In the attic of my mind I have a box labeled, That Thing About Short Strings. I don’t know about the rest of the world, but here in the US, of a certain generation or maybe more than one, collecting string that is “too short” is a “thing”.
I got this message from Susan today…
“Your post today about your *scraps from scraps* potholders made me smile! I love the idea of even using the scraps from scraps to create yet something new again!
When I was growing up…..my Father told me a story of when his grandmother died…..and they had gone through her house, clearing it of her belongings. In her attic….they found not only two boxes full of balls of string (which she knotted together and apparently used often)……and yet another box carefully labelled *string that is too short to use otherwise*.”
Poet Donald Hall wrote a book called “String Too Short To Be Saved” about his memories of summers on his grandparents farm. My friend Mary Kellogg wrote a poem based on a box of string she found in her mother’s house that was labeled “String too short to tie.”
As for me I do have a string collection, but it’s in the category of Susan’s great-great grandmothers first two boxes of string that is long enough to roll into a ball, even if it’s only a small one.
Although I do have a plastic baggie in my studio filled with “scraps too small to sew“.
String Too Short To Tie By Mary Kellogg
fiber of life
kaleidoscopic
twisting and turning
unraveling spears of time
in concert with out souls
stepping into our days and nights
decisions are made
cementing lasting friendships
if severed the cut is deep
never to be tied again
it is unraveled
to roll about in nebulous thoughts
prodding conscience with questions
another fiber swings into place
a misplaced fiber
strong remembrance
short of life
anchored
we choose to remember
The Italian bakeries where I lived always tied the boxes with string. And when we moved in with my mother in law I discovered the bread drawer was filled with leftover pieces of foil, plastic wrap, and the box strings. Nothing was thrown out, if it could possibly be used again, (although it almost never was). She was very upset with me when I moved it (I wouldn’t dare get rid of the string) so the bread box could actually be used to store bread, muffins, and other baked items.
It was a deep kitchen drawer with a sliding metal top that had holes in it, to keep the bread fresh. I have only seen them in kitchens on Long Island.
Great thin string!
I have seen those draws too LoisJean. We have a bread draw in our kitchen but not with the sliding metal top. I can picture the red and white barber pole string used to tie the bakery boxes. Good sting, I can imagine saving it myself!:)
Love your post. Never heard of that. Thanks.
Joan from Wisconsin
🙂
Hah, and I thought it was just me that couldn’t bear to throw out bits of string!
You’re in good company Carolyn!:)