When heirlooms lose their luster, can stories give them weight again? A tea cup collection offers containers of memories to hold onto — and to pass on.
What a familiar story for me and for a lot of us, I suspect. I’ve mentioned before, I am our family’s keeper, so spend way too much time thinking about keepsakes and trying to make them relevant to the next generations.
I don’t have the answers, but I do know how my grandma made those same family artifacts relevant to me. She put candy in antique goblets, she let me sit with her as she went thru her jewelry box, she taught me to drink out of the tea cups and let me page thru the old bibles in a language I didn’t recognize.
And so that’s what I do. That’s what I’ve always done. We’ll see how it works, I guess.
These are great suggestions. Create memories and relevance for each artifact. It meant something to you — chances are it will resonate with someone in your family.
This resonates so much with me. I have many heirlooms from my mother and her mother. Dad and his family. They were precious to them as they are to me. What will my kids do with them. Important stuff that has a story, I’ve written about and created a QR code and attached to the item. Plus a printout in a file. It might work for them it might not. I guess I won’t be around to see it.
Love the voice over. I’d like to try that. Was it created on Substack or elsewhere?
Hi Jenny! Ooh this is all good stuff. A qr code is a great idea!! I might do that too.
The voice over is done on Substack — although I use a mike. The Substack mike is a bit scratchy. And btw you can end up creating a podcast from it. It connects with Spotify.
Thank you. I've seen a few recordings but not necessarily listened to them. I did yours. My son is a long haul truck driver and wants to listen to audio while he's driving nights.
Ok I answered that wrong. Yes. I use a mike — but I record it on zoom — not directly into the Substack app. You can record directly. But that sound to me is not clean. So i record into a zoom session, trim it and save as audio only and upload it. It’s a few additional steps, but I like the clarity.
I’m smiling at this because I have a collection of beautiful old porcelain cups and saucers which I am hoping someone in the family might like …along with the bag of vintage textiles…my granddaughter might be the lucky recipient as she has a gentle and loving nature…she might just like these because they were mine….who knows?
I enjoyed this story, Diane, and learning more about your life. I wanted to collect things since I was a child and have amassed a ton of things, most notably 60-some Hall China teapots. I have no kids, so I’ll gift many of them, one-by-one to friends. I hope they enjoy them in real time, no matter what happens to them eventually. I’m visiting my mother right now, and I see where my collecting bug came from. She introduced me yesterday to a coin collection I never knew about—on top of the Waterford Crystal, china, silverware, and other graceful items spread throughout her large house. She has a great eye and the effect is not cluttered, but no one else will have room for even a fraction of all this. I see why Mom doesn’t want to downsize, even though she should be in a smaller place in a senior living community at 90 years of age.
My mother was the 4th of 6 children who grew up in Ireland during the war, so these things symbolize how she and my father (also Irish born) moved up in the world. That’s the over-arching story. Inspired by what you wrote, I took a picture of a china cabinet as my mother has it now… to remember it.
Such a wonderful story! And I think gifting them one by one is a fantastic idea. A friend recently gave me that wall hanging she made — she stopped potting some time ago. I can’t tell you how much I treasure it.
Ive moved so many times and once had a foot locker of my dad’s that was filled with childhood things. I have no idea where it went. The last move, we really downsized a lot. Although I kept an Italian-made wall unit in burl maple that was supposed to house a 1990s bulky tv — so now it houses things. Hahah.
I too have tea cups. Years ago I decided to pull them out of the closet and display them. I turned my grandmother's china cabinet into a tea cabinet with the cups on display. When friends come to visit I invite them to chose the cup they'd like to use. I don't have a favorite because, frankly, they've all got stories attached to them so they're all my favorites. I'm simply grateful to have them out where I can see them and to use them on a regular basis.
This is such a delightful anecdote! I really appreciate you sharing it. I’m starting to think that in order to build desire we need to build relevance. By letting people choose the cup you are doing just that!! Thank you for this insight!!
This is something that bothers me too (when I allow it to!). I have amassed quite a lot of family ‘heirlooms’ including china and some silver, from both sides of my family. Our house has been in chaos for some time so I have times when I wake up in the night worrying about how I can sort out the good stuff from all the rest and display it/keep it safe.
