She gave my mom a few items as a thank you. I still have the glass with silver overlay art nouveau vase. It's got a patent number and is signed and dated although hard to read because of cleaning. Not me. It's been valued at about a thousand dollars so if it's not going to change my lifestyle , what does it matter? I love it and would sell for only really big bucks. But here I go, off on another tangent. I should put up a picture of that too. Damn, this is hard work.
Just think of these blogs as a conversation, where I don't let you get a word in.
I usually buy things within a budget and for taste. I don't like ornate things or things that wouldn't match my décor. As for having family heirlooms, well, that's where I get pissy. At least I could have accidentally purchased something valuable. But I'll never know because the Road show isn't coming to Port Saint Lucie and the one in Miami is so large that I'd have a panic attack, even if I got tickets. And there are things I can't find on Ebay. I don't read frickin Mandarin or Japanese so how would I know what those type things are worth? Sorry. Train keep rolling off the track.
The only heirloom I have, is a beautiful, sandstone and alabaster peacock lamp. It was made for gas and then converted to electric. Not as it happens to have been a bright idea. The heat from the electricity cracked the dome and it is currently held together with Elmer's glue. I resisted gluing it for years, but I got tired of lifting off the top and hoping I didn't drop it. Also, pole was getting wobbly. I've had it around 40 years and it has been with me in all except one place. (I didn't schlep it to Israel). The thing weighs a ton.
Anyway, my question is, how many years does your family have to have lived in the US for you to inherit family heirlooms? And what countries did those families most likely emigrate from?
Obviously, England, and Germany seem to be the places mentioned mostly on the show. And they seem to have come over several generations ago. Now that I think about it, the majority of people running our country fit that category.
The theory is, that when you leave your homeland, because the inhabitants there are trying to kill you, you probably won't take a lot of baggage. And if you are lucky enough to have made it to America, it will take several generations to build up enough wealth to buy things to pass down.
I do still consider myself very fortunate. All my grandparents were able to escape with their eggs and sperm, so at least, that's how I eventually got into the country. Maybe I'm the heirloom.
Thank you Roadshow, for clearing that up.
