The OPMOM Blog

Keeping Traditions & Heritage

The April Social was so much fun! We touched on topics about tradtions, collecting treasures, and heritage. Everyone brought something that had been passed down or that they had picked up along the way. So here is what we learned!

Collecting ~ What is considered a collection?  What should you collect?
Katherine suggest first and foremost to find something you like and connect with. Also, she says it doesn’t have to be something that is considered a collector’s item. For example LIardro pieces are made to be collector items. This isn’t always good because buyers will put them up and keep them safe ~ not so rare. NOW Carnival Glass is a different story. Carnival Glass was very cheap when it was readily available so people didn’t take such great care of it and tossed it out half the time. Finding Carnival Glass can be hard and is very collectable. THE KEY – collect what you like, don’t care about what the other people say about it’s value. 

 Katherine bought a 13th Century Yuan Dynasty Cosmetic Box for $25.00 at the night market in Hangzhou, China. (see picture to left) At the time she worked at a Chinese Art Gallery in New York. She came back home had it on her desk, and one of the buyers walked by and said, ”oh no we aren’t selling this S&*t!” Katherine replied, ”no this is my piece that I just bought from my trip.”  Another buyer took a look at it and confirmed it was 13th Century Yuan Dynasty and that it was ONLY worth $1,000. 

Traditions ~ What traditons do you keep at home? Robin, an OPMOM member, says her family keeps a tea schedule in their household because it helps her husband stay on Scotland time. It is great quality time with the family while keeping with tradition.

My mom, Sandra, passed down the Italian Wedding Cookie recipe and it makes an impression everytime. What I love about it is I get to talk about where it came from and get to share it with anyone who will let me. We also have a tradtion of making the creama for an espresso that has been passed down. 

Traditions, even the tinest ones, ties us to our past AND connects us to our future when we share them with our children, nieces, nephews, and friends. Also don’t get hung up on it being passed down. You can start your own traditions and make them unique to your family.