Small Things
Two weeks ago, we made the trip up to my uncle's house where my grandma spent the last couple couple years of her life to sort through some of her belongings. I came away with a box of things that had some sort of sentimental, historical or curiosity value to me. The above coins/tokens, a few out of a bag full, were more of the curiosity category. From what I can tell, many were souvenirs, war money, tax credit tokens and a few actual currency coins. The Louis and Clark anniversary medallion in the center is the one that grabs my attention the most. But somewhere in the box is also a 1933 Chicago World's Fair medallion and an Indian head penny that I can't find right at this minute that rank up there too.
Not long ago, AnvilCloud wrote a post about cap guns from his childhood. I left a comment that the cap guns I touched in my youth had long ago run out of caps. I don't remember a single cap cap gun either. Mine were always these large silvered ones that shot caps from a roll. So imagine my surprise when my grandma had a single cap shooting gun among her things, probably belonging to my grandfather as a kid. The rifle above it is made from plastic and some sort of toy/souvenir I guess. It doesn't shoot caps but probably saw many days of battle in the imagination of my grandpa.
One of the things specifically left to me by my grandma were these four rings. Left to right is my grandmother's engagement ring, the diamonds from my great grandmother and great great grandmother's engagement rings set into a single ring, my grandfather's wedding ring and what I am guessing is my grandfather's class ring. I'm not sure what to do with these things. I could just label them and put them on display in my barrister bookcase full of family history things. Or perhaps I should combine all the stones in a new setting along with my mom's and have four generations of engagement diamonds all in one setting.
Finally, for this post anyway, I was also given a small box with my great uncle's Navy uniform pins. I haven't yet researched what they all mean but hopefully will do that later this winter, along with some of the other things in the above post, when I have more time. One of my biggest regrets is not asking my great uncle more about his war experiences while he was alive. He served on several naval battleships in the Pacific campaign of World War II. It was at his funeral that I learned that recorded interviews of his some of his time in the military existed and I have since attained those recordings and made transcriptions of them. But they only beg hundreds of more questions I would have liked to ask but never did.
Ed, those all look like the sort of things that one could keep happily. Old coins and such are interesting to me if for no other reason that they are a largely dying thing; I suspect I will see the end of them in my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteI guess for me, the souvenir coins have captivated my attention because they fix my ancestors at a certain place in time, more so than the currency coins do.
DeleteIt's neat to find those little artefacts.
ReplyDeleteAlways makes me wonder what things of mine, if anything, will future generations marvel over.
DeleteI had a cap gun as a child and mine also used the rolls of "ammo". I've never heard of a single shot cap gun! You wouldn't last long in an imaginary battle if you had to stop and reload each time!
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I would still take one of those versus those plastic Nerf guns of my childhood.
DeleteThose are treasures! And yes, we don't seem to ask the questions we should when our elders can answer them. Now that we're fascinated by their stories, they're already gone. Sigh.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem I think, at least in this case, is that I don't know the questions to ask until I'm sorting through things I have never seen after their death. Of the above items, the only thing I knew about were the family diamond ring of my great and great great grandmothers combined in one ring and I only found out about that maybe a handful of months ago when my grandma asked if I wanted it. Up until that point, I didn't even know it existed.
DeleteMost people find this type of item in the items left in houses. They were momentoes and keep sakes that they didn't know what to do with. Fortunately you are interested enough to find out what they are.
ReplyDeleteInterested enough to find out what they are and pass them onto another generation.
DeleteNice memories. I often wish I had asked more questions of my great-uncle and my great-grandparents. -Jeff. https://fromarockyhillside.com
ReplyDeleteWe probably all do I guess.
DeleteAn interesting collection of family memorabilia. I feel like things like the are a connection to one's family history, even if we don't know the whole story. It's nice that someone kept all these items to pass on.
ReplyDeleteFortunately these items are all very small and compact so don't take up much room in our house.
DeleteI used to sell collectibles at our local shows and they used to be packed with potential clients, all looking for those old treasures and memories of childhood days (we call them hanabata days). Hanabata means nose buggers. Now, people just don't collect or have the nostalgia of my generation. I do have a few family heirloom items but my kids are not interested. Rather sad about that.
ReplyDeleteSome forms still exist. Earlier this year I found some hand held electronic games of my childhood and sold them to an older fellow who was collecting them.
DeleteMight want to have the jewelry appraised. The famous ruby ring from my grandmother turned out to be glass, as was common in $1 rings during the '20s and '30s. Save the diamonds and some future bride and groom will want to put them in a new ring. My son prizes his own dress wedding band that has 6 tiny diamonds in it from my Mom's collection; not worth but $50 each but he knows they're from his Granny. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I want to pay for an appraisal though I'm sure there are pawnbrokers who would appraise them on a chance to buy them. For me, the value is in the story of having four generations of engagement rings. If one of my kids wanted them as their own, that would be a perfect place for them.
DeleteGreat family stories. My brother gave my grandmother's engagement ring to his wife when they got engaged, which was a great use for it. I love all the quirky coins. We also have boxes of this kind of stuff after my mom's death. My brother has most of it but I took a few items.
ReplyDeleteWith two girls, perhaps half of the engagement rings might be used eventually.
DeleteWow. What a great trip down memory lane, Ed. It's really fascinating looking at all of those items and then getting some more details about them from your family or research. I definitely did not have a cap gun as cool as that. I had the same one that you described.
ReplyDeleteThey seemed to pretty ubiquitous when we were kids.
DeleteInteresting bunch of coins and tokens, you have a wheat penny ! That Chicago Worlds Fair token looks interesting also! WE used to have a bunch of tokens and sold them to a collector. We also sold our class rings as we figured that they would not be special to anyone but us!
ReplyDeleteWheat pennies for a time anyway, were very common to find and I have a cigar box full of them somewhere. However the Indian head pennies have never been plentiful in my lifetime and I expect have gotten even more rare.
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