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Archiver > MEMORY-LANE > 2005-08 > 1123093326
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Subject: Re: [ML] TRASH or TEASURE
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2005 14:22:06 EDT
Kathryn, Be very careful what you throw away unless you live next door to
me. Many of the things you mentioned are valuable even the old barrels. There
are collectors for everything today and many of the items you mentioned are very
collectable.
I have a little story of something that as far as I can find out was thrown
away. In the closet of the front bedroom of my grandparents house was one of
those old suitcases. Molded paper or cardboard, I am sure you remember them.
Well the house was left as it was after my grandmother died. Dad always said we
weren't to take anything until he and his sisters could go through it together.
Two of his sisters, their families, dad and us used it as a vacation home for
several years. Needless to say things just kept vanishing. But back to the
suitcase. I had been through the suitcase and knew it contained papers
concerning grandfather and his work. One item was a letter from a railroad he worked
for during WW1. The letter recoginized his efforts and work of keeping the
telegraph and telephone lines operating. It also granted him a lifetime of free
travel on that line. Guess what it has all disappeared and no one knows if it got
thrown away by mistake or does one of the three sisters have it and just
doesn't want to admit they have it. The one who lives just down the road told me
she remembered it but didn't know what happened to it. I would settle for
copies of several things in the suitcase.
Most of us interested in genealogy know to search through everything, but I
recommend item by item and page by page. In that same house I found a bank note
that was actually the transfer of the land the farm was on from grandmother's
father to my grandfather. Grandfather paid off a loan to keep the bank from
foreclosing. Once again I followed dad's instructions and that was probably
thrown away, because it was in an old book or bible in one of the little attics.
My father and mother were ones who did not see any reason to keep any thing
once you were done with it. Old, out of style, collectable, and antiques were
all trash to them. I am a pack rat and could fill a warehouse with items others
have discarded. I can also find the bargains others overlook because of the
their outer wrappings.
So to all search carefully.
Marilyn
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