Keeping Things
My Grandma Emma was a keeper of things. She lived with us about six months of the year and with another son in Indiana the other part of the year. She had boxes and boxes of things stored at our house. I loved being with her to see her "treasures," when she decided to go through her things. Some times she called it her "trumphrey," but I called it her "Junks." I think she had materials that she used to make quilt patches, and probably articles of clothing, but there must have been more than that to grab my interest.
I know that for a while she sold small leather coin purses and she had some of them left over and I received one of them. And there was a little box about five inches square, roughly, which I still have in my bedroom.
Once she gave me a small, green glass elephant, which I still have today and it became the basis of my elephant collection. It was probably the best of the trumphrey that she gave me.
By the way, I've been trying to find that word, trumphrey, in the dictionary or through Google, and it doesn't seem to be a word. I've tried many spellings with no success. If she made it up, she certainly came up with a good word for odds and ends of things saved for no special purpose.
Aha! My son just found "trumpery" which means exactly what I've been I've been telling you about. "Old wares, old stuff." So Grandma Emma didn't make it up, but may have mispronounced it, or I maybe didn't hear it right. I could tell you stories about words I thought I heard only to find out later that I missed something.
But now it's bedtime again. Goodnight.
Submitted by
NJ
at 11/19/2005 5:42:12 PM- Lorraine, button boxes are bit of treasure, aren't they! They are such fun to go through. I wonder if Grandma Emma had a button box in with her stuff.
Submitted by
Sally
at 11/19/2005 6:27:31 PM- My mom had a button box - I remember sitting on the floor and trying to match buttons for her. And, then there were buttons from some of my dad's Naval uniforms. Priceless treasures indeed.
Submitted by
NJ
at 11/19/2005 8:32:03 PM- I saved my own buttons in a box, and I used to buy button boxes in second hand stores and I rarely had occasion to use any of the buttons, but they were such fun to sort through. Kids usually enjoy sorting through a button box.
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My husband is a bit of a pack rat. Unfortunately for him, he is married to a minimalist. When he goes on business trips some of his things disappear. ;)
I like this story because it reminded me about the button box my mom had when I was little and how fascinated I was with all the different types of buttons.