From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 50:
The theme for Week 50 is “Family Heirloom.” Heirlooms don’t have to be expensive to be valuable. Grandma’s mirror that she kept on her night stand? The milk bottle from the dairy where Uncle Harold worked? This is a good week to write about it and the person it’s associated with.
I would ask Amy "Who keeps a milk bottle around?". However, we still have my grandfather Robert's copy of "Golf Funniest Moments" in our archive. Who am I to judge? It's still in a box in the basement and I still don't have a device to play it on. I really don't need it and I honestly don't think it would fetch a decent price on eBay unless there are some seriously hardcore golf fans out there who wanted to see people crash out on the golf course.
I can't say everything my grandfather left behind has been bad or suspect. He's left behind some pretty cool things and it honestly got me wondering what kind of stuff I'll leave behind. I have a ton of collectibles, comics and all that stuff. I shouldn't judge someone based on a VHS tape. Then again, perhaps it's a cover and he really recorded something awesome over it like some movie! Nah. My grandfather wouldn't have done anything that cool. Or did he? Hmmm....
One of the cool things we do have in the box is this pair of stylish glasses that were once worn by my great-grandfather Alfred Hamel. My mother found them in a pouch near the bottom of the box and to our surprise the lenses were popped out. The ear hooks were also really sharp.
As someone who wears glasses regularly, these old timey glasses were a surprise. I know glasses designs have changed over the years. But, those things could NOT have been that comfortable. At least to me. I suppose Alfred got used to them over time. There is a question I have to ask. How did my grandfather get them?
I think the answer to that is pretty obvious. His father passed away in 1962 and those glasses were in his possession ever since. That's a pretty open and shut case right there. I think I understand why the lenses were removed, too. Glasses break and in my great-grandfather's day they were a lot more fragile than the ones we have these days. Then again not everyone has lenses that are very thick like mine are.
The sad thing is that the ear hooks are out of alignment. It makes me wonder if I can get them fixed at a present day office. I'm sure they wouldn't mind fixing up antique glasses.
I also wonder when he got the glasses. Obviously he got them when he was much older. Every picture I've ever seen of Alfred had him without glasses and he was a young man at the time. He's the odd one out though because virtually every ancestor of mine on my mother's side had glasses at one point.
My mother explained to me that it came with old age and she has a point. When you get older, your eyesight tends to go south and you need a way to correct your vision.
With that in mind, those glasses look very uncomfortable. At least they're in decent shape and can likely be repaired. Once repaired, I might see about putting them in a special case. I'm not sure about getting lenses for them. They'd have to be specially made and lenses can cost a pretty penny these days.
I do have to wonder what he looked like with his glasses on. I'm almost positive Alfred would have had the same swagger as he does in the the picture in the blog.
That kind of swagger doesn't go away when you put on glasses! It's all about attitude and confidence! Alfred definitely had that in spades!
Alfred's glasses are just one example of a few personal effects we have around the house. We have so much stuff like this it's not even funny. I should open a museum and charge admission!! I picked the glasses to talk about because not only do we see what glasses were like in ye olden times. We get an item that he actually used throughout his life. Picture it! Through those lenses he could have fixed engines on boats! If those glasses could talk, they'd definitely tell stories. Then again if your glasses talked, they might be the sign of a bigger problem!!
As far as the glasses go, they're in a safe place in a pouch next to pictures of my Italian great-grandparents. I have a little display called "The great eight" and it seems to fit in there. The next step is to print out the pic of Alfred to go with it. That'd be a nice touch! It's cool to have personal effects on display so you can admire them. Though, I still draw the line at "Golf's Funniest Moments".
See ya next time! Heh. See what I did there? =D Come on! You all knew a glasses joke was coming!!
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