everyday antiques-

Yesterday I saw a movie called Red Violin about, well a red violin. It chronicles the instrument from its creation in 1681 to modern times through so many people’s hands. At the end it is the star of an auction and worth millions of dollars mostly because it was used by a famous violinist in the 1800s, but it was also used by gypsies and orphan students and underground Chinese musicians and many other people during its time.

The movie got me thinking about the things around us that we don’t think of as having much of a story. If you look in your pocket or purse or nearest piggy bank and pick out a coin just look at the date and try to imagine the place and people that the coin has encountered. I’m still young enough that most coins I see are older than I am, but that won’t last forever. There’s a show on TV that I’ve only seen a couple times called If Walls Could Talk and they talk to homeowners about what they found about the history of the house, but there’s always more mysteries. So do you think the gold in your necklace was once part of Cortez’s treasure? Did the wood in your cabinets come from trees planted by your great-great-great grandfather? Where did you get some of your favorite recipies? Asking these sort of questions just opens up a huge world of more questions, but where there is mystery there is also imagination. My question to you: what sort of things do you have that seem to have a real sense of history to them?