OLD THINGS AND STUFF

Old stuff and things keep our memories churning and connected with the past.  Items with sentimental value and finds in the dirt, flea market finds and gifts from friends.  All these things have huge value, and not necessarily monetary value.  I believe that China and silverware should be used daily…. not just saved for “special occasions”.  After all, every day we live is a special occasion that is to be celebrated.  It helps keep a person young.

The above sideboard with the marble top had a matching table that was handed down from our family in the north.  The vague inscriptions say that it was made in Massachusetts in the early 1900’s.  The table sat 13 every night for a long time. It has since been handed down to family members to keep safe, and hopefully they will use it.  I passionately believe that people should use these old heirlooms.  They are not just for looking at.  However, the China doll is comfortably sleeping in a cedar chest between some blankets.

The older we get; it seems that we recognize the value of old things that we have accumulated over the years.  We also finally realize the value of these things and manage to fit them into the motif of our daily homes and lives.  I don’t know about you, but I certainly appreciate them more than I would have 50 years ago.  It doesn’t matter how “modern” the décor in your home, there is always a place for these old items.  They become a part of our lives and are subject to being conversation pieces…. therefore, stoking more memories and desire to have more of these “old things” around us. 

Several years ago, I went into a re-sale shop in a Houston suburb just to see what was in there.  There were two wall tables that had been decoupaged with aluminum foil, and SURPRISE one had brass claw feet. Upon further scrutiny (turning them over), one of them was a Duncan Phyfe table.  I took them home and stripped them down.  It took a week of working to gently remove the aluminum foil and strip the wood down, both revealing beautiful mahogany, which I restored.  I still have these little wall tables.

I’ve found myself looking for “old things and stuff” everywhere; up on the hill, digging in our vegetable garden, in resale shops, etc.  I found a penny in the garden that’s so worn that the date cannot be read.  It just sits in the kitchen window.  There was an old log cabin up on the hill where the vegetable garden is now.  I have no idea of the age or the history of that cabin. It’s been gone a long time. There is an old structure that has remained intact up there; and we’ve had a look.  Turns out it’s the outhouse that was several feet from the old log cabin.  It’s a two-holer.  What a find!  No telling what else is up there. 

I read that during the Civil War, in the south, people would throw their valuables in the outhouse to hide them from the marauding soldiers that came to pillage the homes.  I doubt that’s the case with this little outhouse on the side of a canyon mountain in Taos, NM.  Probably just some timber rattlers, which would discourage anyone from digging around there, much less placing their delicate rear-ends over the holes in there.

I’m intensely curious, and in the meantime, I’ll just keep looking for Old Things and Stuff because there is value in all of it, and so much to learn.