I love antiques and furniture with a story. Every piece in my living room is older than me (couch the exception, LOL) and my room divider bookcase was made by my brother when he was in high school. There are old pieces in every room. Nothing Roadshow worthy, but I enjoy them. Recently commenter StringOnAStick shared this story and I wanted to see photos. A beautiful antique, with dragons. What’s not to love? I’m happy to share and give us a respite on this Sunday morning:
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Here is the repaired table as it sits in our dining room now.
About ten years ago my late mom passed a Chinese wooden and brass smoking table to me after the wooden portion had been broken; she figured I might be able to fix it. At the time all I knew was that it had been in our family ever since I could remember it (and I needed a few stitches in my scalp as a 5 year old from falling into it, so the table has a long history with me!). I looked it over but decided the repairs needed were beyond my skill level and just let it sit in the basement until last month when I decided to have a closer look. The brass was badly stained so I polished it to see if it would return to the level of beauty I remembered, and as I did so I realized it was a lot older than I had thought it was. I asked my dad about it, and that’s when I found out his father had bought it in China in 1922, when he was a young lieutenant in the U.S. Navy assigned to patrol the Yangtze River for “pirates and Chinese communists” according to the orders my dad had seen as a teen; I thought it was from the 1950’s. Unfortunately my dad’s mom destroyed all the old orders when her husband didn’t make it to Admiral because she was angry with the Navy over his being passed by.
Once I knew how old it was, I searched for someone who specialized in repair of antiques, who did a lovely job putting it all back together. He only had to replace the two enlongated “biscuits” that are critical to the hinges that allowed the rather fragile wooden frame to be folded for transport. I took care of restoring the brass to it’s original luster, and it is now back to it’s former glory and brightening up our dining room, though we won’t be putting any cigarettes in the wooden-lined brass box since no one smokes in our family. My dad told me that there used to be brass coasters that went with it as well but those have long since been lost.
A friend told me that I really should take it to Antiques Roadshow if I ever got the chance. Just a week after that conversation an Antiques Roadshow event was announced for Estes Park, Colorado, about 50 miles from where we live so I’ve entered the drawing for tickets.
That is my elderly dad’s favorite TV show, so if I could get the table on that program while he is still around to see his father’s table being appraised, he’d be thrilled (he might be a bitter right winger but he’s still my dad and we’ve agreed to never discuss politics now). After talking to him about Antiques Roadshow coming to Colorado, he started telling me about all these other family heirlooms that I knew nothing about, such as a British Merchant Marine cutlass that was given to my great grandfather by an elderly British retired Merchant Marine around the turn of the prior century. Or his father’s 100 year old fly fishing rig, or the even older than that rifles and shotguns, or a compass carried by a great, great grandfather on the plains of the U.S. during the hunt for Chief Joseph.
That last one is fraught for me since I know full well the sad history of how Native Americans were treated and robbed of their lands here. My dad’s side of the family were military officers for at least the 4 generations prior to his father, so there are bound to be some stories there that when looked back on from this time aren’t very happy to contemplate. I do hope to take some of these items to Estes Park if I am lucky enough to win a pair of tickets, and I really want to see that cutlass since I have no memory of it at all, probably because my folks realized that young kids and cutlasses don’t mix!
The first photo is of the wooden portion before it was repaired.
The second is of the brass parts after I polished them; I should have done some “before” photos of them.
The third photo shows a bit of the etched surface detail on the brass platters. It is very hard to get a photo that shows this well since the surface is so reflective, but trust me, it is complex and beautiful.
The fourth photo is a close up of the carved dragon heads on the wooden stand; I like how the upper brass platter is supported by the lower jaws of the 4 carved dragon heads.
I have more respite material. I’ve been a bit underwater with Christmas prep, travel and work. Maybe this week I can get to the backlog of cute pets people have sent me.
Meanwhile here are Santa’s Danedeer, minus their antlers, because SOMEONE (looking at you Scout) broke theirs in their enthusiasm to remove them.
