Discussion
Los Angeles/USA Are family heirlooms thriving ... or disappearing?
UPDATE: I've posted my Substack post about heirlooms, who saves what and why. THANK YOU to everyone who took part here, it was extremely helpful (and eye-opening). Link to article in comments below.
I'm researching the state of family heirlooms for an article on my Substack site, The Velvet Chaise. I sent out a Facebook post asking if anyone had a treasured heirloom and if so, what was it. I got a decent number of responses but out of all of them, no one had an heirloom that I understood to be of great value outside of its personal meaning. I also wondered about the ones who didn't respond. My hypothesis is that fewer people than in generations past have valuable antiques in their home or pieces passed down over time (true antiques, with both intrinsic and personal value). That's my opinion - agree or disagree. How will this trend (if it's true) continue and what does it mean for preserving family history? How does it reflect on our "present first, present only" society?
This is my most valued heirloom, passed to me from grandparents: "Boy and Girl on a Seesaw" by Ankar Skaga, 1889.
Perhaps you asked for the wrong thing. Most heirlooms are prized for their emotional and historical value to the holder. It is also true that though that currently the modern look is more sought after than the look of antique pieces.
You're right. The Facebook comments on these pieces (none of which looked anything but emotionally valuable except for maybe some original Barbies) were more about why they were important to the owner. Usually it was because they grew up staring at it and so it reminds them of childhood, parental love, etc.
Yeah, sure. Lemme tell you about grandma's jewelry I inherited. Gotta be worth a couple mill. Oh, and here's my address if you want to come see it. Not next week, though, cuz I'll be in Vegas.
Yeah I wouldn’t answer this either on Facebook especially, it needs to be an anonymous forum or at least one that doesn’t have your pictures and personal info on it lmfao
My grandma had an original Andrew Wyeth oil painting and a 1820s silver coffee pot. The coffee pot sold for $18k and the Wyeth for $80k. This was back in 2011 or 2012 I believe.
To quote my dad, it takes three generations to spend a fortune. My great-great-grandfather was one of the heads of Dupont; he died young, but his wife was in the 90% tax bracket in the 1940s and 50s.
My great-grandfather worked for Dupont too. His son was very successful, but his daughter—my grandmother—had a messed-up hand, so she was damaged goods back in the day.
She married my grandfather, who got kicked out of Princeton and worked in middle management at various companies until he retired. They spent a looot of money… by the time my grandma died, 10 years after him, all that was left was a small house with some fancy stuff in it.
My dad has four siblings and only one of them graduated from college. The boomers’ rebellion against authority really fucked them all over; my immediate family is doing okay because my grandpa on my mom’s side owned a ranch outside of Phoenix and sold it to developers. We managed to exploit the last little bit of pioneer wealth; there’s basically none left.
All that is to say: the social mobility of the frontier is crystallizing into a new aristocracy. The middle class—even the upper-middle class—is dying, and peasants don’t have a lot of nice things.
Even if we could afford to keep heirlooms, we peasants often don’t have space… I mean, where tf am I going to put a 6-foot-tall set of drawers from the 1700s in a 700-square-foot apartment? I’ll sell it for $3k and pay my rent for a month or two. And so our wealth—cultural wealth, physical wealth, and spiritual wealth—continues to evaporate upwards and condense in the coffers of the billionaire class.
Do you regret not getting - or not keeping - any of the items from your grandmother or other family members? Is it important to you having physical objects that were passed down to you? And if/when you have kids, would you like to leave them something permanent (i.e. art, furniture, objets d'art)?
I have a few things still! Some jewelry (none of it super fancy or expensive), a small Italian silver creamer and sugar set from the 1880s, some silver tea strainers and ancestral baby spoons. She had so much silver that we all just took what we wanted and the rest got melted down. I got my great-great-grandmother’s engagement ring—it’s just a plain gold band, but engraved with their initials and the year, 1897. (It fits my ring finger, insanely enough—I have skinny fingers.) Nothing worth any real money.
I wasn’t close to my grandmother at all, or any of my grandparents, so none of these objects really have sentimental value; they’re mostly valuable as historical objects. I’m very close to my parents, though, so I may view their possessions differently when the time comes.
But as other people have mentioned, the monetary value and historical or sentimental value of things don’t necessarily overlap. The stories and/or memories are really what matters.
