#10 - Join me on the terrace, won't you?

The Vault spelunking has taken a back seat this week to the flagstone patio project (small, with someone else's leftovers that will bridge a path between our deck and a stone planting bed).

So I turned to the Oracle Of Mom and opened the first box I reached into and here's what came out:



Now, this is a classic American decorating toolbox of information.

I found pages 42 and 43 most helpful as we're trying to figure out what to do out there in the back (and doesn't that watermelon look delish?):

Who knew there were so many options for re-doing your directors chairs?

Now, I'm not sure we're going to take on any of these projects, but oh, isn't it good to know we'd have this great blueprint to use if we did...

I think Mom had this page corner-folded for a good reason:

I remember when we moved to the "big" house from the "little" one, she totally decorated the whole place herself, and for their master bedroom she even made those "Roman" shades (the ones on the upper right corner of the photo above) out of sheets she'd bought. I remember being impressed even at 8 years old. Though she wasn't as talented a seamstress (or knitter, crocheter, beader, or quilter) as my grandmother, she was a creative being, that's for sure.

I swear, every time I un-earth something else from the Vault, it IS like opening a time capsule.

(Thanks, Mom. Oh, and happy belated birthday too).

#9- But wait, there's MORE!

Spring is in full swing now that another Posey has climbed to the top of a Vault box. I wonder how many more of these are buried in the boxes:



Of course, they do come in a myriad of colors and styles it seems.

For now, they just remind me that I need to get back into the garden and the never ending weeding before blooming.

If I find any more, perhaps it'll be time to open that vintage ETSY shop once and for all.

#8 - Why, I'm practically writing NOW.

A brief respite from Vault spelunking was welcome (it was an amazing trip to Ashland to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival - if you've never been, GO!).

Upon my return, this was immediately inside the first box I opened. Sometimes I think it's the Oracle of Mom each time I open a box.

Knickbocker Publishing, 1945, (New York, 6, NY), edited by Jack Lait (google him - he sounds like quite the writer):



The inside of the book jacket flap reads:

"If you have the urge to write, don't hold back."

And it's chock full of interesting contributors, each is "An Expert" according to the back of the book jacket. Zoom in on this picture and see all the practical advice contained in this book:



This reminds me of those ads in the backs of old magazines. My favorite is the title "An Analysis of Screen Play Writing." Guess that was back when it was two words -- Screen and Play.

Another timely treasure, that's for sure.

Mom was all about the writing. I have stumbled upon several biographical variations of her life story; well, at least the beginnings of her life story. I have to start compiling them. In the meantime, I wonder if any of the parts of the book will help me with "successful blogging..."

#7 - Ring Around the Rosey, a Pocket Full of Hosey Poseys

You know Spring has arrived when the Posey's make their way to the surface, just like this one did from the Bedroom Desk box.

What do you call that when the price of something is probably the same as the year of manufacture? Now, I'm not sure if that's true or not (this cost all of 69¢), but it's just like Mom to have not just bought this, but held onto it (though I'm sure she must have purchased more than one and actually USED them herself - she was stylish). You'll see from the back of the package how cool these would look on some of my friends and nieces (and you know who you are).

Of course, it's also possible this was one of Mom's garagesaleaholic purchases (see the diminishing prices on the backside near the upper right corner).

Again, what a timely find. My son and husband just saw "Hair" on Broadway a week ago.

Should we keep 'em? I think these might come back into style soon...

#6 - Scratching around

"Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion." - Mark Twain

I found this quote on a printed e-mail from September 13, 2001, which Mom had highlighted and included in the folder titled "Scratch Paper."

I'm particularly fond of these representative samplings of what was inside the folder:


There's 20 pages of the blue paper, which has an embossed gold scroll design and bonus onion skin tissues between them (I'm guessing '50s). The "memos" pad is elegant in its simplicity; only room for "Date_______" and "Urgent..." on this one (probably '60s). And the "Message Slip?" It's a pad Mom swiped from the hotel I'm assuming she stayed in during her short visit to Nepal in 1999.

There's lots of scratch paper in the boxes (and I do mean LOTS of scratch paper), not to mention lots of handwritten notes. And by Notes, I speak of the fondness Mom had for "Notes To Self, "sometimes on a daily basis. Not, of course, to be confused by her fondness for the other best sellers in the Vault which include "Shopping List" or the ever popular "To Do List."

It's remarkable finding these lists and notes, and lots of blank memo pads tucked away in many little corners of the Vault.

Stay tuned. More best sellers to be unearthed for sure.

#5 - Timing is everything

Well, I'm still trying to "rearrange" these boxes to make it easier to sort through them. As I'm prying through the one marked "Office To Sort" I spied this timely treasure (sorry for the camera phone resolution):



This is, of course, what every good Jewish mother not only HAS but HANGS ON TO just in case she'd need it again. I wonder why the Purple and Rose Shade tabs of color never got used (especially since Mom's favorite color WAS purple). And why is "Rose" the only "shade" in the bunch?

What year are these from? Let's see, 25 cents, full 5 digit zip code, and the fonts? I'm guessing from the '70's, but not much earlier. What with tomorrow being that day, what an "egg-cellent" discovery.

If only I was into Twitter... How many folks Tweet about Tweety?

#4 - Blast from the Past

There's nothing like finding something from your younger self. Amusing and enlightening.

My son just returned from a whirlwind college tour trip which included his first visit to New York City. How fitting that I stumbled upon this postcard from me at about the same age in time.

I had gone on my high school's senior drama class trip, and remember doing ridiculous things in NYC as a 16 year old at the time -- like walking down Broadway with two other students and no chaperone at 3 a.m., or, as I wrote home about on this postcard, "getting lost on the subway in the village at 10 p.m. Having fun."

Fun indeed.

#3 - Who Dat?

Here's another photo pried out of the Vault from one of the Muriel boxes.

I recognize the man on the left - it's my grandpa Harry. He was one of 14 kids, but my brothers and I never knew any of those relatives AT ALL (except for his sister, our Aunt Leona - she was the kissing aunt; everytime we saw her, she'd grab our face between her hands and kiss it repeatedly at least 5-10 times. We loved her).

Looking at this great old posed photo, I'm wondering "Who Dat?"

Who is this other guy with the smug look on his face sitting down on the chair? I'm guessing it's one of Harry's brothers, but I can't be sure and I have no idea which one.

I posed this question to the legions of cousins who are now connected on Geni.com (none of whom we ever knew about growing up). One of them replied he didn't know but he recognized the chair and believes he still has it in the family.

Funny how these things work.

#2 - How many degrees of separation are there?

Ok, here's the first Treasure unearthed yesterday. My Aunt Muriel - what a remarkable woman. In one of the Muriel boxes, there's a plethora of telegrams; REAL telegrams. I discovered this little Treasure and just about fell over. I mean, I know she worked with most of the Rat Packers, but who knew?

Glad this one made it into the Vault.

#1 - The Longest Journey Begins With A Single Step

Ok, I've thought about this often. Having become the caretaker of the Treasure-Vault of my Mom's things, I started the process many times. After Mom passed away (overseas, mind you) in January 2008, my siblings and I whittled her things down to 60 boxes. They've been in storage in my garage ever since.

Mom was a pack rat (not the newspapers up to the ceiling kind, but the dumpster diving garagesaleaholic kind). When I started going through some of these things, it was like opening a time capsule.

What makes us keep the ephemera we do?

Let's see if we can find out together.