I organized my paper files into bins by family branch. It struck me again how “up in the air” I am with most branches. So many leads, so little time.
And then, on top of documents and photos, there are a few objects to catalog. My assumption is that family heirlooms are definitely part of family history and genealogy. They can give us clues to the lives of our ancestors, and they also can make us feel closer to them.
This bowl was given to me by my grandmother shortly after I married. It was “in the family,” but that is all I know. If anybody in the family remembers seeing it in a cabinet or in use, please let me know!
It’s about the size of a serving bowl, but slotted. From searching Google, I think this is a dessert bowl or a serving bowl. It’s probably Prussian or German. Did it come from the “old country” with Grandma’s grandparents (who were Prussian) or was it purchased in the U.S.? I can’t figure out the mark on the bottom and don’t know what the nub thing is on the bottom either. It’s beautiful and different from the typical floral patterns seen online.
Another family heirloom is the ice cream scoop from the Zuidweg candy and soda shop at the corner of Burdick and Balch in Kalamazoo.
That’s a lot of ice cream scoops. But which one is from Adrian Zuidweg’s soda shop? Right! It’s the top one! My husband got a little carried away by locating other scoops on his visits to antique malls!
That’s my great-grandfather, Adrian Zuidweg, behind the counter. He had owned a fish market and then he switched over to this shop. In the 1926 Kalamazoo City Directory he is listed as “confectionery,” which means that he owned a sweets shop! He died in 1929. I believe my grandfather then took over the candy store and branched out into being a service station. In the 1935 City Directory Grandpa is listed under confr (confectionery) and filling station and the same in 1937, but by 1939 only the station is listed: ZUIDWEG’S SERVICE STATION.
Look at the sweet little metal tables and chairs in the photo. In front of Adrian do you see the cone-shaped metal cup/bowl with a paper liner? I remember those from my childhood. And is that a straw holder? In the back of the photo are glass bowls of candy and a window with little half-curtains and a trimmed valance. Do you think the ice cream is behind the counter where Adrian stands? Or is it somewhere else? What is the round black “pot” in the foreground on the right side?
Have you thought about the family heirlooms you might have laying around the house?
The Family Kalamazoo 
I have many family heirlooms but like your husband have also done more than my fair share of collecting things from op shops etc. Something which is very special to me is an empty magnum of French champagne. My father opened this at a family party after I was born. It is very significant to me for two reasons. Firstly, my father is an absolute minimalist and keeps nothing and yet he kept this for about 45 years before giving it to me. Secondly, my mum had a very difficult birth with me and I was born posterior facing up instead of down and we were both lucky to make it. Mum was in a very conservative Catholic hospital and they saved the baby over the mother. They also wouldn’t allow Dad to stay for the birth or be present when Mum as breastfeeding as it would offend the nuns. In the end, Dad discharged Mum after having a fight with the head Nun and Sister. I also ended up being diagnosed with hydrocephalis or fluid on the brain, which we attribute to that birth. So, all round, that empty bottle is filled with meaning!
Gosh, Rowena, I don’t know what happened to my response here! I’m so sorry! What a beautiful story about the champagne! I can understand why it’s so special. What a lot for you to go through as a baby. Did you have to have surgery for the hydrocephalis? Thank you for your lovely story!
I found a relative that I did not know existed until I started doing my family tree. He sent a photo of a beautiful broach. It was engraved by my grandfather and presented to his sister-in-law on her 16th birthday. That sister-in-law (my great aunt) was my new found relatives grandmother. I do not know how to attach a photo. Anyway, a precious heirloom.
Oh Mary! That is so wonderful. I would love to see it. The only way you can attach it here is if you load it online and then post a link to it. If you email it to me, though, I can at least see it :).
The bowl looks like its for draining something – the nub on the bottom looks like it fitted onto something else- a bowl to collect liquid? Could it be for draining salad, or even cheese making?
It’s so beautiful to use for those things, with gold-plating on it. I can’t imagine that my relatives would have something that nice to use for something so practical. I would imagine it was a prized possession. I imagine you are right about it being part of a 2 piece item. Maybe a platter goes underneath? Or if the nub is a red herring, maybe it’s for bread or rolls?
Hmmm ok. What if it was a cake stand with separate base? Maybe for easy packing? No idea really but it is lovely
Maybe I should hold a contest to see who can come up with the winning answer?! Thanks so much, Barb! It is so lovely, which is why I have it attached to the shelf with museum putty, just in case!
Hi, the big kettle looking pot on the right foreground has a soda fountain handle with a round black knob. My dad installed one in his garage. The ice cream would be served from that counter. The metal cone shaped item is for soda phosphates. (“The Music Man” film scene at the Candy Counter is an excellent visual reference.) I had soda phosphates at “The High Wheeler” in town when I was a child. The Chocolate Shop is another great local candy/ice cream shop I remember. Try Kilwin’s if you have questions, they still use the items in the photo. Let me know if you have any luck!
