In packing up all our stuff, I have come across what appears to be an original tea towel from world war 1,it is from England and was my grandfathers, it is in pristine condition, never used and is encased now in a glassed frame.......was wondering if anyone would know where I could find out more about it as I don't seem to be having any luck
Thanks
Pauline
-- Edited by pauline on Monday 2nd of April 2012 08:59:39 AM
Thanks Pejay........just spoke to an antique dealer here and he says they are worth very little nowadays...........apparently history in this day and age is non existent, not that I would relinquish it as it will go to my son, he is a real nut about antiques and the like.
pauline I would ignore the antique dealer, he/she only wants to get it cheap, but you do not want to sell at any price it's worth much more to you than money value.
Doug's suggestion would be the best (RSL) they would have somebody there who will be able to give you info on the tea towel
-- Edited by _wombat_ on Monday 2nd of April 2012 11:09:58 AM
Pauline, I would get onto the Australian War Memorial - we had quite a bit of memorabelia from my Great Uncle who was killed on Gallipoli, and he had sent item back prior to World War 1 when they were in Egypt and other places - they are also looking for photos of World War 1 diggers if you can find one.
I have also found amongst my mother's stuff, a bath towel in excellent condition by Dri-Glo that has a 'badge' on it celebrating the Royal Visit of Australia by .the Duke of Glouster 1934-1935.
But i would certainly start with the Australian War Memorial if I were you.
June
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Pejay are travelling in a 2014 Holden Colorado LTZ Twin Cab Ute + 2013 Coromal Element van
Thanks Pejay........just spoke to an antique dealer here and he says they are worth very little nowadays...........apparently history in this day and age is non existent, not that I would relinquish it as it will go to my son, he is a real nut about antiques and the like.
What we found when we started looking as to who to give the items to - in the area my great-uncle was from, the RSL was no longer in existance!! Hence, why we went to the AWM.
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Pejay are travelling in a 2014 Holden Colorado LTZ Twin Cab Ute + 2013 Coromal Element van
Give thanks your son is interested Pauline. Its awful when Great-granny's things are unwanted. I contacted a cousin to see if her kids would like them, was pleased that they would.
My cousin's wife at Lobethal is doing that from 2 houses and all those cupboards and 4 generation's collections. Photos, books, clocks, gramaphone, wireless, etc. I grew up with them on the farm, and to see all this stuff took me back to my childhood. Sometimes not so good. I can't keep anything here but I can help her find it a better home. While they don't seem relevant to the later generations, they have their place in the history of the generations. Our relatives came out from Germany with other Lutherans. We even found hymn books and Bibles in German, with publishing dates of 1809. If the family doesn't want them she will give them to the Lutheran Museum at Lobethal. It's a pity to lose these things which are really only valuable to the family. But museums tend to keep the history going.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
Be careful loading stuff to museums and library's as they have a habit of either loosing them or changing the donors/lenders name so you can not get them back.
Have several family items locked in SA State library and we can only look at but not touch. Relative sent to Library for authenticity and valuation and they were considered to important items to be in private hands.
My grandmother was not happy I can tell you. Very few family members now get to see them as you have to make an appointment and you are escorted into a room and the books are placed in front of you and an employee turns the pages etc, No photos or copying allowed. One was the family bible from Ireland when the family emigrated in 1880's and the other was a book written by a family member many years a go and was self published. It was a novel but was based on actual people and detailed the life of settlers in the early settling of SA when the outback was Burra and Peterborough (as it is known now). Told of the relation ships between the Irish and the English settlers and the happenings out back as they knew it. Stone Hut then was considered a outstation and the family were employed as shepperds and were required to protect themselves from the natives that would pinch the sheep and sometimes kill the shepherds.
My mothers family loaned some of my grandmothers house hold contents for a special event and when they went back to collect they had other peoples names on the tags and that they had been donated not loaned as was the original agreement.
Were obvious items as one was grandma's wedding dress and another was a solid sterling silver sugar bowl with distinct engravings.
Send only photos etc and tell them they are private items not for sale / donation etc.
If you consider them valuable or rare and want to keep then do nothing but hand them down.
The government can apparently confiscate if they are considered valuable to the state or nation and you cant get them back.
Regards Brian
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11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
Be very careful as you family treasures can be lost and the future members loose alll contact with the history.
The Bible actually had the family tree from as far back as 1400's in the front as well as I believe other notes.
No member of the family will ever see them now as the family after my generation will never know they existed as well the book written by ancestor is now sitting in a dark room perhaps never to be seen again. It is apparently the only one left in the world known to exist.
Regards Brian
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11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
Isn't there something you can do to either reclaim them or have them correctly identified? It doesn't sound right. If our family's treasures go to any museum it will be the Lobethal Lutheran Museum, which contains much of the state's Lutheran immigrants in the Adelaide Hills and the Barossa Valley. The state museum won't see this stuff and is probably not interested.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
In keeping with this thread of unexpected finds, we have found a ww1 hand written diary of an australian digger. What a fantastic read. It's too good of a relic to keep to ourselves, but also don't want to give it away as it is family.
When one of my Aunties died about 12yrs ago it was found that my grandfathers room had be preservered just as it was before he died. In it hey found hand written diries from the Boar War and also from WW1, along with them were uniforms in perfect condition and all his decorations and even his swager stick from his RSM days. They were finally donated to the National War memorial and are now in displayed along with the stories from his diaries. There was too much history there to let it rot in someones garage. To each his own but stuff like that should be made available to as many Australians that are interested enough to spend a few days at the memorial.
