Sepia Saturday: Sign of Summer

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

My mother never drilled a dive bomber like the woman in this week’s Sepia Saturday photo challenge. However, she was known to wrap up her hair similarly from time to time, especially at the beach to control that thick hair of hers.

 

My mother on the left
at Virginia Beach probably about 1948

And she owned a drill. Yes, a drill, as well as a belt sander, jig saw, and a host of smaller tools like screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, chisels, saws, and hammers.

These tools were HERS, not my dad’s. Daddy was NOT “Mr. Fixit”; Momma was. She could even repair the fill valve in the back of the toilet. But most often Momma used her tools for refinishing furniture, one of her many creative outlets.

Our neighbor once said, “It wasn’t officially summer until the garage door was open, old furniture was in the driveway, and Mary E. was in her white work shorts.” Those shorts were so covered in paint and wood stain that they probably could have stood on their own. They were legend. Too bad we have no picture.

In the 1970s and 80s, antiques were very popular but very expensive. On weekends Momma, my sister, and I scoured many a thrift store and antique shop in search of a bargain. Trunks and wash stands were high on our list, and we found quite a few treasures.

Uncle Leo loved the trunk my mother refinished for him in 1974
(Note the new leather handles and metal caps)

Over the course of several years just about everyone in the family received a trunk which Momma had refinished and lined with fabric. Sometimes she had to replace runners or wheels; often she had to patch bad spots with wood filler. She even had to craft new covers for the leather straps which she had cut at a local horse tack shop. Where else could you get strips of leather back then?

Momma gave Barry and me a trunk the first Christmas we were married. In the trunk she placed a complete 7-piece Victorian wash set, another antique store find. Can you identify the pieces? The pitcher was for water; the bowl or basin was for washing face and hands; the smaller pitcher was for hot water; the small bowl with lid held a cake of soap; a shaving mug; a toothbrush holder; and a chamber pot.

The background of the fabric looks red
but it is blue

Wash stands were a favorite item to grab and redo. Momma gave new life to an array of stands from the primitive to the more refined, although none with marble tops as those were too expensive.

This simple wash stand works as a tv stand in our den.

This fancier wash stand is in the dining room
holding serving pieces and junk.

This one is in a guest room.
It has certainly paid for itself!

The one that is currently in one of our guest rooms was in pieces when she found it. The top was separated from the rest and the doors were stacked inside. The towel rack was in pieces as well, and the rod for holding a towel was missing. The cost - $4. Since this project required quite a bit of gluing, Momma went to Sears to buy some clamps. The clerk was surprised that a woman was clamping anything. He obviously had not met my mother!

Whatever we bought was always “a deal,” but our smartest purchase was a china press. In the 1970s and 80s, china presses were highly desirable with a price tag to match, so we never hoped to find one we could afford. The stars aligned that day when Momma and my sister walked into a thrift shop in search of a small bookcase. With her eagle eye Momma spied something that looked like a china press. It was black with coal dust, so she could not tell what the wood was, or even what condition it was in. But it had claw feet, a good sign. The owner of the shop had no idea what he had, so he phoned a friend who was in the antiques business. Since he could not see it to determine its value, the friend suggested he sell it for at least $100. SOLD!

When I inherited my mother's china press,
I moved my dishes and crystal into that one.
Now my $100 bargain holds my girls'
doll collections.

Momma was prepared to pay $250 without even knowing what she had. It turned out to be a steal!

We had feared it was some kind of cheap veneer with cardboard shelves, but it is beautiful oak, and the oak shelves are both substantial and in perfect condition, no warping or cracks. The curved glass is original.

Oh, how clearly I remember those summer days as Momma’s assistant, both of us in rubber gloves with putty knives, a wire brush, and paint remover scraping through layers of paint to find that beautiful oak or poplar. My clearest memory, though, is that flicks of paint and chemicals STING, my friend.

Please visit Sepia Saturday for more riveting stories and photos.

Wendy

© 2017, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.