My Old China

Do you have “keepsakes” from your grandparents, parents, children, etc?

Some people may think it's silly to say things like a special outfit your baby wore home from the hospital, a ring that belonged to your mother, a pair of glasses that belong to your grandfather. I never had many items that were passed down from one generation to the next, but the few that I managed to save are precious to me. I keep them tucked away to keep them safe.

When I was about three years old, my grandfather remarried a short while after the death of my grandmother. My father was not excited about the marriage and, according to him, my new step-grandmother was only after my grandfather’s money.

You've heard the expression, “the proof is in the pudding?” Well, my grandfather and “new” grandmother had only been married a short while when my grandfather passed away.

As a little one, I really had no real understanding of all that was involved in the settlement of his estate. The only thing I did know, a little later, was that my step-grandmother took everything, giving nothing to my father and siblings, but distributing all to her children, who were grown, and had never actually lived in the house with my grandfather.

Yes, you can get angry if you want because it was unfair. But life isn't fair, is it?

Somehow my father managed to acquire five plates from some that my grandmother had in her kitchen. How he got them I will never know. Maybe from one of his brothers or his sister. They were not expensive; they were everyday dishes. No information was printed on the bottom, only “USA.” They had a lot of porcelain cracking in the plates and a lot of the gold banding was wearing off along the edges, but I love them - so when my parents passed away, the plates were one of the few things that remained - so I acquired them.

I was always looking in thrift shops, antique shops, estate sales, anywhere I thought I could find a piece to add to my “five precious pieces!” I found a serving bowl at a vintage shop, another piece was found in an antique mall in Gatlinburg, TN. My collection was slowly coming together, but all this at this rate, it was going to take years to complete.

Then one day, my husband, two of my best friends, and friends visiting from Wales decided to go antiquing. We walked into a well-known antique shop in the Charleston area and decided to go straight to the back and work our way forward. My friend, Lois, came over to where I was browsing and said, “Jeannie, you’ve got to get over here right now. I think I found your grandmother's dishes!”

I thought she meant that she had found a piece or two.

WRONG!

We went over to the area in the back of the store and on the shelf were about sixty-two pieces of the most beautiful dishes I had ever seen.

“I can't believe it,” I said to Lois. “Surely this can't be the right price for all these!”

So, I ran to the front of the store where my husband was and excitedly, I blurted out. “David, you've got to come see this. I think we’ve found my grandmother's pattern on some dishes!”

He grabbed my arm, pulled me aside, and said, “Jeannie, you've got to stop acting so excited about the dishes. I'll never be able to convince the owner to give me a better price if we decide to buy them.”

“Ha!” I thought to myself, “If you think I'm going to leave here without these dishes, think again.” I didn't care how much they cost.

We told the lady that we may be interested in purchasing the dishes, she walked to the back of the store, removed the ticket, and brought it up to the front. At that time, she told us that the dishes had been mismarked and that they should be a lot more expensive.

I'm sure the expression on my face was one of real disappointment!

Then she said, “I'll have to sell them to you at that price because it was how they were marked.”

Inside I was jumping for joy. Yes! All I could do was grin from ear to ear as I thanked the lady over and over again.

I invited my old friends and my new friends from Wales over for dinner and happily displayed my new “old” dishes. It felt wonderful to fellowship with friends and to know that they had helped me find my treasured dishes because if my friends had not suggested that we go antiquing, I never would have found those dishes.

Wasn't it something that after years of collecting one piece at a time, I found almost a complete set right here under my nose, here in Charleston? Did I say, “HERE IN CHARLESTON?!” I've often wondered if these were the actual dishes that my grandmother had owned & had used every day when my father was a child. I like to think they were. At least I know I have five plates that belonged to her.

All I can say is don't give up on your dreams, even if it's something as small as a set of dishes. It made me so happy to find them and so happy every time I set them out on our dinner table. I really do think the food tastes better served up on these new “old” dishes. Are you hungry?

~ Jeannie Joyner