Is It A Treasure?

  I am one that finds a lot of treasure in other people's trash.  People have a tendency to toss things in the trash instead of trying to repurpose or recycle them.  Don't get me wrong. I do not go digging through trash cans nor visit the dump to confiscate items to reuse. More oft than not, things are dumped on...errr...given to me or I merely find them.  The given items are usually some off the wall items that folks know I will find useful for the annual clue hunts while the found items are things that should never have been tossed in the first place...probably.

  Today while dusting, I came across one of those "found" items.  Years ago while driving the kids home from school, my oldest son shouted "Stop!".  This meant one of two things.  He either forgot something important at school or he spied something on the side of the road that was interesting.  (I trained him well!)  Usually, his finds were pieces of furniture that could be refurbished.  He was great about refinishing old pieces and making them usable once again.  This time, however, it was not a chair or table but a picture frame. I stopped the car, he snatched the frame out of the ditch and we were on our merry way down the road.  When he looked at the "frame" it was not empty.  Inside was a framed Valentine.  Hmmm?   We got home, Darling Daughter cleaned the picture and hung it near the front door.  She was always my interior designer even at a young age!

  Before today, I never paid much attention to the thing other than to dust it.  The Valentine has been hanging in the same place for some twenty years now.  It was there and nothing more. Today, however, I pulled the thing from the wall and inspected it.  On the back is the name Pizitz in Huntsville, Alabama.  So I did a bit of research and found that places with this name have been around for over a hundred years.   The Valentine inside sure looked like it could be that old but the framing looks newer.  I pondered if the gallery maybe did custom framing and found that they occasionally did.  Well, now the question...do I rip the paper dust cover off of the back of the frame and examine the Valentine? Or do I just leave well enough alone and rehang the framed piece near the front door?  Ponder, ponder.  Why would anyone toss this if it was Great-grandmother's Valentine? Perhaps it was lost during a move?  Or is it just some cheap decorative piece created to look like an antique? Who knows?  Maybe I will think about this a bit more before tearing into the frame.  It would be nice to know and maybe return the piece to its rightful owner if it indeed is an old Valentine.  Oh, the Little Bayou House holds so many treasures....even if some are just junk!

Finding History!

Today was one of those days that called for some sort of laid-back project.  Something that would not require major amounts of activity.  Having been "under the weather" a bit as of late, I did not want to overdo with any strenuous work.  Pondering just what I could do, I wandered about the Little Bayou House.  In the corner of the living room, I spied an antique wardrobe steamer trunk.  This is one of the old upright things that have a series of drawers on one side and a place to hang clothes on the other.  The trunk has been at my house since my mother passed away years and years ago.  Inside..things are exactly as she had left them.   The funny thing is..none of the stuff inside ever was used by her!  This trunk and the contents were given to Pop way back when I was a wee tot.  Besides being a farmer, he was a small engine mechanic and the town handyman.  All of this was to make ends meet when the farming was poor.  He had a wife and five kids to support so needed the extra work.  Pop was one hard working man!  Anyway, sometimes folks did not have a lot of money to pay for his work efforts.  They would offer him items in lieu of cash.  Being the kindhearted man he was, he never refused their offers.  As a result, we came in possession of some mighty odd items.  Mom and Pop never complained even when they received something such as their ninth set of fire pokers or another odd dining chair.  They just counted their blessings that the bills stayed paid and the kids stayed fed.  This trunk, though, contained a veritable treasure trove of goodies if I remembered rightly.  There was my busy work for the day!  I would investigate the trunk!  I called for my son, Michael, to come pull the thing out from the wall and open it up for me!  That was when the "fun" began!

We found newspapers from as far back as the 1800's, bunches of letters, a number of property deeds and some great old pictures. There were old purses, mirrors, beadwork, curling irons (pre-electric!) and shoes!  I knew most of this was in there but had forgotten exactly what the items were.  Two of the more interesting things were books.  One is an album of photographs from the Philippine Islands. These pictures had to be taken way, way back in the day!  The ladies wore the most beautiful dresses! I only wish that I knew who these lovely people were!  There is probably fifty or so photographs in the album with captions such as "Such a lovely picnic!"  or "A jolly party..Mariveles".  Wouldn't it be great fun to know what went on at these parties?