Oh wow! Soda fountain handle! That’s amazing, Mary. That gives me something to search! I definitely remember The Chocolate Shop and for awhile when it was at the corner of Michigan and the mall I worked 2 doors down and could go in there all the time. My dad always went in and got a small bag of their cashews in the afternoon. They had those huge, delicious cashews that you can’t buy most places. I even remember Mursch’s ice cream on Burdick. Thanks for the tip about Kilwin’s, too!
What a lovely bowl! I think anything goes with family history—anything that helps us touch the lives of our ancestors in some way. I hope you can learn more about the provenance of the bowl.
I love the ice cream shop photograph—such a classic. Too bad the family didn’t stick with that line—much more fun (though probably not as lucrative) than a gas station!
Hahaha, if the family had stuck with ice cream they would have been “eaten out of house and home.” My family always loved ice cream and would pour chocolate syrup in vanilla ice cream and stir it up good. Then proceed to eat it with a baby spoon. I’ve found that ice tea spoons work well, too, because they also have the smaller head/scoop. 😉
I do hope I can learn more about the bowl. Doesn’t it look like the design is a laurel pattern? what do you think?
When we were kids and mushed up vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, we called it egg noshly. I have no idea why. Now I am lactose intolerant and miss ice cream every day.
A laurel pattern? Got me! I know less about such things than I do about fashion. 🙂
You might try sending a copy of that photo to “Replacements, Unlimited’. They can probably give you the name of the pattern, plus the name and location of the manufacturer.
Can they do antiques? I thought they were more contemporary stuff?
They can do just about anything! Antique silverware, dishes you thought couldn’t be replaced, you name it. They can sometimes sell you pieces to match your item. I think that’s a fruit bowl, for what it’s worth.
OK, I just sent off the request to them! Thanks for the idea! A fruit bowl, now that makes a lot of sense. Thank you so much.
I would guess the slotted mystery bowl is for whole fresh fruit. Perhaps it was part of a tiered set and that funny nub fit into the central pillar on another piece?
I think the fruit idea makes a lot of sense. If it’s a tiered set it might be part of a dessert rack for cookies and fruit, etc. Thanks, Jennifer. How’s the daily poetry coming?
I just crossed the finish line! 30 poems in 30 days! Thanks so much for asking. 🙂
Jennifer, you ROCK, as I implied elsewhere. You should be really proud of yourself for sticking to it. My week is already shot. Two days down and not a line on paper. Three cats with medical needs started my week . . . .
Hi Luanna, This is in reply re: antiques: Maybe it would work better over the telephone.
1. I have a wooden chair which belonged to my mother. It is from her wedding. in Don’t know if my other siblings would want me to sell it.
Ed, a chair from your mother’s wedding sounds fabulous. Was it made for her wedding? Was it part of the ceremony or one of the chairs that were used at the reception?
Great pictures and objects. There always seems to a ghost of previous owners in old things.
I want to read the book that Charles recommends (below): The Secret Life of Objects. Doesn’t that sound fascinating?!
A big Yea from here: Grandpa’s tools, Father’s glasses, oh, and the old pipe we are not so sure who smoked exactly, but has been in the family as long as I can remember… Most assuredly they are powerful witnesses!
Oh, tools are an important one! So special! Glasses are so personal–a wonderful memory. And the pipe sounds great, too–what kind of pipe is it?
It has a carved bowl with a deer’s head on it, and it has a metal lid for the bowl. This kind of pipe is sold as a “vintage German” design… Big surprise there, haha.
Oh, that sounds like a fabulous pipe! Sounds so Sherlock Holmes-ish ;)!
Quite so… “Elementary, Watson, elementary.”
Back in 2014 I wrote a blog about the book “The Secret Life of Objects” written by Dawn Raffel. I think you may be interested in this book by the very subject of this blog. She writes about family heirlooms and how they tell a story. I think you might enjoy it.
I’ve put this book on my list! It sounds perfect!
Yes! Heirlooms are definitely part of genealogy. And they are often not well documented and it only takes a generation to go from a detailed understanding of an item to something like this “I know this (insert item here) is from my mom’s side of the family, but I can’t remember whose it was.” I’ve been trying to document the treasures I hold and others held by family members too. It’s time-consuming but so important. I love your treasures here! Especially the photo. You noted so many cool details. I hope someone can help you understand the bowl better. ❤
See, if I had been smarter, I would have pinned down Grandma on that bowl when she gave it to me, but life was all about the present at that time. So while I loved it and loved that she gave it to me, I should have asked questions! You are so smart to document everything. I have to figure out a good way to go through things so that my kids don’t just throw up their hands when we’re gone. I want things to go to cousin’s kids, etc, too, so I’ll have to make a list for that as well as just documenting.
I’m glad you are thinking about all of that right now. It’s so easy for stories to be lost and treasures to be discarded as ‘old junk’. 🙂
So true. It kind of gives me daytime nightmares!
Certainly a tiered fruit dish, the fruit would need the bottom to be slotted so it won’t rot. Let us know when you find out!
I definitely will! I really hope I can get an answer!
[…] It was recommended to me by Charles who blogs at Moore Genealogy when I posted about a couple of family heirlooms on my family history […]
Love genealogy..thanks for the comment.