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Around the house...

Sunny

One Too Many
Messages
1,409
Location
DFW
Disclaimer - None of the following items actually belong to me; they're my parents' (or my brothers'). But I thought I'd snap some pictures and share.


Lindeman & Sons baby grand piano.

DSC00667.jpg


My father bought it for my mother from a newspaper ad, pretty soon after they were married (1979). They couldn't fit it into their apartment at the time, so it lived at her parents' house. It was painted black. My father stripped it and put a cherry finish on it, then they were able to move it into their larger apartment (which was still small). I slept under the piano in the cradle for six months after I was born, until they moved into a house with more than one bedroom. Mumsie says that's why I've always loved that piano. ;)

My grandmother taught me and my three brothers to play on it, and it's still used regularly.
When Bro. No. 1 was a toddler and teething, my mother caught him standing on the piano bench, leaning over the keys, and gnawing on the wood in front of the music stand. The little teeth marks are still there.
Bro. No. 2, as a crawler, was quite athletic. At that time we kept the piano lid up. One day my mother came into the room and heard him whimpering, but she didn't see him immediately. He had crawled from the floor, to the bench, to the keys, somehow around the music stand, and halfway up the raised lid before getting stuck! Pretty determined little fellow.

Piano tuners hate it because it's hard to tune. At least it does take a while to get out of tune!

I've been told that Lindeman & Sons went out of business in the Depression, but I'm not getting a clear story when I try Google or Wikipedia. Either way, it's definitely vintage.

DSC00669.jpg
 

Sunny

One Too Many
Messages
1,409
Location
DFW
"The White Sofa"

DSC00670.jpg


If I have my facts straight, it was bought by my great-grandparents, my mother's mother's parents, in Kansas City right about 1940.

My grandmother's father gave it to her and my grandad when they were married in 1955, and had it recovered in their choice of Naugahyde. It's a light cream color, embossed with simple curliques. That's it in the picture. Pretty sturdy stuff!

My grandparents gave it to my parents when they were married, or sometime in the years before I was born. It's been in the house as long as I can remember.

The only condition issues, so to speak, are a few missing tacks and a broken arm. That's my mother's fault - when she was in junior high she sat on it and a piece of wood inside broke! So it "wiggles" a bit if one tries to move it. :D
 

Sunny

One Too Many
Messages
1,409
Location
DFW
Bookcase

DSC00671.jpg


I believe this is one of the barrister bookcases. My mother bought this herself, I believe from a garage sale, when she was in high school (she graduated in 1976), for either $20 or $50, I don't remember exactly.

I know this piece very well, having dusted it weekly for many years. The worst wear is to the finish at the bottom. Our dog was tied up right opposite there at nights, and during thunderstorms she'd let us know she was scared by whining, then yipping, then vigorously scratching the nearest piece of wood. :eek:

Inside the top are my mother's Madame Alexander Little Women dolls. Her parents gave them to her when she was little. Unfortunately the boxes are long gone, but the dolls are here!
 

Sunny

One Too Many
Messages
1,409
Location
DFW
On a more whimsical note...

...I found a few more, uh, interesting items to share while I was snapping the above pictures.

DSC00664.jpg


Three Enfield 1853 rifled muskets and one Springfield 1861 rifled musket (second from the right), all reproduction, all very recently cleaned. It's always nice to see what new "exhibits" I'll come home to at night. :p


DSC00666.jpg


Now if you'll direct your attention to the other side of the back door, we have a display of plastic-pellet-firing airguns, handy for fighting off marauding squirrels and cats and the occasional opossum. I find the use of a nice basket rather amusing. That's my family - use what's handy! There are five guns in that basket; I reloaded them all myself just Saturday morning. Nothing like grabbing a gun and firing at the taunting squirrel, only to discover the gun's empty. One is a 1911 Colt and one is a Smith & Wesson; the other three are identical to each other, but I can't recall them. I have my own, a Walther (not PPK unfortunately), but it lives in my bedroom. The front yard's my bailiwick. ;)

The box on the right has something to do with the garden train, but I'm not sure what it is!


