Family heirlooms - what is it? What artifacts deserve special attention and storage?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

In the old days, any more or less we althy family had some special things that were passed down from generation to generation. Family heirlooms of noble people are family jewelry, portraits of famous ancestors in massive frames and some unique interior items, often made to order. In peasant families, the descendants were often given wedding rings, items made of precious metals, and just something beautiful, rare or valuable for a particular family. Has this tradition survived today and what things inherited from ancestors deserve special treatment?

Tellings of antiquity deep…

The history of Russia is interesting and full of various events. At the same time, the attitude towards antiques is changing in our country with almost every generation. There are practically no truly ancient items that are inherited in Russian families. If some valuable things remained with the original owners after the revolution of 1917, during the USSR they were transferred tomuseums confiscated by the authorities or sold at a minimal cost voluntarily. And yet, many people are sensitive to things associated with certain memories. Therefore, many of us have family heirlooms, often modern families are trying to create something interesting (to be passed on to descendants), literally with their own hands.

What are relics?

You might be surprised, but if you ask a few people what things are the most valuable and special for their families, you can get a variety of answers. Someone keeps their great-grandmother's “happy” wedding dress, another person is most proud of the stamp collection donated by his father, while the third person has some valuable handmade items created more than a hundred years ago. What is a family heirloom? The definition of this concept can be formulated as follows: it is some kind of material object that is inherited between blood relatives and is of particular value to members of this family. Accordingly, relics can be both expensive things, and very cheap ones, but at the same time of personal interest to the owners. Often, personal letters, some scientific papers or literary works are stored and even passed on to descendants for years.

Home archive

In many Russian families, there are some photographs of ancestors, some certificates and diplomas, and perhaps even awards from grandparents who participated in the Great Patriotic War. What to do with all this we alth? First of all, note thatPhotos and video/audio recordings have a certain retention period. Therefore, if you have printed photos, it makes sense to scan them. Be sure to do this business, even if it seems to you not significant enough. The cost of digitizing and restoring images is low, but in the future these materials can help you find lost relatives and will certainly interest your children. Even if you do not know what family heirlooms are, do not be too lazy to make a family tree. To do this, talk to the oldest living relative and write down all the information about your ancestors. If you like this idea, you can try to visit the archive, make official requests and learn more about your family's past. There is a place for an extra notebook or piece of paper in any home, and the information collected will be incredibly interesting for your children.

Dismantling Grandma's chest

What to do with old things? The question is relevant for many who today enter into an inheritance or simply make repairs at home, dismantling the farthest corners of the mezzanine. It is difficult to leave "for yourself as a keepsake" even the complete furnishings of one room. When parsing an inheritance from a beloved grandmother or great aunt, one should initially separate the trash from the “not trash” and then decide what to do with the second part. Today, many items made during the USSR are antiques, and if desired, they can be profitably sold to lovers of antiquity. But is it worth getting rid of all the "we alth"? Family heirlooms must representvalue to its owner. And if you like certain things left over from one of your relatives, feel free to take them for yourself. But, of course, this rule should be abandoned if the vase presented by the late grandfather frankly annoys you and does not fit into the interior. In this case, the “unloved” thing should be taken to the dacha or given to someone else from the relatives.

How to store heirlooms?

There is a place for special things related to the history of your family in any home. If you inherited something valuable and rarely used, the best storage option is a safe or renting a safe deposit box in a bank. Items that are unlikely to be of interest to potential robbers and can be used in everyday life can be kept in plain sight in your apartment. Do not forget that vases, dishes, paintings, interesting figurines are also examples of family heirlooms. If you inherited photographs, letters and some little things that you prefer to just keep and review from time to time, it makes sense to collect all these valuables in a separate large box.

Keeping history for posterity: do-it-yourself archive

Despite respect for the memory of ancestors, many modern people appreciate the history and interesting events of their own generation to the greatest extent. Nowadays it is fashionable to maintain a modern archive. For example, many couples in love keep their own family heirlooms, for example, they collect tickets from variousevents attended together, or print photos from vacations. Why not make time for such an interesting hobby if it interests you? It’s not a fact that such a collection of artifacts will be of interest to your children, but it’s worth a try anyway. A variety of family heirlooms, photos, ultrasounds and maternity hospital tags appear in every family at the birth of a child. These things can also be stored in a separate box or album, and your grown children will definitely be interested in them when they have their own babies.