What is the oldest piece of memorabilia of your family do you have?
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
May 5, 2007 10:36pm CST
I was just wondering if some of you are fortunate to have old keepsakes belonging to past members of your family...your grandparents, great-grandparents, or...even older.
There were so many keepsakes an items of my family that are long, long gone...some my grandmother and mother sold when we needed money...like my great-grandfather pocket watch..you know one of those old pieces on a chain...or a beautiful cameo brooch that was I don't know how old. Right now the only real piece of memorabilia, are old old photos...and I mean OLD....these are black and white glass plates and the mode of dress on the woman (my great-great-grandmother??) looks right out of the American Civil War period...and they are still in perfect condition...long time ago I had asked my grandmother and mother who the woman was, and neither had a clue.--so if these photos are as old as I think they are they must be at least 144 years old!!!
So what are your treasured family keepsakes??
9 people like this
18 responses
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
6 May 07
We have a set of containers that are china or percelian. They are to hold things like flour, sugar, and coffee along with matching smaller ones for spices. They belonged to my great grandmother. We also have a cake serving set that belonged to my grangmother along with some depression era glass plates. It's great to have them but they aren't worht anything though. It's still nice to have that connection to them.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 May 07
I still have a few of the china pieces of my great-grandmother's too..not many as so many broke over the years
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
6 May 07
I have color crystal plates form 1920, sawing machine from 1910...most get lost during the second war...my family lost house and land....
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
6 May 07
My grandmother has one too. I would hate to think anyone would throw it out when she passes! It would be something I would appericate because she taught me to sew on it :)
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 May 07
Here's one of those oh, no moments....my great-grandmother believed in the bartering system...if she needed something done and didn't have the cash money to pay, she do a trade thing...so the story goes that a neighbor was helping her clean her apt...don't know where we were..LOL...so the neighbor cleans...as payment, my great-grandmother said...if there's something you see that you like take it as payment....so the neighbor pointed to a painting....it was a genuine TURNER painting...Arrgh!!!
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
1 Jun 07
Wow--the 1800s??? Is it leatherbound?...most old books from then are
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
1 Jun 07
Ah--we used to have a gorgeous Cameo pin...have no idea how old it was...but alas, during one of the lean times we sold it...
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
6 May 07
i have a silver dagger type knife that came over with my irish side of the family.i'm actually not entirely sure how old it is,but i know it's from the late 1700's somewhere abouts.
@sumofalltears (3988)
• United States
6 May 07
I have many old photos from my grandmother. My maternal grandparents were naturalized citizens of the US, they came from Finland, so they had books from there and plenty of other things. I have her china cabinet and my sister has her other china cabinet and her old singer foot pedal sewing machine. I do remember my grandmother had an old victrola record player the kind you had to wind by hand I used to play it for hours when I was very little.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 May 07
Oh wow..could you imagine how much that old victorla would've been worth now.???
@_hope_ (3902)
• Australia
6 May 07
I have a cross and a chain that belonged to my great grandmother my mother gave it to me on my wedding day i wore it for many years but now it`s safe in my jewel case and for the past 16yrs i have been wearing one that my grandfather gave my not that long before he parted this world for a better one.Both will in time be handed to my daughters.
@ESKARENA1 (18261)
•
6 May 07
my great grandfather was digging in the family garden one day when he unearthed a coin. On cleaning it up it was found to be a coind dated 1616. It is by far the oldest family hairloom i have
blessed be
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 May 07
Oh, my goodness...1616..that's terrific! Ever get it appraised to see its value??
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
6 May 07
I really don't have anything that old unfortunately :(
The oldest memorabilia I have is a wedding gift my parents got and that's only 27 years old LOL.
I do have a quilt though that my Great-Grandmother made my mom once. I don't know when she made it though but I know my mother treasures it and threatens me about getting rid of it. It's been very, very used though and some of it's falling apart :)
Those pictures are really cool!
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
6 May 07
I have some old photos from two generations past that are still with me. My mother gave it to me years ago. Its pretty amazing to see what my ancestors look like before. The clothes are different.
I also have some brooches, bracelets and necklaces from my mother. Nothing fancy just some cheap tokens my mother collected. I keep it for memory sake. I will add some of my precious collection and will divide and pass them on to my two little ones in the future.
@dlkuku (1935)
• United States
6 May 07
I have several things, but I think the oldest is a doll that was my great-grandmothers when she was a little girl. It has a porcelian face and cloth body, and her eyes shut when you lay her down. I have no idea how old the doll is, but I believe she dates from the 1800's.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 May 07
I have two old dolls similar...I've always been wondering how I could find out if they are worth anything..they are completely porcelain--small only about 6" tall --I tried to do a search once but came up with nothing
@Nardz13 (5055)
• New Zealand
6 May 07
Hi Pyewacket, For me, I think the oldest piece of memorabilia, would be carrying the knowledge that was taught to me by my grandmother. The knowledge of knowing my family geneology which goes back 8 generations, and when the times right I will teach my children and teach them to also pass it on to the next generation, so our geneology will never be lost to this ever changing world
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 May 07
I'm really big on my geneology as well...my family unfortunately never took the slightest interest so a good long while ago I began my own search...and I'm still not exactly finished but I did learn an awful lot...it's good to know where one came from..I'm part Native American so naturally my roots go way back in this country....my anglo background in some branches goes back to the 1600s...so there are many generations there as well.
@irishmist (3814)
• United States
6 May 07
I have a pair of diamond earrings that were my grandmothers, God rest her soul. I wear them mostly on special occasions. I also have some of my grandmothers knick knacks. I have the little ceramic Dutch people that you can't find anymore.
1 person likes this
@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
6 May 07
The oldest keepsake that I have is a string of pearls that belonged to my grandmother on my mom's side of the family. Before I go on, I need to explain something. If my parents were still alive, they would be the same age as most people's grandparents, so anything I have in my possession that was my grandparents' is definitely antique. If I remember right, the pearls may have actually belonged to my great grandmother. They need to be restrung, but I don't trust anyone to do it unless they are willing to do it in front of me. So I just keep them locked up. I also have a watch that belonged to my mom's mother. My aunt had given it to me years ago, and I have proudly worn it ever since.
@Bizziebod (3497)
•
6 May 07
Wow sounds like you've got some wonderful memories there, I do hope you have them adequately insured! I've got a few pieces of jewelery from my grandmother, a precious engagement ring of my mothers but my most treasured possession is an old dart's trophy that my late date won many years ago. It's not old and it's not even worth anything but it's one of the few remaining things I have left that was his.
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
6 May 07
I have several pieces of glassware, some dishes and even 'a finger bowl' that have been passed down through at least 5 generations of my Mom's family. I value them very much but it's strange because actually my "Mom" is my ex-stepmother who raised me - these people aren't related to me by blood but I still think of them as family and special keepsakes to me.
Besides those I only have a few things my Grandmother gave me before she passed away.
@makingpots (11915)
• United States
6 May 07
I have a gold wedding band that was my great grandfathers. It is about a half inch wide. Inside it is just stamped 'solid gold' and the jewelers signature can still be read. It is amazing and beautiful. I remember my mom whereing on the same finger with her own wedding band and diamaond for most of my childhood. It meant a lot to me when she decided to give it to me.
It is about 100 years old.
