Trash in the Attic

The BBC airs a programme every weekday morning called 'Cash in the Attic'. The premise of the show is that you can make real cash by auctioning off the things that you have hidden in corners or in your attic/loft.  It's a very popular show in the same vein as 'Antiques Roadshow" since everyone secretly believes that their great-aunt Yetta's hideous fruit bowl is actually valuable and therefore shouldn't be thrown away.

Well, this morning in our house we have been playing a version of 'Trash in the Attic' as Ralph has gone up into the loft and unearthed boxes of junk and old suitcases.The suitcases, upon opening, turned out to be filled with more old suitcases and mouldy overnight bags from the days when we could take as much luggage as we wanted on airplanes and the hand luggage could be as large as a case. Over the past 40 years of flying across the Atlantic we have accumulated lots of suitcases. Unfortunately the boxes seemed to contain more boxes. Why???

There were few pleasant surprises. I expected that we would find all those tiny objects I have been searching for for years. I know that in the far corners of the loft there are boxes we never unpacked when we moved into this house. We've lived here for over twenty years so those boxes qualify for the de-clutterer's maxim that if you haven't used something for a year it should go. I believe the total opposite - if I haven't seen or missed something for twenty years, finding it again is like finding buried treasure - a complete and unexpected surprise.

There was one interesting suitcase that contained some of my clothes from the 1970's - a full length corduroy cape from Laura Ashley, a midi-length orange suede coat, sheepskin lined with fur all round the bottom, the sleeves and the collar - quite the boho stylish item.  Both these things belong to my daughter now so could not be jettisoned. Lots of old cases, tents and curtains went to the local charity shops. There were extra kettles, food processors, bowls, glasses, lamps, blinds and a full set of dining room chairs. I think that there may be a doppelganger family living in our loft!

Why do we hoard these things? Certainly I cannot attribute this to either of my parents.  My mother was an inveterate thrower-outer. She threw things away when your back was turned for only a moment.  The one thing that still rankles that she threw away were my bronzed baby shoes.  Apparently in the 1950's this was all the rage. Take your baby's first shoes and have them made into a desk ornament or bookends by having them bronze or copper dipped. I loved my baby shoes and always assumed that at some point they would be mine.  Well, my mum threw my baby shoes away when they moved house.  Just like that!  Gone!  I was heartbroken. How could any mother throw away the baby shoes of her firstborn? Without asking me!

Last year, when visiting my brother I went to a flea market in Manchester, Connecticut and lo and behold, they had a pair of bronze baby shoes. Not mine (that would have been too freaky) but just like mine.  I was tempted to buy them but in the end they weren't mine. The name on the plaque says Matthew and I had a momentary fantasy of poor unloved Matthew furious with his mum for throwing out his shoes.  I felt it was a step in the right de-cluttering direction when I was content to simply photograph the shoes rather than buy them. 

One of the boxes in the loft, actually two of the boxes,contain our collection of cruet sets.  About 40 years ago we visited Washington D.C. and I bought a set of salt and pepper shakers in the shape of the Washington Monument and the Capital building. This was the first set - we now have a collection of about 150 sets.  Some are silly and cheap plastic, some are wonderful art deco examples of the time and valuable and some, like the ones in the photo, are the King and Queen of Nepal.  We used to have them on display, but they haven't seen the light of day for over 20 years. Maybe those boxes should come downstairs, but think of all the dusting. Maybe next year.

We are hoarders or collectors. It's a fact. Our house if full of objects. Some worth something and others are there because we like them or they make us smile.  I have a fantasy of having a minimalist Zen home.  All white and pristine with a few well-chosen beautiful things to break up the space. The reality is that I love all the little tchatchkes all around me.

Many years back I bought a painting for Ralph. It cost £1.00 and is not worth one single cent more, but it has given us so many laughs and so much ridicule time. It's a painting that the 'artist' and I use the term very loosely called 'Pregnant Pause'. It was in the window of a local junk shop and Ralph just found it so funny - a real example of someone who believed in their artistic ability against all odds. I decided to surprise him and buy it. The shopkeeper wanted £5.00 because it was in an ornate frame. Since I was only interested in the painting he reduced the price to £1.00 - not even much of a bargain!  "Pregnant Pause' hangs on different walls in our house and each time I see it I laugh. One of these days we're going to enter it into the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition or maybe Antiques Roadshow.

Today has been interesting. Throwing things away is good for the soul. it does make things feel cleaner and clearer, but one man's junk is someone else's treasure.  I'm sure that later this week one of us will find some little thing in a junk shop and think, 'yes, I must have that,' but maybe I'll just learn to carry my camera around and photograph things instead. It's a lot easier to store and doesn't need dusting.