Friday, November 16, 2012

Inside Grandma's Sewing Machine Table, Part 3

As I headed downstairs to continue cleaning the basement this morning, I thought I had finished going through my grandmother's sewing items, and had things much less interesting to sort through today.  However, in cleaning out the shelves under the stairs, I found her sewing baskets:


This was the one she used the most when I was young, and in later years, it was delegated for the "better" sewing things.  Her everyday one was the brown basket, which sat with the old photo albums on the small wire stand by her front door:


Inside these baskets were many packages of rickrack and other old trims, most of them still unopened, in the original cellophane packages.  I can certainly use them for my own sewing projects, but something just seems wrong about opening them up and sewing with them.  I guess for now Ill just put them back where I found them and think about it. I'm not sure an old package of bias tape or piping is worth much, but seeing that old label is like a trip back in time.

Some of today's interesting finds:


There were two of these little rulers from the "Medical Sickness Society" in London.  I don't know how old these rulers are or where they came from, but this business appears to be a financial services business, at least in 2012.


When I first found this item, I thought it might be a maraca (hey, I've found stranger things in my basement!) but turns out it's my great-great-grandmother Nettie Graves' darning tool.  Had it not been labeled as such, I never would have known.  I would have kept trying to shake it and get some sort of rhythm going.


This little mending kit must have been a promotional item from The Lampe Market in Huron, South Dakota.  The inscription reads in part: 1889 - MEATS - 1927.  Since the market was still in operation in 1930, I'm guessing this mending kit was made and distributed in 1927.


Another promotional item was this shoe horn from Osborn Clothing Company, also in Huron.  Oddly enough, I do remember as a child my grandmother showing me how to use a shoehorn she kept in her sewing basket, perhaps this one.  While the Lampe Market had closed shop before my time, Osborn's is still in business.



In Part 2 of this series, I found a small mending kit for silk stockings; today I found a full-fledged mending kit, with 10 different shades of floss.  The box still has cellophane covering the bottom part.



And this item... I was reading a blog post by Nancy, owner of My Ancestors and Me, at her other blog, Joy For Grace, on the topic of "Unsewing."  This looks like the perfect tool to use in "unsewing."  One end has a thin blade, the other a sharp pick, and a handy cap for each end.  It's only stamped with "Rip 'n Pik."  Looks so useful I almost hated to pack it back up!  Looks to me like a "Million Dollar Idea" if someone would brings these back into production.

Sad to say, the rest of the afternoon spent cleaning the basement was not nearly so much fun...


Sources:
1930-31 Huron, South Dakota City Directory, R. L. Polk

11 comments:

  1. Karen, I love your grandmother's sewing baskets! Well, I guess it's the contents I love. That little metal case with the thread and thimble is fabulous. I can see why she'd hang on to it. And the mending floss.... It's such fun to see an unopened box with its beautiful range of colors. The blade end of the Rip 'n Pik almost looks like a razor blade. I don't think it wouldn't be safe for me to use that on fabric. I can see myself doing lots of damage!

    One of the best things about these items is that so many of them were advertising gifts. Vendors and store owners used to be so very generous!

    Thanks for sharing. What fun to go back in time for a few minutes.

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    1. Thanks, Nancy. I love those old promotional items as well, they sure don't make them like they used to! Nowhere near as interesting these days. The Rip 'n Pik blade is sort of like a razor blade but didn't look as scary, although I didn't try it. I did, however, run to Walmart and get one of the eyebrow shapers! :)

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  2. I, too, have loved this journey! I was thinking that it would be okay to open the packages of ric rac if you could use it for a project that reminds you of your grandmother. It would be great and she wouldn't want it to go to waste!

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    1. Heather, thanks for your comment and suggestion about the ric rac! You are so right, my grandmother would be the last person who would want it to just sit going to waste.

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  3. This has been great fun Karen! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Thanks for sharing this Karen as it brings back so many memories. I come from a long line of 'sewers'. I don't have much left, but it is a combination of my Great Aunt Alma, my Grandmother Lucy and of course my mother. I still have a wooden standing sewing box that was my Great Aunt Alma's. She kept all of her darning supplies in it, and has the hosery mending floss like you have pictured above. I also have a couple of darning tools as well, one plastic as the one pictured above and one out of wood. I also recognized the ripping tool as well. My mother had several. My mother had a white and green basket quite similar to the pink and white one you have pictured. I don't know what happened to that basket. I never thought of photographing these items. I guess I should as it is definitely an art that is quickly becoming a thing of the past. I am not a very good darner, but just finished darning one of my socks. I could easily throw it away, but there is something about darning a sock that for a moment brings me closer to mom. I am not nearly as good at it, but it brings back fond memories.

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    1. My grandma taught me how to darn socks, and it came in darned handy (no pun intended!) when we were trying to get through college and about as poor as it gets. I darned my husband's socks - won't claim to have been particularly good at it, but good enough. :) Thanks for your comments!

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  5. I'm impressed that you know how to darn! That's something my grandmothers must have done, but I don't remember. I wouldn't have known what the tool was. The little red "Rip and Pick" - I wondered if the razor part is for removing "pills" from sweaters. I thought it fit with the "pick" part of the name - but it's just a wild and uninformed guess. How nice that you have these sewing baskets to go along with the sewing machine!

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  6. I could darn, but it wasn't pretty... lol...and I used a L'Eggs pantihose container (that big egg) to do it! Isn't that sad??

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