Oh, and that bookcase is the one my brother made for me in high school. It’s even more beautiful in person.
Respite open thread.
MelissaM
Danedeer. Ha!! The table is lovely, and while the stories may be difficult to contemplate, they are still fascinating family history.
mrmoshpotato
debbie
Love the Santa Flamingo!
cmorenc
That chart from David’s HC post yesterday is *still* causing errors every time I open Balloon Juice, even though there have now been several intervening threads – and the errors occur even though I don’t come anywhere near scrolling down to the thread with the error-spinning chart.
TaMara (HFG)
@cmorenc: have you reported it using the “site feedback” link on the right-hand side? I think they check those emails frequently.
ETA: Or maybe email David directly and he can place the chart below the fold and that might help.
JPL
What a beautiful table and thank you for the respite indeed.
SiubhanDuinne
Beautiful table, fascinating story!
The only thing that’ll stop a bad guy with a cutlass is a good guy with a cutlass.
And one of my all-time favorite limericks:
A dashing young pirate named Yates
Once danced the fandango on skates.
He fell on his cutlass,
Which rendered him nutless,
And inconsequential on dates.
TaMara (HFG)
@debbie: @mrmoshpotato:
When it first arrived, pups weren’t thrilled and I wasn’t sure it would survive. Much growling and raised hackles. LOL
TaMara (HFG)
@TaMara (HFG): And can I say, I love that the photos posting in comments are not HUGE. Good job!
Old Dan and Little Ann
We had a party last night and one of our friends brought his year old black lab puppy. He is a a huge 85 pounds already. My black lab is almost 16 months old and only 60 pounds. Their size differential was simply ridiculous. They bounded around the back yard for about 4 hours. Good times.
Aleta
I can’t believe you didn’t tell us when the ducks hatched a flamingo.
mrmoshpotato
@TaMara (HFG): “How is this pink, scrawny-legged bird even strong enough to bring us the enormous chew toys we so love? Where’s the jolly, old bearded guy? Imposter!”
mrmoshpotato
@Old Dan and Little Ann: Eighty-five pound pup. Hokey smoke, Bullwinkle!
mrmoshpotato
@SiubhanDuinne: On guard, you scurvy seadogs!
ETA – that limerick’s hilarious.
Kristine
Lovely table. I hope you get a slot on Antiques Roadshow.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@TaMara (HFG):
This is a hilarious picture.
Love the brass table. I hope it shows up Antiques Roadshow.
debbie
@cmorenc:
That happened to me once yesterday. It freaked out my iPad Mini.
debbie
@TaMara (HFG):
This baby agrees with your pups.
TaMara (HFG)
@Old Dan and Little Ann: Well, I’m not gonna comment on puppy weights, LOL. But isn’t it great when the puppies wear themselves out!!
TaMara (HFG)
@debbie: OMG, that’s hysterical. That’s some resting “baby” face!
StringOnAStick
Thanks for posting the brass table story and photos, Tamara. I’ll get a look at the cutlass and the rest of the items over the holidays, and the drawing for the Antiques Roadshow tickets is sometime in February so I’ll know fairly soon. The rules are you can only bring 2 items per person, but the tickets are given away in pairs.
A friend of mine had told me how she and her husband were in a “getting rid of things” phase and their kids weren’t interested in most of it, including two old wooden recipe boxes. I told her I’d take them since it’s hard to find even a serviceable plastic one now (what can I say, I prefer hard copies!). We met for lunch and started looking at the recipe boxes; inscribed inside one was her husband’s mother’s maiden name and “1922”, then her married name and “1927”, along with a bunch of recipes in beautiful cursive. I told her that these were really cool family history items and she agreed that she should keep them. I would have loved them, but her family would love them more once they look inside and that’s where they should stay.
Steeplejack (phone)
@cmorenc:
Suggestion: Close the Balloon Juice main page. Navigate among the individual posts with the previous/next arrows or the “Recent Comments” list. Also, “open in new tab” and having multiple tabs open is helpful.
