Downsizing Part One: These Are Rita's.

I can’t recall exactly how many times as a youngster I packed up my red and yellow Snoopy suitcase and headed to Grandma’s. At the time Grandma and Pop-Pop lived in a large two story house not too far from us. If I had the time I could draw the floor plan from memory, the large living room with a retro TV and stereo cabinet, the cavernous game room with a large pool table.

The kitchen wasn’t all that big but was where we spent a great deal of time. Usually my trips there involved baking some variety of cookies. Grandma is an amazing cook. Every morning Grandma would make me grits. I wasn’t supposed to start talking until after her first cup of coffee was consumed from the full pot she drank each day.



My clearest memories at that house are rolling the shiny marble balls around the pool table, standing out on the back deck, looking inside Grandma’s jewelry box, sitting before her bathroom's vanity. Did she let me try things on? I know she had a lipstick brush that she would dip into the concave remnants inside the tube of lipstick and apply to her lips. Maybe she let me try some on. I do love lipstick.

When I was ten, Grandma married Henry, our Grandpa. They moved from Henry’s place, an older one story home with a massive backyard in which many games of bat gammon where played, into a nice modern garden home with a small plot of land but expansive ceilings and skylights.

Grandma has lived there ever since. But often times life presents us with a change whether we like it or not. Out of necessity she recently moved to the East Coast and now resides in a 550 square foot apartment in a lovely part of New Jersey. Grandma, for the first time in a long time, had to downsize.

Knowing how I loved old trinkets, Grandma made sure that I received a few specific items she holds dear. I feel it must have been a tremendous separation for her having to let go of so many things.

First and foremost I must write about my Christmas dress. Grandma bought this for me in Houston at Palai Royal when I was two.


I’m sure I have a picture of myself wearing it somewhere…


Second is a lovely Art Deco piece of Roseville Pottery marked “Roseville U.S.A. 379-6” on the bottom.

It is a 6 inch octagonal bowl from the Bleeding Heart series introduced in 1940. The series came in the colors of green, pink, and blue, the latter valued highest among many pottery collectors.

Next is Grandma’s Heisey Butter Dish.

Here’s a link to the Heisey Museum. http://www.heiseymuseum.org/resources/ahheisey.htm

I don’t know much about this gorgeous item other than that I never intend to put butter or anything else in it. In fact, all of these delicate objects are now safely wrapped and stored away from my four legged critters and my clumsy self.

Perhaps the oldest piece and most difficult to research is this beautiful cake/dessert dish.

My great great grandmother (Grandma’s mother’s mother!) Mary Conroy was the original owner of this decorative stand. It may be a piece of Early American Pattern Glass (EAPG) but thus far I have been unable to find the pattern of which I found out there is over a thousand.
Here’s a neat site: http://www.eapgs.org/

It is almost like a cake stand but has a slightly cupped shape to the top – not typical for slicing cake. Grandma says she used it to serve deserts at one point but more recently filled it with potpourri.

Grandma knows how much I love and appreciate each treasure she gave me. She’s also quite aware that I’m writing about her at this very moment and insists on getting a copy. Happy reading, Rita.