I've been pretty busy this weekend. First, I caught a cold, so I figured, since I already don't feel that well, I may as well clean up my "Etsy store" a little. What a mess I can make in what was supposed to be my sewing room! But, I'm getting it reorganized. I have a LOT of fun things I've found that I've been trying to find the time to list in my Etsy and Artfire shops. So, I've been plugging away at it.
One thing that hurries me a long, is there are seasonal type things to list, and you must do it early enough. I got most of the Valentines listed that I wanted to, even some Easter while I was at it. Like I said before, I got these all in one box, from Karla in the Wallowas, I think her shop was called Jinglebobs. I want to go back. It was filled with awesome stuff! So, if you get to Eastern Oregon, be sure to stop in and see her!
Anyway, all the cards I've listed lately, were from her shop. They were all done by the same Oregon artist in the 40s. Kind of neat. Well, I had a nice lady from Japan email to see about getting several cards from me. In the course of our convos, I told her I had a lot of these, and I took photos and sent to her. So, I was going through the cards. There are a l ot of prototypes, not sure yet what I'll do with those. They feel like important history, do I want to "lose" them? They just seem special.
Well, in my searching, I came across one card that she had done for Hallmark. It was an anniversary card, and out of all these cards, it was one she had actually given to her husband on their anniversary! It reads:
"To My Hubby on our anniversary. Hubbies are fixers, cocktail mixers,
Lemon squeezers, try-to-please-ers, garden rakers, money makers,
Rodent killers, ashtray spillers, Yes, they do a lot, it's true,
To make wives love them like they do!
And honey it's sure plain to see The luckiest wife of all is ME!
She signed the card this way: "'cuz I love you more than anything, and you've made me happier than I've ever been in all my life...Virginia
Now, I wonder, was she thinking of him when she designed this card? Was he the one who inspired her in her work? Did she have a really hard life previously, and he was her hero, rescuing her from heartache? (I personally can relate to this, my husband of almost 26 years is my own rescuer, from one very hard few years of my young adult life!) Or maybe she had a wonderful childhood, didn't have any "lag" in happiness, but met her true love who made her even happier than she ever could imagine??
And where am I left, with this piece of history? If I gave it up, would anyone ever know that the one who signed the card to her husband, also designed the card? Do you see the huge responsibility before me? Yes, I'm taking it probably way too seriously, but, it's part of what junking is all about, isn't it? All this stuff has a history! A lot of it held memories for people!
I have an old primitive wood stool with the smoothest seat, that I got at a sale for $3. The older lady told me it had been her dads, and he sat on it for years at his store, he was a shopkeeper! My mind goes to the Laura Ingalls days when they sat around a wood stove and visited in those stores. My stool's not THAT old, but, you know, I have that piece of history. Every time my grandkids come and eat at my table, the grandsons always like to sit in that stool, and a flash goes through my mind, and smile in my heart, that this piece of history is still living out good times!
