Margaret Cary!
Between March 9 and November 13, our Poster of the Year posted 45 giveaway or for-sale messages -- each one a little gem, a prose-poem to an object that held a memory for her - and, with the magic of the Listserv, would soon do the same for another lucky list member.
The thing is, all the messages were so good, I'm tempted to present twenty or thirty of them. Must show restraint! I've forced myself to limit it to my five favorites.
-Peggy Robin
CP Listserv Moderator
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FREE antique German doll trunk + clothes
October 11, Message #229956
My grandmother’s wooden doll chest sits quietly now, its small latch worn smooth from years of careful hands. She was born in 1880 in Wisconsin, the daughter of a man who had crossed the Atlantic at seventeen, leaving his home in Germany to study and earn his doctorate at Wartburg University.
In those early years, when life on the frontier was both modest and full of hope, this trunk was for her doll’s wardrobe – filled with miniature dresses and tiny bonnets, sewn with loving precision. The doll itself is long gone, lost to time, but the clothes remain.
When I touch the chest, I feel some echo of my grandmother’s world – horse-drawn carriages, the rustle of heavy skirts, the sound of her father lecturing in a warm, lamp-lit room. These pieces have survived more than a century, carrying with them the quiet dignity of the family’s journey from Germany to America.
Now, the chest waits again, ready to be part of someone else’s story. Free to a good home.
[See photo at Message #229956]
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#FFPU Magnificent feathered hat
September 16, Message #229150
“Ah, darlings!” declared the feathered hat, tossing its plume and flicking its veil, “I was not plucked from obscurity, oh no—I was chosen at Twins Armoire in San Francisco, the most enchanting boutique west of Paris! From that day on, I was destined for glory.”
She relished the memory. Garden parties under blooming roses, costume balls where chandeliers bowed to its brilliance, guests whispering, who is she wearing?—all while the hat preened from atop her proud perch.
But time had tucked it away in a wardrobe, left to practice dramatic sighs for mothballs. “How unjust!” she wailed. “A hat of such pedigree, such flair, confined to shadows?”
Then—light! Hands reached in, dusted it off gently. “This,” said a voice, “belongs with a new person.”
The hat fluttered with excitement. “At last! A second act! The stage is mine again. The veil will shimmer, the feathers will command, and I shall crown a new head worthy of Twins Armoire’s finest creation!”
With a triumphant toss, she proclaimed, “My comeback begins now!”
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“We’ve held flavors and smiles for so many years,” the teapot sighed.
“We just need a home again,” the cookie jar said firmly, his lid clicking with resolve.
The salt and pepper shakers chimed in, rattling playfully, “Someone out there is waiting for us—we just know it!”
And so they sat, patiently shining under the shop lights, a family of Stanford Pottery, hoping the right person would see them not as dishes, but as companions ready to bring warmth and stories back to a kitchen table.
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FS: Vintage Thai Brass
August 15, Message #228056
In the humming heart of Bangkok, beneath gilded awnings and the distant chime of temple bells, an American traveler stopped before a curious shop. The window was crowded with treasures - silks, lacquered boxes, and, front and center, a velvet-lined case glinting with the subtle warmth of brass. Inside, nestled in red velvet folds, was a tableware set fit for a royal feast: twelve place settings of 11 pieces each, each cool to the touch, their handles engraved with the distinctive Thai Kranok symbol. Above them lay thirteen graceful serving pieces, each promising to turn every meal into an occasion.
It was 1984 and the city pulsed with possibility. The traveler haggled, laughed, and finally, with the shopkeeper’s blessing, carried the wood carrying case – heavier than expected – back to a hotel, eyes alive with the dream of future celebrations.
The journey home was an adventure all its own. Each place setting was carefully wrapped in plastic, the entire case balanced between suitcases and souvenirs, hand-carried through bustling airports and taxi rides, always clutched a little tighter at every turn. In the end, the brass set crossed oceans and continents, enduring the hopeful jostling of travel and the long, steady flight to America.
After two uses of four place settings, the set returned to its box, slid gently to the back of a quiet cupboard. Life grew busy. The case’s cover collected only the faint dust of nostalgia.
Now, decades later, as sunlight glances through a kitchen window, the set is ready for a new story. The brass, barely touched, gleams with promise. The velvet still cradles each piece as if holding a secret.
It waits, patiently, for a new home – a table where laughter echoes, or maybe just an admirer who will polish and use it again. The old traveler hopes for nothing more than this: that someone sees the beauty, the history, and the journey this set has made, and offers it the chance to shine once more.
The price range for a vintage Thai brass tableware set, consisting of 12 place settings with 11 pieces each, complemented by 13 matching serving pieces, and presented in its original velvet-lined case, typically falls between $500 and $900. Your price? $99
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This last one proves that even the most mundane things can tell a good story:
#FFPU - glass stero stand, ceramic mixing bowl, metal bookends and drawing pens
July 23, Message #227419
A glass stereo stand, a handmade ceramic mixing bowl, several pairs of sturdy metal bookends, and a never-used set of German Unitech drawing pens sat together on the front porch, watching the world go by.
“I suppose this is it,” sighed the stereo stand, shining bravely in the sunset. (25.5" W x 33.5" H x 19.5" Deep
“We had a good run,” the mixing bowl said, admiring her had mixed glaze “But think of the adventures ahead! Cakes, curries—maybe even a salad.”
“Or we might finally hold up some history books,” said the bookends in unison.
The unopened pens rustled in their box, their German needles sharp with excitement. “Wherever we go, it will be a masterpiece.”
And so, they waited, hopeful and ready for new hands and fresh stories.They’re all free for pick up to good homes
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Find the whole series of nominations for the Cleveland Park Listies, including Poster of the Year, on the All Life Is Local blog. The next category, PHOTO OF THE YEAR, will be posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturday, December 20, followed on Sunday, December 21 by the nominations for POST OF THE YEAR.
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