The Sacred and the Profane

[LilBit]

We've never had much in the way of heirlooms in my family. My maternal grandparents were pretty frugal, and on my father's side there was money, if not a lot of fancy possessions, but that got squandered in court cases because of some greedy great aunts and uncles who wanted to exclude my branch of the family from my bisabuelo's will.

I inherited a few nice books from my childhood neighbors, who were like grandparents to us. I doubt they're worth more than a few hundred in total. My siblings and I have all made i clear that we have no interest in inheriting my parents' wedding china. The only thing I've asked for is a nice 12-sting guitar that my father bought during his army days. He's told me I can have it whenever I want, but it needs some serious repairs, so I may have inadvertently taken on a white elephant.

 

[Alistair]

The only thing I've asked for is a nice 12-sting guitar that my father bought during his army days. He's told me I can have it whenever I want, but it needs some serious repairs, so I may have inadvertently taken on a white elephant.

Cool idea, ask for it now and take it to be fixed up. Give it back to him as a surprise. He gets a treasure and so do you.

 

[LilBit]

Cool idea, ask for it now and take it to be fixed up. Give it back to him as a surprise. He gets a treasure and so do you.

I don't think he wants it back. He hasn't played it in 40 years, which is why it's in such lousy shape.

 

[rareboy]

Thank you for the catch. I apologize for the blunder.

I should know that from being in band, much less the English degree, but everyone says "coronet" here, like they similarly mispronounce nuclear and realtor.

But, that's a pet peeve of mine as well. And I hope always to have someone correct me when I err. If we all keep at it, we might save grammar yet.

If I'd gotten to take Latin when I wanted to, I think I would have remembered that coronet was a crown, but I didn't and it is rarely used in America for anything, but that's not a good excuse. My mother was against us taking Latin, and blocked me when I tried. I think she was just being passive aggressive because her mother taught Latin and other subjects, so it was reactionary.

Again, thanks.

It surely doesn't look like $35k, but that's what he appraised.

And here I was imagining some debutante's lovely tiara worn at an antebellum ball...that had been rescued from neglect and turned out to have some real diamonds in it after all.

 

[fredroy]

I don't think he wants it back. He hasn't played it in 40 years, which is why it's in such lousy shape.

Doesn't matter. Do it just "because".

 

[NotHardUp1]

I have a couple of things of intrinsic value, but not monetary.

My maternal grandfather shaved in the kitchen, in a mirror hung there above a wash basin, away from the kitchen sink. The mirror was just a small wooden-framed affair, salvaged from some old chest of drawers top. My uncle gave it to me a few years ago, in piece. I plan to refinish the wood and then leave it to one of the nephews later.

A year or two ago, I found cabinet cards online for sale, and they were of my great-great-great-grandparents in Leeds. I'll pass them on to a cousin's children if none of my siblings' spawn show interest in learning or family.

My maternal grandmother spent two years in a TB sanitarium after my mother was born. After she died, my uncle gave me an album she kept of letters and cards she received, many of them from my grandfather. The album itself is a bit of a fright, but I think I'll get an acid-free binder and conserve them for one of the girls down the line. It's particularly poignant due to the uncertainty of the time, and the separation from her first child, my mother.

Given the choice of expensive jewelry or priceless artifacts, I do prefere the deeply personal items I have. I don't know my ancestors as intimately as I would like, but I do know their stories better than anyone living in my family, so feel an obligation to share those with progeny to help them feel connected to a lineage.

 

[NotHardUp1]

And here I was imagining some debutante's lovely tiara worn at an antebellum ball...that had been rescued from neglect and turned out to have some real diamonds in it after all.

Credible if you hadn't seen me refer to it as a horn in the OP.

Potato, poTAto.

I'm beginning to think it was a good thing I didn't mention the cornet's large bore.

 

[Kahaih]

Credible if you hadn't seen me refer to it as a horn in the OP.

. . . .

Okay, yeah, but did anyone else amuse themselves conjuring up images of Klinger [M*A*S*H] in a Civil War uniform and a tiara?