@TaMara (HFG):
Someone reported it yesterday. I saw a comment from WaterGirl showing that she is aware of it.
PST
Speaking of pups at parties, I just can’t get over how great our dog Bernie is with company. We had about 20 people over last evening in a not-especially-big apartment. There were wine glasses all over coffee tables and plates of tasty hors d’oeuvres sitting around. She can sometimes be a little too much one on one, but something just comes over her at parties. She works the room, spending time with everyone, accepting their attention cheerfully but calmly, never jumping or begging, and quietly retiring to a corner after a couple of hours. She adapts to everyone from toddlers to nonagenarians. I’m so proud of her. It occurs to me that I should rent her out.
Aleta
Simply gorgeous table. Impressive that you restored it. We have family antiques that need fixing — my farm girl mom used to do that herself. Me, I can’t casually toss them and haven’t found repair people …
StringOnAStick
@Aleta: I used google to find an antiques repair guy, and found one less than 2 miles away that I had no idea was there. Until I realized how old the table was, I was about to let a friend who does woodworking take it apart permanently and make a copy; glad I thought better about that course of action! Once it was repaired and reglued, it is actually quite stable even though those platters are quite heavy.
Yarrow
@StringOnAStick: Your table is absolutely gorgeous. Thank you for sharing the photos. I had no idea you had to enter a lottery for tickets to get your stuff appraised for Antiques Roadshow. I kind of thought they might have a first cut cattle call like with American Idol.
Amir Khalid
@PST:
I don’t do as well at parties as Bernie. I envy her.
Kattails
Lovely table, it was well worth the effort. I have a few good old mahogany pieces from a great-aunt, my sister did an amazing job of refinishing them for me.
As for the flamingo, I know a couple for whom that would be a perfect gift.
raven
Here’s my Navy/table story. As many of you have heard me say, my old man was a tin can sailor in the Pacific in WW2. When he died my stepmother asked me if I wanted a table of his. I said “sure” and freaked out when I took it to UPS and learned what it cost to ship in from Arizona to Georgia. We took it and, later, as I sorted though his documents if found a letter from his brother when they learned the war was over and he was coming home safe and sound. The letter referenced the table that she had bought with the money he sent her for Mother’s Day and how proud she was to have it. Unc also mentioned that the news that he was coming home lifted 10 years off of their lives. My old man was a great poker player and he would tell how he’d fill his shirt with his winnings and send the money home. As I looked closer at his stuff I found an money order receipt with “Mother’s Day” written on it. I had the letter and the receipt framed and have it hanging on the wall by the table. Quite a gift and thanks for reminding me.
raven
@StringOnAStick: I was told the value of our table was greatly reduced by having it refinished.
Yarrow
@raven: That is awesome!
pam
@SiubhanDuinne: yay for an early morning giggle. LOve the limerick
Ohio Mom
@Yarrow: I tried the lottery once, didn’t make the cut. I was going to bring in the 100 year old Persian rug that was my grandparents’, then my mother’s, now mine. I watched the show anyway and saw an d acquaintance having her original “Dick and Kane” illustrations appraised.
raven
@Yarrow: It may be one of the only things anyone wants me to leave them. When my brother was here for my birthday we talked about all the cool shit I have that no one is going to want. 6ft tuna anyone???
Ohio Mom
Rats! In the middle of editing my comment at 33, it disappeared and the unedited version appeared instead.
Commenting is a joy to me but I’m about ready to give it up and become a lurker, at least until I get a new phone (that could be a while, we’re cheapskates).
At any rate, it’s for lunch, Ciao!
geg6
I love everything about this post. Thanks, TaMara!
Aleta
@PST: Your party host dog reminds me of the hungry cat who moved into my barn one winter. (It appeared that my cat Charlie offered it as a place for him to stay.) For months he would flee if he even saw me through the window, abandoning the food he was scarfing down. Eventually he turned eager house cat and went on to be the sole feline factotum in my cousin’s big house and yard, which suited him perfectly. The whole place was his (incl. the dog). He also had his own ‘private’ quarters, a huge basement level office, work benches, bed and entryway that he shared with his soulmate my cousin.
