I had a group of ‘old friends’ over for cocktails a few weeks ago. All 6 of us had worked in the same restaurant in our early years, when our children were young and we needed supplemental income. We were all from the same area and shared memories of growing up in our small town. Only one of us has moved out of state; she had moved to Nevada many years ago, returning two or three times a year to visit family and friends.

We shared stories of our youth, bragged about our kid’s accomplishments, and shared charming photos of our adorable grandchildren. Hubby and I have accumulated a lot of antiques and collections through the years and our guests were very complimentary about them. The question came up – what will you DO with all of these things when it is your time to move to a smaller home or condo? We chuckled, a condo? Not for us since we have way too much to fit into a ‘unit’, and while we always kick around the concept of a move, it is always ‘way down the road’, not in the near future. But they had a valid question.

As I glanced around, I realized that neither of my daughters will want a teapot collection. One is into the modern decorating scenario, and aging porcelain is not their taste. The other daughter would gladly take some of them, but does not have the shelf space for a grouping of this size.

I then viewed my two containers of antique canes and umbrellas. Hmmm. Which one of the offspring would want these? Once again, my younger daughter would probably wrinkle up her nose; the other would choose a few nifty ones. But what would become of the rest?

One of my friends said she had a Christmas ornament collection. Very expensive ones such as Christopher Radco. She told her sons that she would leave them each one-half of them. Her older son said they were into a themed tree, did not appreciate glass because it was just too delicate. The younger one declined, saying his kids would surely break them and then he’d feel bad. They suggested she just put them out at a rummage for $1.00 each. Yikes! She was mortified.

Another friend said she had a collection of Bing & Grondahl Christmas plates, owning one for every year since 1975. She felt the plates would be worth a sizable amount. I had to (very gently) break the news to her that these were sold in such volume that they have not maintained their value, except for the very early productions. She stated that she’d paid well over $30 each and wondered what they had escalated to. Once again, being the bearer of bad news, I said we had listed some on ebay, or carried them to flea markets, often getting less than $10 apiece. She was aghast. “Well, what will I do with them?” was her question. I did not have a very good response but the only one I could offer was “Enjoy them!”

One friend brought up the antiques (mostly porcelain and glassware) that her mother had left her. Many fine items. Her son is a bachelor, lives in a small apartment and has no desire to add delicate pieces to his home. Her daughter has a houseful of kids, pets, etc. and is much more into the casual attire and country look. She stared at her mother when asked about what she would choose from the curio cabinets. “I suppose I’d like the Waterford football with the Green Bay Packers’ logo” she said, “my husband would put it in his office.” So, she, too, was a bit upset to learn that these treasures would be passed on to strangers.

None of us are at the age (or so we hope) to begin giving our treasures away. I look at jewelry from my mom and aunts and while I do want to be sure they get to my daughters or granddaughters, I am still wearing them and they make me smile.

The subject of ‘dispensing of our goodies’ lasted quite a while. I finally said that I would recommend doing an inventory of items. (This is something that hubby and I did about 5 years ago and need to revisit.) We took photos of valued pieces and identified whether they were purchased vs. inherited. We tried to put a value on them, realizing that this was a moving target and their worth could surge up or dramatically drop at any time. Some pieces we just noted what their original cost was, perhaps offer a bit of history such as “found at an auction in Kentucky”, or “purchased at a boot sale in England.” Others we’d indicate as “from grandma”, or “a gift from a grandchild.” In the ‘narrative’ we stated that we hoped that the items from family would stay in the family, even if packed away and their provenance duly noted for the next generation. We also said that we understood if they held an estate sale with the rest, but to do some research and try to appropriately price the more expensive items. They were welcome to call in a reputable firm if they chose to. We have often asked them to point out some favorites, making sure that the ring from Auntie Molly goes to one daughter, and a bracelet from my mom goes to the other. Our daughters have very different tastes and life-styles. When the time is right, we want to be sure that they (or their children) bring home a happy memory or two of our treasure-hunting to share with future generations. We do want to ensure that the family makes back some of the inheritance money we truly enjoyed squandering.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 3:48 am and is filed under Uncategorized, collecting fyi, decorating, flea market finds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.