Priceless Memory For Sale: $18

Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 223032 – 1076

Here’s the haps:

Mrs. Herb was feeling a lot better and wanted to go on an excursion. She’s not a big fan of going shopping for shopping’s sake but there are a couple of places she enjoys dawdling at. She likes Michael’s and Hobby Lobby and is able to spend some time in either one. Since I like Hobby Lobby (they have more stuff that appeals to guys, in my humble estimation) and they often have what she wants or a selection of yarns that TNT wants, she will spend more time there. But there is another store (that I think may be just local), that she really enjoys going to when she is allotted enough time to search diligently through its many bins and nooks and crannies and that is a second-hand type craft supply store with the likely name of Who Gives A Scrap. Their blurb is:

We are a donation based scrap store that carries an impressive mix of arts, craft, and hobbies supplies in addition to unique vintage finds.  We carry everything from scrapbook paper to game pieces, from used books to sewing patterns — the variety is a crafter’s dream. The reuse of materials is the most environmentally friendly way to reduce the waste stream. Come search for treasures on our 8,000+ sq ft sales floor!

Who Gives A Scrap

The old saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” is really true. Often the things that are donated are things that someone else would have just thrown out. Miscellaneous fabrics and ribbons, old game pieces, buttons, paper of many descriptions, just a veritable plethora of “stuff.” Sometimes there are hobby kits or items that go with a hobby that was once a fad but now is out of favor, stamps and stamp pads, frames, glasses, paints, pens, pencils, really I can’t even think of it all. There are usually many things that are good or useful and I have even found a nice Schaeffer White Dot fountain pen and several used books and “things.”

Today I saw something that made me feel sad and melancholy. It was this picture hanging on the wall:

I am thinking from the styles and the way the paper looked it must be from around the Fifties or Sixties. I have a five-generation picture of my mother holding me and my aunt holding my cousin and my grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother that is of similar quality and style. In our modern world, a lot of people don’t think much about pictures anymore. I took this picture with my cellphone and never gave the process a thought but there was a time when pictures were rarer and to get someone to pose for a professional or semi-professional photo was kind of a big deal. Even if it was just an amateur family member, a photo like this was a lot of effort and expense for the time. It’s a little larger that an eight by ten and framed by someone who knew what they were doing. I took it off the wall to see if there were any identifying markings but I was afraid to take it apart to see if there was anything on the back of the picture itself. I guess I wasn’t eighteen dollars nosy, however, so I left it intact.

I hung it back up and wondered, even worried about it. The woman is obviously, at the very least, the grandmother, maybe even great or great-great to these eleven youngsters. Who would donate such a thing to such a place and why? Did somebody find it left in an attic somewhere in a newly purchased house? Had the old lady fallen out of favor with the family? Wasn’t there even one of those children who would want a keepsake like that? Do any of them even know it exists? Will it be there the next time I take Mrs. Herb there or will someone have purchased it for the nice frame and matting? If someone has bought it, will they look to see if there are any names on the back of it and try to follow up with someone or will they just toss it away?