From my family history...

[Winterrider]

Great memories. I also recall the egg beater, the flour sifter, and nut set. Not sure where they went in the family. Thanks for posting !

 

[JckDanls 07]

My moms heirloom to the family would be... A microwave, the only kitchen tool she knew how to use!

My mom's would be a switch... the one I got across my butt when I didn't do the supper dishes... LOL..

God rest her sole...

 

[bauchjw]

Very cool! It’s so important to have history to anchor family, even if they don’t appreciate it now! I believe it matters in the long run! Thank you for sharing some of your family’s stories!

 

[JLeonard]

Great looking heirlooms! I have my grandmothers 100yo CI skillet. That thing is my go to for cooking!
Jim

 

[Gonna Smoke]

A couple more things my wife has "found"...

A large serving spoon. I remember this being called the rice spoon. It's thick and heavy, maybe pewter?

A set of Pyrex nesting bowls. These definitely belonged to my grandmother. Many, many homes had a set of these and we've actually got 2 sets...

My mother's McCoy mixing bowl which has been sitting on our island for a week or so and I had forgot about. These were/are fairly common...

I'm sure that a lot more stuff will turn up as she dives deeper into the pile, but we'll see...

 

[bbqbrett]

I remember all of those things or ones extremely similar. Every family holiday get together we had a large bowl of unshelled mixed nuts and the nutcracker and pick got used a lot. My favorite memories were of the big colorful cookie jars...at home, at the grandparents house, at the aunt and uncles homes. I ate a lot of cookies cause I knew when and how to ask depending on where I was.

 

[Nefarious]

My mom's would be a switch... the one I got across my butt when I didn't do the supper dishes... LOL..

God rest her sole...

My mom never took a switch to us, she just threatened, wait till your dad gets home.

 

[Bearcarver]

I still have our old Nutcracker & Picks too. (In my silverware drawer, in our kitchen).
In fact seeing those pics brought back another one of those Famous Bear Stories, so if you don't like them, "Head For The Hills", because here comes one:

We had a lot of Hickory Nut Trees on & off of our property, so we picked Tons of Hickory nuts. When some weren't quite ready yet, we used to lay them on newspaper on the basement floor until they dried out more. So one year, back during the '50s, for awhile Our Dad kept yelling at Me & Jim (My brother--RIP) for cracking Hickory nuts & leaving the shells lay on the floor. Dad would say, "I don't care if you guys eat some, but pick the damn shells up & throw them away. I knew I hadn't done it, so I'd just say "Wasn't Me".
Jim would say "Not Me!!". Dad would say, "Just don't let me catch the one that's doing it!!"
So one evening we're sitting in the living room, watching our first Black & White TV, and we heard "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch", "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch", "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch". So we went over to the Hall, and opened the cellar door, and looked down the steps. There was "Mitzi" (our Family Dog) laying next to the pile of Hickory Nuts, chomping away, cracking nuts, eating the meat out of them, and sure enough----Leaving the shells lay on the floor. This Case Was Closed!!!

Bear

 

[BandCollector]

I still have our old Nutcracker & Picks too. (In my silverware drawer, in our kitchen).
In fact seeing those pics brought back another one of those Famous Bear Stories, so if you don't like them, "Head For The Hills", because here comes one:

We had a lot of Hickory Nut Trees on & off of our property, so we picked Tons of Hickory nuts. When some weren't quite ready yet, we used to lay them on newspaper on the basement floor until they dried out more. So one year, back during the '50s, for awhile Our Dad kept yelling at Me & Jim (My brother--RIP) for cracking Hickory nuts & leaving the shells lay on the floor. Dad would say, "I don't care if you guys eat some, but pick the damn shells up & throw them away. I knew I hadn't done it, so I'd just say "Wasn't Me".
Jim would say "Not Me!!". Dad would say, "Just don't let me catch the one that's doing it!!"
So one evening we're sitting in the living room, watching our first Black & White TV, and we heard "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch", "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch", "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch". So we went over to the Hall, and opened the cellar door, and looked down the steps. There was "Mitzi" (our Family Dog) laying next to the pile of Hickory Nuts, chomping away, cracking nuts, eating the meat out of them, and sure enough----Leaving the shells lay on the floor. This Case Was Closed!!!

Bear

I almost peed myself! LOLOLOLOLOLO!

