Out of the Past

Slippery roads and a nice fluffy inch or so of snow greeted west Ohio this morning...a few schools north of the lake were delayed by the road conditions, but Patricia at St. Henry and Sam at Ohio State-Lima were scheduled on time. In Dartball we lost 2 of 3 to perennial champion Schumm last night...I went 4 for 9, actually dropping my average...now standing at .472, last year at this point, with the back problems in full force, I was batting around .172.

Sam and I have one final scrimmage at Spencerville tonight...then the regular season begins for us on Saturday. I picked up a couple more games this morning, when the Celina Athletic Director called needing a replacement for someone out with a knee operation. So here in my first year of basketball, I've got as many games as I need.

Out of the Box/Out of the Past

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As I have mentioned before, my dad was a big antique collector during the latter years of his life...I really had little knowledge or interest in the hobby until my last blood aunt, Eva, went to a nursing home in 1995. I knew Aunt Eva and her older sister Cecil were pack rats. After my grandmother died in 1975, Cecil and Eva became "collectors"...and when I took over their house, I realized just how big of problem that would become. When Eva passed away in 1998 it was left to me and my cousin Linda from Missouri to sort through it all. By the time we got it all done, we had over 100 years of collectibles and junk. One room in my basement became home for the small stuff, and 1/3 of my garage(and I have a large garage) housed the rest. Some items I finally sold on EBAY others I kept....Some of the things I sold, I probably could kick myself for(1940/50s mechanical toys, Granddad Waldon's old Ohio Hunting Licenses, etc)...other stuff I kept, and probably should not have.

On occasion I go through a box and find stuff I didn't know I had, or things I have not seen in years....yesterday, I headed down to the basement and found a few items, most not worth much, except to me, that I cleaned up and scanned or photographed....more on those later.

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Back to the old Hunting Licenses....My Great Granddad William Waldron lived to a ripe old age of 90. The first couple of years of my life we lived with "Granddad Waldron" in Scott, Ohio, until he passed away in 1951.

While going through some of the "smalls"(smaller sized antique collectibles like post cards, salt shakers, etc) soon after taking over my Grandmother's old home{which they had been in since 1929}. I found a cigar box of rolled up items. They were being held tube-like with twine, most appeared dusty but in good shape. When I unrolled the first of these I discovered a Ohio Hunting License dated from the early 20th Century...it was made of card paper and leather. I was to discover later, these represented the very first issues of actual Ohio Hunting Licenses issued. After unraveling all 8 of them I discover they were from 1911-1919. I also found some form the late 1920s and early 30s, which were made of hard paper. The oldest ones were the ones of value to say the least. I eventually kept one, issued in 1913 and good through December 1915, for myself, and sold the rest on EBAY....the oldest, the original, bringing over $500. In total the 12 I sold, including the paper ones, brought in about $1300. I checked over on EBAY today and they are selling "vintage" Ohio License from the 1960s....Vintage? Hardly, the ones I had in my hands were vintage....I probably should have kept them, but they went to collectors who I was pretty sure would take care of them. I did keep one [pictured} and framed it with a photo of William Waldron and his grandson Stan Houseworth, my dad.

More on the basement collectibles later.........

photos-This mornings snow...Great Granddad Waldron in 1943, his 1913-1915 Ohio Hunting License, and it framed on my living room wall with a photo of him and his grandson, my dad, Stan Houseworth.

back later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>