The heavy rain we got at the end of last week has surely ended the “drought” in our area.
My cousins from West Texas would say I use that term incorrectly. They assure me folks in this part of the country don’t know what a drought is.
One who was here visiting last week told me, “When I go home and tell people that you’re griping about too much rain up here, they’ll think I’m crazy!”
There’s been no significant rain at her home for many months. The family has already sold cattle at their ranch in Matador and more will have to be sold. Several small towns in the area are in danger of folding up because the water table is so low their supply of drinking water is almost gone.
The Texas cousins arrived Monday night and stayed until Saturday, sorting and packing items at my aunts’ house.
The weather played havoc with plans to load a trailer on Thursday. The trailer arrived rather late in the day and rain throughout the afternoon and evening put the loading operation on hold. A couple of vehicles got stuck in the mud, adding further complications, but drier weather Friday morning allowed workers to load a trailer with furniture and appliances. It was on the road to Texas around noon on Friday.
Then there were many smaller boxes to be loaded into the two remaining vehicles. The twin aunts lived to be 98 and 101 and had accumulated quite a store of possessions in the course of their lifetimes. There seemed to be a tremendous supply of books, dishes and clothing, reflecting three of their favorite interests.
I’ve had a crash course in family history as I’ve sorted through years and years of cards, letters and photographs they’d saved.
One of Mama’s cousins, Helen Holland Kennedy, after visiting here 20 years ago, wrote that she loved all the aunts’ antique furniture.
“I’m so glad to see that,” she said. “Maybe it was just the people who moved West, but when I was a kid nobody saved anything but just tossed it out. Or is it just that some people are collectors and some aren’t?”
She commented that her mother never cherished a thing. When she died, the only thing she had saved was her high school yearbook. And her dad was the same way.
“I am just the opposite,” Helen said. “I collect blue glass and Wedgwood and carnival glass, or depression glass they call it now, and well just too much stuff.”
She was specifying in her will that none of her grandkids could have any of her stuff until they had been married 10 years or were over the age of 30.
“Most young people just do not cherish the past until they are at least that age,” she noted, “or is it even older?”
An article I found among Aunt Leta’s belongings may prompt one to take a closer look at their jewelry box. It’s titled, “Your ‘Junk’ Jewelry Could Make You Rich” and quotes C. Jeanenne Bell, world-renowned jewelry expert and appraiser for the popular PBS series “Antiques Roadshow.”
Bell explains that valuable collectible jewelry that could be in your jewelry boxes, drawers or attic is easily overlooked. You can make money on many collectible pieces of jewelry, she says, and it doesn’t have to be old to be valuable. “It doesn’t have to be beautiful to have value,” she continued. “Even ugly pieces can be collectible and bring high prices.”
Bell related the story of Helen, from Utah, who paid $1 for a “fake” diamond ring at an estate sale and sold it for $23,000. Then there was Carole Ann from Minnesota who bought two watchbands for $5 and sold the platinum and diamond band to a collector for $1,000. Wayne in Texas found a man’s watch chain for 35 cents and sold it for $900, and Patty in Iowa paid 50 cents for a fun ring at a yard sale only to discover it was a 1700s Flip Ring worth $3,000.
Many pieces of jewelry have marks, trade names and signatures that distinguish them as potentially valuable pieces. A few of these are Trifari, Monet, Ciro, Chanel, Weiss, Eisenberg, Haskell, Napier and Schiaperelli. Mexican souvenir jewelry bought in the 1940s through the 60s could be worth $100 to $2,000 and up. You just have to know how to separate the valuable from the worthless.
Of course, Bell is trying to sell her books, “How to Be a Jewelry Detective,” and its companion, “Jewelry Detective Book of Resources,” but you might be able to find similar guidebooks in your local library.
Happy hunting!
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Susan Holland works for the Westside Eagle Observer and is a lifelong resident of Benton County. She can be reached by email at [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 6 on 05/15/2013