Jenny:
You mentioned when you found the Menger M-series that you were surprised to learn that my mother had an artistic eye. Well, she was actually quite talented, and took a number of classes in college, thinking at one point she might study art seriously.
This is a little torso she sculpted in clay. Isn't it amazing? When I found it, I confess it kind of took me by surprise, I wouldn't have thought of her doing something so intimate. It is really a sensitive and accurate depiction of the female form. It is really lovely.
My mom was a huge fan of William Steig, and I grew up surrounded by more of this type of book than regular childrens books. For those I had to go over to my grandmother's house. The books I found in my box are the kind of books I remember spending hours examining in minute detail.
The green one I remember especially, not because of the anti-technology moral of the thing but mainly because of the art! Incredibly graphic and detailed line work throughout every page. Here are just a couple to give you the idea.
Can you tell what the last one is depicting? It is the island of Manhattan, before they decided to take down all the buildings and let it go back to being nature. Fabulous.
It is probably becoming very clear that my mom loved to save every scrap of memorabilia from her life. It is no surprise that she was in her heyday when letter-writing was much more commonplace than it is now. My box contains packet after packet of letters like this one. And this one...
The interesting thing is how mundane and kind of boring these letters are. I thought I would get drawn into them, and not be able to stop reading, but it was typical for them to be like a phone conversation is nowadays, what you've been up to, the trivial things that occupy your days, who stopped by, etc. But I am envious of those days. I can't remember the last time I wrote an actual letter. It is all email and phone conversations that leave little or not tangible trace. There is something so satisfying about a bundle of letters tied up with a string. Its kind of a shame that practice is passing.
How interesting, I need to go back and read some and imagine her speaking the lines. So would you say they were good puns or awful ones? Do you find her humor funny, or is it more composed for the letter recipient in particular?
I have soooo many memories of trips to the original Disneyland in California. Who knows which trip these tickets came from. My mom loved the Disneyland train, and the goofy guy running it and the funny monologue he delivered as you rode around the park. She repeated lines from it often, thought it was so funny, all the lame puns and so forth. I wouldn't be surprised if that was why she saved these, because they reminded her of that ride and those fun times.
Do you remember the Crusting Pipe? It was that cozy restaurant on the lower level of Covent Garden in London with the dining rooms in the arched-roof recesses below ground. We took my mom and Virginia there for dinner when they visited London and she apparently saved the menu. Man we had fun. I am still amazed that my mom was intrepid enough to pull off a trip over the pond. Talk about waaaay outside her comfort zone. But I'm so glad she did. She and I talked about that trip many many times. She loved to relive every part of it, especially the time when she and Ginny went to see Phantom of the Opera and had to run for blocks because they went to the wrong theater!
Like every other box I've poked around in, this box contains many examples of artwork by moi. I'm a bit chagrined to observe that I wasn't anywhere near the amazing art goddess that my mother (and I) thought. Ah, youth. But this one isn't actually too bad, in fact I can see hints of some future work in it, especially the pointy mountains and the elevated vista looking down on hills and houses in a village. When I get back to Dallas I'll drop in something current work that shows what I'm talking about.
This is also is evidence how my name and the spelling of it has varied through the years. At one time or another I've answered to Jenny, Jennie, Jennifer and even Bunnyfur.
My mom collected fans from when she was very young, and kept a lot of them in this tooled leather box. When I found it and opened the lid, I was drawn back to when I was little, and allowed to handle the fans verrrrry gently.
I'm not sure what if anything used to be in the small leather frame, it is empty now. But the fans are still bright and colorful. This one is my favorite (for obvious reasons).
And I promise I opened them verrrrry gently.
These are so cool! Where did she collect them from? travels? shops?
Unfortunately I don't know where they came from. She collected them in her early days I think. They were kept at my grandmother's house like maybe they were from her teen and high school days, or maybe college. I was imagining that servicemen would buy them overseas and bring them back as gifts, but that is only a guess. Virginia might know.
Let's say it together... awwwwwwwwwwwww! Every box I've gone through has a collection of sweet greeting cards. These must have been sent to me, and saved by my mom. She inherited this trait from my grandmother, and her mother before, who filled scrapbooks with greeting cards. I've saved some, but today's cards don't seem to be as cute or clever as they used to be.
My box has been the same - dozens upon dozens of Christmas cards, specifically. Do you recognize any of the people who sent you cards as a kid?
Based on the number I've seen in all the boxes so far, she saved every greeting card she (and I) ever received. I didn't look in many of them, but I do recognize the senders, mostly they were from relatives or family friends. I sort of remember she had me send lots of cards out, too, so I guess that's why I got a lot in return.
How totally like my mother to have a disco ball Christmas ornament.
Was this the only Christmas ornament in there?
There was a whole box but they were mostly just plain balls, or plastic bells. This was the one with the most character. The box itself was pretty neat! I should photograph it.
I love this little booklet! ...a handy guide for recognizing all the various insignia that enlisted men wore on their uniforms. Fantastic graphics!
My mom's family lived in Corpus Christi during WWII and the Naval Air Base there was very active. I heard lots of stories of parties and social activities, and I'm sure everyone was very conscientious about knowing what any enlisted man's insignia meant.
These are so cool, there is probably some interesting way to use them in a project.
The letters in my box are similar. The funny thing for me is that I can hear Gramma's verbal mannerisms in all of them, particularly all the puns. They are constant and numerous, in every line of every letter I read, and it makes me wonder how much of that came through to the people reading her letters.