Anyway, they had huge family parties. Once a party was well underway and people were settled in and happy, Cookie would emerge from his domain to make the rounds, greet every guest and accepttheir praise. He was a debonaire fellow with a round belly, glossy black fur and handsome Italian black leather paw pads. Then he would gracefully disappear back to his library of rare books or wine cave or other important transactions.
Yarrow
@raven: Well, maybe not a family member but I bet someone would love that 6ft tuna!
pluky
@Old Dan and Little Ann: Very good times! A tired puppy is a happy puppy (as are his/her people).
Nicole
I couldn’t stay up late enough last night to watch it live, but I caught the highlights from Eddie Murphy’s return to SNL, and those are some pretty funny sketches from last night’s episode. HIs crack about Cosby in the opening monologue, in particular.
CaseyL
Gorgeous table, excellent restoration job!
@raven: The framed letter can’t be the only item among your stuff with a high thats-cool/thats-interesting factor! Just based on the stories you’ve told and the photos you’ve shared over the years, your house must be a treasure trove. Maybe you could let your family know that if they don’t take the stuff, it’ll go to museums, Goodwill, or the dump.
My family’s problem is lack of next-generation altogether. None of my immediate peer-generation relatives had kids: not me, not my brother, nor any of my first cousins. There is simply no one to leave things to. The pity is that my maternal grandparents DID have an impressive collection of antiques and family memorabilia, most of which went to my Aunt, but I don’t know what if any plans she has for it.
Robmassing
Polishing brass is such hard work and you did such a beautiful job. I would suggest you polish it fairly regularly – the longer you go without polishing the more work it will be when you do. I have dozens of antique bass pieces around the house and I’ve gotten out of the habit of polishing. But it’s so satisfying to bring that shine back
Kelly
Kitten Martin is 13 weeks old today. He has always liked squeezing into holes. A good instinct if you are wee beastie in the wild. Useful during the week or so that Phoebe considered him an invader. The instinct has it’s downsides. I haven’t sat in my recliner since he moved in. It was one of the first hidey holes he discovered and the mechanisms inside look hazardous. He’s also a stealthy wee beastie. We’ve shut him in a closet a few times. Really wants to explore the inside of the fridge and freezer. Last week he found a gap in the trim under the dishwasher which also has guillotineish door mechanisms inside. Just now my wife discovered he’d slipped unseen into the dryer, fortunately at the end of the cycle. The washer and dryer are front loading so a positive Martin check will now be required before starting a load.
germy
@Nicole: I liked Gumby. And apparently he still carries a grudge about Pokey. Must have been an ugly feud.
raven
@CaseyL: Being in Georgia with the rest of the family out west doesn’t help.
chris
Having tea and a laugh here. This Russian sable doesn’t want anyone to see the stuffed toy reindeer. And now I want a sable. And an otter or two. And a raven. and a pony…
Yarrow
@raven: The area of dealing with family heirlooms and how to manage family situations and older relatives is something I know something about. My best recommendation is to write up a description of it and tape it to the back if that won’t damage it. Also, if someone has said they want it, or you want someone to have it, put their name on the back of it so whenever in the future the issue of who gets the item is clear.
With modern technology you can also take photos and make an online list of items and post all of that somewhere that is password protected to family members. Give the family first right of refusal if you want so that there are no hard feelings.
You never know what items a niece or second cousin might want to have. Maybe they visited and have a fond memory of something. Or maybe they’ve recently gotten into family history or developed a love of fishing, military lore, etc. and would love to have some of those things.
raven
@Yarrow: I have a picture of my dad at a picnic in his honor when he came home from WW2. I posted it on my hometown FB and someone responded that one of the people was her dad! Before my FIL passed away he had all three kids go through the house and pick what they wanted in order. Unfortunately my sweet wife picked third and they went 1,2,3 instead of 1,2,3-3,2,1 and she got shafted
eta and you may be right but I don’t really think anyone wants any of this stuff. My wife does have some wonderful furniture (see the corner cabinet behind the table in the pic) but nieces and nephews have no interest.
