Tag: 2023-05 Heirlooms

This glass, one of a set of four, is from my mother’s mother. She was from Kaiserslautern and considered herself a Rheinländer. These glasses reminded her of her home and homeland. After the First War, Kaiserslautern was occupied by the French. Food was scarce, and Germany was on the edge of revolution. Between 1921 and…

While strongly linked to German culture, sauerkraut points back to a way of life, when, among other things, people made their food from scratch. There wasn’t the degree of specialization that we have today where preparation is outsourced to specialists. It points to when the role of the woman was to manage the home and…

While I know where this recipe book comes from — my mother — the handwriting is both hers and her parents. She put this together in preparation for marriage and her future role as a housewife, and she continued adding to it for about 15 years. The first recipes come from her mother, father and…

This fork that was originally from my father’s parents. Beyond that, I know nothing. Examining it I noticed the worn wooden handle. Then I noticed the metal was pewter, not steel or caste iron. The two-prong design of the fork suggested a pre-twentieth century period[1]. The combination of wear, materials and design made me wonder…

This post begins a short series that investigates some family heirlooms in my collection. It’s part of a broader investigation into family history, culture and acculturation. I am particularly interested in how elements of the past influence and inform our present[2]. I have a set of four pewter plates. Notably, they are much smaller than…