What's the oldest thing in your closet?

Earlier this year I put on my Jeans belt and the hole for the buckle finally gave way.  Doesn't surprise me too much, for leather belts aren't supposed to last for 50 years.  I remember that I purchased this belt when I was in high school.  Originally it came with a Coors belt buckle, but that broke before I graduated.

The buckle came from Summerfest in 1975.  I was volunteering as part of a flag corp so we got free admission.  I needed a belt buckle and there were many vendors supplying various items of clothing.  I have no idea why I picked this buckle.  It reads Livingston,Wells & Co., Domestic and Foreign Gold Dealers and has the image of a schooner in the middle.  Apparently, this company was a predecessor to Wells Fargo bank.  

I find it interesting looking at the hole pattern in the belt.  Apparently, I've grown a few inches around since high school.  Some of the ones closest to the end are even stretched out a bit.  Apparently, I've enjoyed a few beers while wearing this belt.  

I also find it interesting that if you do a search on the Internet, there are dozens of Livingston, Wells and Co belt buckles for sale as "vintage".  I guess that makes me vintage as well.  My buckle shows more wear, though.  It's had a good life so far.  Now all I need to do is look for a new leather belt.  

Keys

Random Box of Keys

One of the things you get to do when you move is to clean out drawers that have sat idle for a long, long, time.  They are called junk drawers because we tend to put things into them without thought.  If there isn't a place for it, it must go in the junk drawer.  One of the things collected in the junk drawer are keys.

I have no idea where most of these keys come from.  I've got a better idea where some of the key rings came from, but those are lost in history as well.  Some of them are labeled (like the keys to the cottage, 1500 miles away), and some are anonymous. 

I wandered around the house with the keys trying the various locks on things, and I still can't find the key for a few locks.  Some are now identified, but there are many that are lost in the depths of time. 

Key from the house where I grew up

However, I did recognize one old key.  Don't know why I still have it, but it is the key to the house where I grew up.  I'm certain the new owner has changed the locks since then, so I'll keep it in the box as a reminder. 

Printing Press - Part I

Found this note from my father with the Superior Rotary Printing Press.

This printing set was a 1943 Christmas Present, when I was 11 years old.  

The reason I "remember" this is that one of the ambitious projects I tried with it was to print an article "Seharnhorst, Huge German Battleship, Sunk in Fight".  That naval battle and sinking took place on December 26, 1943.  It is described on pages 267-271 in The German Northern Theater of Operation 1940-1945, by Earl F. Ziemki, 9 June 1959 (Department of the Army pamphlet No 20-271).  

Note the citation and format of the citation.  He wrote this in June 12, 2002, approximately 50 years after his last English/Technical Writing class.  The underlining and format exactly as he wrote it in his note.  

Link to Book

Farewell, Old Friend.

After sitting in the garage for two years without being used, it was time to say goodbye to the camper.   I knew it was time last fall, but figured that it would sell quicker if I waited until spring.  I must have been right, for within 6 hours of posting it on Craigslist, I had about 20 people who were interested. 

We were able to sell it to a young couple with a 2-year old who were just as happy to get it as I was sad to see it go.  It may have been a great garage shelf for the past 20 years, but we had some great memories. 

I had thought I had everything cleaned out when we popped it up to show the new couple, but they noticed a magnet attached to the side.  Then another and another.  As I collected the magnets, I remembered the good time we had, and the multitude of places the camper had been.  We camped in it from coast to coast, so it has seen it's share of use.   And who can forget 15 straight days across the Southwest as we were moving to Everett. 

Ahh, the good times. 

Farewell, old friend.  Hope your new family can make as many good memories as we did. 

Lego

Got some at work too!
(with noticeable lens distortion)

One of my favorite toys growing up was Lego.  Back in the 60's and 70's, Lego was quite primitive based on what we have today.  It primarily consisted of red and white bricks, and if you were lucky, there were some thick plates and wheels.  I remember creating buildings, vehicles, cities, and all sorts of red and white striped structures. 

As with most toy companies, Lego has evolved to become much more sophisticated, so that some purists believe that it isn't the same type of toy that it used to be.  Now, you can get buckets of "regular" Lego, but much more is sold in various models and kits.  Castles, space craft, monsters, robots and cars are just some of the items that are available for purchase, all with their own assembly instructions for "proper" assembly. 

I, for one, have succumbed to the dark side of Lego assembly.  I have buckets of Lego, some dating from the 60's, that can be used to create my own creations, however, virtually all of my purchases lately have been of the model variety.  Star Wars specifically. 

I carefully unwrap them, get out the instruction books, and assemble them exactly as shown on the book.  Following assembly, I admire the craft it went in the design, put them on the shelf to collect dust, and go off and get another model.  

Have I lost my originality?  Have I succumbed to the Toy Story II syndrome?  Am I treating them as collectables (read investments), not toys?  Am I too old for playing? 

Some people may find this frightening, some people liberating.  As for me, I find it a relatively cheap mid-life crisis.  That, and I'm getting a head start on my grand kids.  They will think I'm the coolest grandpa on the planet. 

From Mother to Daughter II

Maria's daughter just turned two years old today.  For her birthday, we passed down a memento from her Grandmother.

When Gail was little, her father made her a cradle for her doll.  As she grew, her parents stashed it away and when Maria was two years old, passed the doll cradle down to her.

Now, years later, Maria's daughter turned two, so we pulled out the cradle from storage, cleaned it up, gave it a new coat of varnish, and made her a quilt that matches a quilt Deanne gave her when she was born.  By that evening, it once again had a doll inhabiting the cradle and was being taken care of by her "Mommy". 

From Mother to Daughter

Long ago, when Gail was growing up, her parents gave her a small rocking chair.  As a young child, she played with the chair, first sitting in the chair then using it for her dolls and other stuffed animals.

