My Mother’s Clippings
I’ve been organizing all of my containers of miniatures and
cupboards full of supplies. It brought to mind my mother’s enjoyment of
organizing her hobbies and how much she loved magazines. In one box I found a
clipping mom must have saved for me and I have scanned it out for you to see
above, cute ideas for Christmas from an old 50’s magazine.
I really inherited my love of old books and magazines from my
mother. She would love to sit for hours surrounded by magazines, flipping
through their pages and tearing out pages of interest to her: recipes,
gardening, hobbies and health issues. She would be sitting in her favorite chair
with her legs covered by a familiar mohair blanket that she had for years and a
box beside her for the clippings. This was before computers, Google and Pinterest
to search for information about everything. Keeping these clippings must have
been like a life line to her so she could retrieve information whenever she
needed it. She always mentioned she would have to file them one time. I used to
tease her about keeping the magazines for so many years and wouldn’t she rather
“clear the clutter”. She always said she wanted to go through them first. Although
my comments were probably difficult for my mother she probably knew in her
heart I would find myself doing that as well when I was older. Each of the
magazines I have saved I can remember as though they were friends. Sometimes
when I pick up an old magazine it reminds me of what I was doing at the time I
bought it or looked through it. Perhaps my son had visited and I had to put it
down so I could listen to him. So sometimes old magazines are not just old
magazines but are a reminder of times in our lives. She was also very
interested in embroidery and sewing so I’m sure many of the clippings were
stepping stones to a creative endeavour in those areas.
After she died I didn’t throw out her clippings and old calendars but
I kept them and have really enjoyed going through them so much, a little bit of
mom is in each clipping. I was quite pleased to find miniature clippings too
about different famous miniature houses in museums and articles about making
houses using fabric. It was like she knew I would be looking through the boxes
some day and would enjoy finding these. Thanks mom so much for your symbols of
love.
I really hope all magazines in the future won’t just be kept on an ireader,
iphone or ipad but remain physical memories that can be passed on to the next
generation.
All the best everyone, Hugs, Jean
