Stuff you'll find in an old plug tobacco can

Mother kept this can among her treasures; my daddy had it, I suppose, as a little boy. It holds greeting cards in it that his relatives and friends gave him before 1920.

Cards like these.


Also a few of his grade cards; the one you see is from 1918.

At the very bottom of the can was a folded handkerchief. Now, since it was in this particular can, I'm going to guess that perhaps the hankie belonged to Daddy's mother, who died in childbirth when he was still a child.

It's only a guess, though. Do we have any handkerchief experts who would venture a guess on the age of this one? If it belonged to my grandmother, it would have to be about ninety years old. It's bigger than most hankies, measuring 16" by 18". I washed it and it held up just fine.


That's my dad on the left. Just think, back then women had no choice but to have one baby after another. She died giving birth to her next child; the baby died with her.