Trash and Treasures in the Garage

Tuesday I worked for several hours on The Great Garage Cleanup Project, and managed to throw away and recycle tons of stuff. I also organized items in boxes to redistribute somewhere else. I felt so energized and excited to have made a beginning toward studiohood for the garage. I was surprised and pleased to discover several items of sentimental value that had been missing or forgotten for years.

Organization begins

My friend Julia came over today and we threw away a bunch more trash and I found a few more treasures. Going through the stuff in the garage is like reviewing my whole life, but randomly. Here's the first membership card I ever had, though I'm sure it was not safeguarded by me when issued. The Cradle Roll refers to the baby care at the First Congregational Church in Eugene where I was deposited when my parents attended services.

Am I still a member?

I've been wondering for years where the next two items had gotten to. They're photographs of my great-grandmother, Mary Belle Denhart, and her cousin Carrie.

Great-Grandma Mary. I love the leg o' mutton sleeves. She was an excellent seamstress, and probably made this dress herself. I remember her a little bit. She used to call me "tweety heart". I thought she meant I was like Tweety Bird in the cartoons. That was okay with me.

Cousin Carrie

I found another missing picture of me with my first baby. I'm so happy to have found this!

Me with Baby Karuna

Here's an old Fifties dollhouse that I bought years ago because it was the same as the dollhouse in my first grade classroom.

The dollhouse interior. I also found "Prince Albert in a Can", a leaving from former owners of the house.

To explain the Prince Albert reference to those not as ancient as I, in the "olden days" kids would phone a store and ask, "Do you have Prince Albert (tobacco) in a can?" When the owner said he did, the kid would say, "Well, why don't you let him out?" Great yuks in olden times.

The dollhouse nursery. Wow, a soldier. Just the thing for a nursery...

I found this poster from the old Portland Women's Theatre Company, whose boards I trod back in the 80's. This is a timely find as the PWTC is about to have our first reunion in many years. This came about due to the efforts of one of my students at PSU. I had told her about the company as she is doing a project on Social Change Theater. She was excited to know about this piece of Portland women's history, and tracked everyone down for a reunion next month.

Pretty good poster for the pre-computer cut and paste era. I think Laurie Vail was the artist.

I also found a bunch of my kid's drawings and school papers. My son had done an exuberantly colored tree. The teacher's written comment was, "Take More Time." Pooh. Fortunately my son's creativity and dash still flourish.