Recently, I was given my mom's old sewing box. It is is a wooden accordion type sewing box. It has edelweiss and other flowers painted and carved into the top and sides. I remember as a small child that I was fascinated by it! When my mom would open it up to get something she needed I was always taking a peek and amazed at how it would open to allow it's owner to see it all of it contents.
It still contained some items that probably have been there for some time. It was almost like going thru a time capsule. I found one of those metal yard stick rulers that rolls up! I think they were from from the 50's and 60s.
I found a tape measure in metric measurements that was made in Switzerland. My parents immigrated from Austria in 1952 and this sewing box was one of few treasures that she brought with her.
There was a straight razor made by E Weck and Son NY made in the USA. Having gone thru WW2 in Europe, I remember my mom using this to take apart clothing to repurpose the fabric. She told us stories of how hard life became during WW2 and that they became very resourceful repurposing things just to have something to wear.
A metal bandaid box filled with buttons. You don't see those anymore. I bet everyone can remember someone in your family using them to hold their treasures.
At the very bottom there was what I thought was a deck of cards. A closer look told me I was wrong. It was a deck of famous actors. Most of them have german names and the writing on the back is in german. So my guess these were cards people would collect. A few were recognizable names: Greta Garbo, Claudette Colbert and Joan Crawford, What fun! There were also three Hopalong Cassidy Wild West trading cards that came from Post cereal boxes and are dated 1951.
All of these items I think will stay in the sewing box, it just seems fitting to me. But I will also be using it to store my sewing notions. As I reread this post, I realize that none of these things are of much value, but they are to me. They are a reminder of an earlier day, much like a family quilt that contains fabrics from our ancestors clothing. I am not sure how you put a value on something like that, I really don't think you can. I am just thankful that I can enjoy using it everyday and relish in the memories that it brings back for me.
It still contained some items that probably have been there for some time. It was almost like going thru a time capsule. I found one of those metal yard stick rulers that rolls up! I think they were from from the 50's and 60s.
I found a tape measure in metric measurements that was made in Switzerland. My parents immigrated from Austria in 1952 and this sewing box was one of few treasures that she brought with her.
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| My parents with my brother and sister arriving on the train |
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| The back side is color coded to mark off every 10 centimeters! |
There was a straight razor made by E Weck and Son NY made in the USA. Having gone thru WW2 in Europe, I remember my mom using this to take apart clothing to repurpose the fabric. She told us stories of how hard life became during WW2 and that they became very resourceful repurposing things just to have something to wear.
A metal bandaid box filled with buttons. You don't see those anymore. I bet everyone can remember someone in your family using them to hold their treasures.
At the very bottom there was what I thought was a deck of cards. A closer look told me I was wrong. It was a deck of famous actors. Most of them have german names and the writing on the back is in german. So my guess these were cards people would collect. A few were recognizable names: Greta Garbo, Claudette Colbert and Joan Crawford, What fun! There were also three Hopalong Cassidy Wild West trading cards that came from Post cereal boxes and are dated 1951.
All of these items I think will stay in the sewing box, it just seems fitting to me. But I will also be using it to store my sewing notions. As I reread this post, I realize that none of these things are of much value, but they are to me. They are a reminder of an earlier day, much like a family quilt that contains fabrics from our ancestors clothing. I am not sure how you put a value on something like that, I really don't think you can. I am just thankful that I can enjoy using it everyday and relish in the memories that it brings back for me.