StringOnAStick
@raven: I think I knew that about antiques, that refinishing them lowers the value. The wood on this table hasn’t been refinished, but it has been repaired more than once and I’m sure that will lower the value. The restoration guy said its mahogany, which is an awfully soft wood to carry such weight. My dad is convinced it is teak but I saw how red it was when it was apart so I think mahogany is the right guess.
It’s a tough call as far as refinishing stuff goes. We’re both very practical people, so something that looks super old but isn’t usable until it is refinished is likely to get refinished here. We have no kids to pass anything on to, so if it isn’t useful, it’s likely to have already been gifted to someone who is more interested. We’re going to downsize significantly within the next 1-2 years to get ready to move to another state.
Baud
A lot of respiting today. When do we get to be outraged again?
ruemara
@Baud: never.
I love the table & the story
raven
@StringOnAStick: My dad had the table done long before I got it and the real value is in the family so it doesn’t mean much that the “value” is reduced. He also was freaked out about burglars and got one of those damn etching guns and wrecked a bunch of shit like the binocs he took off a wounded paratrooper he was giving aid to on Corregidor.
opiejeanne
Very nice restoration. I used to see tables like that in Los Angeles’s Chinatown in the 50s & 60s.
@raven: We have a lot of stuff that I’m afraid no one will want. Our three adult children have no children of their own. The only child in the family is my sister’s grandson and time is running out for my youngest daughter. We’re not planning on turning up our toes any time soon, both our families tend to live very long lives, so at some point we will be giving up all this wonderfulness of having a house with an acre of garden. I’m just about over it, it’s getting to feel like too much. We can hire a lawn guy to mow every other week, and that will help mr opiejeanne; I think the novelty of the riding lawnmower has worn off a bit. But at some point rushing toward us, we will be looking for a condo in a building with an elevator. A place with a decent balcony so we can still grow things, but a very much smaller place than this one, and so much of our stuff will have to find a new home. My problem is not the accumulated stuff, but the stuff with family ties. Not to mention the family research I started for my mom because she was curious, and which turned into a very large file on Ancestry but also bits in books and notes and old newspapers. I don’t know who will find these things interesting if our kids don’t and if there are no grandchildren to hand them off to. There’s a charcoal portrait at my sister’s house, a copy of a painting ca. 1805 of my greatX4 grandfather (& grandmother), a red-headed, blue-eyed Portuguese gentleman who was born in the US in the 1700s and was a Privateer in the Revolutionary War. I’ve found so much info on him and their life but there’s no one left to care.
pamelabrown53
@raven:
Thank you for sharing that personal story. Just beautiful.
Also, I’d like to add that I’d love to have a walk-through in your home: it looks gorgeous in a way that bespeaks of a highly personal environment but with a nod to artistry and design.
If I had the bucks to start an on-line shelter magazine, I’d be camping on your door step!
raven
@StringOnAStick: The 50 Cal double barrel Purdey Muzzle loader I have had a broken stock. It would have cost $40,000 to replace it so I had a buddy who repairs guitars put it back together. You can’t tell it looking at it on the wall but it makes it worth zip.
opiejeanne
@StringOnAStick: I would have guessed rosewood, but I’m no expert.
opiejeanne
@raven: My dad got one of those etching tools and I remember him scribbling with it on the back of the tv.
raven
@pamelabrown53: That’s all about the girl! Her dad built all the kitchen cabinets, designed the addition and supervised me building the porch. We have gingerbread on the front that came from the house of a one-armed confederate officer in Appomattox that he demoed. We ain’t going nowhere.
raven
@opiejeanne: ” I’ve found so much info on him and their life but there’s no one left to care.”
Ugh, I’ve done so much research on our Confederate ancestor killed at the Battle of Atlanta and my family looks at me like I have 3 eyes when I talk about it!
