Reply With QuoteYour uncle looked like a smooth character, nice cane.
My grandfather left me a Bulova gold watch that he got from a German soldier in WW2. Although i do have not have it with me for a pic.
I was going to call it "Show us your family heirlooms" but a family treasure doesn't need to be of any great financial value, just precious to you.
The picture below is of my great-uncle Granville (1906-1974) and would have been taken between 1927 and 1930. I now have the silver-topped cane he's holding in the picture and whilst it's not worth a great deal of money, it's precious to me.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Your uncle looked like a smooth character, nice cane.
My grandfather left me a Bulova gold watch that he got from a German soldier in WW2. Although i do have not have it with me for a pic.
Here's my great grandfather's pocket watch:
He'd have bought it in around the 1920s. As a child, my father remembers him winding it while he lent on the radio listening to the stock prices. I took it in to a watchmaker early last year who got it working again. My father reckons it's the first time it's run since the early 1950s.
As for the family jewels - you'll have to take a trip to the Boys Room to see those.
My Grandma was a jeweller and so I have boxes and boxes of bracelet links, watch plates and loose stones and the like. Problem is, she didn't differentiate between expensive and cheap - she just kept everything that might come in useful one day... so a lot of the stuff is paste or cheap plate and I cant really tell what is worth keeping and what should be binned ;)
During the 60s my Grandfather wore a "Sully" wristwatch which was gold plate with jewels in place of indices. He died in 1988 and had already replaced that watch by one my Mother bought him. A couple of years ago, my Auntie found Grandads old Sully and sent it o me. Quick wind, just to see, and away it went! I had it serviced (at a pretty fair old cost) and restored it cosmetically myself and it is now a truly treasured possession. Pretty worthless financially, but I love it.
Last edited by Loquacious; 11th January 2013 at 19:16.
It's something very simple. This....
......a stamp.
The treasure is the image in the stamp, the figure standing on the bridge of LCT 858 is my father, pictured on D-day.
It was the 2nd run that his ship had made to gold beach, on the first run, the ship hit a mine putting a hole in the bow on the left hand side. You can just see the hole above the head of the 2nd commando from the left.
I am lucky as I have got a pretty large collection of pics, medals, military stuff and memorabilia from my family.
Here are three pics I have scanned which may be of interest.
This is my Dad's copy of the letter that was handed out to all participants on D-day, 6th June.
My Dad was in LST 367 on Sword beach.
Here's my Grandad in the RA in what I guess was the '20's.
He was a proper London boy from Blackfriars and a bit naughty. After coming up before the beak he was given the choice of prison or the army. It was a close run thing but he chose the army!
He was always such a cool bloke and I loved him.
He is the one in the middle.
Finally, a great (great?) uncle of mine who apparently was in the RFC during WWI and won the MC.
The pic is of him with his parents after the award at Buckingham palace.
Cheers,
Neil.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
My father managed to keep his fathers silver cigarette case all through his time in Siberian Concentration camps (after the Russian / German invasion of Poland, a lot of Poles were moved to concentration camps), then it survived his time in the Polish Armed forces in the Middle East during WW2.
As this is the only "treasure" from his side of the family, I keep it at the bank - only just realised I do not have a photo of it.
How cool is that.Originally Posted by Kris
My maternal grandfather was in Africa and Italy in WW2 and I have his standard issue folding knife.
We also have a (nothing special I suspect) silver pocket watch (a half hunter as recall) from my the Grandather above's father but Mum is the custodian of that for the foreseeable future. I'm in no hurry to get my hands on it!
Mum's Mum's father died in France in 1918, as far as I'm aware we have nothing of his but I do have the treasured memory of the moment Dad and I first visited his grave, the first from anyone in our family since he was laid to rest. Damn, something in my eye.
Been in the family as far as know since the late 1920's
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
The folding whisky tumbler and leather case belonged to my grandfather who served in the second battalion the Seaforth Highlanders during the first World War. The watch just happens to be in the photograph, well it's a watch forum after all .
He carried the tumbler from August 1914 to the first day of the battle of the Somme in July 1916 where he was wounded just after leaving the trenches as his battalion attacked the German strongpoint at Beaumont Hamel. Fortunately he survived his wound, lived until his 80's, and was able to pass the tumbler on as a family heirloom.