 

[bigfurmn]

I still have our old Nutcracker & Picks too. (In my silverware drawer, in our kitchen).
In fact seeing those pics brought back another one of those Famous Bear Stories, so if you don't like them, "Head For The Hills", because here comes one:

We had a lot of Hickory Nut Trees on & off of our property, so we picked Tons of Hickory nuts. When some weren't quite ready yet, we used to lay them on newspaper on the basement floor until they dried out more. So one year, back during the '50s, for awhile Our Dad kept yelling at Me & Jim (My brother--RIP) for cracking Hickory nuts & leaving the shells lay on the floor. Dad would say, "I don't care if you guys eat some, but pick the damn shells up & throw them away. I knew I hadn't done it, so I'd just say "Wasn't Me".
Jim would say "Not Me!!". Dad would say, "Just don't let me catch the one that's doing it!!"
So one evening we're sitting in the living room, watching our first Black & White TV, and we heard "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch", "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch", "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch". So we went over to the Hall, and opened the cellar door, and looked down the steps. There was "Mitzi" (our Family Dog) laying next to the pile of Hickory Nuts, chomping away, cracking nuts, eating the meat out of them, and sure enough----Leaving the shells lay on the floor. This Case Was Closed!!!

Bear

I was waiting for it be Dad leaving them on the floor.

 

[Bearcarver]

I almost peed myself! LOLOLOLOLOLO!

Mitzi was an awesome Dog:
I got her at the Butcher shop when she was a Pup.
She loved to go hunting, and was a Heinz Dog. Looked like a small Golden Retriever.
After hunting, she used to sit on the back steps, at Dad's feet & chew the Sticker Burrs off of his pants & socks, before she would work on the ones in her hair. She died while I was in Vietnam.

Bear

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I still have our old Nutcracker & Picks too. (In my silverware drawer, in our kitchen).
In fact seeing those pics brought back another one of those Famous Bear Stories, so if you don't like them, "Head For The Hills", because here comes one:

We had a lot of Hickory Nut Trees on & off of our property, so we picked Tons of Hickory nuts. When some weren't quite ready yet, we used to lay them on newspaper on the basement floor until they dried out more. So one year, back during the '50s, for awhile Our Dad kept yelling at Me & Jim (My brother--RIP) for cracking Hickory nuts & leaving the shells lay on the floor. Dad would say, "I don't care if you guys eat some, but pick the damn shells up & throw them away. I knew I hadn't done it, so I'd just say "Wasn't Me".
Jim would say "Not Me!!". Dad would say, "Just don't let me catch the one that's doing it!!"
So one evening we're sitting in the living room, watching our first Black & White TV, and we heard "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch", "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch", "Crunch, Crunch, Crack, Crack, Crunch". So we went over to the Hall, and opened the cellar door, and looked down the steps. There was "Mitzi" (our Family Dog) laying next to the pile of Hickory Nuts, chomping away, cracking nuts, eating the meat out of them, and sure enough----Leaving the shells lay on the floor. This Case Was Closed!!!

Bear

Thank you for that story, brightened my day...

 

[DRKsmoking]

And finally a pecan cracker and picks

Reminds me of christmas at moms house cracking walnuts as a kid.

That's great Charles. Great memories with having those families heirlooms
and all still in working order

And I'm with Corymacc, we had the same set and it came out and sat in the big bowl of nuts at Christmas time
hard to get the little pieces out of the Walnuts and the Brazil nut shells

David

 

[Gonna Smoke]

So as I said earlier, I would update this as we found anything interesting. Well my wife found a couple of my grandmother's cookbooks...

The Southern Cooking on the left was originally copyrighted in 1928, this one was 1941. The Boston Cooking School book was originally copyrighted in 1896 and copyrighted 20 more times. This one was a 1934 edition, the last year it was copyrighted. Just glancing through them, there are some things I've never heard of. Inside cover of the Southern Cooking book displaying a map...

Lots of notes scribbled in and some more recipes. Just a sampling...

Should make for some interesting reading...

 

[bbqbrett]

Wow, those are quite the finds. Are you going to try some of the recipes in those?

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Wow, those are quite the finds. Are you going to try some of the recipes in those?

Yes after I look through them some, I'm going to pick out a recipe or 3 to cook. I've started with the Southern Cooking book and it is separated by courses. Chapter One goes into the necessary items for a properly prepared kitchen such as utensils, measurements, appliances, charts on cooking times for meats, vegetables, breads, etc. Exact quote from the book about a refrigerator in the kitchen, "We have progressed in our standards of living until it seems essential today for every home to have a refrigerator."

Chapter Two is about cocktails, but not the ones you may be thinking of. Recipes are for cocktails you eat such as different fruit cocktails, shrimp cocktail, oyster cocktail, etc.

Chapter Three is soups. Here I found a recipe for Cream of Chestnut Soup and Lettuce Soup. Never heard of those and I'm not sure that they're something I want to attempt.

That's about as far as I've gotten other than a quick browse. But I will say that sweets were very important. There's a chapter on desserts and a separate chapter on cakes, both appear extensive...