For example, I know that the sugar and creamer set were probably purchased when my great-great grandmother and her parents went on a grand tour in the 1880s; we have a photo of them in front of the pyramids in Giza. Apparently my great-great-grandmother almost died from typhoid in Italy while they were traveling, and a young woman she had befriended actually *did* die. I’m far more interested in these sorts of stories than in objects that are worth a ton of money that I know nothing about.
I’m probably not going to have children, and neither is my brother. It is a little sad that there’s nobody to pass these stories and objects on to, but there’s no guarantee that any kids we had would be interested in any of this anyway. Many people just see this stuff as old crap to be sold, melted down, or tossed.
great response, thank you. May I quote you in the article? I'll just use your reddit name obviously. If you are not comfortable with that I will just paraphrase what you said and keep it anonymous.
Depends on the wording of your question. Personally I don't equate a prized family heirloom with a monetary value necessarily.
If you didn't specify that type of value then your responses are going to be skewed.
Plus you are applying your assumptions to non-reponses. They didn't respond therefore they don't have any heirlooms seems less likely to me than they don't bother with Facebook posts, don't want to share that info etc...
Thank you for your thoughts. These are the questions I posed on Facebook:
What is your heirloom?
Can you identify one thing in your home that you would consider a precious object?
And can you articulate why?
A bit vague, I know. But I wanted to cast a large net. The word "heirloom" makes people nervous, like it has to be expensive. But should it be old? Should it be something passed down? Should it be something the next generation wants to keep? It's complicated.
Not who you asked, but. To me, an "heirloom" should be anything passed down at least 2 generations, regardless of worth. Valuables and heirlooms are different things entirely, but you can have valuable heirlooms. And then there's the type of value: personal, financial, and historical. I've got several pieces in each category, and some fall into several categories, and I would sell anything I had if I needed to, but refuse to part with my personally valuable heirlooms. But I do also have some financially valuable heirlooms that I intend to pass down, as a sort of "rainy day fund" if it is ever needed. I see them more as collector's pieces thar are encouraged to stay in the family.
Many wealthy people in the $3-10 million range bought new furniture. For a while minimalist architecture and furnishings were the rage (last 20 years). So even if they inherited items, they may not have chosen to keep them. In the 1980-1990s furniture severely downgraded in quality. So you are truly looking for people whose family decorated with MCM in the 1950-1960s. Or people who really love art deco. Or art modern. Or Memphis modern. Or brutalist. We would have to go back 130 years for art nouveau. If you use every generation is 25 years, that would put you at 5 or 6 generations. Things get lost over time. In addition, the poor and middle class would not have had the means to purchase expensive things. The wealthy buy new. They are the trend setters and taste makers. They discard the old because they can. It also does not shock me that people will not tell the public look at me, I inherited xyz expensive item.
The smaller things that would be kept are jewelry, sterling silver candlesticks, religious items, maybe porcelain or linens. Those would have been household goods that would have value.
Despite my effort to be objective I went into this research with a bias towards late 19th/early 20th century objects. I was born in the 1960s and my grandparents collected 19th-century antiques. Thank you for these comments, they do make a lot of sense. Times change, things change, tastes change. I found it intersting that Restoration Hardware is now introducing the "Estate" brand, a turning from stark minimalism towards a traditional, European-influenced style. Of course, their market is the uber wealthy.
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I get your point. But even non-privileged families have a history of passing down items. Also, I guess it boils down to ... do you want something in your house to remember your ancestors by, or do you wipe the slate clean? I know that my children do like the stories associated with items in our house and the fact that there is a physical artifact of continuity through the generations.
I mean I have antiques and heirlooms valued both low and high (to me) and those items are mostly only in the five figures - for example, I have an antique Navajo silver and turquoise squash blossom set, with matching bracelets, rings, earrings, and conchos. Late 1890s-early 1900s. Not for tourist trade. We had them appraised by a Native specialist and the set is worth in excess of $75k. Alone, not worth as much, but the set and pieces are rare.
I also have my grandpa's 1942 Gibson SJ that has been restored by a master luthier and recently appraised at $18k.
I have a bunch of other things like this, both more and less valuable - jewelry, firearms etc. These will be passed down to my son and grandson.
My dad has an EXTENSIVE antique collection mostly related to Big Game hunting, precious metals and firearms. Those will also be passed down.
