Things…
… inanimate things.
But, it’s not things in general that I’m considering here. No. Rather, it’s things having been bought, that we walk away with when leaving historical places… and… it’s historical things that we can buy. What is the purpose of these things?
As I grow older, I see them differently than I once did.
For one… I seem to be more fascinated these days with things carried in the stores at historical sites. Personally, I can’t help but visit such stores, and I have to hold myself down a bit (fighting the urge to buy… something) by keeping in mind that 1) most of the things that I might be compelled to purchase will likely become “dust magnets” in my house (and most likely in the limited space of my study), and 2) the books, unless on sale, will be cheaper online. Of course, one also has to keep in mind that the sales from these things are of benefit to the historic site, so chipping in a few dollars more is not necessarily money poorly spent.
But, these things… especially the range of things destined to be shelf-sitters (or framed on the wall) in the home… do they/can they have another purpose… within the buyers? It’s really a subtle sales pitch that the buyers might not realize. Museums/historic sites want you to take home connective devices (things) of some sort, and since one can’t take home anything that is original to the place, the people in these places purchase things to be sold to you, that might satisfy that need to have something from the place. Therefore, by purchasing things from a museum store, you still, to some degree, have the ability to take a piece of the place with you. Granted, it is likely not original to the place, other than the fact that you bought it at that place. To some, it is akin to a trophy from some historical place, and still they are left to proclaim, if only in their heart… “aha! I have a piece of the place!” And, really, in some ways they do, but actually it’s more of a mental trigger than a trophy. Books purchased at a place may or may not serve the same purpose… unless the book are about the place, in which case it would seem the trigger mechanism may be equally present.
Nonetheless, how are items purchased at these places… triggers? Unless our memory begins to fail us… seeing the things, handling the things, even thinking about the things that we own… in some ways, transports us back to the place. They become triggers to our memory. Even though they may not be original to the place, they do take us back, in our minds, to the originality/historical significance of the place… or perhaps just our personal memories of being at the place.
Strange to say, however, some trinkets purchased at these places take us to places other than the place in which the thing(s) was/were purchased. My watchful Ebenezer, for example, was purchased at the store at the Library of Virginia, and yet, for my determination in finding its origin (it was molded from a headstone in Lexington, Massachusetts), the item is more successful in triggering memories of that place than Richmond… although my memory in relation to the piece is a bit crowded for the fact that I purchased it in Richmond.
Yet, triggers for history (things) aren’t limited to museum stores, and they aren’t always about reconnecting to the place from which an item was purchased. Antiques (yet, more things), for example, can also be historical triggers. Sometimes they offer triggers for personal connections to familiar places, time, and/or people… and sometimes they offer imagination portals to place, time, and/or people.
My grandfather clock, for example, is a connection to the more familiar… one that holds many memories that take me back in time to a point no more than 40 years distant, but also offers a bridge to other memory triggers, with my grandfather and the fact the frame of the clock was made from black walnut trees from his land. The tree likely stood for a hundred years or more before it was used as a frame for a clock… dating the wood to a time in which my great grandparents lived on the same land, and even when their parents (nearby) visited. Not only that, but if standing at least 110 or more years… the wood that makes up my clock bore witness… an actual living witness… to the passage of Stonewall Jackson’s Second Corps, from the Valley, in November 1862. The historical connections seem endless with that one piece, and the memories are both genuine (realized) and imagined.
For those antiques that may not hold familial and realized memory connections, but rather serve as historical portals for imagination… they might take us back to the time in which the thing… the piece… was made… or at least our perceptions of that time. I take the example of my marble top parlor table. It was made ca. 1860, so, whenever I see it, I can only imagine the things it must have seen. It might seem a little strange to some, but it is a connection to the past. I find it very well suited as a major piece in my study, especially as I sit next to it and write about the time in which it existed… which it witnessed, in its youth. It might be that the table did not witness some of the specific instances about which I write, especially since I narrow the scope so much, but then again… maybe it did. The point is that it still offers a connection… even a trigger, to a point on the historical timeline.
Whether these things are triggers or personal time portals… is the need to have such things a need to fulfill something within ourselves… especially the history connectors among us? Do we benefit from certain types of things… physical things… inanimate things… to take us back; to help us in our journey to reach out and touch the past, and then convey the story of the past to others? I suspect that it isn’t the case with all folks who have various passions and occupations relating to history, but to some… perhaps to more than one might realize… maybe. Do things, if only at times, add character to our ability to tell about history? Perhaps for some, things offer some sort of enhancement to storytelling. At least to the writer/storyteller, it might seem so, even though, to the reader/listener, there might be no knowledge of this third party item? When we write or tell a story… can what’s in the bag (things) provide something that even we can’t fully explain. Is it sufficiently explained in the word “inspiration”, or is it more?
So, here’s to… things… what they can do to/for us… and what they can do for others, in connecting with history.
Things…
… inanimate things…
… but are they really so inanimate?
* On an unrelated note… for those anticipating more regarding German cultural influence on Civil War sentiments in the Shenandoah Valley, a post is in the works.
