds of books). Fortunately he made a big donation to the library and it went into their collection of rarer books which was great.
My MIL though had tons of Hummels (not my thing at all). When they went into an assisted living place, we sold them through an estate planner. I felt badly but at least they got some money from them. We took old family photos though that were about to get trashed. Some things are priceless to us.
The only thing that I am "saving" for the kids is our piano which is an autographed Steinway that has tripled in value since we bought it years ago. Both kids play. If they have no interest in taking the piano, they can always sell it for big bucks I guess. But I intend on keeping that piano until I die.
My dad passed along my mom's china to me. It wasn't really my style but I took it and it sits with my china that I rarely use. He had a zillion cookbooks from her extensive collection and some Hawaiiana books which I just couldn't take (literially hundreds of books). Fortunately he made a big donation to the library and it went into their collection of rarer books which was great.
My MIL though had tons of Hummels (not my thing at all). When they went into an assisted living place, we sold them through an estate planner. I felt badly but at least they got some money from them. We took old family photos though that were about to get trashed. Some things are priceless to us.
The only thing that I am "saving" for the kids is our piano which is an autographed Steinway that has tripled in value since we bought it years ago. Both kids play. If they have no interest in taking the piano, they can always sell it for big bucks I guess. But I intend on keeping that piano until I die.
Wow an autographed Steinway. If I was you Linmora take it with you to the GRAVE! LOL!
My mom has bought me the Holiday Barbie each year since I was born. I plan to continue that with my DD. If she doesnt want them thats fine I will keep them and continue on with her children. They sure do take up alot of room though.
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