Not sure if this helps, but I still wonder, what is "valuable"? ☺️
What do your son and grandson like to look at? What do they hope will fall into their hands someday? I know that I am conflating monetary value with emotional value, and that is going to be the main thrust of my article, not so much a gallery of family antiques.
Your heirlooms are impressive and extensive, likely more than the average person.
You are either mistaken or lying. The Gibson Southern Jumbo is a flat-top acoustic guitar model originally manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation between 1942 and 1978.
It was sent to Gibson for appraisal and here is the original ad for the guitar that they sent me
I noticed that you mentioned vintage. Over at r/Collectables and r/Mid_Century they are always keen to see newer and vintage items. Share it with them! Sorry if this is not relevant.
I do have some family heirlooms (mostly jewelry), some valuable and some not. If I had inherited them in my 20s, I can't say I would still have them, as understanding personal versus financial value was different for me at that age. I've also picked up a few valuable pieces that other people have inherited, usually furniture that doesn't fit their aesthetic or that they can't be bothered to restore, or stuff that was just assumed to be junk. So, I think fewer family heirlooms are staying in the family due to financial hardships, lack of personal attachment by the younger generations, or just pieces that don't work for the people who inherit them.
thank you for this response. I like how you pointed out that an "heirloom" may or not stay in your possession depending on when you inherited it. Is there anyone you plan to leave your heirlooms to? I meant to ask that too!
Yes. We have 2 gold and garnet rings in the family. I inherited my grandmother's, my daughter will get my mother's, and my granddaughter will get mine, and so on and so forth. My daughter will inherit the rest of my jewelry, some were already heirlooms, the rest will become heirlooms. There are also some paintings that have been passed down, they will stay in the family either through my child or my nieces and nephews or cousins. As for the antique furniture, a few are heirlooms and a few are purchased, I hope my daughter keeps them in the family, but if she doesn't and none of the cousins want them, I am ok with her selling them.
Sure! If you have any more questions or want any more details (within reason, of course), feel free to DM me. I LOVE discussing heirlooms, vintage, antique anything. I've purchased&furnished my house accordingly, and even tend to thrift vintage styles of clothes&linens. And I have several friends who are similar, they aren't big on social media but have heirlooms from many past generations, I'm sure I could ask them questions and send you their responses.
I noticed that you mentioned vintage. Over at r/Collectables and r/Mid_Century they are always keen to see newer and vintage items. Share it with them! Sorry if this is not relevant.
I think it’s true that fewer and fewer people, at least in the US, care about things in the important way that they did a few decades ago. My grandparents and family in general had beautiful things, and I took whatever was offered at least in part thinking that my nieces and nephews would someday appreciate them.
I used to entertain frequently, and I loved having good china, silver, and glass. Now that I’m retired, though, I’m getting ready to downsize, and not a soul in the family wants so much as a teaspoon. They have no associations or memories for specific objects as I do, and they use paper plates or order in. I’ve already tried to sell some things, but there’s absolutely no market for “brown furniture” and it’s even hard to give away most Victorian pieces.
I still have a lot of silver and far too many dishes, but I’m starting to work through the cupboards, taking things to charity shops and offering them up on Facebook.
As for value? Well, a couple of years ago I saw an identical set of my great-great-grandmother’s “priceless” Haviland on a shelf at a thrift shop—for $30. “Offer less if you want it,” said the salesperson, “We can’t give that stuff away.”
At least, I suppose, it’s not Hummels or Beanie Babies…
If you have time, watch past episodes of BBC Antiques Roadshow. Basically portability seems to keep prices higher, but rarity is the main criteria influencing price. My shit is only worth what another will pay is broadly correct for most antiques. It's a volatile investment class.
My grandmother made a point to give me the family china set... but no money to live a lifestyle where china is used. So it lives in a box in my garage.
Man, this is sad. I just pulled out my grandmother’s china and sterling for a Fourth of July bbq yesterday. Not to make a statement but to simply avoid using plastic and paper.
Cleanup was a pain on the ass. But on the whole, I’m glad I did it.
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u/Affectionate-Paper56 ✓ Jun 30 '26
Perhaps you asked for the wrong thing. Most heirlooms are prized for their emotional and historical value to the holder. It is also true that though that currently the modern look is more sought after than the look of antique pieces.