I'm in a cleaning mood! This week when the sliding door jumped off the track on one of our upstairs' closets, I "suggested" that my husband and I clean out the closet while the doors were off. What started out as a simple repair turned into a week-long project. Of course, while the closet was empty, it was the perfect time to paint the walls that were ignored when we recently had the hallway painted. So we began the process of emptying the shelves, making a "keep" pile, a "donation" pile and a "throwaway" pile. Then the shelving was removed and the walls were painted.
The "keep" pile had linens and towels that we use on a daily basis, extra light bulbs and extension cords, tools and cleaning supplies. And then there were the treasures that had been stashed away on the top shelf that I had totally forgotten were there.
First, there were some of my baby clothes as well as our son's -- embroidered kimonos, crocheted baby booties, the receiving blanket we wrapped our son in the day we brought him home from the hospital, the embroidered crib quilt that was used in both of our cribs. The items brought back many happy memories and, of course, were carefully folded and replaced on the top shelf of the closet.
My mother always had extra linens, towels and dish cloths stored in her hallway linen closet. When we got married, she went through her stash and gave us many of the unused items to set up housekeeping in our first apartment. When she passed away, I kept the extras that were still stored in that closet. I tucked them on the top shelf of our closet and found them when we cleaned it out this week. I was pleasantly surprised that they were a much higher quality than can be bought today. I was also shocked at the sticker prices still on the items. Memories of shopping for these items at Montgomery Ward and J. C. Murphy came flooding back and I was filled with nostalgia. I worked at Montgomery Ward when I was in college.
And there were also other "finds." Back in the days before we had self-sticking stamps and labels, we had to lick each item before apply it to an envelope. Mass mailings were facilitated by a gadget with a small water well and a wheel that turned through the water to moisten the stamps. I also remember using the gadget to wet S&H green stamps before applying them to the books to save for premiums at our local S&H outlet store. We also used the wheel when wetting the little black corners used to adhere pictures to photo albums or scrap books.So cleaning out a closet turned out to be a trip down memory lane...to the days when a trip to the local 5 and dime store was an adventure, when handcrafted items added a special touch to an infant's layette and when a dishcloth didn't cost an arm and a leg!
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