In the old era regular woman (not the social elite, they had everything) had:
A handful of clothes, maybe just enough to fill a trunk.
Two pairs of shoes, if they were that lucky.
One tube of lipstick and some face powder. They just had to powder their noses!
When the young ladies got married they didn't need a moving van to transport their stuff. Most were capable of carrying their stuff by hand. Most had all that they needed and no more than that. The essentials.
The essentials...my have they grown.
When we moved 3 years ago, it took many many loads of a jam packed flatbed trailer to get all of our essentials relocated. AND I did some major throwing away while packing!
Back to the wondering phase... I wonder if the great depression has anything to do with our desire to have more? Lots of people had to sell what little they had just to survive and as times got better they replenished. BUT I think a good portion of those folks suffered emotional scars so deep that they passed on this compulsion to "have" onto their kids and so on.
I know my grandparents had very little in the 40's, their love, a child and the basic essentials. BUT over the decades my grandmother was on a constant receiving, acquiring and hoarding binge. To the point that in the 80's the attic, basement and half of the 2 car garage was full to the brim. Not to mention the rest of the house.
I also see this same pattern in my dad. His most common phrase..I might need it someday! I must have the extra washer, cause what if the one were using quits on us. Yeah that is my dad. LOL! You just never know when your going to need something and then you'll regret not having it. Soo even with their tiny budget they pay for storage.
I am also a victim of this "Have" syndrome. We have a storage unit out back and it is full of tools (his stuff) and such. One corner is portioned out for me and yes it is already full. I have debated on getting another one for some of the things in the house that need to go out. BUT then I think...Why? Why do I have stuff that I'm going to put outside and leave there for who knows how long?
Then I think about hubby's side of the family.
When Granny Faye (his grandmother) died hubby was told to go through the garage. All of his grandfathers things were in there and he had been dead since hubby was a child. All of his stuff was left there untouched for decades. It was kinda cool going through all that old stuff and coming across some treasures of his youth.
Then their is his own mother. She has 3 storage sheds, a full house and a 2 car garage that has never had room for a car.
Soo I sit here and wonder why do we have the need to buy, get, acquire and hoard it away in every nook, cranny or storage shed? What happened to just having what we really need?
