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Heirloom Investigation: Where Did This Cutlery Set Come From? Part 1

My father-in-law recently gave me a box of goodies that has me very excited! He gave me an old set of cutlery - five knives and four forks, and I've been on the hunt for who the set might have belonged to.  It's time for an heirloom investigation! I'm going to draw on some lessons I learned in a material culture class I took a few years ago to do so.   Description First, let's look at what we have and describe it. This process slows me down to really look at the items as a whole and at each individual piece to find every clue possible. (Click on any photo to enlarge it.)   The Box   The set was in an old paperboard box which was very brown with stains and age. The box had been sealed with brown tape, possibly gummed tape.  The box measures 10" long x 3-7/8" wide x 2" deep. The box bears a typed mailing label addressed to Mrs. Harold Casey, Box 307, Crescent, Oklahoma. Another postal label covers the zip code.  The return address states: After 10 days retu...
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Mom's Big Trip

Mom, and friends Janet and Zora, in traditional Croatian costumes, taken at Braddock, Pennsylvania, May 1953.
By Nancy Gilbride Casey

"Boy were we surprised. We never expected anything like this hotel." 

A trip to Pittsburgh was the ultimate in excitement for a 15-year old from Cleveland, Ohio, back in 1953, if a letter home is any indication. My mother, then Anna Margaret "Margie" Kozlina, had just checked in to The Penn-Lincoln Hotel in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Mom was a member of a Cleveland-based Croatian dance ensemble, and had set out to perform at a Kolo festival in the Pittsburgh area.

Mom was exposed to kolo by her father's family, who immigrated from Croatia in the early 1900s. A traditional communal dance, it is performed in a closed circle, a single chain or in two parallel lines. One of many European chain dances surviving from ancient times, kolo is spirited and often fast-moving. 1  (Click here to view a video of a kolo dance from the Sv. Jana region of Croatia; 2  my great grandmother Vjekoslava "Louise" Baltorinic, was born in Sv. Jana, near Zagreb, Croatia.)

Mom's postcard and a longer letter capture her wide-eyed thrill at staying in a fancy hotel—on probably her first solo trip away from her family—as well as youthful antics with her friends. Four photos of her troupe taken on a hillside in Braddock, Pennsylvania provide a visual backdrop to her exciting teenage adventure.

It's a wonderful snapshot of a time in Mom's life which she clearly treasured.

Penn-Lincoln Hotel, where Mom stayed in May 1953.

Writing home to the family in Cleveland.




Captioned on the photo reverse: "Friends: Margie, Madeline & Janet. Taken at Bradock, PA, May 30, 1953"

Mom, standing, far left, and the rest of the ladies of the ensemble.

The men of the ensemble, enjoying a beverage!


 NOTES

 1 Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (https://www.britannica.com : accessed 29 Nov 2019, 09:38:00), "Kolo."

2 J.I.M. Video, "Kolo “Croatia “ Croatian Independence 2019 San Pedro," uploaded 27 May 2019; YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMQNUpTmz7I : accessed 29 Nov 2019).  



Until next time... 

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