What is your most prized possession?

Tori_Scope

I'd be really interested to know what everyone's most prized possession is!

It could be something big and expensive, or something small and sentimental. 

janer1967

this is mine a 6ft bronze lamp with tiffany shades 

66Mustang

I would say my car but the car I drive is no longer mine as it’s from the Motability scheme.

To be honest I don’t really have a possession that I would call my prized possession. I prefer to deal with things like memories rather than physical objects if that makes sense.

I do have some teddy bears that I wouldn’t give up for any amount of money though  I also have a couple of watches made by a well-known Swiss watchmaker. They were purchased for me as gifts. They are both sentimental and valuable but the sentimental value outweighs the monetary value to me.

66Mustang

@janer1967 I like the lamp and also the award that has sneaked into the picture

Tori_Scope

It's majestic @janer1967! 

Tori_Scope

I'm the same @66Mustang. I also have some teddy bears that have sentimental value (Necky the giraffe and Pink Ted the bear). Sentimental value also means more to me. I don't think I really own anything expensive other than my laptop, so it's a good job too!

vikingqueen

    Photos of my dad, brother and son who are no longer here. The 1st things I would grab if there was a fire. Everything else can be replaced. 

Tori_Scope

Definitely a lot of sentimental value there @vikingqueen

janer1967

@66Mustang didnt realise that was in the pic 

But yes another pride possession it was awarded to my son for bravery when he showed such courage with the ambulance service when I collapsed into a coma just after calling 999 
Yet another reason he is my world 

leeCal

I have an old bass guitar which reminds me of days gone by. It’s a copy but it looks like a fender jaz bass I had once. I sold the original to buy presents one Christmas, I probably shouldn’t have really but hey ho. As someone has said the memories are the cherished possessions which are lasting. 

roberttaylor570

I have a Family Tree drawn up by my Uncle many years ago.  It details my Mother's side of the family and includes Birth Certificates dating back to the late 19th centuryv and a history going back to the 1200s

leeCal

@roberttaylor570 Bob Hope once said he looked up his family tree and found out he was the sap! 🤣 Another of his self denigrating jokes.

Dragonslayer

My dad's gold pocket watch that was given to him by the man who trained him in engineering just before he left to go to war. (World war 2) Also another pocket watch given to him by one German soldier when he was guarding them after they surrendered close to the end of the war. My dad gave him a tin of beans, because He was starving and the German soldier insisted he exchanged it for his watch. 
Memories of my late dad. 

woodbine

I have my late grandads wrist watch which was given to him on his 21st birthday and its still in the original box (sadly its not an omega), also have my great great grandads solid silver pocket watch hallmarked 1871.
Can I have a third? go on then we have a small winston churchill match holder made by royal doulton in the 1940's which probably originally my grandparents, and lastly a signed David Shepherd painting which belonged to my MIL who is now in a home.

66Mustang

@Dragonslayer I like stories like that about the German soldier. It shows how people are human and with moral standards even during a war, and how the normal people just want to get on with each other while the leaders squabble if that makes sense.

I would love to see some pictures of all these old watches if people are willing to share. I love things like that. 

deb74

My most prized possession is a rag doll my nan bought for me when I was about 3 yrs old. It looks a bit worse for wear but I would never throw it away.

Dragonslayer

@66Mustang.  I will take a photo of the watches and post them. Thanks for the comments.
You are quite right about how everyday people, even in war keep their morals and respect for each other. My dad was such a man and remembered even if the Germans were the enemy at that time, they were still ordinary people like he was just trying to get on with their everyday lives.
Then something or someone with power comes along and changes everything and turns the world upside down.

Along with possessions, one I have is a memory. Again of my dad. He was an apprentice engineer. Then at 19yrs old the war came along. His company applied for 6months exemption from call up for war for all their employees  Then after that period was over the war office sent exemption papers to each individual one of them.
All he had to do was sign it and send it off to be exempt from service for the duration of the war.
My dad screwed his paper up and tossed it into the bin, then waited to be called up. 
He didn't tell anyone he had done that, not his mum or dad, or my mother, who he was dating at the time.
He married her shortly after in his uniform. Then was sent to the middle East and didn't see her again for 4yrs. 
He completed his engineer apprenticeship while in the army. 
I learnt all this from my mum a while ago. (Now sadly no longer with us)
He kept it a secret and like most that served never talked about what happened, or what he experienced.

