Old dishes

When my mom's sister, my Aunt Ruby, passed Grandma's music box along to me, she also gave me a set of dishes... ice cream dishes, she called them.


"These were my grandmother's," she told me. "She had them when she set up housekeeping."

The dishes were in a bread sack, and this tape was on the outside of it in Aunt Ruby's handwriting:


Now, my own grandma was born in 1888, so that means these dishes are older than that. Yesterday when I took the picture, by the way, I noticed for the first time that one of the dishes is different. Which makes me realize what a shame it is that I've kept these treasures in a drawer all this time. I need to find someplace to put them where I'll see them often!

I've asked my cousin Carolyn (that's us in the picture) some questions about all these things because her family lived right up the road from Grandma. They were the ones who took Grandma to town to do her "trading", or to visit the doctor, or to Church. In later years when she needed help with things, it was Uncle Leo's family who did whatever was needed. Carolyn is eighteen months older than I, so I imagine she remembers things I've forgotten.

In an email, Carolyn told me that she seemed to recall our grandmother mentioning that she only got two or three things from her parents' estate. Those dishes, then, would be one of those things.

Carolyn said her mother has a cup and saucer than may have been our great-grandparents', as well.

Family heirlooms.