Nana's Dressing Table

My Nana, my mother’s mother, died when I was nine. I have no memories of her that I can remember and we lived 300 miles away when she died. My mother inherited some of her belongings, and I received them from my mother, and I cherish them. Nana was born in 1881 and she was married in 1909, an older bride for that time period. Her husband, my Grandfather, was 18 years older than she was and a widower with five children, the oldest only five years younger than my Nana. It was not an easy situation at times but the family was well off until the Depression hit. I gathered a few things to share that might have been on Nana’s dressing table from time to time.

This sterling vanity dresser set with a mirror and shoe horn were probably part of a larger set. The mirror is engraved with my Nana’s initials J. P. L. and it is marked sterling. The mirror is marked with F & B in a flag, the trademark of Foster and Bailey, a company that became Theodore Foster & Bros. Co. in 1898. I suspect the set was made between 1910 and 1920. Although it is the same design, the sterling shoe horn has a different trademark, one from the Webster Company.

I have another sterling dresser set from my mother’s half-sister. She never married so the set is engraved with her maiden name initials, E. M. L.. The set also included a frame for a comb that is not in the photo. I have not been able to identify the trademark on these pieces.

This is one of my Nana’s calling cards or visiting cards and her calling card case.

Calling cards were a simple means for servants to introduce someone's arrival, although complex rules developed around their use. After the invention of the telephone, the use of personal calling cards declined and they ultimately disappeared.

This beaded evening bag belonged to my Nana or her mother. I couldn’t find any markings on it at all although the interior bag part is very worn and in pieces. It may have been made between 1900 and 1920.

My mother told me that my Nana had a friend bring this cameo back to her from Italy. The chain is not original to the piece. The gold on the cameo is marked 14k. I have always loved this piece. It is especially dear to me because I have a photo of my Nana wearing it. I have only worn it a few times since I inherited it because it is so fragile.

I wish I knew more about this green glass jar that belonged to Nana. My mother always had face powder in it while I was growing up. It has no markings of any kind. I keep it in one of my china cabinets because I don’t want it anywhere where it could be damaged.

Having something that belonged to an ancestor is so special. It brings them closer to have something and touch something that they touched too.