DSC00665.jpg


While I'm at it, the end-table-of-sorts for the basket of firepower. Those two boxes were built by my father, and each assembles into a telegraph setup. The telegraph keys and sounders are all original, I believe old railroad equipment. I have a picture of my brothers demonstrating the telegraph, but it's not on this computer.
 

MrNewportCustom

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,265
Location
Outer Los Angeles
The family that shoots together . . . lol

Sunny, I've been reading and viewing this post with delight. Quite a coollection of wonderful items you folks have. (Yes, I know I typoed "collection." But once I saw what I'd typed I decided it was nicely descriptive. :D)

And where'd you get your quote? Seems I've heard that somewhere.


Lee
________________________

"Marauding squirrels . . ." lol
 

Sunny

One Too Many
Messages
1,409
Location
DFW
Decodence said:
Again, wonderful piece. I LOVE barrister cases.

Thank you! It's a funny thing to stop and actually look at something I've literally grown up with, and realize how nice it actually is. :)

MrNewportCustom said:
The family that shoots together . . . lol

Sunny, I've been reading and viewing this post with delight. Quite a coollection of wonderful items you folks have. (Yes, I know I typoed "collection." But once I saw what I'd typed I decided it was nicely descriptive. :D)

And where'd you get your quote? Seems I've heard that somewhere.


Lee
________________________

"Marauding squirrels . . ." lol

Ha! It just really struck me as funny, that basket of guns. Y'know, a lot of ladies might put a nice basket on the end table for decoration, just like that, filled with flowers or something else. Instead, we have, "Oh, that's a nice basket... with guns?!" Unexpectedly ferocious. But practical - right by the door, ammo handy, and the basket to keep them from migrating to the floor, kitchen counters, and other rooms. I think there's an extra magazine or two in the bottom as well.

*giggle* You should've seen us the time that Mom and two boys and I "treed" a squirrel on the roof. Two of us in the front, one on the side, and one of the back, we could cover all angles of the roof and shoot at him whenever he peeked over the ridge. It was so funny! We finally let him go, afraid that he'd have a heart attack on the shingles!

"Coolection," eh? lol I guess you're ooh-ing and ah-ing a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed them.

Which quote, the marauding squirrels? It's mine own, good sir. I've had experience in describing this situation. ;) Or did you mean my signature?
 

Miss Brill

One Too Many
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1,199
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on the edge of propriety
Sunny said:
*giggle* You should've seen us the time that Mom and two boys and I "treed" a squirrel on the roof. Two of us in the front, one on the side, and one of the back, we could cover all angles of the roof and shoot at him whenever he peeked over the ridge. It was so funny! We finally let him go, afraid that he'd have a heart attack on the shingles!

Yea, sounds hysterical.
 

Sunny

One Too Many
Messages
1,409
Location
DFW
Miss Brill said:

Squirrels steal pecans off the tree we planted. They also bury our pecans and other things in our flower beds/garden train garden, tearing up the surface and the plants. Cats use the flower beds as litter boxes and also tear up the plants. The opossum... well, I've only seen one. :) There must be more somewhere.
 

MrNewportCustom

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,265
Location
Outer Los Angeles
Sunny said:
I think there's an extra magazine or two in the bottom as well.

Better Homes and Ammo? :D

OH! You meant for the guns! lol

Sunny said:
Which quote, the marauding squirrels? It's mine own, good sir. I've had experience in describing this situation. ;) Or did you mean my signature?

I meant your signature. But I do like "Marauding squirrels." :)


Lee
 
*swoon* A dame who shoots? And uses airsoft for target-practice/varmint-deterrent?

