I have been cleaning out my mothers old shed .I came across two really old mincers the one is dated oct 12 1897 can't read the other one they have tons of writing and serial numbers all over them.They are iron and fix to a table .They are rusty but everything seems to work OK. Would it be worth asking a collector if he wants them or shall I just throw them away regards .Gina

Sounds like they would be nice antiques if they were cleaned up. Do you have an antique shop near you that you could take them to. You should look into selling them before you throw them out.

You do have opportunity to make some money here. You also have opportunity to have something that is from family to maybe be passed along to other family members. Do you have children?

Yes I have 6 boys all grown up

Do you think that any of them (or, possibly spouses) might be interested in these things that were your mothers?

I know that 3 of them would definitely be interested they were close to their nan that causes a problem I don't want to upset any of them

Do you have holidays where all of you might get together and have gift exchanges?

We all get together at christmas and I've just had an idea If I could find other things that belonged to my mom I could give them all something to remember her what do you think ? I never thought of that until you mentioned exchanging gifts thanks a lot

Now, you're cookin'! :) This may be an ideal situation to get things into the right hands before people have to decide much later, if you know what I mean...

One of the things that you could do would be to speak with all about having your mom's things and needing to do something with them. You could ask them what would be a fair way of distributing them if some or all of them have an interest. You could make a list of the items, maybe even with pictures, and distribute it to the children.

I know that when one of my dad's brother's died, my dad and his other remaining brother just flipped coins to decide on who got what. I am sure that there are other, creative ways to make sure that the person who really needed or wanted something could have opportunity to obtain it.

I don't really know the ideal way to deal with this. But, I do know that if it is something that is from a part of the family history, then it would help to have a good way of making sure that things are passed down to those who really want them.

Maybe someone else will come along who has some ideas also!

HEY I tell you what you have some great ideas .Why didn't I think of that myself , no excuses .I foster children now my own are grown up its just the sort of things I do for them .I make them a memory box so they don't forget all the people that have been in their lives, I keep tickets they have of places they have visited and photographs .OK ill stop there I'm rabbiting on .Anyway you've been very helpful so thanks for that ,nice speaking to you .We may chat again when I find something else he he .

You just made me smile! Thank you! :)

Ha now you've made me smile :-)

Hey guess what I've found .after a lot of rummiging around in the old shed I came across a small battered box it belong to my dad .It was really really old hair clippers they even have a tiny bottle of oil in the box must be ancient that's two things I have now to hand down to my boys only 4 to go he he (thought you would like to know) Gina

Cool! Thanks for letting me know! :) Probably enough stuff in that shed for a couple other families also! :D

If you find other things that are made of metal, you could also buff them up so that they would make even more appealing gifts. I have a buffer that goes around at about 3,500 R.P.M. It does a great job!

Sounds good to me ill keep looking got the cellar to look through yet .Should be interesting he he .Gina

My, it sounds like quite an adventure! :) I'm glad that you are on such a roll with going through things and figuring out something positive to do with them! :p My relatives and others are going to have a real hey-day with the contents of my home! Lots of dead relatives stuff here and things in the attic that I haven't so much as brought down to the other floors since I moved in here 17 years ago! :eek:

OH WOW sounds just up my street (english saying) I would love that all my treasure disappeared when I left my husband haven't got a clue what happened to them Ah well I'm having fun anyway ;-)

Hey there loobiloo! Had some thoughts I would like to share with you.

My father passed away and my mother is in a nursing home so we are having to do away with everything in the house and get it ready to sell. There are three of us but lots of grand children and great grandchildren. We put everything of like nature on a table, then draw numbers for choosing each item. It is a long process but fair. (We keep it just between the three of us but whatever we choose, we can share with our children and grandchildren as we so desire). Each time then we each have the chance of having first choice of what we would like most. Your situation is different of course but wanted to just share that if you have a lot of items and want to make sure your children get what is most special to each of them this might work for you. You could have a popcorn party or special deserts, go through photos and share fun memories in the process, during the choosing time. Mother never kept a lot of items until her later years. She has thrown away and given away lots of antique and personal items any of the three of us would have treasured and passed down to our children.

I would offer another suggestion for personal smaller items you might find. You can purchase "Shadow Boxes" at local craft stores. You may be familiar with what they are, wooden boxes with a glass front. When we were choosing items, I chose a pipe that Daddy use to smoke, a tie he wore, a shaving brush to lather the cream on to shave, old tie clasps, and some smaller items that were special items of Daddy's and am going to display them in a shadow box as a special memory corner and make one of mother's items also when that time should come. Daddy had three shaving brushes, three pipes so we all were able to have one which was really special.

I collect old aluminum pieces, small pieces generally but I display them in my kitchen. While some are usable and I do use them, most are just interesting pieces that people enjoy viewing. I hang them on the wall above my double window in the kitchen/dining area. Some I am not even sure what their purpose is but makes for good conversation.

Some children could care less to have antiques or collectables. My daughter may be one of them. My son enjoys an item or two now but they both have children so even though they may not want items now, they may later or their children may. When I was younger, I did not appreciate a lot of antique items but treasure items used by my parents or grand or great grand parents. You may be surprised how the items touch the hearts of your children.

Well it is 3:15 in the morning here and I realize I have traveled down memory lane with you a little too much probably. Just wanted to share in the hopes of bringing happiness to you and your family by ideas of how you might share treasures you are now finding. :)

Oh what wonderful memories you must have and brilliant ideas too.The only time my boys and I can all get together at one time is CHRISTMAS .It would be brill to do something like you did AND I have plenty of time to arrange getting everything together .I can't wait its going to be so exciting .Can just imagine their faces .You may have started something I don't think is done very often in this country and I can pass on your advise to MY friends and family too .HEY I even have jewelry that belonged to my nan that may interest my Daughter Inlaws.Like I said can't wait ,and I'm still finding things of interest.Yesterday I found some old medals my dad got fighting at war . My dad only had half a lung when he died and he used to sit in his bed for years repairing clocks and watches for pocket money. My second son used to sit on his bed with a tiny screw driver undoing the teeniest of screws then putting them back again now he has his own computer business I'm sure he would love all the bits and pieces that my dad left of the watches he used to repair. Well thanks for sharing your memories with me guess I've done a little of that myself to you .Guess your asleep now so ill be very quiet and wish you good night sweet dreams Thanks Gina

HEY jreb After reading your e mail and then answering you I have been remembering the happy memories I had when I was a little girl most of them was memories of my dad , my mom and I were never the best of friends which was a shame ,I loved her never the less. I foster children on respite for all the foster carers in our region and it makes me realise how lucky you and I are to have memorabilia of our parents to hand down to younger members of our family Almost all of the children we have come to us have nothing to remember their mommies or daddies , some may have a photo or a postcard its up to us to try and collect a memory box for them which I try sooo hard to do . Sometimes I feel a sense of guilt that I have my memories, brings a tear to my eye