My grandmothers tea cups---don't want anymore

[seekingsimplicity]

but cannot seem to sell them. I have an antique dealer friend who would buy them but should I just store them and see if my girls (22 and 19) want them when they have their own house?

I wonder if I would regret selling them. Also, my mom would see that they are gone and that might be a problem.

Give back to my mom?

I cannot see the solution clearly on those teacups!

Any suggestions? There are about 28 teacups

[pinkytoe]

I have the same issue - boatloads of Avon collectibles from the past 30 years that my mil gave me. She is still alive so I will keep until she passes. It is packed away in boxes. I also inherited some things from my mother when she passed that are packed away and still feel a twinge of guilt when I think about letting them go. I do very much regret selling a quilt she left behind. My dd has absolutely no interest in old things so I need to make a decision.

[Greg44]

...I am probably not the best person to respond to this one!

1. Offer them back to your mom.
2. Sell them for what ever you can get.
3. Donate them to charity.

When we got married our fine china came as a set with tea cups and saucers. We don't drink tea or coffee (Mormons), so we just donated them all (but one) to charity (St. Vincent dePaul). My dw wanted to keep one and that was fine - we have never looked back.

I don't like to be burdened with someone else's stuff. We got my dw's grandmother's silverware. It was thought she would split it with her older sister. I said what ever they decided, but it really was an all or nothing deal for me. 1/2 a set isn't really useful. So either give it all to her sister or we keep it all (we kept it all).

My mother has many collections she has spent a lot of $$ on. While they look nice in her house - they just would not go in ours. I imagine when that time comes we will offer it to the grandchildren or sell it all.

[seekingsimplicity]

pinky

What it must come down to for us is that on some level we must still believe that this stuff is attached to the person--- when in fact it is just stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!Like by me selling the tea cups I don't love my grandma anymore which is BS!

thanks for your post! helps me see others in my same situation.

[seekingsimplicity]

thanks Greg! I need permission to let them go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!

[Miss Cellane]

I'd ask the daughters *now* if they want them. Or maybe they'd like just one as a remembrance. If I had any nieces, I might give them each one as a token "from Grandma." Then, because these might be seen as family "heirlooms" (in my family they would), I'd put the word out to the relatives and especially my mom that unless I heard from someone by a specific date, they would be sold. Then I'd either give them to whomever wanted them or sell them. There may be someone out there in the family who would love to have them.

I have tea cups that were my great-grandmother's, my grandmother's and my mom's. It's a family tradition that you get a tea cup on big occasions. A few years ago, I decided that if I wasn't using something, I needed to get rid of it. Hadn't been using the tea cups much. But I wanted to keep them for sentimental reasons. So now I have tea cups holding flowers, tea cups that get used for drinking tea, tea cups holding jewelry on my dresser. When I have my little niece over, we eat entire meals out of tea cups--they can hold soup and cereal and vegetables and ice cream. We have a tea party for every meal. They don't all get used every day. But they do see the light of day now and then. But I have asked people to stop adding to the collection. I think I have about 30 of them.

[janharker]

I inherited a complete set of very old china when I married. It hadn't been used in forever. I certainly wasn't going to use it. So I donated it to a fundraiser auction that was held for our local fire department. They got money, I got a tax deduction and lots of cabinet space.

My MIL a couple of years ago moved from a house where she had lived for almost 45 years into a small 1-bedroom apartment. She gave everyone in the family one chance to claim whatever they wanted. Then it all got sold at a huge garage sale. She made money, cleaned out the clutter, and no one felt guilty.

I completely believe that once someone gives you something it's yours to do with however you want. If they get upset that you gave it away/sold it, then they really didn't give it to you. And they have to deal with their own ambiguities. Hard nosed. But, after all, if they didn't want it, why should they demand that you want it?

[iris lily]

gee, I'd sell them if you actually have someone who wants them. Do you have anything from your grandmother for your daughters that can be more easily stored such as sfot goods like tablecloth of quilt? cups and sacuers are a PITA. No one uses them and they are hard to stack and store, unlike plates. While I think it's nice to keep 1 things froma grandparents, you don't need a whole chine cabinet full of grimcracy stuff like teacups.