Jim Schmidt
September 28, 2012
Robert – Thanks so much for an exceptional and thoughtful post. Your questions – as an adult – bring back so memories I had as a youth: I loved…LOVED souvenirs. When we were on a family vacation all I wanted wasa few dollars to spend on something to bring back home with me. Even today, the “gift shop” is still a favorite stop whenever I visit a historical site. But has really resonated with me over the past few years is “old stuff” – especially letters and other documents. And the funny thing is, if you troll EBay, you can get a soldier letter, or a letter written from home to a soldier, for less than they are charging for some of the plastic tschotskes at the gift shop. And behind everyone of those letters is a story and I love to find out as much as I can. Whenever I have the privilege to give a talk to a goup I bing as much of that kind of stuff wuth me as I can – and I have a strict “Please Touch” policy – because I really think it helps people enter the “portals” you talked about above. Well done, Robert. Inspiring.
Robert Moore
September 28, 2012
Thanks, Jim. Glad you enjoyed the post.
As you say, with that ability to actually touch items and go beyond the museum’s “please do not touch” (and that policy exists for good reason), it’s almost surreal.
When it comes to writing, I think the benefit, of course, is that being so surreal… is inspirational. Granted, we need to keep our romanticism checked but to a degree. Harnessed and properly used, I think such connections shine through in the enthusiasm for the subject matter.
PAT MOORE
September 28, 2012
Bobby, so enjoyed reading this and I can relate as I always imagine trees or rocks or items that have been around for so many years and what they might have experienced. Love, Mom
Robert Moore
September 28, 2012
Thanks, Mom… glad you enjoyed. Same goes with me as well regarding items across the terrain. The living elements, such as the trees (I still think often of the Chinkapin Oak in Luray) are the best part of it… as living and having experienced; but the boulders and such… those are also fascinating, especially when we can see then and now photos, and match them up by the cracks in the rocks. Love to you as well!
Robert H. Moore Sr
September 28, 2012
Excellent, simply excellent. The old Shuler Farm House, when entering Shipwreck. that I pass by at least once daily serves up a host of thoughts triggered by for our own family historical past. As a teen hunting the river bottom from Shenandoah to the Kite farm or picking up an arrow head from my current garden I wonder. I wonder how many horses trotted or marched on this same ground? Did they stop at the old Shuler farm for water or provision? Thinking of what Indians passed this way even before George Washington as a young surveyor peered out over this land. Thanks once again for another grand journey. Well written. Love Dad
Robert Moore
September 28, 2012
Thanks, Dad. I know what you mean, and it’s a little easier to envision, to a minor degree, what the Native population saw here, thanks to the foliage that exists within the National Park. Speaking of which, I’m hoping to post something more about the Native population that was here (prior to the Shawnee timeframe) in October. Fall always seems to be the best time of year for these type of posts. Love to you also!
Richard McCormick
September 29, 2012
Fascinating post – certainly some things to think about.
These type of items do help me, at least at times. For instance, I have purchased some Civil War era bullets in the past couple of years. Some of these were obviously shot and hit something (that word again), be it a tree, wall, house or other item. Sometimes when I pick one of these up and realize that it likely was shot at someone and likely was intended to kill someone, that does give me pause to consider just what exactly I’m holding and why I am happy to own something that was used in the attempt to kill another human being.
Others items create similar feelings at times. Usually antiques work that magic on me more than the usual souvenirs, but i do have a small bell I bought at the Perryville gift shop in 2010. It was the first time I had been to the battlefield in several years and I took dozens of photographs, but this little bell, sitting next to my computer, reminds me of that trip and that beautiful field
Do I actually NEED such items? Probably not – I lived for many years without them – but I certainly enjoy having them and the memories they bring.
This was a very thought provoking post. I’m sure I’ll think about these type of questions more as I see some of the items around my house. Why did I buy them? Why do I keep them? What do they mean to me?
Good stuff – thanks for writing it
Robert Moore
September 29, 2012
Thanks, Richard! Glad you enjoyed the post and responded.
I’ve found a few antique shops up this way in which I feel a need to hold myself back. Civil War era parlor furniture seems to be readily available, and as most comes from right here in the Valley, the imagination runs wild as to what it may have witnessed.
Ron Baumgarten
October 2, 2012
Great post! I really think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Any time I go to a historical site, I feel the need to get something. But why? You have pretty much summed it up. When I look at that Burnside Bridge magnet or that pamphlet on the James Hope paintings or Carmen/Clemens Volume II, it will always remind me of the 150th anniversay trip I made to Antietam Battlefield; I can almost see the terrain and feel the air heavy with ghosts of the past. But I find Civil War-era antiques even more compelling. I love owning a piece of the past, and the way it can transport me back in time. As you’ve seen in a recent post I did, I particularly like collecting old newspapers. There is something about holding in my hands an actual newspaper, and thinking about who was reading it 150-some years ago. What did they think about the news? With whom did they discuss the day’s events? Did they have a loved one fighting in the field?….Owning such a connection to the past is priceless. Thanks for the insightful observations.
Ron
Robert Moore
October 2, 2012
Thanks, Ron!