A Stetson.
My memory tells me that the old army hat below belonged to my grandfather Winters -- he was in the Army in the Philippines in 1904 or so. But it could also have belonged to my grandfather Elrick who was in France during WWI.
Hummels below. Both old. The little boy was a gift from my friend Sue, on the occasion of my high school graduation, back in the dim 60s. The little girl was in my dad's family. It says just "Germany" on the bottom (the boy has "West Germany" stamped on the bottom) so it's pre-World War II. I've always been bothered by the different proportions used for these figurines.
For some reason this entry makes me sad. The little boy Hummel is chipped (and too tall for his little girlfriend, which as I said before is weird), the hats once sat on the heads of my relatives but now live, forlornly, in the attic. Sort of the worst thing about keeping stuff...tchotchkes....in the first place. But it's stuff like this that I can't part with.
2 comments:
I know several people who collect Hummels- I didn't realize they were made to different scales, either.
I have some military memorabilia from my grandmother's brother who died in WWII. I guess I feel the same way about it that you do about the hats. Then there is my grandmother's satin wedding gown that's crumpled up in a bag in the attic. I think she'd be hurt if she knew.
I'm just very impressed that your hatboxes actually contain hats. It's so tempting to store other things in them!
I think this entry is very sweet . . . and sad, as you say.
There is something about old hats. They're so personal, I guess. After my father died, I took one or two of his caps as keepsakes. As he was mostly bald, he rarely went anywhere without a cap on his head.
I love the Hummels, too. My mother has one that is very similar to that little boy one of yours.
I agree that it is very hard to let these kinds of items go. Those decisions will have to be passed on to future generations.
Wonderful entry, Pam.
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