Sunday, January 5, 2014

+Ruby Red Charm, The Red Square Dishes Story

   My childhood days living in Chattanooga was short but I have vivid memories of those first few years of my life there.  My mom was amazed that I held on to those memories so well, even she didn't remember some of the things until I would mention them to her.  This is the only full picture I have of our house in Chattanooga, which my gr grandfather Daniel Edingburg built himself.
J. Bliss White had this photo of my gr grandfather's home plus a photo of Daniel and an article about Daniel in his book "1904 Biography and Achievements of the Colored Citizens of Chattanooga".  The woman in the photo might be Minnie Edingburg but since they don't mention who she is I'm not sure.

I loved living in this house, my uncle Will lived in a small cabin behind the house which you can see a little of it in the photo to the right in the back of the house.  He was a single man by the time I was born.  My mom said that he use to keep money stashed between the floor boards, or hide it in the walls of the cabin.  He use to come get me after breakfast to walk around the outside, I would always head to the grape orchard and start eating, mom would get after Uncle Will for letting me eat grapes until I was either all stained up or ate too many, but the next time he would just do it again and I was always happy to eat grapes.
  There was a bird bath out in the front yard, the fence in the photo on the side of the house was taken down when the property next door was purchased by our family, and the bird bath sat on that side of the property. We had ducks that roamed around freely, Uncle Will, (who is actually my great uncle), would come get me again and we would go feed the ducks and I loved to play in the bird bath just splashing the water around. Uncle Will was my best buddy.  
At lunch time we would go in and my favorite memory about eating was using those square red plates, saucers and square cups. Even though I was very young I remembered those plates forever.  I wanted everything served on those plates.  I have no idea why those particular plates stuck in my mind.
When we moved away, I didn't think about the plates until I was an adult, then I asked my  mother what happened to those red plates, she couldn't believe that I remembered them, she said that they threw them out when we moved away.  I was just shocked that they would throw away such beautiful plates and cups.

Right then I started on a mission to find some red square plates, I first tried antique shops, no one had any idea what I was talking about. My search went into years, then one day I went into this antique shop and asked if she knew anything about some very dark red square plates and cups and saucers to match.  She says yes but you probably won't find them up in this area, you would need to go to the southern states to find that particular color, she said that color wasn't popular in the Midwest mostly the green and pink were popular up this way.
She did tell me that they were named "Red Charm".  So I went to the internet and started my search..I found not only the plates but a butter dish. I ordered a set of four plus the butter dish.


I was so excited when my dishes arrived, even though they weren't the original red dishes from my family I was just so happy.  I figured I could start my own red dish tradition and new memories.  When I use my red dishes I think back to all those wonderful memories of living in my gr grandfather's home and sharing meals with my great aunts , grandmother and parents.  I was two years old when I first saw those dishes and we moved away about a year or two later.

I know one thing my Ancestors were preparing me at a very young age to record to memory everything they had in mind, for later use, because I can remember things from when I was younger than two years old.  





30 comments:

  1. My grandmother had the pink and green ones. There is nothing like using the same things the Ancestors used, or those very like them, to bring them closer to us.

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    1. Kristin, when I was searching for them, the antique dealers always wanted me to settle for the other colors but I wouldn't have anything to do with it..

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  2. Your memories just came to life in this post. I could feel your happiest and as child with your Uncle Will.

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    1. Thanks Bernita. I was feeling it for sure. It felt nice telling the story, now I have to go use my dishes...LOL

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  3. Beautiful red dishes indeed! Its amazing what things can give us the comfort of childhood after we've grown into adults!

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    1. Thank you Erlaine Dickens, Isn't that the truth, those dishes were special to me for some reason.

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  4. Great story! I too like to collect items that remind me of my family's past.

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    1. Delores thank you, we all have our good memories in one form or another.

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  5. That is a wonderful story about those plates and how you remembered them from a little tiny girl! Reading the story, I could picture you in it with your parents, grandmother, gr. aunts, and uncle! Makes one think of more innocent times as a child.

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    1. It is amazing that a set of red dishes can spark a memory that will last for many years, I'm sure other people have the same instances. Thank you Beatty, I'm glad that you liked the post.

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  6. What a beautiful story. Those red dishes would have been my favorite too.They are beautiful and I love the color red. I'm glad that you found the dishes. You have great memories to go with them.

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    1. Thank you Denise, I was thinking yesterday, wouldn't it be cool if the dishes I bought off the internet from Georgia were the same dishes that were in my family. It's far fetched but I've had other unusual things happen..lol

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  7. Isn't it amazing how a child's mind can latch onto and hold precious memories forever? I love your tale – wish I'd had an uncle like yours!

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    1. Thank you Robin, I really loved my Uncle Will, he was a bit on the eccentric side to some people, he just had his own way of doing things, he was a super great carpenter and I loved following him around every were he went, and he didn't seem to mind.

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  8. Your post inspired me to do a post on my grandmother's cookie jar, that I admired as a child. I too don't have the original but did get a replica and it does remind me of the memories of my grandmother's kitchen.
    Stephani Juleeana Miller

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    1. Wow Stephani, that will be so cool I'll look forward to reading about your grandmother's cookie jar, it's wonderful memories like these that make for such great stories to pass on to future generations. Thank you glad I was able to inspire you.

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  9. This was so Good. I have those memories as well. Mostly about my Mom's skillet and flour swifter. I love her "things" some how they made it back to you, regardless! Great Memory!

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    1. Thank you True Lewis, I'll look forward to reading about your treasured memories.

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  10. I enjoyed reading your story especially the part about looking for the red dishes, which are very pretty. I don't think I have seen the red ones but have seen the greens, yellows and pinks.

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    1. Thank you LIndaRe,glad you liked my post. I've never seen the yellow ones, I'll have to look that up on the internet and see what they look like.

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  11. Beautifully written Xzanthia! "Red Charm" . . . I can certainly see why these dishes were etched in your memory all these year -- they are gorgeous! I have truly enjoyed my visit here and look forward to other treasures and family lore you will bless us with this year and years to come. Happy New Year to you!

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  12. Thank you Liv, I'm glad you enjoyed my post..Happy New Year to you and your family.!

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  13. I love this!! I can imagine as a child, those plates probably seemed magical or something. I love them just looking at them now. Great Post!!!!!!

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  14. It must have been something magical..all I know is that I never forgot them especially that they were red and square. lol..Thank you glad you enjoyed the post.

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  15. I loved this narrative! I suppose my love for the color red also makes Red Charm that much more beautiful...Valerie Lewis-Mosley @SankofaGriot.

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    1. Thank you Valerie, I love red also, it's my favorite color.

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