Baud
@ruemara: I can live with that.
raven
My mom’s cousin sent me a dvd with hundreds of pictures of the family in southern Illinois.
This is my mom’s sis with her dolls.
zhena gogolia
I am addicted to twitter. Not tweeting, because I haven’t even signed up, but I have about 20 people whose tweets I read compulsively. It’s very upsetting because they post clips of Republicans on television lying through their teeth and with no media pushback. I know this isn’t a respite sort of comment, but I’m not sure what to do about it. I avoid television news religiously, but I think I’ve kind of substituted twitter outrage for it.
chris
@zhena gogolia:
Twenty! You have a problem there. I on the other hand am doing important research on five open twitter tabs. No way am I going to sign up
PS> Try @41Strange or @BodegaCats. Very relaxing.
raven
And if you haven’t seen my mom’s Aunt Venus. . .
raven
@zhena gogolia: “I told the doc it hurts when I do that. He said “don’t do that”!
zhena gogolia
@chris:
Where do you get news? It feels as if twitter is the place to get the latest these days. John never posts here, so this is more like a social club than a news source. Unless you’re into pro-Warren and anti-Buttigieg stuff.
zhena gogolia
@raven:
Wow!
zhena gogolia
@raven:
I recently got a shipment of stuff like that from a cousin in Wyoming. I have no idea what to do with it.
pamelabrown53
@raven:
The story plus the way you and “your girl” have realized it is exquisite!
In my youth, I earned a degree in Interior Design. Within a year I realized that the field rewarded salespeople who matched tiles with towels and “sofa art”. So I bailed.
Long story short: IMHO, your home expresses who you are artistically in a non-pretentious way.
StringOnAStick
@raven: I know there was a Ruger that had been surrendered to my grandfather in WWII by a German commander, but it was stolen from my uncle’s Bay Area home decades ago.
My dad told me that the cutlass is Sheffield steel, and that as a teen he sharpened it to a deadly edge. I think that’s why we kids never, ever saw it. That might impact the value I suspect, but like the brass table, your table and this cutlass, the value is in the memories they hold. When my favorite aunt passed I asked for her kitchen table because we had spent so much time around it together. It’s small, has a single leaf and has the name of the only furniture store in the town I grew up in printed on the underside. It was also badly darkened and needed sanding because of all the dings in it. It’s not an antique and we could afford a much nicer table, but when I refinished it you could see all this gorgeous wood and it still reminds me of her, so we’re keeping it. That was worth refinishing. I also have the oak secretary deck that my other grandfather ran his orchard business from. It had been by a broken window in his shop for years before I rescued it and had several inches of pigeon poop on it so I definitely refinished that!
Yarrow
@zhena gogolia: It’s the outrage itself you’re addicted to if you’ve substituted Twitter outrage for TV outrage. Look in that direction to deal with it. Outrage on a daily basis isn’t good for you and it doesn’t solve any problems. Just stresses you out. Figure out what you get from the outrage and you’ll have a better idea what to do about it.
General suggestions would include setting a hard limit on how much time you spend on Twitter; use an alarm on your phone to help. After the alarm goes off do something completely different–go for a walk, play with a pet, call a friend on the phone, read a book, etc. That will rewire your neural pathways and help stop the outrage cycle.
Also, and I know you’re doing this, volunteer for a campaign or something like that so your outrage goes into creating change.
And then do some things like meditation or breathing exercises or yoga to help slow you down a bit and clear your mind. You can even do breathing exercises in the car in short doses and there are meditation apps to help you even if you only have a few minutes. It all helps.
My way of looking at it is outrage only helps Trump and Republicans. It doesn’t do anything and makes me tired. I focus on what I can do and that helps me and the people I want to help.
chris
@zhena gogolia: Yup. Open tabs, three American, one Canadian and one Brit. All news. And I watch CBCNW, CNN and MSNBC on the net too. This place is my US comfort zone… most of the time.
zhena gogolia
@Yarrow:
Yeah. Adam Parkhomenko is the worst for this. I think I’m too old for him.
raven
@pamelabrown53: Her undergrad was in what was home ec at Virginia Tech with a strong emphasis on color! I’m amazed at her vision inside the house and out!
