We save a lot of \u201cstuff.\u201d Most of it we\u2019ll never use, but we save it \u201cjust in case.\u201d I think Claire is worse about saving stuff than I am, but maybe not….
Anyhow, both of us grew up in households that had to be creative to \u201cmake ends meet.\u201d Out parents and grandparents saved, reused, and repurposed lots of stuff\u2026.maybe that\u2019s why we still save a lot of stuff. Even now, we save stuff that our kids don\u2019t think twice about tossing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember hearing that during the Great Depression, the phrase \u201cuse it up, wear it out, make do or do without\u201d was popular. Obviously for good reason back then \u2014 and, maybe, not bad advice today.
Some of the things I remember my mom saving to reuse included paper bags, fabric scraps, buttons, string, flour sacks and soap. I remember that my grandmother and granddad, especially, saved just about everything their entire lives \u2014 maybe\/probably because they lived through the Great Depression. And my grandmother squirreled away money in all sorts of hiding places all over the house \u2014 my grandparents didn\u2019t trust banks after the crash in 1929.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mentioned that my mother (and grandmothers) saved flour sacks. When I was growing up, flour came in cloth bags, or \u201csacks\u201d a term I heard all through my childhood. They were made of cotton and some even had nice prints and patterns on them, which meant they made excellent fabric to make clothes out of. \u201cFlour sack dresses\u201d were very popular in Oklahoma and I remember my mom making me shirts out of flour sacks.\u00a0
No one threw away rubber tires \u2014 or inner tubes. When I was little, there was no such thing as a tubeless tire. I\u2019m sure inner tubes for cars or trucks don\u2019t even exist today\u2026.except maybe for antique cars. Anyhow, I remember my granddad using old tires to patch soles on worn-out shoes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I\u2019ve gotten off track and started down memory lane \u2014 that wasn\u2019t my intent when I started. The point I started out to make was that today, we\u2019ve become a throw-away society \u2014 people don\u2019t save or re-use, repair or repurpose anything anymore.\u00a0
But we still save stuff.\u00a0 Stuff we probably won\u2019t use, but there\u2019s still something in our past that says we might need it sometime and we can save money by not having to buy it.\u00a0
So if you save things, I guess that\u2019s ok\u2026.
But don\u2019t save string. If you need string, buy it.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We save a lot of \u201cstuff.\u201d Most of it we\u2019ll never use, but we save it \u201cjust in case.\u201d I think Claire is worse about saving stuff than I am, but maybe not….Anyhow, both of us grew up in households … Continue reading