Born in the rugged countryside of Colorado in 1899, she and my great-grandpa moved their young family to sunny California during the depths of the Great Depression. As many who lived through these extraordinarily hard times she learned to be resourceful and to appreciate life's smaller pleasures. In the 20 years we shared I watched her save every newspaper rubberband around the hallway doorknob, reincarnate a worn out dress through many lives until its final death as a dust rag, and succumb to her sweet tooth more often than not!
A spritely figure whom as a child overcame illness and accident with a tenacity one can only be born with. During WWII she was known to hide rocks in her pockets in effort to reach the weight minimums for donating blood to the troops. When the war was over she settled with her soldier husband in New Jersey to start a family and a career as a kindergarten teacher. Craftiness and enthusiasm are the hallmarks of any great K-grade instructor, and somehow she had enough of both even after leaving the classroom to impart to us grandkids the finer arts of covering anything (and everything!) in Contact paper, creating infiinitely-pocketed sacks from scraps of fabric, and constructing anything that could possibly be constructed from construction paper.
My mother grew up in a time when she and her brother lived a life akin to that of the Cleavers in Leave It To Beaver. It has been joked that they were America's most 'functional' family! But a carefree childhood became a turbulent transition to adulthood as the roles of women in society took their sharp turns in the 60s and 70s. After graduating college with a Home Ec degree (remember those?), she took a cross-country road trip on which she met my future father. A few years later, and she was a single mother trying to provide for her young daughter. It was back to school and back to work. By example, she taught me to be fearless, and that with determination and sacrifice, anything is possible!
Through nature and nurture I took on the traits of the three generations of women who came before me, and applied them towards my own interests. Whether at home or work or school I've instinctively gravitated towards historically good design, tirelessly hunted and gathered examples of such design, and carefully curated my resulting collections. Now, I am thrilled to share with you a century worth of collectibles, inspired by a century worth of wisdom and lifestyle, that are as relevant to future generations as they were to generations past!
|
 |
