Mum's loft turned out to be quite organised on investigation, but there was still quite a lot of stuff up there. You know. Loft stuff. And the government want to contribute towards the cost of having it properly insulated, so down the stuff had to come. Husband did a valiant job, descending boxes, trunks, suitcases, parcels wrapped in plastic, from the hole in the ceiling, as the rest of us waited below, being showered with dust and dead insects.
The most unappetising item was an old badger pelt. It was given to my brother, when he was hitch-hiking round France about 30 years ago, by a taxidermist who stopped to give him a lift. And if that's not the making of a Roald Dahl story, then I don't know what is. It was falling apart and we didn't inspect it too carefully, preferring to jettison it out of the landing window for later retrieval, bagging and binning. Ooh, and once we'd got the taste of jettisoning things out of the window, there was no stopping us. The badger skin was joined by a mouse-nibbled leather pouf, flowery curtains, a heavy wad of black-out material, a bundle of orange carpet, a roll of kitchen lino, foam camping mats, lots of heavy duty plastic, black bags, bubble wrap, dusty cardboard boxes. Next time you're at a loose end, try a bit of jettisoning out of an upstairs window. Very therapeutic.
This process in itself provided entertainment for the kids. Holding the ladder steady - what a very long-lasting activity that can be. Brushing the dust and insect corpses and paper shreddings off the tops of boxes - another one. Marvelling at the tooth-power of mice (mice? well, we called them mice), who can nibble through paper, cardboard, plastic, A level notes. And then, of course, the anticipation and reward as each box or bag is opened. Lots of it deadly boring grown-up stuff, but from time to time your childish patience is rewarded by gems such as this.
10-yo and 7-yo spent a very happy couple of hours getting this to work. They succeeded. So long as your text doesn't need spaces (space bar still not working). And so long as you don't mind colouring in the ribbon with black felt tip marker every few letters. And so long as you don't mind dusting a layer of black dust off the table underneath where the typewriter was when you've finished. Ta da! Nearly a whole morning's activity with just one item. We reckon it's 1920's or 30's. What do you think?
Then there's always the fun of seeing what Mummy used to play with when she was a girl.
These are about 4 inches tall - just to give you an idea of scale. Small enough to be dwarfed by a Bionicle, should one chance by. I have a vague memory that they are in national costumes. That looks like a Chinese coolie hat second from the left, held on with a blue headscarf. (Is it un-pc to talk about coolie hats?) And if I saw women wearing the headgear on the right, I can't for the life of me think of what country I'd be in. Any ideas? Perhaps I'm wrong about the national costumes. I find it a bit sinister, the way their eyes are all looking off to stage right, but 7-yo has spent some very happy hours playing with them. I even sewed a press-stud back on one of their costumes. Talk about devotion to duty, especially since I can't even remember if they belonged to me or my sister.
You may have noticed that this post is titled "Part l". Yes... Meh... That's because, over the next couple of days, I'm going to show you several more items that came down from the loft, which have provided activity for the children.
Then I'm going back to America, where they have basements instead of lofts. Don't worry if you're in America, though. I'm sure my top tip would work in your mother's basement, just as well as in a loft (except for the jettisoning).
Fortunately my mother doesn't have an attic or a loft, but I have no idea how she's going to get her car into the garage this winter. Talk about too much stuff!!
ReplyDeleteI once enjoyed the exquisite satisfaction of jettisoning an enormous early-century toilet fixture out of the second-story window into the side garden when we were renovating our 1908 house in Kentucky. I can see why your kids enjoyed it so much.
ReplyDeleteAs for the doll, what she is wearing on her head looks (in shape and pattern) like my grandmother's tea cozy. No nationality is coming to mind.
Oooh, love the dolls! I used to have a set of three, very similar, Santa brought them.
ReplyDeleteI think basements are more practical than attics, but then you have to live without jettisoning, and is that feasible?
That is a fantastic typewriter - I love it.
ReplyDeleteI remember that type of doll..they had arms and legs you could unscrew, and my sister and I always used to leave sinister body parts all over the bathroom. The one on the far right? No idea of the national costume, but looks like she could be a waitress in a 50s American diner.
Where I grew up in Wisconsin, we had both an attic and a basement. In Minnesota, where I was just living, one house had a tiny but scary basement, no attic; the other had neither. Here in California, no basements for fear of earthquakes, and most houses are 1-story for the same reason, so no attics. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteThat typewriter is just gorgeous! Emma :)
ReplyDeleteDuring different times in my childhood we jettisoned out of the cupboard under the stairs (in America even), up the stairs from the basement (arm muscle building) and out the attic window (neighbors farm house).
ReplyDeletewe had a very similar typewriter, had hours of fun with it! What fun to dust off old memories.
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