vintage valentines - a lifetime in a box


Years ago, I went to an estate sale in the Ottawa Valley. We used to rent a cottage there when the kids were little. I arrived a bit late in the day to find the auctioneer practically giving away unwanted lots of personal items from a very elderly lady who had died.


I remember gasping when I spotted two big boxes full of cards, letters and these antique boxes. I don't remember what I paid for them, but it was very little, probably about five dollars.

Inside the two boxes was a lifetime of correspondence. Birthday cards, anniversary cards, sympathy cards, Christmas cards, letters etc. There were a lot.

I spent an afternoon sifting through these personal items. Reading messages of love, celebration and sometimes sadness. It was so sad to me that no one wanted to keep any of these items. Terrible to think where these could have ended up!



Finally, I resorted to sorting through the vast piles to keep only the cards, stationery etc that appealed to me for their illustrations, fonts or sometimes script-like handwriting.

I was able to edit it down to these 6 boxes which I have held onto for many years. The boxes on their own were great to find. I wonder what The Northway Store was?


So that's all, just a little story about collecting :)

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