I am proud of his commitment and achievements.

vikingqueen

    I too am proud of my mum and dad who both served in WW2, they met in Blankenburg in Belgium in 1944. My dad was in the Liverpool regiment and was a dispatch rider in the signals and my mum was in the WRAF, she ended up serving as a nurse and saw many horrors. My dad never spoke of the war, only telling me funny stories when i was little. You don't realise as a child they were all pretend.
   I am mounting my dad's medals along with my grandad's from WW! in a frame for my grandson. I've had them long enough now its time for him to be keeper of them.

chiarieds

@Dragonslayer -  I'm pleased you learnt this about your Dad. As you say, many who served in WW2 just didn't talk about their experiences, but when we learn just a little about them, it's a privilege, & makes you so rightly very proud of them.

I haven't got much to say about prized possessions, but for me also those of sentimental value mean the most. I have 2 framed fine embroidery pictures my Mum did; one of 2 squirrels, the other of 2 finches; my Dad's Waterman pen, cigarette case, & a bakelite match holder, & the all important photos of my family.

I have been very fortunate in that I've 'borrowed' some beautiful things in the past due to dealing in antiques. I remember Arthur Negus, an antiques dealer on the early Antiques Roadshow, commenting that you had to keep selling things in order to pay the bills, as it was presumed he had a home full of antiques. Certainly not on his scale, but we have had a very rare Clarice Cliff plate (only 3 known to have ever been made), a Goldscheider mask, a beautiful Galle glass vase, & much more.

What have I kept?....a bib that my son wore at his christening; handmade in the 18th century, & a finer example than those in the Bowes Museum.

Some things are transient; memories are not.

Cress

I think prized possessions for me are memories...the good ones!
I have a couple of items of clothes from when my kids were tiny.
I did have keepsake boxes with babies first curl, first tooth etc, I think some even had a special compartment for umbilical cords....I have no idea where they are now ...although they did somewhat remind me of a serial killers trophy box...but with winnie the pooh or tigger on top...
Loved the stories of loved ones during the two world wars....found them very moving, thank you for sharing

Tori_Scope

Really interesting stories and items all- thank you for sharing! I've enjoyed reading them this morning  

Tori_Scope

Your serial killer comment really made me laugh @Cress You've also reminded me that my Mum has quite a few scrapbooks at her house with memories from when we were growing up. I can't wait to look through them when I'm a bit older and reminisce. Her and my Dad also have photo albums that I hope to inherit one day.

66Mustang

I just want to say that I really enjoyed reading the stories from the past and appreciate everyone sharing them.

leeCal

Unfortunately my mother eventually had dementia and cut up all our old family photos, why I’m not sure, sad though.

Dragonslayer

@66Mustang. Photos of my Dads watches.



The stainless steel one is the German soldiers watch.
I have only worn his gold one once. In the waistcoat I wore. That was on my wedding day. 
If your wondering about the gold strap? It is a watch fob. If you remember the small pocket in jeans, or waistcoat, the watch fits in the pockef, the strap hangs outside and is used to pull the watch out. 

66Mustang

@Dragonslayer thank you for sharing those lovely watches.

I didn’t know that about the small pocket.

Do both of the watches still keep time? Have they ever been serviced?

Dragonslayer

@66Mustang
Both watches still work and keep good time. The gold one was serviced by my Mum before she gave it to me to make sure it was in good working order. That is the only time I know of. Inside the back cover there are several Pawn broker scratches. Mum told me dad entrusted the watch to his brother for safe keeping while he was at war. His brother then pawned it for cash, more than once. Mum found out and took it from him.
It's seems sad, but there were hard times.
It does add to its history though.
I have no idea about the Soldier watch, as I call it. But it did servive the war.
Thats German engineering for you 👍

MrAllen1976

A top contender would be the Batman costume and very large black cape I bought about 13 years ago, which I wear to most Comic Con type events, going as Batman.

Tori_Scope

Wow- that's really cool @MrAllen1976! Who's your favourite batman villain?