Today, I’m joining Marie for an Heirloom Party, not that I have many heirlooms, and actually I have few things that could be considered heirlooms by definition, but I thought it would be fun to share a couple of my family treasures with all of you too. These things that came from my paternal grandma, who has been gone for many years now.
Neither side of my family had much growing up. In fact, if we had grown up back during the Old South plantation days, instead of being like Scarlett O’Hara’s family in Gone With the Wind with all their beautiful finery, big plantation home, filled with fine furniture, I’m quite sure my family would have been living in the sharecropper’s cottage. 🙂 We just don’t come from a lot of material wealth. And that’s OK too. I’ve mentioned before that I had to buy someone else’s family history as I’ve collected my own antique pieces, so now I suppose I can call them my own heirlooms now.
When my Dad’s mom passed away, he was able to get just a couple of things from her house (he had a lot of sisters), so there are only 2 furniture pieces that he brought home and then passed on to me, when I expressed interest in them. First, this little side table. I can remember seeing this table in my Grandma’s little cottage home in Panama City, FL and when we would visit her growing up, I can still remember sleeping in a room with old armoires, feather beds, and smelling those old musty smells.
This little side table was in her livingroom, so when my Dad gave it to me, I promised him I’d keep it and take care of it. It’s certainly not a fine piece of furniture, I’m sure nothing she owned was expensive, but it’s very pretty to me and I treasure it because it is a part of my family heritage. The only thing I’ve ever done to it is give it a coat of poly for protection and it serves me well in my own livingroom.
This old Singer sewing machine spent many years under my parent’s stairway closet and I finally asked for it too. I used it in my old sunroom in GA and then brought it over here, where it’s used as a side table in the beachy guestroom.
The drawers are so pretty and I love the patina on the wood.
The attachments are still in the drawer and I can imagine my Grandma sitting here sewing. My Dad said she used to sew a lot on this old Singer, wonderful memories to treasure! These are the only 2 family pieces I have.
How about you? Do you have many family heirlooms and are you making plans to pass them on to your kids or another family member? It is so special to keep things like this in the family, don’t you think?
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It’s always fun to meet up with blog friends, new and old. And I just met a new one this week, Renae Moore, from Renae Moore Designs. She lives in Canton, GA (near my old hometown) and was over here getting her son settled in at Samford University and we got to meet up for coffee and a bagel at Panera. It was so much fun, she’s a sweet person, a fellow decorator and a sister in Christ and I love that we could just sit down and get to know each other better. We certainly had plenty to chat about. Meeting up with blog friends is always a treat! Renae, I look forward to getting together again.
I’ll be at the Briarwood Flea market today around Noon if anyone else is planning to be there. Look for me!
Rhoda – Those pieces are priceless. No amount of money can buy family memories. You can almost hear the stories the sewing machine could tell. Thanks for sharing the joy.
Charla
I LOVE the sewing machine table. It’s beautiful! My Grandmother has one very similar. It sits in a unused bedroom in the back of her house. After seeing yours, I’m seriously considering asking her if I can have it.
Beautiful pieces. My mom has that exact same sewing machine.
I so want to go to the briarwood fleamarket today. saw it on fox 6 and already spotted a couple of dishes that i would love to have. good luck. think about me while you are there.
Hey Rhoda!
I once tried to find the Briarwood flea market, but couldn’t! Is it behind the summit?? Also, did you see the ad on craigslist for an estate sale in Hollywood on Saturday? It sounds like it would be a good one. Have a happy weekend!
Great pieces. My Aunt and Uncle have the same Singer sewing machine table. That thing is heavy!
Brooke, they are advertising it at the Briarwood church on Acton Rd. I think it is in the gym maybe??
Rhoda, the sewing machine table and the side table are both lovely! I love the patina on the wood. Of course, the fact that they came from family makes them precious!
Your grandmother’s table may not be considered a “fine antique” in the general sense, but that its provenance is personal and meaningful to you is all that matters. In my opinion, people get way to hung up on ‘monetary’ value. Within your own family, it is a fine and priceless heirloom (and a genuinely pretty piece).
Oh my goodness. My mother had that same sewing machine that once belonged to my great grandmother. Unfortunately she left it in the house we moved from when we left Alabama. We were supposed to go back and get lots of items that were left, this included and never made it.
I do have some pieces that aren’t really worth much money, but they mean the world to me since they were my grandparents’. I have a table that looks very much like the one you have, but mine is unfinished and I’ve always been afraid of messing with it. Adding a clear coat might not be such a bad idea! : )
Rhoda,
My Mom has that same table. We call it the 6-Legged Table. It had orginally belonged to my Great-Grandmother and will eventually go to my sister.
Thanks for your help with my Blog!
Girl, I am so with you. My grandfather WAS a sharecropper. For real. And I don’t mean my great-great-grandfather. I mean my dad’s dad. And my husband’s grandfather was a tenant farmer. My mother’s people were slightly more prosperous–her grandfather actually owned some land in Kansas. Still, my husband and I just down come from any money at all. So I joined the Heirloom Party, too, and showed one of the few things I inherited. Maybe we love our heirlooms more because we don’t have many; what do you think? And it’s nice to think that we’re now collecting some heirlooms that we’ll be able to pass down some day.
Have a great weekend!
Love the old sewing machines…my mother also has one, it weighs quite a bit but she’s not about to part with it!
I keep trying to wrangle the sewing machine that my mom has, just like that one, from my mom. Someday….
Hi Rhoda 🙂
Congratulations on your own website!
I love the story behind your family treasures. No matter what they cost, they’re priceless and mean so much. I think that’s true for everyone. Besides, no amount of money could make me give them up 🙂
hugs,
rue
Hey Rhoda, great post! You inspired me to write about my own family heirlooms. We don’t have much, as we had leave everything behind in Cuba when we left the island about 30 years ago. But my auntie brought us a few things back in 92 that belonged to my grandma, so I get to have a few things to blog about. Thanks for letting us know about the party!
Rhoda,
I always enjoy seeing the treasures from your home and how you use them in decorating. Thanks for sharing your heirlooms today!
Nancy
Hi Rhoda,
We have a few items in our family that we consider heirlooms. None of them would be considered fine antiques but to us they are priceless because of their sentimental value. One of the items is a small table that my maternal grandfather made and the second item is an old clock that belonged to my paternal grandparents. My dad passed away in March of this year and my mom has willed his WWII medals to our daughter. She is to safeguard them and will eventually pass them on to her sons/our grandsons.
Our daughter’s wedding band is actually a small diamond band that belonged to my mother-in-law. She also has her old Singer sewing machine that probably once sat on an old table very similar to yours. My husband’s father used to play the fiddle and to this day our daughter proudly displays his old fiddle on her mantle. The strings are old and broken but because it belonged to her grandfather (whom she never met) it means that much more to her.
Thanks for reminding me of the true value of family heirlooms even if monetarily they are not considered as such. TFS! Sheila
Your grandmother’s table is so pretty, and I love the singer sewing machine cabinet. You’ve accessorized it so nicely.
It’s nice that you were able to get together with Ranae! How fun!
Jane