To the Editor:
Re “Five Women, Heirloom China and the Reverence It May Lose” (front page, Jan. 5):
Rukmini Callimachi’s sad but lovely tale of doomed heirloom dishes evokes a complicated reaction. Of course it is impractical to dine regularly using such items, or in many cases even to find space to keep all of them. But to what extent do the issues go beyond the specifics of eating habits to encompass a current lack of interest in our own histories?
Do younger people who don’t care about these old items also feel no connection to any other family heirlooms — to the concrete artifacts of their own family stories?
I am reminded of my shock when my aunt informed me that the photo albums my grandfather had taken onboard a ship from Tokyo to Seattle in 1919 had been tossed in a dumpster, because “we never met those people and we can’t read Japanese.” (Thankfully a cousin rescued them and later gave them to me for safekeeping.)
How many people know the biographical details of their long gone ancestors? Where do we draw the line between lack of space and failure of imagination? Might not there be room for a few saucers, if only to put coins and keys in, along with a bit of the history they represent?
Andrew S. Mine
Chicago
To the Editor:
I drank in every word of your article about heirloom china. On Saturday excursions during the heyday of the department store, my mother, aunt and I visited china departments in much the way others might check out a new exhibit at a gallery.
We eagerly parsed the differences between brands, debating the relative merits of plates with vibrant patterns versus those adorned only with elegant bands of silver or gold.
Was the pattern employed in such a way that the presentation of the food could also shine? How about the shape of the gravy boat and the creamer? Were these vessels both beautiful and practical?
Now my beloved mother and aunt are gone. I am sure that many of the fine china departments are gone, too. But all live on in my home: I have three sets of Mom’s tableware — the Russel Wright set she used every day when first married, the china manufactured in Japan right after the war that she and another aunt collected with supermarket stamps, and the black and white Victorian-inspired pattern she selected to match the sterling silver flatware she was so delighted to have the financial flexibility to purchase.
Every time I pick up one of these dishes, memories of family members, family meals and family celebrations come flooding back. Perhaps these beautiful things are headed for the landfill. Until then, I will treasure them.
Amy Cohn
Marblehead, Mass.
To the Editor:
“Five Women, Heirloom China and the Reverence It May Lose” really struck a chord with me. For years, I’ve been bemoaning the fact that I can’t find a home for my mother’s 1940 Renaissance pattern Lenox gold-rimmed china set for 12, or her vintage cut glass Seneca water goblets.
And I’m not alone. My female friends of a certain age have the same complaint.
It’s so sad that our way of life is changing, and not always for the better. We can only hope that someday elegant entertaining at home will make a comeback with the younger generation.
They are missing something special. You can actually hear the table conversation, unlike at most of today’s restaurants.
Lynn Fireside
Los Angeles
To the Editor:
As your article points out, whole services of vintage dinnerware are easily obtained in thrift shops for a fraction of the cost of newly imported plates and mugs. To all young people setting up a household, I strongly recommend the purchase of heirloom dinnerware.
Mixed place settings can be fashionable and interesting. If something breaks, dispose of it gently and head back to your local resale shop or garage sale. You will be doing both the planet and your pocketbook a favor. And if Mom wants to give you a set, say “Yes!”
Melinda R. Meister
New Vernon, N.J.
Helping Federal Workers Under the Trump Presidency
To the Editor:
Re “I’m a Federal Employee. This Is What We Need Most in the Trump Era,” by Stacey Young (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, Jan. 12):
The writer expresses entirely reasonable fear about job security and integrity as well as harassment on the job by politically appointed higher-ups and in private life by the MAGA goon squad.
To provide the practical help she requests, we need a nationwide fund-raising effort: Small donors and billionaires alike should create and fund a system that pays for online defense (and offense), legal defense (and offense), and all manner of support, including direct and substantial financial aid.
Perhaps it would restrain frivolous agency “investigations” and the ever-urgent right-wing media search for a villain du jour if everyone knew that the latest victim would get financial support to weather the storm and might burden the perpetrators with every possible legal action against their defamation and harassment.
Keith Nelson
Newton, Mass.
To the Editor:
I understand Stacey Young’s point that federal employees will need legal, psychological and practical support to stay in their jobs, given the new administration’s likely hostility toward them.
However, to supply that, the public needs comprehensive information on what is happening to employees and to the federal establishment in general. But because of a culture of gag rules built up over at least five presidential administrations, Democratic and Republican alike, we are unlikely to get that. In many agencies employees are barred from speaking to reporters or having such contact without the authorities’ oversight.
Fortunately there are some people, including the Society of Professional Journalists, fighting this stunning threat to democracy and human welfare.
Kathryn Foxhall
Hyattsville, Md.
The writer is a longtime freelance journalist and a volunteer advocate with the Society of Professional Journalists on the gag rule issue.
An ‘Interabled’ Couple
To the Editor:
Kudos to Wendy Lu for her excellent article, “Sharing Stories About Love and Disability” (Sunday Styles, Jan. 26).
I have been a quadriplegic since suffering a football injury when I was in college. Now, more than 50 years later, I am part of an “interabled” couple, married to Anna, the love of my life, and the father of triplet boys who are college sophomores. I never thought I would be able to have my own biological children, but medical science has allowed that.
I recently retired from a 40-year career as an assistant district attorney on Long Island, and have a life rich with a loving family, wonderful friends, travel and the opportunity to tell my story to inspire others.
My disability does not define me. With Anna at my side, I have been able to face challenges to become the man I am today.
Ken Kunken
Rockville Centre, N.Y.
