Wedgwood R&D: Objects of memory, I

When we cleaned out my dad's house in April, our job was to go through the whole house from one end to the other and take the things we wanted to keep. (The brute labor of clearing out the house was done by someone else, thankfully.) There were a number of things that pulled on my heartstrings, because they called up such memories for me, but I didn't want to own them. For example, this ashtray:

This ashtray floods me with memories, because both my parents and most of their friends were smokers (of one thing or another), and many were the gatherings that had this ashtray at the literal center. But I do not wish to own it. I just want to remember it! So I am posting a photo of it here, and a number of other things. I think they will have more life here on the family blog than gathering dust on a shelf somewhere. So, in no order at all:

This small statue was a gift to our family from someone who thought it looked like me, and they were right, this is just what I looked like when I was a kid. It sat above the fireplace.

This is a historically significant artwork, a courtroom sketch of my father at the Dan White trial. He's the one with his hand on his chin; Dan White is in the foreground. My aunt kept this sketch, which is great by me.

Another one of my father's famous clients was Monsignor O'Shea, accused of molesting altar boys but convicted only of embezzlement. My dad was very amused by this editorial cartoon, in which O'Shea is saying "You got my sex charges tossed on a technicality? Thanks! What do I owe you?" The lawyer he's thanking (i.e., my dad) is a thinly disguised devil. My dad thought this was hilarious and very clever. It hung in the hall above a plaque from the Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association commemorating his retirement.

This large photograph of the Olympic rainforest hung above the couch in the living room. I loved this scene; maybe it encouraged me to move to the Pacific Northwest. It was taken by our friend Ed Beyeler. Sadly its beauty was long faded.

How about this leather sling magazine holder, which sat next to the primary armchair in the living room for my whole life? Have you ever seen anything more 1970s?

This item of furniture was always referred to as the étagère, which sounds a lot better than "shelf." It held family photos (yes we kept all the family photos) and the candy jar.

The candy jar had Hershey's kisses in it.

I made this lion-headed planter box in middle school, in shop class.

This funky little midcentury liquor cabinet held the week's newspapers on its open side; each weekend they would all be recycled. This was in the dining room and it held napkins, salt and pepper, etc. on top.

My dad kept a stash of little papers that he had prepared for Jordan and Aaron, so that when they went out together, they would have his contact information in case they got separated. He was not super vigilant as a grandfather, or a father for that matter, but I always felt safe as a kid. When we would go somewhere crowded or large like the Exploratorium, we would establish a meeting place.

This iron pagoda thingy is an incense holder; my mom used to use it. My dad had it because he never got rid of anything.

This incriminating object was a gift from friends. I will leave it to you to figure out why one would want a mirror that sits flat on the table, complete with rubber feet on the back.