After posting I had to click on the first picture to see all of it.

ETA: She's making pie, not bread. :)

That's a great story Oakley. I was a big Leon Russell fan back in the day.

Interesting item, @Oakley.

I have some items passed down from my grandmother that I don't think anyone would want because they don't have a story attached to them and aren't particularly beautiful or useful. I think descendants are more likely to treasure an item if the item is part of family lore and has stories and maybe pictures that document the item's special meaning. For instance, we inherited some sweet. but not valuable, jewelry from my great-grandmother. We have a picture showing her wearing the items. I've given that package to a cousin who has a daughter as I think they would be more likely to treasure them.

On the other hand, I have an ugly cracked bowl that my grandmother, who was a terrible cook, supposedly used when she made her holiday dressing. I don't remember her using the bowl nor does my mother. It's going into the trash.

WOW that necklace looks just like an old bff's husband's work--he was an art major in college and his 'show' was full of pieces just like that..little circle chained together!! I have a HOUSEFUL of things I would consider heirlooms and no NO ONE will want them and I am fine with that!!!

Oakley, such a wonderful treasure.

I have a house full of things as well. I've been collecting "family" items since I was a child. Unfortunately, there aren't many (if any) who values them like I do. Of course, that's expected, they are my memories, not theirs.

When I asked my daughter what if anything, does she want, she asks me "what's it worth?" LOL She does that just to irritate me.... and she's successful. LOL!

That's a nice and iconic piece, Oakley. It looks sturdy so I do hope you wear it on occasion, if the style suits you. Jewelry should be worn, especially heirloom pieces (good ghosts). I have something from the era, that I hadn't thought of as an heirloom but it may be. I lived in San Francisco in the 70s and was a visitor in a storefront apartment of a photographer - sheets in the window, cobbled together pre-loft vibe. He had some raw edge blow-up photos push-pinned to the wall, and as I looked through them I saw this one. I asked if he wanted it and he said no, and gave it to me. Through some internet searching recently, I believe it's from the Magic Mountain Festival in Marin in 1967, and likely a student of the photographer took it. I had it rolled up tight for years and finally got it straightened out and framed - I think when I lived in NYC, and it's been with me all these years since. I've come to appreciate Janis more over the years, and I like the regalia and spectator viewpoint too. She lived just 3 years after this was taken.

"Sometimes it breaks my heart to think of them going to strangers."

dedtired, I have shopped for pieces my whole life that end up in antique stores or the like. I absolutely LOVE the things I've found, so I hope that will comfort you somewhat, that whoever does end up with your things, even though a stranger, might be enjoying it even more because she chose it for its loveliness, or uniqueness, or whatever.

The things that make me most sad seeing for sale are old photos. No one knows the people or their history and no one in the families wanted them or could keep them. I inherited some photos of a cousin's family, he was single, an only child, his father was an only child, his mother was related to me. There were photos of my cousin (we weren't close) as a baby and child, and photos I assume were from his father's side of the family. I just couldn't bear to give them away; it just seemed so disrespectful somehow, so I had a little ceremony and burned them. Not sure if that was the right thing to do, but I didn't want MY heirs to be left to deal with them.

My grandfather was a wrought iron artist and I have some of his pieces. I’ve already told my kids they stay in the family and get passed down. Of course, when I’m gone who knows what they’ll do with them.

I have already given my daughter a necklace that was my grandmother’s when she was young. I have some religious pieces from my grandmother and they will go to my granddaughters when they make their First Holy Communion. I have some Depression glass wine and champagne glasses from my other grandmother—they will go to my daughter, who used them for the champagne toast at her wedding last year.

They don’t want any of our stuff—-good china, silver, furniture, etc.

I have a few heirloom type items that date back to at least grandparents if not earlier. Cherished by my parents, passed along to my siblings and me and now all in my possession since I'm the last one standing. They'll end up at an estate sale some day since I have no kids, not that kids want any of that old stuff any more.

Talaveran, you'll be happy to know I've got the necklace around my neck right now. :) I was in Jr. High when Janis became popular and I couldn't stand listening to her. It wasn't until about 20 years later when I realized, hey, she's a great singer!

Arcy, if you remember his name feel free to message me, or post it here so I can look him up. Do you know what style of necklace it is?

I'm also wondering what type of metal the large piece is. It's heavy and every ten years or so I have to get the silver cleaner out, which doesn't mean it's pure silver. It's always had a bit of tarnish to it.

Love the stories of the heirlooms.

My mother has happily passed along most of her silver and crystal to me. She gives her jewelry to DD because they have similar tastes And DD is happy to get it. I always thought DS2 would be the one to take over the hospitality role in the family, but younger people do not want to be responsible for the care and feeding of fine furnishings and they don’t want to pay someone else to do it. Except for the very 0.001 % I don’t think people will be living or entertaining formally. I expect all my cherished possessions will be sold at an estate sale someday, so I take pains to use them often. We eat in the dining room every chance we get. I’m not going down without a fight 😎

I have a small beaded purse from my grandmother. Inside it is her handwritten note reading “This if from the ball in New Orleans.” Well, it’s a total mystery to me. It certainly looks 30s to me, so she’d have been a young woman. But what ball? She went to New Orleans? With whom? Nobody knows!