Sunny said:
Ha! It just really struck me as funny, that basket of guns. Y'know, a lot of ladies might put a nice basket on the end table for decoration, just like that, filled with flowers or something else. Instead, we have, "Oh, that's a nice basket... with guns?!" Unexpectedly ferocious. But practical - right by the door, ammo handy, and the basket to keep them from migrating to the floor, kitchen counters, and other rooms. I think there's an extra magazine or two in the bottom as well.
And a very decorative addition to the room it is!
 

MrNewportCustom

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,265
Location
Outer Los Angeles
Diamondback said:
*swoon* A dame who shoots? And uses airsoft for target-practice/varmint-deterrent?

I saw her first, DB! ;) :rolleyes: :D

Sunny said:
Ha! It just really struck me as funny, that basket of guns. Y'know, a lot of ladies might put a nice basket on the end table for decoration, just like that, filled with flowers or something else. Instead, we have, "Oh, that's a nice basket... with guns?!" Unexpectedly ferocious.

lol Slightly off-topic, but speaking of unexpected, I always have the "Welcome" mat on my porch facing the wrong way. People ask me why. I laugh and tell them, "You're welcome to leave anytime you want." lol


Lee
 

Sunny

One Too Many
Messages
1,409
Location
DFW
My goodness, fellas! Y'all are sure making my day! lol

MrNewportCustom said:
Slightly off-topic, but speaking of unexpected, I always have the "Welcome" mat on my porch facing the wrong way. People ask me why. I laugh and tell them, "You're welcome to leave anytime you want."

Yowch! I'm sure you get a lot of return visitors. lol

:eek:fftopic: My signature is a line from the Frank Race radio series, about a former OSS man turned investigator of sorts. I find it... rather dull, sadly, at least for the premise. But that line caught my ear and I liked it. You can find a couple dozen episodes for free here. (Hmm... there's some I haven't heard! I'll have to give them a try.)

Better Homes and Ammo? hehehe...



In an attempt to be on topic, here are pics of the telegraph equipment (and convertible boxes) in action. Each station has three components: key, sounder, and relay. Although it's, at a guess, 1930s-1960s equipment, since we were doing Civil War demonstrations the boys used army dot code and not Morse. It's easier to send and receive, since it's all dots and not both dots and dashes.

P1010030.jpg


P1010031.jpg


These pictures were taken nearly four years ago, at a pre-event demonstration for local schoolchildren.
 

MrNewportCustom

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,265
Location
Outer Los Angeles
Diamondback said:
I think you'd find I initiated contact well before this thread--close to the time you joined, actually--but that's the lovely young lady's matter to decide... lol

Respectfully,
Someone who has a permit Los Angelinos can only dream about...:D

Oops! I forgot to say, "In this thread." lol ;) :D


Lee
_______________________

"My brain is like a sieve . . ." - Thomas Dolby
 

Miss 1929

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,397
Location
Oakland, California
Mother always said....

"A lady must know how to cook, sew, play the piano and shoot".
I must be a lady, no matter what they say...

Note - I teethed on the piano too! It still has the marks on the legs. Mom put Tabasco sauce on it to deter me but all it did was give me a taste for hot stuff. So I married a Mexican...
 
D

DeaconKC

Guest
Can't find the link right now, but Smith and Wesson makes a shirt that reads
"Yeah,I shoot like a girl!"
"Smith & Wesson"
Gonna get one for my niece!
 

Sunny

One Too Many
Messages
1,409
Location
DFW
Miss 1929 said:
"A lady must know how to cook, sew, play the piano and shoot".
I must be a lady, no matter what they say...

Note - I teethed on the piano too! It still has the marks on the legs. Mom put Tabasco sauce on it to deter me but all it did was give me a taste for hot stuff. So I married a Mexican...
Then I'm a lady, too! And how funny - both the choice of chew-toy and the "hot stuff"! lol

DeaconKC said:
Can't find the link right now, but Smith and Wesson makes a shirt that reads
"Yeah,I shoot like a girl!"
"Smith & Wesson"
Gonna get one for my niece!
That is made of awesome. :D
 

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