"Cause someday, believe it or not, you'll go 15 rounds over who's gonna get this coffee table. This stupid wagon wheel ROY ROGERS GARAGE SALE COFFEE TABLE!"
- When Harry Met Sally
"With as much dignity as he could muster the Old Man gathered in the sad remains of his shattered major award. Later that night, alone in the backyard, he buried it next to the garage. Now I could never be sure, but I thought that I heard the sound of "Taps" being played, gently."
- A Christmas Story
My understanding was that it was some sort of heirloom from my husband's family. But no, his aunt who is their heritage keeper has no recollection of it. She figures it came from her grandmother's antique shop. This alone did not endear me.
I did a little research and discovered that the face is pretty common, though it's usually on bottle openers, not banks. It is a folk art reference to over-drinking and was apparently common in the 1940s. So that's sort of interesting.
My husband asked his mom about it, since his dad died many years ago. She said they'd put it out at cocktail parties with the normal face facing outward, and somewhere during the night they'd turn it around and see who noticed. Now that's a story I can get behind.
Once an object has a story, it becomes so much more meaningful. I'm not sure it's meaningful enough to stay in the living room, but it helps. And I don't mind having a little reminder of the great parties for which his parents were renowned. So now I'm glad I didn't follow my leg lamp instincts and subject it to a tragic dusting accident. And I'm interested to see what happens at our next party . . .
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