Peeking Into the Cupboards

I'm just sitting here relaxing and watching a little television this afternoon, so it seemed like a good time to keep a promise to Pam about sharing the results of the big upheaval and reorganizing of my china cupboard and corner cupboard. 

Come on in!

First up is a view of the corner cupboard. It was a Christmas gift from Tim a few years back. I had seen it in an antiques shop in Holidaysburg, PA and fallen instantly in love. It is massive at 7 ft. tall. It's a good thing it comes apart in the middle.

On the top, the flag from my late father-in-law's casket is displayed in the case my stepdad made for Tim. Also of note up there, a carved wooden pelican that I bought for my dad in Tampa, when Tim and I went there for our first wedding anniversary.

That's Daisy keeping guard. She likes to sit there because she can see the front and the back of the house.

Inside, the top shelf holds some crystal pieces, a few commemorative plates, and the fancy coffee pot that goes with my china. It has never been used.

The two middle shelves display place settings of my china and my paternal grandmother's china, along with smaller serving pieces like gravy boats and butter dishes.

This close up shows my pattern on the right. It is Haviland china. Mom and Dad gave it to us as a wedding gift. It was a premium to be earned at the grocery store back in the 80s. You'd save up so many stamps and then could buy a piece for a discounted price. I don't know how they did it, maybe they got help from others, but we received service for 12 and every single type of dish and every serving piece offered. Even with the discounts it was well over $300. We used to host all the family holidays and used it all the time. Now the holidays are mostly at our daughter's and nobody worries about china any more.

My grandmother's china, on the left, is a pre-war Noritake pattern that is discontinued. I only have bits and pieces of it...8 plates, 3 cups, 5 saucers...that sort of thing. There is a newer pattern that is similar, but not quite the same. Once in a great while I find a piece of the newer one at an auction or estate sale and pick it up if the price isn't too much. Mom and I looked into those companies that promise to replace pieces of old china and if they even have Grandma's pattern, it is very expensive. I'm not willing to put that much into something I don't use. 

The bottom shelf has become the bar. We don't actually drink that much, but we do have a lot of bottles. Go figure. This beautiful sherry decanter and glasses on the silver tray came to me in an odd way. When I was a kid and my dad worked for the Mellon family, they bought us Christmas gifts each year. One year I got all kinds of clothes, but they were the wrong size. Mom took them back, but they were from a children's clothing store and they did not have my size. Since Mom hadn't made the purchase, they wouldn't give her a cash refund, only store credit...which was also good at the sister store, a home decorating shop. Mom bought the decanter and tray as well as two beautiful floral lamps, which I also still have.

Those are some of Tim's awards for work in the background.

The bottom of the cupboard holds all the stacks of other dishes and the large serving pieces. The clear bowl and candle sticks were given to my maternal grandparents when they got married.

Here you can see why I had to get that heavy stuff out of the china cupboard. The cupboard belonged to my great-grandmother, my grandmother had it, and now I have it. It is close to 100 years old. It was never an expensive piece of furniture. I'd imagine it was all my great-grandmother could afford during the depression after her husband died and she had three teenagers to raise. After all these years and much love and use, it has seen better days and is pretty fragile. If it weren't for the sentimental attachment, I would probably get rid of it. I live in fear of it collapsing one day.

Just barely peeping over the top is a ceramic piggy my aunt painted for me when I was first married (there used to be a chicken, too, but she met an untimely end). The wooden thing is a hand-carved lunchbox from Haiti...and if you know anything about Haiti, you know that you do not put food in anything made there. The "drunk" leaning on the lightpost is a German whistler that my dad brought back from Berlin for his mother. If it was working, the lamp would light and he would whistle a tune and move his head. Maybe one day I will find a clockmaker to work on him.

The bottom of the cupboard now holds the box with the good silverware, tablecloths and runners, placemats, kitchen towels, embroidered linens, and a few vintage Santas.

I confess, I didn't even touch the drawer. It holds the biggest assortment of odds and ends...birthday candles, cake decorations, battery candles, replacement Christmas bulbs, etc.

Lots and lots of treasures in the top of the cupboard!

Right next to the walking Jimmy Carter peanut I got when my Civil Air Patrol unit visited Washington, D.C. in 1979, is my maternal grandfather's folding rule and on top of that is the spear head my maternal grandmother found in the backyard after a big rain storm. She took it to an expert once and they told her it was 5000 years old.

This sweet little celluloid horse was the only Christmas gift my Nana, my maternal grandmother, received one year in the 1920s. She was one of 9 children and times were tough on the farm. One of her older brothers worked at a shoe store in town and he spent his own money to buy it for her. It was broken, with one leg glued when she got it. I have babied and treasured it since she gave it to me when I was just a girl. I was so mad at myself a few months ago when it fell out of the cupboard and got a small hole in the hip on the side you can't see. That let me know how brittle it has become. The milk bottle was found at an estate sale and has the name of Tim's great-uncle's dairy on it.

These silly little statues were popular in the 70s and this one was a gift from my Nana. 

My bridal bouquet, our unity candle, and our cake topper. Also there are my wrist corsage and mother's rose and Tim's boutonniere from Megan's wedding, and one of the bells people rang at our son's wedding to get the bride and groom to kiss.

My maternal grandmother's parents, Harvey Emanuel Free and Effa Jannette Free.

The wooden candlestick Tim made in high school wood shop. To the left of it is a stack of wooden bowls and wooden apples. The bottom bowl is an old butter bowl. The others are a salad set Tim brought back from Haiti. Again, good only for display purposes.

Still proudly keeping watch over the whole kit and caboodle after a good 50 years or so, is this green-eyed beauty. He is a postcard sent to my maternal grandmother when she was a little girl. At one time he "meowed" when you shook him, but he's lost his voice. Other than that he is still perfect and will remain tucked into the glass of the cupboard door as long as I'm around to have a say.

There are other "treasures" in the cupboard, but maybe we can visit those on another day.