Unusual things in your homes...

[cjt110]

Reading an article about unusual things people have found in their homes such as milk doors (who knew they ever existed!), mouseholes and electric switches.

What things have you had in your home...

We lived in a big house that was previously a manor type home but was divided into 10 flats. The cellar was as big as the floorplan of the house and inside had meat hooks, a stone slab table for cutting the meat, a stone carved wine cellar and a coal chute. Amazing to look at and see. And the old plans were fascinating. Turns out our flat was the lady of the house's bedroom and dressing room and the man had his own bedroom and dressing room too. The grounds had an unusual flat lawn which had previously had a tennis court on and they had also had an orchard of some kind.

Our home now is a newish build (2006) and on accessing the toilet cistern we discovered all sorts of sketches on the wooden plinth from the builders... mainly looked work related but had the obligatory "Matt woz 'ere" scrawled on it too!

When I was little I remember my mum having a Nazi SS dagger in a leather sheath. She kept it hidden at the bottom of a drawer. I think she said she'd been given it by a prisoner of war (but I can't be sure). She had worked as a land army girl in the fields alongside POWs.

I remember she advertised it for sale in the Yorkshire Post and a man came and gave her £30 for it. She said she was glad to see the back of 'the bloody thing'.

CommunistLego I completely understand your point of view on this but although I described it as Nazi memorabilia that isn’t entirely accurate. I don’t want to go into too much detail but it’s things that have been passed down DH family from people who were certainly NOT Nazis and but were ordinary Germans just trying to survive the regime, some of who were punished for not toeing the party line.
That’s why I think they are an important part of history, they help to show HOW Hitler managed to convince The German people to follow him and as we have German Heritage (the dc have been called Nazis etc plenty of times at school) I think it’s important to understand that many German people were Nazi party members in name only . Some of the items have been used by DDs history teacher when teaching that period and I have taken 1 item into DS school as well.
Additionally these are from DH side of the family so not up to me to throw away, but rest assured if they were anything offensive they wouldn’t be in the house - although I fully appreciate that any such items may be offensive to you.

@CommunistLegoBloc If you get rid of all Nazi history and evidence you are wiping away a part of history that should never be forgotten.
How this history is handled, talked about and shared is important to ensure this is done in a way that shows empathy and compassion to all involved. Destroying it, denying it's existence is the last thing we should be doing.
If the poster with the knives had them displayed, glorified them or believed in white supremacy I would absolutely understand your disgust but nothing in the post suggested this.
War is not black and white. This isn't that Nazi Germany was bad and the rest of the world was good and if a single item like a Nazi knife creates conversation and understanding, lessons we can learn from today, from appeasement, desperate individuals in poverty, judging a group of people based on any single thing like religion, that Nazi Germany and Germans are two very different things then it absolutely has its place in the modern world.

Individuals should not own the items. Whatever other nuance anyone wants to inject into the argument, that is the black and white of it.

As a child I lived for a while in a flat in huge Victorian ‘mansion’. At the back of a built in wardrobe is kids found a hatch which led to a tunnel running behind rooms and then into loft. Nothing unusual really but we were so excited and used to have all sorts of games and stories about it and in it. I think we never did tell our parents.

When we moved into our previous house, the previous owner left bin bags of stuff in the loft. They contained cuddly toys and clothing including a bridesmaid dress. We presumed they were from his ex-girlfriend, who was now living in Spain. Felt a bit guilty taking them down to the tip in case they were her childhood toys, but no one ever came to claim them.

MurrayTheMonk

The oddest thing I have is a 'hobby seahorse'. Like a hobby horse, but a seahorse. It was one of 5 that were handmade and the only one (as far as I know) that didn't get broken.

That's really boring compared to everyone else's stuff though