Another photo album in the trunk was a complimentary album from the company "T. J. Rosell Manufacturing Co."  The inside cover states that this company made "all sorts of building materials".  The book is a pictorial of old Biloxi.  Photographs from long ago of the houses and businesses of the area.  Thomas Jefferson Rosell was quite the important businessman in Biloxi at the time and even served as mayor during the early 1900's.  This book, in itself, is absolutely priceless as far as being a guide to old Biloxi and the architecture of the time.  The houses were exquisite masterpieces!  There was also a great picture of the Biloxi Lighthouse!

I am happy that I spent the day perusing through this collection of history.  I am not sure just what to do with it all but I know that since Mom kept it as treasure, so will I.  This is something that perhaps will be passed down to my kids.  Some rainy afternoon in the future, they can open the old steamer trunk and be amazed at what junk their mom kept.  Someday, when I am ready to part with the stuff, perhaps I should contact some historical society and let them take a gander at the stuff.  I have reservations of doing this simply because of the reaction I received once before when I tried this. My intention was to donate some of the items to the Biloxi Historical Society.  The offer was met with a bit of disdain saying the stuff was "junk" and probably all replicas of the time.  Hmmm?  It should be an easy task for a true historian to authenticate a dated paper.  On second thought, perhaps I shall wait.  When the time comes, I shall know.  If not..then my kids will be stuck with some fantastic treasures!

It is NOT an antique!

I am elated that my daughter raided the Christmas decoration closet and took one of my artificial Christmas trees home with her! Because of this, I found a long-lost treasure hiding in the back of the closet. In the dark depths of no-man's land, there sat a large box that had not been opened for the past several years..more like about five years actually! I tugged at the box.."My goodness! This box was heavy!" Pulling off the lid, I found strings of lights. Not the present day, twinkly, mini lights..the big heavy glass lights of days past. I shoved the box aside..bah humbug! I thought some elusive goody was in that box..lights!..hmmph!..I have tons of lights. To tell the truth, I have huge boxes of Christmas lights of all sorts..too many to ever use..but I have them!..just in case! Then a thought.."What else is in that box?" I hauled it back out and felt under the lights. It was almost scary as I was not sure what was hidden there..maybe a monster or alien! (Or an active imagination!) There! There in the bottom of that box..far beneath the heavy lights..was a treasure! I dumped the box over! Aha! A true treasure! A lost treasure! My parents' Christmas tree! I remember when they first bought this tree! It was way back when..ok..we won't go that far! I knew I had it somewhere but when my husband came home with the latest pre-lit gorgeous tree, this one was relegated to the back of the closet. Now out it came! It was to be my beautiful red, green and gold tree for the dining room! I proudly hauled the box downstairs! I was busily putting together the tree stand when a thought went through my head.."Wow, this tree has been around for a while!" I am now waiting for one of my kids or some visitor remark on my "antique" tree. Folks...it is not antique! Nope..no way..can't be! I remember buying this tree..there is no possible way it can be antique! Retro..that's it! It is retro! After much twisting, turning, pulling, shoving, bending and poking..the tree is up! And oh my goodness! It used to look a lot taller! Do artificial trees like humans, shrink as they age? And I think it is going bald! In its heyday this tree was perhaps the best there was, now it is a sad, little squirt of a tree that is shedding its needles all over my floor. Tomorrow..the tree will have its lights and ornaments and become the treasure it was in my mind..never mind the remarks about it being antique!

I had good intentions of having that tree decorated by today but marmalade got in the way. Yesterday, my son and I seeded and chopped our way through seven pounds of kumquats. These were placed in the large enamel jelly pot, covered with water and a little lemon juice, boiled until tender and then let sit overnight in the refrigerator. This step is just to let it "steep" a bit which helps to make a good "set" when bottled. Today, the pot was lugged out and the marmalade was cooked to its golden goodness! Tomorrow..another seven or eight pounds will be seeded and chopped and the process will start again. Then out to the trees to pick some more! If all goes well, we should have enough to make about a hundred jars before all is said and done. Bring on the biscuits!