The Mystery Box

Well there's another secret to reveal about my life.  I come from a long line of hoarders.  Luckily that gene stopped with my mother.  I won't say she could be on prime time TV, but she's working on it.  She says my home is too clean and boring.  Really I just don't like to clean, so the less I have the less I need to clean!  Anyway...

I received a small box of memories from one of the hoarders in my life.

Just by the looks of the outside of the box I knew there were some hidden treasures and secrets buried within.  

 Okay so the contents worth are probably less than the cost of the paper to print them.  I can't help but wonder why these items were kept.  What special secrets did they have to tell, you know there's always a story.    A scandal!

 There were some clues among the 100 plus photo negatives.

 And the hand written letters dating back over 100 yrs.  Very hard to read so I only skimmed over a couple.  The dates intrigued me the most.

 That's 1896 below!

 Only one personal photo in the entire stash.  Wonder if this was taken on a Sunday after church.  Back in the day that was a day for family and relaxing.  No stores were open and no work was done unless absolutely necessary.  Families would gather for dinner(which was cooked on Saturday) and the occasional game of choice.  It was a day to sit under an old tree and relax, gossip, and tell stories to the grandbabies about the "Good ole Days".

I looked for a member of my family in these band photo ads, but nothing...humm...did the owner of the box have a crush on someone in the band? 

Oh could there be a young love affair?  We girls do like a man in uniform or carrying a guitar.  

 This was the most interesting piece.  What happened here?  

 Why would someone do this to an envelope.  It seems to be an after postage adjustment.

 The contents were just as odd.  A couple of old postage stamps and some green stamps that I believe are from a different era.

 These are true treasures.(below)  I've seen them online but never held one in my hand.  A paper doll, it to has advertisements on the back.  The little baby carriages have tabs on them so you can make them stand.  And the handmade velvet heart...what the story there?

After going through all the contents the mystery remains, I did notice that the newest date was 1961.  What happened in 1961 that made the collection stop.  Much research to be done on the previous owner, which I know and they have passed.  A few family members remain, but who knows if they even know of the box and its contents.  I feel lucky to have been selected to cherish a box of memories that was so dear to someone that was so dear to me.  

~ Lea Anne ~

Freebie from Creativity Amongst Chaos

http://creativityamongstchaos.blogspot.com/2014/05/stitchin-queen-2014-5.html