When Maria was a year old, Gail's parents found the chair, cleaned it up, and presented it to Maria for a Christmas or Birthday gift.  She followed in her mother's footsteps, sitting in it and then using it for her dolls and other stuffed animals. 

A year ago, we took it down out of the attic, cleaned it up, and gave it to Maria's daughter.  It sits proudly in their living room, and is used daily for sitting and displaying dolls and stuffed animals. 

It's held up this long, so maybe in another thirty years or so, it will be used by another generation.  Only time will tell. 

Me and My Monkey

 I always showed an interest in golf while growing up.  Took some lessons with the local recreation department but didn't really get into it until I got to High School and I went out for the Golf Team.  During that time, my sister was into crafts  where she would buy plaster figures and paint them.  So, one Christmas or Birthday or other occasion, she made this monkey for me. 

As you can see, it's had a bit of a hard life.  Scratches here, chips there.  But somehow, during all my moves around the country, I brought along the monkey.  It was never displayed in a prominent location, probably spending half it's life in a box or so, but isn't that how it goes?  I had to clean off quite a bit of dust and dirt before taking his picture. 

But, sadly, it comes time for all things to pass.  So long, monkey.  I'll remember you fondly and thank my sister for putting that effort into making him for me.  And it reminds me of the Beatles. 

Happy Birthday

Today is my oldest daughter Maria's 30th birthday.   After her daughter was born, we were going through a box that said "Maria's Mementos" and came across many things.  There were cards from baby showers, letters and cards after her birth, her first shoes, and these from the hospital.

The hospital where she was born no longer exists, we've long since sold the house where we took her home and virtually everything else from that time has been trashed, given away or recycled.  

But we still had the card and the wristbands from that day, one of the best days of my life (and there have been many). 

Gifts from Travels.

In some families, it is a tradition to buy gifts for those left at home when on business trips, particularly children.  I know that when my father would travel away on conferences, he would bring small gifts back from places he visited.

I recall when I was young, my father brought this sign back from New Orleans.  I don't believe I was a big fan of pirates at the time, but I thought it was cool and had it in my room while I was growing up. 

A few years ago, I stumbled across this gift again.  Coincidentally, the owner of the company I currently work for was into pirates, so I brought it in and put it on his office door.  He has since passed away, but Pirate Alley is still used to test products he was involved with. 

I don't think my father would mind. 

Back to School

Long ago, I left home for college.  It was 700+ miles away, and I had a car, so my Mom and I got in the car and started driving.  We drove for awhile and stopped the night at a motel somewhere along the way.  I do remember that instead of going with me all the way to Blacksburg, she flew back to Milwaukee from Charleston, WV, about 100 miles short. 

I made the remaining portion of the trip without incident, and at some point during my freshman year, my family visited to see how I was doing.  And as part of that visit, my mother bought me the laundry bag that you see on the left.   If you look very closely, you can see the remnants of Virginia Tech on the bag.  Apparently mothers can look at their son's dorm rooms and quickly identify something they need. 

The drawstring doesn't work very well anymore, but the bag is still sturdy and still holding dirty laundry upon occasion, mostly when we are traveling. 

VT T-Shirt Quilt

Before the baby boomers came along, t-shirts were white and you wore them underneath other shirts.  By the time we were kids in the 70's, t-shirts became much more:  art, personal expression, souvenir.  It seemed a shame to turn them into rags as they wore out or got too small. 

Not certain who's idea it was, but quite some time ago, Gail started making t-shirts into quilts.  Nothing fancy, just cut out the interesting bits of the shirt, sew them together, and use them as a casual throw.   So we started saving shirts instead of turning them into rags. 

Last summer, Gail started going into the 5 boxes of t-shirts, pruning them out, and making them into memories.  There were enough of them, she started making them into different themes.  This quilt documents some of our experiences at Tech, from band trips to Memphis in 1979, the Peach Bowl in 1981, Marching Virginians' Anniversaries, and other fond memories from when we were young. 

Christmas Candle

After our children grew up and went to college, we began to host exchange students attending a local community college.  Some stayed all year, and some only a few months.

During 2014 and 2015, the college had an agreement with a high school in Herning, Denmark where an entire class would come over to study in America for two months.  In 2015, Camilla came to stay with us.

Tall and blond, like most Danish girls I've met, she was very outgoing, not wasting her opportunity to see America.  Her mother worked at a Christmas store in Denmark, so Camilla brought us tradition Danish Christmas Candle.  It says, God Jul (Happy Christmas) in Danish and has numbers along the side.  As she explained, you were supposed to burn the candle each night until you get to the day, counting down until Christmas.  (As you can see, we weren't very consistent burning our candle.)

Camilla was only with us from October 2nd through December 2nd so she was not around for Christmas that year.  Since it was her favorite time of the year, we broke out the Christmas decorations and put up the tree right after Thanksgiving.  Camilla, Ai, and Beryl, our three students for the year, enjoyed opening up the Christmas decorations and putting them up on the tree.

When Gail and I actually travel to Europe together, we will have to stop by Herning and look up Camilla and Nadja.  Too bad the school decided to go to San Francisco in 2016. 

Coins

NPS Quarters - 2010 through 2015

Some of the images I want to share are mementos that I have collected over the years.  Some of them I will be disposing of, but some of them are just things I'm collecting (for now).

One of the mementos that I have been collecting are proof sets of the National Park Service quarters.  I loved what the US Mint did with the State quarters, and one of my daughters has the proof sets of those quarters.  When the Park Service quarters came out, I decided that I would like to get them.

I'm not a coin collector, by nature, but I thought these were cool.

I also learned that it's really hard to take pictures of shiny things.