Antiques = Memories: Grandma Hanks' Milk Pitcher

Antiques are old things
Do you have antiques you treasure? Do they bring good memories? Having antiques just because they are antiques never interested me. Antiques are old stuff and I prefer new things but I do have a few items I treasure for the memories they evoke. One such item is my grandmother's blue milk pitcher. It is old, 100+ years and not worth much money really, but the memories .....Oh, the good memories it brings me are priceless.

Pioneers
My grandmother, or Ma Hanks as we called her, arrived at her homestead in East Texas by covered wagon. Her family was self sufficient of necessity and had all the wonderful farm animals to tend as well as acres of crops to plant. My grandfather had died leaving 7 children to raise, my mother being the oldest at about 12. My grandmother never remarried and raised all the children.

Summer vacations
When I was there on summer visits there were livestock to feed, eggs to gather and always canning to be done. We shelled peas and shucked corn by the acres, but once the chores were done, it was playtime. I made mud pies on the old wood cook stove in the back yard and the raccoons would rearrange my table setting each night. Ma Hanks and I would gather wild berries and sassafras root from the woods to make tea. She had a wealth of knowledge about medicinal herbs and I wish I had listened.

Indoor conveniences
I was almost a teenager when Ma Hanks got indoor running water. It was a gravity system from a cistern fed from rainwater off the roof. The well water was used for livestock and in emergencies in the dry season. An indoor toilet came later when rural water lines were established.

The wood burning cook stove in the kitchen and the pot belly stove in the living room went away with the arrival of a propane tank in the yard. There were still only 2 rooms heated so Ma Hanks' bed was always in the living room during the winter. Progress was slow in East Texas.

The food - oh my, the wonderful food!
Another memory is the food, how wonderful it was and in abundance! There was never a shortage of food. When company came - it was a virtual feast! I am still in amazement how she could turn out such a meal on a wood cook stove with pies, cakes and bread included.

Another world
As I write these memories down the feelings are fresh once more. Those reflections are from a different world and it makes me wonder if today is really that much better.....at this moment, I do not think it is. I wish you good memories.