YOur daughters may not be interested in this stuff until they are middle aged. I know that some of it crept up on me then. I started studying antiues when I turned 40.

[IshbelRobertson]

[QUOTE=Iris lily;11674]?....cups and sacuers are a PITA. No one uses them ..... you don't need a whole chine cabinet full of grimcracy stuff like teacups.

QUOTE]

Ahem...

I use teacups and saucers!

[Simplemind]

We use them too. My dad is old fashioned and won't drink tea from a mug. He says mugs are for holding pencils :0)

[IshbelRobertson]

I only enjoy tea from a china cup. Something doesn't see quite right when you use a mug!

I have to admit - I have managed to get rid of lots of my family china. My granny's went to another family member, my mum's (luckily) my sister loved the pattern. I've got a HUGE amount of Royal Doulton in one pattern. Wedding presents, birthday gifts and Christmas meant that there was hardly a dish that I was not gifted. Luckily, the pattern is now discontinued!

It's like my mum.... When she was young she happend to mention, in passing, that she liked wedgewood in the classic blue and white pattern. Every birthday/Christmas/wedding anniv/other celebration she was gifted some of the stuff.... She DIDN'T WANT IT... she only mentioned it, in passing...!

[Miss Minimalist]

Ah, the tyranny of the heirloom...I wrote a post on this issue a while back: The Top Ten Ways to Declutter Heirlooms (http://www.missminimalist.com/2010/04/the-top-ten-ways-to-declutter-heirlooms/).

I'm always a proponent of keeping *one* item from a collection. The logic: if an heirloom’s purpose is to evoke memories, the same memories can be evoked by just one piece (no need for 28 of them!). Saving one will also allay your fear of regret. I'd offer the rest to relatives, then feel free to sell them if there are no takers. But before you do, snap some digital photos of the whole collection -- another great way to preserve the memories without taking up space!

[Zippy]

I would LOVE to have my grandmothers' or great-grandmothers' tea cups. Personally, I'd use them, and then save to pass down. This from someone who has nothing from her ancestors.

[danna]

I had three of my mothers left that my Dd and two nieces did not want, but Ddil kept eyeing them and so she got them. She is the only one that likes the whole china cabinet thing which did too back in my 40's and 50's but not any more....She was thrilled....

[iris lily]

I would LOVE to have my grandmothers' or great-grandmothers' tea cups. Personally, I'd use them, and then save to pass down. This from someone who has nothing from her ancestors.

I know, a little something from the great great ancestors can be nice. I got a handful of things that I like. I got rid of the things I didn't like and passed on the few that I srot of liked but was ready to let go of.

[Mrs-M]

And yet another here who still insists upon and prefers drinking tea from a china cup.

[larknm]

They're yours right now and in your house and you don't want them--I'd sell them to simplify my life. It sounds so complicated to be asking around if others want them or live a way you don't want to in order to please someone else. It's your life, is the bottom line to me.

[Nella]

Check out this link to Broken China Jewelry. http://brokenchinajewelry.com/ I bought a few pieces at a craft show once, and they're still the most complimented jewerly I wear. You can send them your china and they'll design pieces for you. Maybe even pieces you could give to family members made from Grandma's teacups that, "oopps," got "broken."

[redfox]

I like the idea of one item... keep a teacup on the window sill to put your ring in when you do the dishes. If you like the pattern. If not - off to a charity for the tax deduction!

FWIW, I collect various cool pottery, and my DSS wanted some when he moved out at 18. I let him choose some. I am sure it won't survive a year the way he lives, but being able to say yes to him to take some Fiesta was way more important than the actual dishes.

[Tweety]

Another fan of broken china jewelry here. www.heartbrokenjewelry.com
Especially if you have an extra saucer, you can have some nice pieces made from it and have the memories and no more clutter in your kitchen.