That's right. In the midst of moving, I took things already packed out of boxes, washed them, and packed them up again. Tell me this isn't the definition of insanity.
On the other hand, I've been promising myself to be organized with this move- organized to the point where I go through everything and determine whether it's worth keeping or not. Simplify, simplify, simplify. No more clutter. No more crap that just gets stuffed in boxes and forgotten about between moves.
The issue here is that this china and crystal is all heirloomy/grandmother hand-me-downs. You can't just huck that kind of thing away. You can't. And before you tell me how I can or should- hear me out.
We are sloppy eaters with no manners. All of us. The entire country. No one knows how to set a table. No one knows what fork goes where. No one gives a pea-turkey about any of this because we've gone to quick and easy. We sneak the simplify word in here, feeling virtuous, but what we really mean is- we're now okay with being sloppy with "simple" things. All the time. At Thanksgiving dinner. On Christmas Day. Just buy the paper plates/the SuperTarget ceramic mugs/the clearance melamine! That last one doesn't break! It was made by a four year old in a third world country, but don't stop and think about that because that's just how things are now!
Personally, I've spent a lot of time scavenging the dish aisles at all the big-box stores. Kinda because I like to see what they have, and also because I keep wanting to buy it when I totally do not need to. Why?
Because I have a set of Haviland Limoges- white with gold trim. This is very fine china. It's also in perfect condition, although I could use a few more place settings. I have a very old collection of Edwin M. Knowles china- white with gold trim and a floral design- mostly in a dark pink. These dishes date somewhere between 1901 and 1948- which was the last year the vase design was used as the identifying logo. I have a large collection of crystal- various sizes of stemmed glasses- water, champagne, wine, brandy, several matching serving dishes (there is a rather magnificent bowl) and dessert plates. Oh, and cups and saucers. There is a silver tea serving set- pot, tray, sugar bowl and creamer.
My favorite little thing is my children's tea-set by Jeanette Glass in Cherry Blossom Pink. These were made during the depression years and my grandmother was given them sometime during her eighth year- she gave them to me the Christmas I was 8. Later on we had a very magnificent tea party with that set- tea and cherry pie I remember.
We used these things. For Grandmother/Grand-daughter tea parties, for Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas parties.
And today, I keep them in boxes. In the basement. They see the light of day every 12 years or so. This is really, really silly and rather unfortunate.
We keep the beautiful old things in boxes because we're afraid to use them. Or we don't want to wash delicate things. Or polish them. Come to think of it, we've forgotten how to polish them. What do you use? How long will that take?? Won't the kids just break all of them? They won't appreciate them anyway. Just like all those old quilts in the attic.
Well who appreciates what they have no memory of?
After 9/11 there was a shift somewhere. I remember President Bush standing up and yacking about enjoying America and going shopping. What most of us really wanted was to participate in some kind of effort. Well, other than being good little consumers, that is. Suddenly crafting was groovy. People started to make things again. They rethought their ideas about gift-giving at Christmas and made things for each other, or donated money in that person's name to a good cause- and they started thinking about being together as a family and appreciating the less-fleeting things (unlike that new set of unbreakable Target melamine that will go out of style in about five minutes flat).
They remembered things their grandmothers baked. They started knitting sweaters and socks and crocheting blankets. They quilted and painted and built things.
And they're still doing it. If you doubt this- check out the many hilarious articles about Pinterest Stress, which really means that crafting/making/creating is on the rise- we just need to remember to take the busy-ness down a notch and have a little fun with it. We need to remember what matters- what kind of legacy we leave behind and hope that it's the kind of legacy that will want to be replicated in future generations- rather than stored in a box in a basement.
So back to my dishes. I think I'll actually unpack them this time. I'll promise myself to set the table with them and eat off them at least a few times a week. I have this theory that table manners can suddenly appear in children when they're confronted with a formal place-setting and too many forks.
We'll talk about the kind of meals those dishes have seen. The pot roasts, the fried chicken, the fruit salad with marshmallows. And we'll talk about the times- the Depression, WWII, Korea, the 1950s, 60s and 70s- and how I remember them as a child in the 1980s- the last time they were regularly used.
And I'm going to bring back tea.
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