 

[fredroy]

^^ Great. Yankee or Confederate?

Oh, hell. Klinger as a Redcoat.

 

[Latimer]

Entertaining video on Kind Hearts and Coronets:

Much interesting material, not least that Dennis Price's character Louis Mazzini was named Israel Rand in the novel, and half-Jewish rather than half-Italian. It is speculated that portraying the protagonist as a clever, arriviste Jew would be considered anti-Semitic and, in the wake of WWII, tasteless. Nancy Mitford was an uncredited scriptwriter.

Joan Greenwood, with her intoxicating voice, is wonderful in the movie, as she was also in the poignant Man in the White Suit and--of course--in The Importance of Being Earnest.

As some of you may know, Valerie Hobson, who played Edith in Coronets as well as Estella in the David Lean Great Expectations, was married to John Profumo, he of the Profumo scandal that brought down the government in the early sixties.

I'm a big Ealing Studio fan. The Lavender Hill Mob is one of my favorite movies. Last year when I was traveling on the train (?) from Heathrow to central London, one of the stops was Ealing. Realizing I was in the same town as the studio was a real thrill.

 

[NotHardUp1]

There's a reason the films are Brit.

We generally say crowns, or tiaras in the U.S. Very few occastions to ever refer to coronets here other than historians or historical writers.

And, I believe the cornet original player was in the Union Army, but I haven't looked it up again. Just going on memory.

 

[Latimer]

^
"Kind hearts are more than coronets, and simple faith than Norman blood."
--Alfred Lord Tennyson, "Lady Clara Vere de Vere"

Lady Clara Vere de Vere - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The particular significance in the movie is that Louis Gascoyne Mazzini is in search of the ducal coronet that will come to him when he achieves the rank of a duke.

"Certain physical coronets are worn by the British peerage on rare ceremonial occasions, such as the coronation of the monarch. These are also sometimes depicted in heraldry, and called coronets of rank in heraldic usage. Their shape varies depending on the wearer's rank in the peerage, according to models laid down in the 16th century.

"Due to the extreme rarity of occasions in which peers' coronets are worn (sometimes more than fifty years pass before a new coronation and occasion to wear physical coronets), practical use of the term coronet today is almost exclusively confined to pictorial crowns and rank symbols in heraldry, adorning someone's coat of arms (indeed, many people entitled to a coronet never have a physical one made)."

From Wikipedia

Peers told they are allowed to wear crimson robes and coronets for King Charles’s Coronation

British aristocrats are understood to be preparing their ceremonial garb, in a reported U-turn on the initial advice

www.tatler.com

 

[Latimer]

Correction: Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini

 

[me203]

I'm surprised the cornet had any value. I'd have guessed, from what the Andrews Sisters said sang, that the bugle played by the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B would have more value!

 

[EddMarkStarr]

And not necessarily just displayed, but also used upon occasion. At least by some. One of my grandmothers did have stuff on display that was display only, but I'd guess the other one did use the more formal stuff somewhat regularly.


And then, too, when people enteretain now they are more likely to want stuff that is dishwasher safe. I'm not set up for entertaining where I live now, but I have to admit that as much as I like the idea of fine china, even I would opt for something that could go through a dishwasher without worry.

I still have fond memories of my mom organizing the whole family for the annual Silver Service polishing.
As the years went by, the polishing agents became easier to use with a more pleasant smell.

When we were done, the whole house seemed to sparkle!

 

[rareboy]

^ It was my job as a kid to polish the brasses and silver pieces that were in use every Saturday morning.

I now also only do it once a year, or as they are used...although that is not good for them...they should be done more often.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Tess Derbyfield.

 

[peeonme]

I miss the family dinners that we had on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. People dressed up and used the better china and tableware. Tradition keeps a family together.

 

[belamyi]

 

[belamyi]

Although I suppose I should confess that I have something like this

but with gaudier patterns of Asian birds and flowers in bright red, green, blue and what not, and more solid and curvy base, in the room next door, that my mother insisted that we, and finally, I should keep from hers...