I like the QR code idea, for when I have a chance to sort through and document things.
It’s so hard to convey the sentimental meaning of items if our family members just “don’t get it.” Maybe there is a way to connect the vitality or characteristics of a given ancestor — to an individual in your life so they see the connection?
Thinking this over I realised I should use some of the cataloguing skills I developed while working in an art gallery, write up a description of the important stuff and photograph it, then file it as part of my family history with all the family photos etc. I can't do that on a large scale just now as I'm waiting for heart surgery and everything tires me out, but I could maybe start with some jewellery and work out a methodology. Thanks for getting mecthinking about this!
Your story resonated with me Diane. My family will have absolutely no interest in any of my 'stuff'. Perhaps they inherited that from their grandmother - my mother. She keeps nothing of sentimental value. Even photos are considered 'rubbish' and thrown out. I get so envious when I see people writing about the heirlooms in their family. I do have two heirlooms that I treasure, given to me by my great grandmother, who I remember well. She crocheted beautifully and gave me a huge tablecloth that she made. I'm still in awe of the beautiful work. She also gave me two books that were published in the 19th century that were hers when she was a young girl. These I treasure.
I have been the family collector of artifacts that other relatives are downsizing. I know my daughter is interested, not my sons, but she lives in a New York apartment. I'm still working on curating the photos I inherited.
In my case, I believe the desire to collect delicate beautiful items was a desire to lift oneself up from poverty into the middle class. They were eager to follow conventions to show they had "made it."
Thank you for your post. You gave me a lot to think about.
What a familiar story for me and for a lot of us, I suspect. I’ve mentioned before, I am our family’s keeper, so spend way too much time thinking about keepsakes and trying to make them relevant to the next generations.
I don’t have the answers, but I do know how my grandma made those same family artifacts relevant to me. She put candy in antique goblets, she let me sit with her as she went thru her jewelry box, she taught me to drink out of the tea cups and let me page thru the old bibles in a language I didn’t recognize.
And so that’s what I do. That’s what I’ve always done. We’ll see how it works, I guess.
These are great suggestions. Create memories and relevance for each artifact. It meant something to you — chances are it will resonate with someone in your family.
This resonates so much with me. I have many heirlooms from my mother and her mother. Dad and his family. They were precious to them as they are to me. What will my kids do with them. Important stuff that has a story, I’ve written about and created a QR code and attached to the item. Plus a printout in a file. It might work for them it might not. I guess I won’t be around to see it.
Love the voice over. I’d like to try that. Was it created on Substack or elsewhere?
Hi Jenny! Ooh this is all good stuff. A qr code is a great idea!! I might do that too.
The voice over is done on Substack — although I use a mike. The Substack mike is a bit scratchy. And btw you can end up creating a podcast from it. It connects with Spotify.
Thank you. I've seen a few recordings but not necessarily listened to them. I did yours. My son is a long haul truck driver and wants to listen to audio while he's driving nights.
Ok I answered that wrong. Yes. I use a mike — but I record it on zoom — not directly into the Substack app. You can record directly. But that sound to me is not clean. So i record into a zoom session, trim it and save as audio only and upload it. It’s a few additional steps, but I like the clarity.
Ok thanks. I played a bit with my phones voice memo. That could work too.
I just was told that on the app, there's a play button and AI reads your posts outloud. Seems to only be in an app though.
Edit: it's on the website too. That works too although it's not your voice.
It is. But I like using my own voice — I can emphasize what I want. And I think our voice is an heirloom too!
I’m smiling at this because I have a collection of beautiful old porcelain cups and saucers which I am hoping someone in the family might like …along with the bag of vintage textiles…my granddaughter might be the lucky recipient as she has a gentle and loving nature…she might just like these because they were mine….who knows?
Oh thank you for letting me know this made you smile! (We need more of those reasons!!)
Maybe use them when she visits so she associates the connection between you two?
Great idea….🌷
I have many such things, and I know nobody else wants them.
