Friday, August 21, 2009

Wash Room



These are some of the things hanging around the first floor laundry/washroom at the camp...



Most all are local yard sale or flea market finds picked up here and there over the last twenty years...



A few may have come out of my Nana's medicine cabinet...



They are everyday items from the lives of ordinary people in the past...



Why is it that I find these vintage items comforting?



I don't know the answer to my question...



I know I can picture my Nana using utilitarian items like these....I can see her hands...work weary but beautiful to me...



Do you ever find yourself attributing human qualities or emotions to old things? As if they lived an actual life?

34 comments:

Unknown said...

I think old things have character with many stories to tell.I can become attached as well to some of the vintage things I do have.Very well put together.I very enjoyed.As Always Fun Finds 2 U...Chickie

Garden Antqs Vintage said...

Oh my, what an awesome post. So many great vintage items to be seen!

*The Beautiful Life* said...

Oh, Laura.... I think (for me, anyway) it is that they hark back to what seem like simpler times... We may romanticize the era before us, but in so many ways I truly believe it really was simpler. Our conveniences don't seem to have made life "better" in some ways -- just allowed us to cram more into our days. :)

Loved your heartfelt post!

Ruth

misselaineous said...

Great collection! You even have an "eye" cup! I have one of those {actually 3} but the 1st had been in my Grandpa's medicine cabinet...as a kid I could never understand why you'd want to wash an eye...Great Post! *elaine*

DeeDee said...

I love those old spools..I need a few more of them...great finds you have today..

Carole said...

I do love your washroom and spent some time looking at your goodies on the shelves and walls. Makes washing up that much better!!!
me

Anne Marie said...

yes, indeed I do......all good, I never think of any of it being a bad memory.......
do you?

people worked hard back then...really hard....and they deserve the prayers and thoughts we give them....

Julie Marie said...

I love the old medicine bottles... and I do believe old treasures carry the love with them that their previous owner who has passed on once felt for them... they become part of my family when I find them and bring them home...

Sea Witch said...

They do not provide food or shelter that we may live. Why then do we "need this?" Because they make our lives worth living with the joy of the hunt, the successful acquisition, and most of all...the history, the beauty, and the energy these pieces bring from another time and place. Sea Witch

stefanie said...

i love vintage things because it puts perspective on life, you cant take it with you.

Marigold Jam said...

Lovely post as always. I think vintage finds are interesting because they have been around for a long time and we wonder what stories they might tell if they could talk! However don't let's forget the really hard grind that went with life lived in those "simpler" times either - perhaps that too has something to do with their value?

Jane

Magdalena said...

Lovely post...things that tells storys by them selvs...just lovely!...ahh this washroom...
Have a beautiful weekend,
Magdalena/Color Sepia

Julie@beingRUBY said...

Hi Laura Wonderful Wonderland
I'm always personifying my possessions. Is it from living alone? Have to talk to something.. haha. I think the english language has certainly missed out on not assigning genders. I love to call imanimate objects 'she' or 'he'. Whereas that would not be unusual in a 'romantic' language.

I want your washroom!!! have a great weekend. x Julie

Bonjade said...

Oh these old things....I can't resist them.
I always feel that I must protect these items for the next generation.....
But maybe my kids will through it all away when I am old.........;(
But I will try.
Fine weekend

Joan@anythinsggoeshere said...

I, of course, love it all, but I love the old bottles best. I don't know what it is about them, but I just love their grungy selves!

Lynne said...

lovely, nostalgic post. I wish each of the items could tell the stories of the hands that held them

Les Cotrions said...

Don't worry Laura! You wont find these robots everywhere in Lucca! You've a faboulous collection my frined! Lovely old stuffs!
Happy week end!
Vale

Lisa said...

I remember my grandmother using a clothespin bag like the one you've shown here. I love old things because they help me to remember people like my grandmother who have passed on. These are a comfort to me

Kay said...

I aways like to thnk of the lives that have held those lovely things before but i especially love old mirrors...and wonder..who was captured in the reflection before...lovely post as ever.

Jacqueline @ HOME said...

