things we do not keep, part 2
I’ve shown you some of the things that I’ve held onto from my closet clean-outs, but this week I present things that I do not plan to keep…. although since taking this photo, my husband has pulled a few items back from the brink, like the candle in a silver heart engraved “Happy 25th Anniversary, David & Liz…Love, ‘The Jr. Highers’”. It was presented to us by the youth group that we led at a church we no longer attend. Now, as we close in on our 50th wedding anniversary in 2024, I realize that we have never even lit the candle. The silver was not high quality…my efforts to polish it have only produced a slightly yellow sheen. But David wants to keep it, and I agree that it does represent some really special memories.
However, most of these items belonged to my mother-in-law, whom I have already described as an avid, if unfocused collector. Some of them are obsolete, like small silver salt cellars with teeny, tiny spoons. Likewise, there are miniature salt shakers. That’s an awful lot of salt! And there is at least one item that I have no idea about. It’s pictured here on the right. I know it looks like a pie server, but it is much too small for that. Someone speculated that it could be used on an hors d’oeurves tray, perhaps for pate or some kind of spreadable cheese. If you have any ideas to contribute, I’d be glad to hear them. My own internet search has produced nothing like it.
I’ve done some other searching online, enough to know that most of these things will not go to Goodwill. Last summer, my cousin was cleaning out her cottage and came across many pieces of silver…trays, and urns and chafing dishes that had belonged to her mother and our grandmother. Mary had done her homework and knew that there was a dealer in her hometown who would pay for the sterling silver, but that the silver plate had no worth to speak of. I’ve put my small pieces in a box to take to an antique dealer to see if there is any interest at all. And then, there is always Ebay. But that sounds like an awful lot of work to me.
Love, Liz
