Ten reasons to cherish your families heirlooms:
1. You might discover the heirlooms are of more meaning to you later in life.
2. They might be worth a lot of money.
3. It could inspire you to learn the history of your family and the items they cherish.
4. It would make your grandma happy.
5. Restoration and reuse is good for the planet.
6. They will create conversation in your home.
7. Heirlooms connect you to your family history.
8. They don’t make stuff like that anymore.
9. Your grand-children may want a polaroid camera!
10. You’ll have something special to pass down to your kids and grandkids.
While reading a recent article “The Family Heirlooms That Our Children Don’t Want” By Robbie Shell, Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2021, I was reminded of when I was about 15 years old and we gathered at my grandmother’s home to help her downsize. She offered certain pieces of furniture, dishes and other items to her daughters and her grandchildren. It was obvious that these items meant a lot to Grandma.
I didn’t need furniture, dishes or nick-nacks at the time and I wasn’t sure of the value of the handiwork, the doilies and embroidery, yet I took some home. I actually didn’t have a clue what I would do with these items, but I took them and we pinned notes to each piece about who made them and why they were important. By then I was already very interested in family history research so I treasured all the items that we could connect with an ancestor.
Some of the family photos and historical documents (letters) helped me fill in my ancestor chart! Grandma would say “now you sit down here beside me and let me tell you about this.” When I think back of how her family of seven came from Montana to Washington, in an Overland car, I marvel that she had anything to remember her childhood with. Maybe that’s why she treasured what she had worked so hard for.
Just like the WSJ story, grandma was disappointed that her family didn’t want the cut glass candy dish that was given to her by a family friend. It no doubt left her feeling sad.
When my grandma passed I was in my 40’s. Looking again at her life treasures now it was complicated by “what to do with these items.” Where would I put it? What would I do with it? I did have a home but it was full of my stuff!
Ms. Shell reported “My myopia continued with an attempt to interest my son and his wife in a beautiful mahogany-trimmed white couch in the basement that no longer fit into our current house. The reason for their rejection was now becoming familiar: “Too ornate.”
Now I find myself as a new grandmother pulling out treasures I saved all these years since my children were little. I have an amazing toybox: sturdy Fisher Price toys, precious books and darling little outfits that are filled with memories and good feelings (for me at least). The look on my daughters faces let me know that they weren’t going to be putting a 30 year old onesie on their newborn! I settle for “okay let’s take a picture in the dedication-gown which has been used in our family for generations,” I reply “come on – one picture of the four generations – pleeaasseee!!”
I don’t sense that my kids are that excited to have a 30 year old afghan blanket that was knitted by Aunt Darlene and I gave up hope on them being interested in my wedding dress long ago. It seems millennials have no intention of setting a fancy table with service for 12. And so the china dishes, the goblets, and the silver will not end up at their house. I must pick my battles and that one I’ll let go.
My downfall seems to be the historical papers. I’ve gathered my grandparents letters, pictures, journals, newspaper clippings and anything they wrote. I’ll hang on to those ‘til the bitter end and I tell my family that I am hiding money in things so they better look through them. Who knows, by then they might get a smile from the ‘Disneyland 1992’ ticket stub with their name on it.
The author of the Heirloom article states “more to the point, they (millennials) aren’t hoarders. They only take what they need now. Having seen the degraded world they will inherit, they are dedicated to sustainability, recycling, preservation of the environment, fewer material goods.”
I realize it is my job to organize and compile my legacy research and writing in a way that is interesting and useable. I’m working on that. How do you do that? Labelled boxes, shorter stories about a place or time that impacted their ancestor’s life. I hope you will share your ideas in the comments below.
In closing I will concede there are of course valid reasons for not taking family heirlooms:
- no one uses china dishes and goblets.
- when is the right time to ask for the heirloom.
- living spaces are smaller, it is expensive to store.
- we have more money, we can buy new stuff or buy it on ebay if we want it.
- we live in a throw-away society.
- we move more often.
- families live far away from each other.
- smaller families, less children to pass things down to.
- less in-person visits, less memories with items (i.e., the upright piano)
But oh, how I wish I had the chance to sit next to my grandma and hear her tell me one more story while we drink tea in the teacup she put my name on.
ps/ Oh and one last reason to keep the Encyclopedia – were the internet to ever crash (Twilight Zone Episode 2041) what historical information would you still have?
Geneographer 