What wonderful memorabilia, Laura .....what tales they could all tell....someone told me once that one day, we will be able to 'play' objects, like records ( no, I haven't been drinking!!, apparently, sound is supposed to penetrate objects!!???)... I don't know if it will ever happen, but I hope I'm still around if it does !!! (I don't think that's likely!!!)
I have found many medicine bottles and other things, in my garden...in Victorian times they just used to throw things that they had finished with, into the garden or there was a place at the end of the road where people just 'dumped' anything they didn't want and glass bottles, lemonade and beer bottles, meat paste jars etc. were throwm on the dump. As my house is Victorian, I often come across fragments of crockery, broken ormaments and glass medicine bottles in my garden. I always keep them, even if they are just little pieces. Thanks for showing us your laundry/washroom and the delightful objects therein.....wishing you a happy weekend...take care. XXXX

Anonymous said...

great stuff - just the other day I was trying to describe a laundry aid my darling mother used when she starched my daddy's khaki work pants, and hung them on a clothes line to dry in the fresh air ... she had metal "frames" - she called them pants stretchers - that she put inside the starched trou, then hung them on the line .... once dry, the pants came out with a knife pleat!
..... if only things were still utilitarian and lovely ....... sigh

oh! your BLOG is lovely! thanks for what you stir up in our minds

joodie in San Antonio
gjazaks@earthlink.net

Theresa said...

Yes! They make me think of days when things were not so plentiful and that was OK! Wonderful memories of my Grandparents and Parents. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

Lori P said...

I certainly do! At the center of my kitchen table (holding napkins) is my grandmothers dough bowl, which I dearly love as it reminds me of being a little girl and watching my grandparents making homemade biscuits every day.

~lori

Brenda said...

I love the washroom. Your lake cottage is charming, and it must be an absolute joy to visit there and remember times past. Lovely.
Brenda

Renaissance Grace said...

Hi
I'll be in the states this fall I adore yard sales and spend hours at them the problem is then getting it all home on the plane. good luck with all you wish for. I follow my heart every day - one life
Susanx

Roberta said...

The sweet clothspin bag speaks to me. I love to hang clothes out and have always had a clothesline! xo Roberta

Rostrose said...

Dear Laura - thank you for your nice visit - oh yes, I also would have liked wandering along the market with you! It really was a nice day (and very hot - today it is raining and much cooler, but I also love THIS weather!) I also want to thank you for your lovely posting - this house must be FULL of "hanging-around- treasures"!!! So inspring items - I am sure every old object has a voice (a loudless voice, but you can feel it) - and with this silent voice it is telling stories to people who are sensible enough to hear it...
Warm regards, Traude

Lisa said...

Yes I do think I think of my treasures as having lives of their own! Your pictures are fabulous as always!!
Hugs, Lisa

jade said...

So loveley things dear Laura....think, they all tell us their stories! I love this old treasures too - so i´m on the flea market every week (so tomorrow) ;))!
Thank you so much for all your inspiration and for your very nice comment! Have a wonderful weekend,

Hugs Jade

Chrissy...The Apothecary Shop said...

Indeed I do, I think because we are the memory keepers...lovely post as always Laura!! xoxox

Elfebri said...

Wundervolle alte Schätze!
♥-lichst
biggi

Idamaria said...

i love the old and worn, every knick or chippy paint tells part of it's history. I don't need to see the original paint, as a matter of fact, the more colors that show through the better! Blogging is the absolute best, we meet friends everywhere!

BellaRosa said...

My eyes were watering when I was reading this wonderful post of yours. My friends always thought I was weird because when I was visiting them as kids I would rather stay inside and see all the old junk in their house or garages than just hangout, they still to this day ask me why I like old things...the only thing I can think of is that when I see and touch these things, I think of home from when I was a lil bebe girl being raised by my "Ita" (grandma) and when I think of that home...I think of Ita...so those things always bring me comfort when I am feeling lost. While writing this I am looking at her beloved sewing machine, it isn't fancy, it's old and worn yet absolutely beautiful and was oh so loved and treasured by her, it was one of her favorite things...and to me it is the most beautiful treasured thing in my house besides my loved ones:) the other thing that I have noticed about some of the "old"things that I have collected since a young girl, is that they still look wonderful, still gorgeous with that "vintage smell" forget that new car smell, I think this should be bottled lol "Eu de vintage" I would buy it and spray it on all my New "old stuffs" The patina, the look and the feel of my OLD treasures still to this day remind me of home...remind me of my Ita :) Thank you for sharing this great post and making me remember :) Rose

mary pernula said...

To me all old things have a past, present and future,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and I am glad that the THINGS that I have acquired are in my hands now, I am the caretaker for them now and they will be passed on to someone to take care of them later. Have a nice evening. XO MARY