Get out of the house

Coming up

The Flea Market will be at the Spokane Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Spokane Valley Nov, 5-6. For more information call (509) 746-5555

Customer Appreciation Day at Hurd Mercantile and Co. means discounts and edible goodies for shoppers. The sale is Nov. 5, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. in Rockford. For more information about the sale or to schedule a special Saturday “Gathering,” which includes refreshments for groups of eight or more, call (509) 291-4077.

An International Fair Trade Craft Sale will be 6–9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday at Community Congregational United Church of Christ, 525 N.E. Campus in Pullman. Proceeds go to artisans in developing countries who receive a fair wage for their work.

For more information contact Nancy Mack at (509) 332-6252.

Locket Memories

Last week I wrote about my silver Art Deco locket from the 1930s. It is unique because it holds four photos. For me, that means a space for each of my children.

I asked readers to share stories or memories of their lockets and here are two:

Doris Meyer, of Rathdrum called with her story. Like mine, Meyer’s locket holds four photographs, but it is much more elaborate.

The small gold locket opens to reveal two tiny frames which open to reveal two more. It is a locket within a locket. Each photo frame is covered by beveled glass.

Meyer has a photograph taken in 1891 which shows her grandmother wearing the locket, which she wore until her death. “She was worried about the war in Europe and wrote about it in her diaries,” Meyer said. “She was so afraid of a war that when she heard about Pearl Harbor on the radio, she dropped dead of a stroke.”

The locket now holds photographs of Meyer, her mother and her grandmother, each with a lock of hair. But, the jewelry holds more than just photos.

“My mother was born in 1900,” Meyer said. “And on the back of my grandmother’s locket are the little marks where Mama cut her teeth.”

D.L. Thomas wrote: “A few years ago, a saleswoman commented on the locket I was wearing, and then told me about her locket, in which she had put pictures of her two grandsons. One day she opened the locket to show pictures of her grandsons to a friend – only to discover that there were two pictures of just one boy. Later she questioned that boy about her discovery. He admitted he had taken out his brother’s picture and replaced it with another one of himself, because, ‘You love ME best of all, