We are moving things around again. Rearranging stuff so I can put my sewing machines on the second floor and out of the basement. A chest didn’t fit the new configuration. It had to go. It was my mother’s chest.
It was part of her bedroom set. Purchase date was sometime in the early 1930s. It predates me by a lot.
I’ve been struggling with this change for a few months. I don’t have a lot of stuff from my parents. Nothing of true value really – a couple of coffee mugs that my mother used every day, her baking spoon and this chest. The chest was the biggest piece. Parting with something that dear took a lot of thinking.
I haven’t used it for anything except obscure storage for the last 20 years. (Obscure storage is junk that you should throw out but you store it someplace out-of-the-way because you can’t part with it.)
Did I mention it’s large? Some people call them highboys or chest-on-chests. Big drawers on the bottom and two drawers suited for jewelry or wallets on the top.
The chest itself wasn’t so hard to let go. Someone in the family wanted it. I no longer needed it. You can follow the logic here. Makes sense especially as it frees up space that I can use.
Except….it smells like my mom’s bedroom. It’s not a bad smell or musty smell. It’s a wood smell. It’s old mahogany, dark in color and heavy in weight. Whenever I opened a drawer, I could smell my mom’s bedroom. I could almost see her nightgowns and my dad’s flannel shirts folded safely many years after he passed.
Her jewelry was kept in the top drawers, mostly a collection of costume jewelry stored in velvet boxes. When I was around 12, I took a blue velvet box to bury my canary. We had that canary for several years and she deserved the satin-lined velvet coffin she got. (Mom wasn’t happy about that but didn’t want to dig it up with a dead canary inside.)
There were several pieces all kept in their bedroom. Lots of wood. I remember the bed with a headboard and footboard. I could do a flip over the footboard but only when no one was watching.
There was a vanity with a big mirror and drawers on either side. It came with an old-fashioned secretary too.
I don’t know where they are now. I only took the chest.
As my niece loaded it up in the pick-up truck, I stuck my head inside and took a last deep breath. I told her that when I needed a fix, I’d come and smell her chest. She laughed. Perhaps she didn’t realize I meant it!
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It is a beautiful piece. I’m glad your niece decided to embrace it and give it more years to be appreciated, and this way if you want a sniff you can visit her instead of a stranger for a fix.
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Surely smelling her underwear drawer is much better than a stranger’s, right? I’m glad it’s being used.
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Yes, smells can trigger memories as much as pictures. It is difficult getting rid of things like the dresser, but I agree sometimes there just isn’t enough space anymore. I have a antique bench of my mom’s going into a garage sale tomorrow for the same reason. 😦
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Be strong!
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Oh, I held my breath and then found, in the end, it was going to family and I inhaled and exhaled in relief. I could smell your mother”s bedroom and then the scent of my father’s after shave wafted around me. I still have his shaving brush. And I have some pieces of furniture from my parents I just cannot part with. A Duncan Fyfe Table; my mother’s mahogany hope chest; the grandmother clock given to her on their 25th anniversary which no longer works. I have no one to give them to who would care about the memories and so they will stay with me for a while longer. So many strong memories from this post. Thank you, Kate. Sleep well.
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My dad wore Old Spice! Still remember it.
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Mine, too, Kate. I still have the last container of it. It’s 40 years old, now. He did use English Leather sometimes when we bought it for him as a gift. But it’s the Old Spice I remember best.
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So lucky! I was 10 when my dad died so I don’t have anything from him. For a long time I had a flannel shirt but that ended up in shreds many years ago.
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But you still remember that shirt. I see ads for Old Spice. I wonder if it smells the same? I’ll have to check on this.
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I haven’t smelled Old Spice in years. Older guys don’t seem to wear scents.
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I think I may buy some and dab it behind Charlley’s ears when he’s sleeping!
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🙂
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I really do admire your strength in pushing through the feelings and making the decision to part with the chest. It surely must feel good to have your space functioning more like you want, but nonetheless letting go of a tie to happy childhood memories is something some people can never do. It’s a pretty piece, and I’m sure your niece will really cherish it. And by the way, I have entirely too much “obscure storage.” I now have a name for it. 🙂
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If my niece didn’t take it, I was going to put it in the basement at least for a while. I do need the space upstairs but you know…memories…
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Good post
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I just inherited an old table, built by a great uncle in Vermont over 100 years ago. It lived in my grandfather’s house before mom and dad adopted it in 1989. When I open the drawers and take a sniff, I am transported back through the years to my grandfather’s house. Bliss!
Glad that your niece was able to adopt your chest and its scents-ability.
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I was too. I’m getting rid of a few other items but none have value, sentimental or otherwise. Glad you have room for the table.
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If only you could find out what it was! My mom saved a bottle of my first perfume — Evening in Paris. I take a whiff every year or so, and it brings back memories of my childhood.
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One of the other commenters mentioned Laimont (sp?) by Coty and that’s ringing a bell. I know it wasn’t Evening in Paris.
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Evening in Paris was for teens, at least in my town.
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Yes, it think here too. I wasn’t a fan of it. I like Muguet du Bois (lily of the valley scent) which I looked up and was made by Coty.
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I had that as a young adult. I’d probably still like it, but no one wears scent any more.
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I still do but not anything overwhelming. People are allergic to strong odors.
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Aww Kate! I got choked up reading this, but I did have to smile about the blue velvet box. Yes your canary deserved it.
There are so many powerful things that can trigger memories.
I am very glad it went to your niece, bope she lives pretty close!
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She does although it’s a big intrusive to go smelling someone’s underwear drawer. Maybe if I can figure out which one is for sweaters? 🙂
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LOL! Yeah go for the sweater drawer. 🙂
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My close friend, Helen, passed away in 2004. Since she wasn’t heavily into jewelry, her jewelry box was nothing more than a small Tupperware box with a few inexpensive pieces. It’s been thirteen years, and still I’m clinging to that box, because every time I open it, I smell Helen. Your attachment to that chest makes complete sense to me.
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My mother had the same sort of jewelry and I still have it. She had a wonderful cameo she got as a gift from her sister. She gave that to me when she was still alive and I wore it with my business suits. It’s gorgeous mother of pearl. She also had a aurora borealis necklace. I don’t go places for that sort of jewelry but I treasure those pieces.
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At least it is in the family and you can go for a sniff when needed 🙂
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That’s the good news!
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I don’t have any furniture from my mother, but stores still stock the loose powder she used on her face. That smell almost conjures up my mom, like a genie coming out of a bottle.
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Wow! Face powder. My mother didn’t wear makeup except for lipstick but she did wear perfume. I wish I knew what she wore.
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I so completely understand. Experiencing a scent, especially at an unexpected moment can trigger some real wonderful memories. They are important part of life. Too bad you had to get rid of the chest (btw I think it was beautiful), so glad you were able to keep it in the family.
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Having it in the family is the really good news.
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Totally off subject, Kate, but I can’t find your email. Thank you so much for your donation to our kitties – that was a wonderful surprise!! Very sweet of you.
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You know I would adopt some of them if I could.
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I’m glad you wrote about this, Kate. I imagine the memories you wrote enhance the scent memory – just another source of memories when you are feeling nostalgic.
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This time of year in general is nostalgic. My dad’s birthday is in two weeks and my mother’s a few weeks later. I always think of them. The chest just added to the weepiness.
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Oh, how smells can bring us back. I still have my grandma’s cologne bottle, and she died in 1990! I have one of her Catholic Epistle books and there is her smell upon opening it. I completely understand needing the space but having difficulty parting with it. Your niece will be surprised when you show up at her place for a smell. 😉
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Yep, I will march up to her bedroom and sniff her underwear drawer. Not weird at all, right? I remember my mom’s cologne bottle. Don’t know what happened to it but it was distinctive.
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I didn’t take any of mom’s furniture. No room. My sister has some of it, and I always think of her when I see it. She always wore the same perfume. I don’t think it is made any more. I would break down for sure if I ever smelled it again.
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I don’t know what my mother wore either but I remember the glass bottle on her vanity. Her bedroom smelled of that too.
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When I made that last post it triggered something and I suddenly remembered. It was L’Aimant by Coty. I Googled and it is still available. I didn’t especially like the scent, but she never used anything else that I know of.
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Coty was big then. It may have been the same scent my mother wore. I’d like to smell it but I haven’t seen it even in drugstores in a long time. I always thought it was strong. The other iconic scent of the time (other than the good Chanel ones) was Evening in Paris. Yikes! Everyone wore that.
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Yes, Evening in Paris was really stinky. Coty is still the largest maker of perfumes, I read.
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That’s a toughie, especially when the memories are so vivid. Amazing how the scent of something so long ago can transport you and you don’t miss it as much until it’s not there for you visit any longer.
Make sure you visit😊
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Wish I could have bottled some.
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This post makes me wistful – I have only a few bits and pieces from my mother’s kitchen, and her sewing machine, of course. But I can remember her bedroom furniture. I used to go exploring every now and again and admire the jewelry or scarves.
Thanks for the contact buzz and the trip back in time!
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I had my mother’s sewing machine but the cabinet was not sturdy so it went quite a while back.
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So many memories in the inanimate things left over from our childhoods.
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Yes. Some are easier to keep than others, like coffee mugs vs. chests.
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Too bad you couldn’t just keep the top two drawers. Nice that it went to family. Fortunately, I got the cookie jar from my childhood home. It is much easier to keep around 🙂
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I had decided that if we had to junk it, I’d keep some of the wood. It would’t take much space and would smell so good! I enjoy my mom’s coffee mug. She had two. One was “best cook” and the other was “greatest grandmother.” I have both.
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Trying not to cry as I type this. I know exactly what you mean, and smells — more than almost anything — take me back to places and people. I don’t have that kind of scent memory for my mom, though. Possibly because she lived in so many different places.
Or maybe the only thing that really reminds me of her is cigarette smoke and honestly, that is foul.
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Smells are very powerful. I think it’s #1 in sense that make me nostalgic.
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Almond extract = Christmas. Every time.
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Cinnamon = Christmas for me! And nuts too!
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These sentimental pieces have so much emotion wrapped around them. It’s so wonderful that after so many years, the smell could still trigger such deep memories. How touching that it’s now in the hands of another family member who will hopefully love it like you did and pass it on.
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I am always amazed that first of all such an old piece of furniture still has a wood smell and second that it triggers so much. I am glad that I was able to rehome in the family.
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I like that choice of word – rehome 🙂
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It’s kinder than “got rid off.”
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Sometimes scents and sounds bring back memories more than anything else does. The scents always seem to surprise me–even when I know they shouldn’t. 😉 It stayed in the family so that’s a good thing. 🙂
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This scent was powerful not in intensity but in triggering.
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I have my Mom’s cedar chest. The smell always takes me back to her.
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Isn’t that true? I’ve know all the years that I had it that I loved to open the drawers and smell it. To others it may smell like wood. To me it’s all I have of mom.
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It’s hard to let go of things that trigger our memories of loved ones. I’m happy your niece inherited the chest, instead of a stranger.
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That would have been really hard to do. I have a feeling it would have gotten stored in the basement until I moved someplace where I didn’t have room (like a nursing home!). 🙂
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