On-line Memories

The Salad Servers

One of the many things I sold when I downsized was a pair of carved wooden Salad Servers. In July 1973 I was 18 (I was to be 19 in the August), Dad had a brand new car which was a maroon Triumph Dolomite with a black vinyl roof and a tan interior. He had also bought a private registration plate with his 3 initials followed by number 3. This was put on the new car which otherwise was an 'L' registration. I still have the number plate. 

Mum, Dad and I went to Yugoslavia on holiday and I drove them in this car the whole way. Yugoslavia was still Communist and some of the main roads were just tracks. We went to Dubrovnik and Split and the Salad servers were a souvenir of the holiday but I cannot be sure exactly where they were bought. 

Mum and Dad had their wedding anniversary on holiday and ordered a bottle of champagne. We hadn't thought but to the staff it must have been excessively expensive and as it was opened the whole restaurant went silent. It was embarrassing. 

Dad's business was high end lingerie manufacturing and so Mum had the finest nightwear and underwear. She realised that the chamber maids went through her garments, no doubt admiring the quality of garments which were unavailable in the country at the time. We met up with an English man who was also driving in Yugoslavia. He had a Bentley and took a shine to Mum which didn't go down well with Dad! Nothing happened and Mum and Dad were married for 59 years until Dad's death in 1999. The Salad Servers were bought together with a long wooden flat pointed carved stick which is a wall hanging but must have had some purpose or be based on a tool as it is too unusual just to be an ornament. It looks a bit like a large flat wooden Welsh spoon or an extended chair back. These items remind me of a wonderful holiday and my wonderful parents. Mum died in 2005 and she would be so pleased that her souvenirs have gone to a great new home. 

The Portable Typewriter 

It had a tan coloured faux leather zip case. It was marked made in West Germany so it was made before the reunification. It was bought by a Lady in Singapore who paid as much again to ship she paid me to buy it. I remember it in my room at home in Abridge. I had a light oak desk with a ladder back chair with a gray plastic padded seat. I corresponded with friends using the typewriter and one of those friends was a pen-pal in Australia whom I later met when he came to the UK. My typing was terrible and before even correction fluid one used a slim round eraser which was tied onto the typewrite by a piece of string. Copies were made by using Carbon paper which left blue or black residue on your hands. Even now despite spell check and easy correction I still send out letters with errors. My portable typewriter had red and black ribbon so that typing could be done in either colour. It replaced a larger desk top black typewriter with glass panel sides and a chrome carriage return lever and matching bell. That had come from Dad'd factory and I think the portable machine must have been Grandmas's so I got it in 1965 when she died. I had a nice massage from the lady in Singapore. I just hope she can type better than I can! I went to an all boys school and in those days were were not taught to type, cook or sew. Those skills would have come in useful now. 

The Fisherman's Float

My family home had what we called a Plate Rack all around the lounge, hall and dining room. a plate rack. This was in fact a 'Delft Shelf'. The hall only had a very large Chinese platter on it. That was above the pair of French doors which opened into the lounge. I digress but that must have been valuable as twice people coming to the door tried to buy it. The lounge plate rack was a different matter. There were so many plates and ornaments that they all had paper letters and numbers glued on the back. That was so that they could be put back in the right position after general dusting and Spring cleaning. Among these eclectic items was a green glass float. This was the type that used to be seen in pubs enmeshed in a macrame weave of rope or string. Mum and Dad's float was free standing but instead, it lived in a woven metal basket with a handle. Looking back, I think that the basket may have once been filled with sweets of biscuits. Alternatively it could have held a fitted dish. In any case it held the green glass float and to my knowledge it lived in that way from 1954 to the 1980's in the family home. It continued its journey in the family to Mum and Dad's retirement bungalow and again when we sold both homes in Abridge and moved to a farmhouse in Suffolk. I only sold the float around 2015 when, with my parents no longer with us and me having downsized I thought it best to pass some things on to new homes. I did sell the basket separately. I hope that they are making new memories for people.