Yarrow
@zhena gogolia:
Yeah. Sigh. I miss the old Balloon-Juice where I got news here before other places. John has been posting a bit more but not like he used to. I get news from Twitter and news sites and some TV news. Mostly I find I don’t need that much news. It’s a dopamine hit cycle and not good for people.
Yarrow
@zhena gogolia: Oh, I quit reading him several years ago. The Twitter people who traffic in outrage and anger are just as dangerous to our democracy as anyone on the Republican side. Exhausting and discouraging people is a goal of authoritarians. Exhausted and discouraged people don’t fight back. Anyone who is contributing to your exhaustion, discouragement and outrage fatigue is not your friend.
raven
@StringOnAStick: So cool! When our old Coca Cola bottling plant moved they had a sale. All the coke stuff got scooped up but I one in and saw this big oak table with green felt paper glued to the top. The guy said “give me 10 bucks”. I had to take the legs off just to moved it and, when I got it home, I took the top off, flipped it, sanded and oiled it. It’s a great dining room table that someone said was a phone company desk because it has single drawers on each side,
eclare
Has anyone seen Eddie Murphy’s movie on Netflix, Dolemite? I looked it up, stunning cast.
zhena gogolia
@eclare:
It looks good but I haven’t seen it.
Mary G
@Yarrow: I have a rule that the minute anybody I follow on Twitter uses more than one exclamation point, or three emojis, I unfollow. People go nuts, like Peter Daou.
Aleta
@StringOnAStick: thanks
StringOnAStick
@Yarrow: Thanks to everyone for the kind words, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
I was surprised that Antiques Roadshow was a lottery for tickets too, I wonder how many interesting things they are missing by making it a luck of the draw just to get in there. This is the first time I think that they’ve come to a Rocky Mountain region; it seems like it is mostly east coast and southeast.
opiejeanne
@raven: Same with most of my family when I tell them about my great great grandfather who was fatally wounded in the Yazoo Expedition, in the swamp below Vicksburg. He was a Union soldier.
We visited the area this summer but the Yazoo was rerouted years ago, and the whole area was so flooded we couldn’t get near the site of the plantation where they landed.
My husband surveyed the flooding after we failed in our 5th attempt to find a way near the place, and said it was exactly as I had described it, only that the conditions were somewhat different in that it wasn’t freezing and raining.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
I scanned all of the family photos I had accumulated and posted them on flickr for family members to do with as they pleased.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
I pretty much stick to David Fahrenthold and Daniel Dale.
zhena gogolia
@debbie:
Dale makes me nervous because it’s too much Trump exegesis.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
Maybe. But it’s facts, not hyperbole or ranting.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@StringOnAStick: Holy cow!!! Late to the thread so I hope you see this: my grandparents had a very similar table that my grandfather brought back from China. He served on a US gunboat on the Yangtze circa 1922. He was enlisted, not an officer – faked his age to join when he was only 15 or so. He stayed in the Navy for 34 years, retiring as a lieutenant. He served in the Pacific throughout WWII, and came home with (among many other things) a Japanese officer’s sword that has an antique family-heirloom blade with a modern, 1930s hilt. I always thought the brass table was from a later period, maybe 50s, but now I wonder. Sadly, my selfish jerk uncle ended up with it after my grandmother died several years ago and probably tossed it; I know he pitched all kinds of memorabilia and antiques and refused to let my dad and aunt look at any of it out of spite. So much else in your wonderful family story echoes my grandfather’s and father’s – I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew each other. Thanks so much for sharing this!
WaterGirl
@cmorenc: I just saw this. I had emailed David previously about the tableau, but I hadn’t realized that it was causing issues even if you aren’t in the thread.
I don’t want to remove the chart without his permission – I emailed David again just now.