The second photograph is my grandfather as a very young man just before going to France in August 1914 and yes the sporran was that big, my sister has it in a box in the attic somewhere
regards
grant
This.
Hanging in the hall way and will be treasured for years.
This was part of my Dads retirement package.Over 40 years service with English China Clay and recognition for his service.
regards
Tony
Some fantastic stuff here and stories.
Sadly, I have nothing really to show - as some medals my granddad had for football and cricket which were left to my mum when he died were stolen in a burglary about 15 years ago.
Saying that, now I'm thinking about it I have my dad's original bus driver badge and a picture of him very young with it when he started on the buses as a young man.
Great thread
Some fantastic history here. As a total history buff, I find it very interesting.
So glad, that the thread title was not 'Show Your Family Jewels' on a forum, where Alexaff is forum member BTW!
Who was the maker, Chas Frodsham by any chance?Here's my great grandfather's pocket watch:
He'd have bought it in around the 1920s. As a child, my father remembers him winding it while he lent on the radio listening to the stock prices. I took it in to a watchmaker early last year who got it working again. My father reckons it's the first time it's run since the early 1950s.
As for the family jewels - you'll have to take a trip to the Boys Room to see those.
Paternal grandfather's silver pocket watch, solid silver chain and alberts. He was a policeman in Birmngham before WW1 (my father was born in 1913).
Probably my most treasured possession. A flag made by my Granddads best mate ( who didn't make it ) whilst they were at El Alamein. He was basically a driver and dispatch rider in the RASC attached to the Rats at the time. He was at Dunkirk and also Italy later on. My Mum ( his daughter ) had this framed for me before his death only last year - I have this and his demob papers.
N
This is another family item, known as "The Edward Ring", the ring is only passed down to an Edward and I'm the 4th generation custodian. The Birmingham hallmark shows it was made in 1895-96 which makes the first owner Edward Platts (1862-1921), father of my grandfather Edward and also of Granville whose picture is shown at the start of this thread. Great-grandfather Edward's occupation was recorded as "potato chip salesman" in the census of 1901 (the family owned a chip shop) and as a "tripe dresser" on the 1911 census.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Here's another pic I found on file.
My Grandad in Afghanistan in the '20's ( nothing much changes does it?) queuing up for his grub.
He's on the extreme right in his pith helmet.
Cheers,
Neil.
My Mum died in October last year and whilst clearing out her stuff recently found my Dad's old jewellers loupe and also his pocket magnifying glass (the sort in a flick out leather case) which he used for his stamp and coin collecting.
So i gave them a clean up and now use them for squinting closely at my motley collection of cheap watches. I know its a bit of a lame story, but it gives me a warm glow to carry on the family tradition of looking for flaws and defects with them - kind of going full circle i suppose. :)
My Grandfather left me a Rudall Carte flute made from cocus wood and silver, along with a matching piccolo.
There is provenance stating that it was made in 1902 and sold to a gent in Eastbourne.
One of my earliest memories was of my Grandfather playing this flute when I was about 4 or 5 years old... it's never going to be sold.
Great thread. Here's mine; my grandfathers medal (one of many, but my favourite) as he served right throughout WW2 and his Omega which was his retirement gift from Shell Oil when he retired in the early 80's and I inherited in 1986.
These aren't very valuable but I find them fascinating.
They're a pair of mugs made to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII in 1902.
One was given to my maternal grandmother when she was a young child, and the other to a school friend and cousin of hers.
They both eventually found their way through the family to me.
On the face of it they look quite plain and simple.
But they're actually lithophane mugs, so when you hold them up to the light you see these images of Edward and Alexandra in the bottom.
These images don't really do them justice. In reality they look like old photos.
This was my Father's Bubbleback dating from the 1930's. He Joined the USAAF in 1934 to follow his dream of being a pilot. He tested and flew the P61 night fighter (Black Widow) and was a career AF officer.
He wore it everyday of his life on a cheapo $1.50 metal band with the watch on the underside of his wrist. The watch is really small, about 28mm. Hard to tell from the pic but it has military time in red on the dial.
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