KSWL, spoken like a true southern woman!

Our house is furnished with many antiques. Some of them are family pieces. We have no children. My husband is an only child and my brother and sister neither one have children (kinda strange, huh??!!). So, yes we have heirlooms nobody will care about. I do have two young cousins, but I expect they would not be interested in the items. Maybe a few things we have from my grandparents. Our best friends and their two sons, DIL;s and children are family to us. The oldest son will be executor of our wills. I think some things might have meaning to one DIL, that's probably about it. In cleaning out my dad's house, we recently brought home a few more items. Oh well, it doesn't worry me. We enjoy them now.

There are tons of family antiques still in the family. My Mom's apartment is filled with them, my house and my 2 sister's houses each have many pieces. Over the years I've been selling many of the "smalls" on eBay, though I still have a ton of them. My younger sister has 2 daughters, the only kids in the family. And they aren't interested in any antiques at this point. There are beds and clocks from the 1700s ... not sure what will eventually happen to all of them.

I have the usual silver, china and crystal. The silver will be my DD's and she does want it. I have no idea what will happen to the china and crystal as I'm not sure anyone wants it.

I do have several nice pieces of jewelry and those are in our will and some have been given already. One special piece has a story. It belonged to my grandmother and she told me it's story. It is called a 'lavalier' which in this case is a kite-shaped gold pendant with a small emerald and a teardrop freshwater pearl at the bottom. The gold is very delicate. It was given to her when she was 16 by a boy who wanted to marry her. She said they were sitting in a carriage and he proposed. She said she would but they had to wait as she was too young and was still taking care of her young brother (true, I think he was much younger, maybe only around 4-6 years old). Anyway, this is not the boy she later married. She said that fell apart, but he told her to keep the necklace. She met my grandfather a couple of years later and they were married for 64 years before she passed away.

Oakley, I love the story of your necklace, and it is truly a unique piece. I agree, you should write down the story just as you told it here and put the note with the necklace.

After reading about bpath’s beaded purse, I decide to leave cryptic notes with my valuables, just to drive future generations crazy. But unfortunately, the Internet makes so much of life traceable now and my crazy stories will probably be quickly disproved. “She couldn’t have been at Obama’s inauguration/the tsunami in Japan/the NBA finals in 2020.”

For us, the problem is we have no one to pass down our heirlooms to and unless we label them, no one will even know, care or understand what something is. For example, we have a hunk of wood that is actually part of the mast of a ship of Sir Thomas Lipton.

Hhireno, I like the way you roll. :)

Annie, so, what's the story about the hunk of wood? How do you come to have it?

Sad but true. How did it happen that we seem to be the last generation who appreciates antiques? I only have boys and neither have said "I want that!." Are girls different? Do your daughters seem to appreciate heirlooms?

One of my favorite memories was hitting garage sales when I was much younger and I'd run into a friend and we would fight over an antique we both eye'd at the same time! A fun fight though.

I came out the winner on this chair for $3.00. Still have it! But nobody's said they wanted it. lol

For me, not a young person, I once had an interest in antiques. We still own many, most things handed down from family. Now much of it has just become old stuff. There came a point when everyone we knew already had heard the story of certain items. And no one wants to hear the same story over and over. It would not bother me one iota if most of the ‘stuff’ could be donated and picked up immediately. Even museums don’t want much of it, they have their fill of antique furniture.

Yes, I appreciate the craftsmanship and the history but many are large and not practical for the way we live today.

Our adult children are not interested in having to house items because they once belonged to someone who was born in the 1700s. I don’t want to burden them with being the caretakers of stuff just because “it was always in the family”.

Soon, before too long, we have to decide what we will do with some of the items. We have investigated giving them to historical organizations but none are jumping at the chance to have them.

I have a joke with my kids...
‘Your wife is going to throw my _______ away anyway!’

I already don’t like their wives; they are getting rid of all my stuff 🤣😉

( The boys are 10 and 19, so there won’t be ‘wives’ for awhile)

bpath...not really sure how FIL came to get it other than the mast was presented to NYU where he was a dean at the time. Not sure if they took the memorial down or if it was leftover after creating the memorial. I found this article from 1925 in the NYT:

I am pretty sure the things that matter to me matter to my children. They grew up hearing about the connections the physical things represented. They also grew up using porcelain, silver and crystal, and have already stated they prefer a nice table, so I think most of my precious things will be safe. As for the photos, diplomas, schoolwork and such, they take up very little room (speaking of the historic stuff, not my own,) only a few packing boxes easily stored, or not, depending on the whims of our descendants.

However, I love jewelry and have only boys. My mother and grandmother were believers in passing pretty things along while their heirs were young and could fully enjoy them, so I have quite a bit of accumulation of shiny things, I feel guilty buying anything new knowing it may be destined to being sold cheaply. If I am ever blessed with granddaughters, I'll feel better about increasing my collection ;-)