Packing

My dad went to visit his aunt a few months ago.  She still lives in the house that her husband brought her to as a young bride, that of his childhood and where his mother still lived.

The attic is still full of their old clothes and school books.  My dad brought me a suitcase and a box of clothes.    Some of the dresses belonged to my great-grandmother (in the picture below with my grandmother, brother, and cousins).  Sally (my daughter) got a kick out of all the clothes.  She tried on one of Mammie Wigg's dresses and it fit her pretty good.

Daddy got a kick out of bringing me shoes that belonged, not only to my great grandmother, but also my great-great grandmother and a few of her dresses.  

The shoes still had the mud and dirt on them from the last time they took them off.

 Most of the buttons were missing off the dresses since they had to reuse them for newer clothes, but this dress still had all the big pearl buttons down the front..  Only rick-rack adorned the collars for decorative stitches.  My grandmother was taught that a woman was not to show their forearms in public and one of the dresses had extra material added to the sleeves (from different material) for a complete arm covering.  All the dresses are of simple design with a fitted waist and long, made from 100% cotton. There were 2 blue dresses and 2 brown dresses and house coat, probably made for  wearing over their dresses while they worked during the day.

The suitcase was small and made of something similar to heavy cardboard.  I imagined them packing all their necessities in this little case for a long trip to visit family, loading the buggy and heading out. It held everything they needed.  Not like the 3 to 4 suitcases it now takes to carry a family's needs.

So yesterday, I washed the dresses (left the shoes with mud and all) and packed my great-great grandmother's things away.