I enjoyed this story, Diane, and learning more about your life. I wanted to collect things since I was a child and have amassed a ton of things, most notably 60-some Hall China teapots. I have no kids, so I’ll gift many of them, one-by-one to friends. I hope they enjoy them in real time, no matter what happens to them eventually. I’m visiting my mother right now, and I see where my collecting bug came from. She introduced me yesterday to a coin collection I never knew about—on top of the Waterford Crystal, china, silverware, and other graceful items spread throughout her large house. She has a great eye and the effect is not cluttered, but no one else will have room for even a fraction of all this. I see why Mom doesn’t want to downsize, even though she should be in a smaller place in a senior living community at 90 years of age.
My mother was the 4th of 6 children who grew up in Ireland during the war, so these things symbolize how she and my father (also Irish born) moved up in the world. That’s the over-arching story. Inspired by what you wrote, I took a picture of a china cabinet as my mother has it now… to remember it.
Such a wonderful story! And I think gifting them one by one is a fantastic idea. A friend recently gave me that wall hanging she made — she stopped potting some time ago. I can’t tell you how much I treasure it.
Ive moved so many times and once had a foot locker of my dad’s that was filled with childhood things. I have no idea where it went. The last move, we really downsized a lot. Although I kept an Italian-made wall unit in burl maple that was supposed to house a 1990s bulky tv — so now it houses things. Hahah.
I too have tea cups. Years ago I decided to pull them out of the closet and display them. I turned my grandmother's china cabinet into a tea cabinet with the cups on display. When friends come to visit I invite them to chose the cup they'd like to use. I don't have a favorite because, frankly, they've all got stories attached to them so they're all my favorites. I'm simply grateful to have them out where I can see them and to use them on a regular basis.
This was lovely to read. Thank you for sharing.
This is such a delightful anecdote! I really appreciate you sharing it. I’m starting to think that in order to build desire we need to build relevance. By letting people choose the cup you are doing just that!! Thank you for this insight!!
This is something that bothers me too (when I allow it to!). I have amassed quite a lot of family ‘heirlooms’ including china and some silver, from both sides of my family. Our house has been in chaos for some time so I have times when I wake up in the night worrying about how I can sort out the good stuff from all the rest and display it/keep it safe.
I like the QR code idea, for when I have a chance to sort through and document things.
It’s so hard to convey the sentimental meaning of items if our family members just “don’t get it.” Maybe there is a way to connect the vitality or characteristics of a given ancestor — to an individual in your life so they see the connection?
Thinking this over I realised I should use some of the cataloguing skills I developed while working in an art gallery, write up a description of the important stuff and photograph it, then file it as part of my family history with all the family photos etc. I can't do that on a large scale just now as I'm waiting for heart surgery and everything tires me out, but I could maybe start with some jewellery and work out a methodology. Thanks for getting mecthinking about this!
Oh Cecilia I am sorry you are going through this right now. Best of luck with the surgery. I am inspired by all of you!
Your story resonated with me Diane. My family will have absolutely no interest in any of my 'stuff'. Perhaps they inherited that from their grandmother - my mother. She keeps nothing of sentimental value. Even photos are considered 'rubbish' and thrown out. I get so envious when I see people writing about the heirlooms in their family. I do have two heirlooms that I treasure, given to me by my great grandmother, who I remember well. She crocheted beautifully and gave me a huge tablecloth that she made. I'm still in awe of the beautiful work. She also gave me two books that were published in the 19th century that were hers when she was a young girl. These I treasure.
I’m so envious about that tablecloth!! Do you use it? What types of books are they? You must have wonderful stories about your great grandmother!
https://www.arrowsmithpress.com/bruce-smith
Yes, my Nana collected tea cups! I also wrote about it.
https://grandmasgrannysfamilyalbum.blogspot.com/2021/02/bessies-tea-cups.html
I have been the family collector of artifacts that other relatives are downsizing. I know my daughter is interested, not my sons, but she lives in a New York apartment. I'm still working on curating the photos I inherited.
In my case, I believe the desire to collect delicate beautiful items was a desire to lift oneself up from poverty into the middle class. They were eager to follow conventions to show they had "made it."
Thank you for your post. You gave me a lot to think about.