Thursday, September 17, 2009

Heirloom Party



Marie from Emma Calls Me Mama is hosting an Heirloom Party today.

Yup, I've got some of those. I inherited my grandmother Hattie's china and my grandmother Mary's dining room table.

While I enjoy those big ticket items, I am most sentimental about some other smaller things. I have found that it's the ordinary things that mean the most. When my Grandma Mary died my Aunt Jean wanted one of her lipsticks. Revlon's Cherries in the Snow. That lipstick is an heirloom now.

Along those lines, this is one of my favorite heirlooms.
Cigar Wrapper Plate

When I was young, maybe six or seven, my Grandma Hattie started asking relatives to "put their names on things." It was kind of creepy. Eventually all her stuff had someone's name on the bottom of it. It kind of scared me. She said she did it to prevent any problems later on. She also said she wouldn't know what things really meant something to us. Fortunately, she lived until I was in my twenties. At some point I talked to her about it and told her that what I really wanted more than anything was this cigar plate.

It hung on her dining room wall in the old house and I can remember thinking it was so beautiful and cool that someone made that. I also loved that she looked like an old fashioned china doll. I think it was hard to believe that my grandmother was once so small.

I (thankfully) don't know a single person who smokes cigars anymore which makes the labels all the more charming. I believe the plate is about a hundred years old. Now that's a craft with some staying power. All you Modge Podgers- you just never know!

12 comments:

Embellished Bayou said...

What a sweet memory and a charming heirloom, thanks for sharing!

Jared and Delia said...

Priceless! What a neat heirloom to have.

alanna rose said...

This is so cool, and so sentimental. Thanks for sharing!

blushing rose said...

My cousins & g'ma put names on everything also ... but all of g'mas intended 'gifts' never reached their intended recipients ... the 2 uncles cleaned it all out & no one got anything, except them.

What a gorgeous cigar plate treasure ... hadn't seen one like this before.

TTFN ~Marydon

Tara said...

I've never seen anything decorated with cigar labels. The plate is very neat and I love that it has the pictures on it. I think my family photos are my very favorite heirloom!

Debra@CommonGround said...

I just love this, what a wonderful momento. Decopauge has been around a long time, but I've never seen a plate like this. The old labels are awesome!
Debra

ChesterAndDonkey said...

Aww ... I love the story of the lipstick! It definitely is the small things. Very nice stories!

Kim @ Starshine Chic said...

Loved the stories & the plate. My Grandma did the same thing with having us put our name on the bottom of something we wanted. It did seem sort of creepy at the time but it did makes things easier to divide up after her death.

Michelle Hughes said...

That is so neat! Love the story behind it!

SMiles!
Michelle

Marie said...

Hello Jane - what a sweet story! Love that plate. I'm so glad you have it to enjoy! Btw...my fave nail polish color is Revlon's Cherries in the Snow! Sounds like they kept the name around but made it into a polish over time. hee hee.

Thank you for joining the party!

Blessings,
Marie
http://emmacallsmemama.com

❀~Myrna~❀ said...

Wonderful memory, such a pretty plate and a great heirloom.8-)
~Myrna
http://daylily777-myenchantedhome.blogspot

Wendy @ Ramblings from the Sunshine State said...

What a neat piece!