Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Historical Society finds troves of treasures in ‘Grandma’s Attic’
NORRISTOWN » One friend remembers a fancy walnut vanity with a trio of curved mirrors, a matching bench and drawers full of colorful junk jewelry and random glass buttons.
“It seemed like something a princess would have” to her five or sixyear-old self. In fact, it was the beat-up survivor of an old bedroom set … relegated to a dusty corner of her grandparents’ spare bedroom. Another friend recalls an aunt’s basement dress-up box, stuffed with worn-out cast-offs that fueled hours of pretend play.
Childhood reminiscence has clearly trumped ordering at this Conshohocken lunch gathering, and — when pressed — Bar Lucca server T.J. Schantz adds memories of attic forays at grandparents Josie and Mike Wolper’s Ocean City, Md., beach house to the mix.
“When I was a little kid, adventuring into their attic…was one of my favorite reasons for visiting my grandparents,” Schantz says. “I was too short to reach the pull string on my own, so I always needed a boost. But after unfolding the steps and walking up…I always cherished the memories that were stored up there.”
Karen Ploch, curator at the Historical Society of Montgomery County, can still picture herself strutting around her grandparents’ basement in old spike heels … the higher, the better, and, Ploch says, such memories inspired HSMC’s current “Grandma’s Attic” exhibit.
The show — free and open to the public — is scheduled to run through March 2023 and features vintage items from the society’s 9,000-piece collection.
Among them, are a Gaudy Welsh tea service imported from Great Britain in the early 1800s; a wedding dress from the late 1800s; a vintage P & R Railroad lantern; and a reel from the Rutty family’s mid-20th century home movie collection.
Attics have figured in any number of real and fictional narratives — from Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl” to Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” and Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” — and yielded everything from priceless art and treasure maps to mummified body parts.
Historical Society of Montgomery County’s reference, which encompasses all kinds of storage spaces, emerged from brainstorming sessions aimed at “coming up with something light and fun and nostalgic, something that would encourage people to come back to our exhibit galleries” following the pandemic restrictions that affected so many public venues.
“The whole thing was, we wanted to give people something fun to think about and focus on, something that brought back happy memories after the worrying we all did at the height of the pandemic,” Ploch explains.
A holiday visit to her grandparents, Margaret and David Ploch, in Nashua, New Hampshire, with her husband Charles, helped pinpoint a theme.
“My grandfather served in Korea, and I just saw such joy in his eyes when he showed my husband his (service papers) from his time there and got to talk about some of his experiences there…my grandmother, too. Seeing how good it made them both feel to share their memories from ‘the old days’… that gave all of us a good feeling.”
Most popular among visitors to the Historical Society of Montgomery County exhibit?
“The wedding dress, a beautiful dress that belonged to Rachel Schwenk from Graterford,” Ploch says. “She was married in 1890, and the dress is maroon in color, mostly satin, trimmed with red velvet and so small that the bodice can’t be buttoned on the (mannequin). People are surprised that it’s not white. But prior to the 1900s, wedding dresses were mostly done in colors. White became popular after Queen Victoria wore a white dress when she got married in 1840. Everyone asks about that.
“People also like the tea set. Its base is white with flowers in blues, greens and a sort of off red-orange. The style is Gaudy Welsh, which was popular in Montgomery County in the early 1800s. And there’s a Flexible Flyer sled from the early 1900s that people really seem to like.”
Ploch’s personal favorite is “probably a set of puzzle blocks, a child’s picture blocks. Big wooden blocks with images of a bunch of
animals in people’s clothing walking along…and the tea set.” But neither overshadows the “cool memories” she has from childhood play sessions in her grandparents’ New Hampshire basement.
“The things I remember most are the old photo albums that were so much fun to look at…and trying on old high heels that were way too big,” Ploch says. “My cousins and I would grab those six-inch stilettos and just take off.”
HSMC is located at 1654 DeKalb St., Norristown. Its
“Grandma’s Attic” exhibit, research library and archives are open to the public Mondays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 1 to 8 p.m. Additional information is available at 610-272-0297 and www. hsmcpa.org.