The Cedar Chest Time Capsule
Cedar chests are marvelous things—for many women in the past they were storage vehicles for dowries, waiting for that “someday” when the prince would come. And then after marriage they became repositories for special treasures of value perhaps really only understood by the chest’s owner.
My mom had a cedar chest, and it was a member of the family for as long as I can remember. The cedar wood provided protection from moths and other critters, and gave the chest a characteristic smell. Even today a whiff of cedar triggers memories of that chest. Growing up, we knew that there were really special things in that chest, but we really didn’t have free reign to just go exploring unless Mom was around as tour guide. We also knew that there was potential danger in that chest—my dad had kept a German pistol carefully wrapped in old newspapers in the chest for decades, a souvenir of sorts from WWII, but he wasn’t sure if it was loaded or not, so we knew not to touch it. (He ultimately gave it away to the local police department.)
I have many of the treasures from that old chest now. A couple of them have already made it into previous posts—the Patsy Ann doll that was likely the only doll my mom had growing up, and the pen that her dad gave her as a graduation gift that helped Daddy write his dissertation. Some of the items I know at least some vague story that explains why the piece meant so much to my mom; other items I can make a pretty solid educated guess about; and some I only wish I knew where they came from.
There’s a tie in the collection—a pretty wild tie that looks almost like artist’s brush strokes. My dad was not known for flashy outfits, although even in his eighties he could dress pretty “GQ” when he wanted to! This tie is special—it’s the tie he wore on my folks’ wedding day. It’s clearly visible in those wedding pictures, though the black and white pictures don’t do it justice. For a 71-year-old tie, it is still in wearable condition, largely due to the protection provided by that cedar chest.
There’s a lovely silk scarf—bright colors of the rainbow—that looks like something my artist Mom would have worn and loved. I don’t know how old it is, but I suspect it might have been a part of her wedding trousseau. I wonder if it might have been a gift from Daddy?
I have the bride and groom cake topper from their wedding cake. It’s a bit brown and rough around the edges, but still an important memento of a special occasion—and cake. I’m sure their wedding cake was made at my grandfather’s bakery, and may have been decorated by my grandmother. Mama could make icing roses on a wedding cake like nobody I’ve ever seen before or since. She came out of arthritis-induced retirement 31 years later to decorate my wedding cake as well.
There’s a metal cigarette case that is inscribed on the inside: “Jere W. Clark—Headquarters Special Troops—12th Army Group.” Daddy never smoked but I am guessing this may well have been a gift from General Omar Bradley. Daddy was his office boy during the war.
I have two old-fashioned shaving razors. I have no idea how old they are but I’m guessing one likely belonged to my grandfather, and it is possible that the other belonged to his daddy.
There are two little charms in a tiny box—one is for “Scholastic Excellence” at Athens High School. That would have been my mom’s. And a Raven Society charm of my dad’s. The Raven Society is a “semi-secret” society at the University of Virginia, a scholastic honor society named for Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem. Inductees to this invitation-only society had to write a parody of the poem—I have Daddy’s version as well.
Perhaps the oldest item in the collection is a cross-stitched sampler with the alphabet, numbers, a crown, other designs, and 1898 embroidered on it—as well as an initial that I am not sure whether it is a “C” or a “G” and have no idea who it might have belonged to. I’ll need to do some digging in our family history records to see if I can come up with someone who might have been a young girl in 1898 with one of those initials. Could the “C” stand for Clark? Maybe. Even then I’m not sure who that might be.
At least a few of these items I do have some idea of their significance. One day, while my Mom was still around and living at home with Daddy, she was quite willing to take a tour through the cedar chest treasures. My sister and I made some brief notes and put the notes with the items. With my mom gone now nearly 10 years, whatever other stories there might have been behind the significance of why that piece took a place in the old cedar chest are lost.
The monetary value of everything in that chest was minimal, to be sure. Some of the items, like the Patsy Ann doll, might have more value now as antiques, but it isn’t the monetary value that I care about. These items represent little snippets of important people, places, and events in my mom’s life. They are part of her story. I’m glad we managed to capture at least some of that while she was still around to tell it. I only wish she were still here to tell us more.
We sold the old cedar chest at an estate sale after my parents were both gone. If I’d had room for it, I would have been tempted to bring it home and fill it with a new generation of treasures. I can only hope that whoever ended up with it has filled it with their own treasures and memory keepers.
© Melissa Clark Vickers 2020
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June 21st, 2020 at 10:16 am
[…] brush set for my dad. The mention of the scarf pretty well solved a mystery I referred to in the cedar chest blog. I thought it was likely a gift from Daddy to Mom, but didn’t know when. I’m sure this must be […]
December 9th, 2020 at 10:17 am
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