Granny Ainsworth's Button Bags

American author Jim Ainsworth has written a charming piece on his blog, entitled Granny's Buttons. 

He records how his wife retained his mother's old spare button bags after she died:

My wife Jan spent a great deal of time caring for Mother in her final years. She cherishes the small things Mother left, things valuable only to those who loved her. Jan is a quilter, and she especially loved Mother’s collection of buttons.

For Christmas this year, she decided others needed to share this legacy. This is the note she wrote to the women and girls in our immediate family. The button bags were given to Mother’s granddaughters and great-granddaughters.

His wife's note to the next generation in the family begins:

Granny was very frugal, as were most women of her era.  As garments would wear out, Granny would cut off the buttons before disposing of the garment, saving them for future use. 

The buttons on your bag are some that she saved.  She would have thought it very special that they were placed on a bag made just for you, her granddaughter, with special keepsakes inside. 

Not a lot to do with canals, but I found it most charming, and - as you can see - it has a lot to do with buttons.  This counts as relevant to the subject of my blog, I think. 

Granny's Buttons by Jim Ainsworth

My own Mother wasn't a clothes button collector, although being brought up in WW2 she was frugal in her own way.  Granny Buttons acquired her soubriquet from her routine of always bringing packets of chocolate buttons to her grandchildren.

If you want a canal connection, here's another heartwarming story: 

Over five years ago I reported on how NB Emerald was burned by vandals at its moorings near Wolverhampton - and it only had the necessary 3rd-party insurance - owners Dave and Julie never imagined they'd be the target of arsonists.

The distraught owners were homeless, until fellow narrowboater Dave Pokhan stepped in to organise not just a collection to help rebuild it, but to arrange sponsorship from local businesses. 

The story is here on my post Emerald News and Friends of Emerald progress - and follow the links back to the original post).

Yesterday I passed Emerald, now beautifully restored.   Apparently it's now going to be called M2, or is it Em II?  It was hard to tell with our brief and shouted conversation as I passed. 

It took 18 months of restoration, but they got their home back, and more beautiful than before. It seemed churlish to ask them about insurance, but I'd love to know that side of the story.

Anyway, here's how it looks now - lovely, although rather more mauve or taupe than emerald.

Comments

[Andrew Denny]

Ian, how lovely to have an Aunty Biscuits. Sweet!

[Ian Clarke]

Hi Andrew,

I always thought what a wonderfully weird name Granny Buttons was, until now, having read your explanation.

As a child, I had an Aunty Biscuits! She always brought out a huge biscuit tin whenever my brother and I visited, and we used to stuff ourselves something rotten. :-)

"Granny Buttons" doesn't seem weird at all now!

Love the blog. All the best,

Ian.

[Amanda]

Hello, fascinating blog and some very special tales. I have a collection of buttons 'just in case', the ritual of collecting them passed down the generations in my family. I would be very grateful if you could link to my narrowboat blog; The Kite Experiment. All the best with your travels! Amanda

[Becca]

My granny died last year, she love to sew her own skirt and blouses. Although she is not a collector of anything, her sewing machine is really love it.She won't like if someone wants to borrow it. This is precious for her.

[[email protected]]

What a nice and comprehensive answer to your query Andrew about NB Emerald. I can understand theft but to torch someone's home is just spite and the "punishment" is ludicrous. Good luck to Julie and David.

Val B

[A]

Lovely - typical quilter! And it gives me an idea for my own collection. What a pleasantly upbeat blog for the New Year! Happy New Year.....

[julie woodhead]

Hi Andrew, its Julie and David,from our beautiful home EMTOO. I wasn't at home when you passed us on Tuesday. It is astonishing to think we are still remembered nearly six years after the event that absolutely devastated us. As you know, Dave Pokhan and his friends and also our dear friends on our moorings came to our aid, and if it wasn't for them, we would never have got Em back and never be able to bring her back to as she is now. We will be forever in their debt.

I don't know if you heard or not, but the two `persons` responsible for the fire were brothers, the oldest had been out on bail and did this job while he was waiting to be sentenced, the younger brother denied all knowledge about the attack so the authorities let him go. The older brother admited to theft and as far as we are led to believe he `did a deal` that included 18 months and no arson, he was out of prison by nine months. Strange to think he was free and we were captives in a 15ft caravan with nothing not even a tooth brush. We have over the last five years been amazed at the amount of people who are strangers but have then become friends and we are very lucky to live in a community of caring, loyal, fearless neighbours of our choosing.

We never want to leave this life, we have been given a second chance and boy are we going to take it. We changed the name from Emerald to Emtoo, as the hull and back cabin were the original emerald so having a new front cabin meant it was Emtoo, sounds easy when I say it quick.

The paint was very weird, International Paints gave us the paint which we really appreciated, but every tin we opened was a different shade so the only thing we could do was mix them all together, hence the colour you see, it grew on us so there you are, purple. It just seems to suit her now. Sorry to go on and on but I can't help showing off our little bit of heaven. Thank you for remembering us and please take care wherever you go. xx