Skip to main content

Antique Family Trunk

If you're into antiques, go get a handkerchief for the drool you're about to, well, drool.

I present to you .... my coffee table.


This is the antique trunk originally belonged to The Captain's great-uncle and great-aunt when they were living in Greece in the 1910s. They immigrated in depression-era America and settled in Aurora, Illinois, where they lived out their lives. In 1953, they sent for one of their nephews, my father-in-law's older brother, to be sent to them in America to live and work. When his brother decided to go to Australia instead, my father-in-law was sent, and so our family's history in America began.

When my in-laws sold the family home were The Captain grew up, we found this old trunk in an attic closet, only containing some table linens and a few Greek dance costumes. I dutifully asked if my mother-in-law or sisters-in-law wanted it for their homes, fingers crossed they would all declined and it could come live at our house. I lucked out!

Here are some detail shots of this beautiful trunk. All of the brass hardware and nail head trim work is original to the trunk.


The original leather handles have split on both sides of the trunk, but the fixtures are still strong. I've debated getting these restored, but there is something honorable about the original leather pieces still being attached. 

The stickers shown below are the departure tags noting the trunk's point of origin of Piraeus, the largest port to Athens.


On the left side of the trunk, are the destination stickers noting New York City. It's faint, but the white square sticker has the faded blue penmanship noting "Bazos, Sam" -- The Captains great-uncle's name. The red sticker says "National Hellenic American Line."


Now the trunk is centered in my living room as a coffee table, with three books on top (Emily Post's "Wedding Ettiquette" (nod to my day-job), "Speeches That Changed The World", and "A History of Aviation (not to The Captain's day-job)), a silver-tone airplane from Pottery Barn, and a Silver Julep Cup of silk Red Hydrangeas.

Not to knock the great products at Ikea, but I'll take this fabulous piece of family history as my coffee table any day of the week.

Comments

  1. That is a great way to use a family heirloom! I love it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce 

Raise your hand if you LOVE washing dishes? Yes? Then this recipe isn't for you. Because dinner is done in one pot. Set it and forget it while you change into something more comfortable after a long day. Ingredients: 1 lb. ground beef 1/2 onion, diced 2 c broth or water 3 c (24 ounces) pasta sauce (marinara or tomato sauce recommended) 1 lb. any pasta (I used whole wheat high protein spaghetti) 2 T Italian Seasoning 1 t Onion Powder 1 t Garlic Powder 1/2 t salt 1/4 t black pepper Instructions: Set your pot to "Saute" and cook the ground beef, breaking up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Add the onion to the ground beef and they will cook together. Once it is cooked through (about 4-5 min), do not drain out the fat. **If you prefer to use frozen meatballs, skip the above steps, start with the meatballs in the bottom of your pot, then go from here:  Mix in all seasoning (Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper) Layer in ...

Creamy Tomato Sauce

This is my best low point tomato sauce concoction yet! Let's get to it: Ingredients: 2 cans diced tomatoes (do not drain) 4 t EVOO 1/4 c fat free sour cream 2 T Italian Seasoning 2 t garlic salt 1 t dill 1 t thyme Combine all ingredients except the corn starch. Bring to a boil and simmer on med-low for 15-20 minutes to begin the thickening process. Transfer about 1/4 c of the liquid from the tomatoes to a small bowl and mix well with corn starch to create a roux. Once free of lumps, add the roux to the tomatoes and stir well. Continue to simmer for another 5-10 minutes on low until ready to serve. Stir periodically to ensure the sauce doesn't get too thick or begin to dry (add a little water of this occurs). PP+ 2 for 1/4 of the tomato mixture Serve over pasta (I served it over beef ravioli). Enjoy!

DIY Burlap Placemats

BLOG UPDATE! These placemats are now available on my Etsy store TheSundayPaperie Customize with any words you'd like! I saw this picture on Pinterest, courtesy of the design blog, Cottage and Vine , and fell in love with the simplicity and quirkiness of these placemats. The original poster advises some basic burlap and just using a Sharpie for the lettering. A great afternoon DIY project.  I set out to make 6 to use on my kitchen table when it's fully set. Now, for what the write? Here were a few options: 6 synonyms for 'eat': eat, nourish, chow, bite, dine, devour 6 ways to say 'eat' in various languages: eat (English), φάω (Greek), comer (Spanish), manger (French), essen (German), jeść (Polish) Or I was thinking to just write out the works one through six. After a little survey of friends online, the concesus was to write it out in various languages. So here is how it went down: I wanted each placemat to be 14" x 20", so I p...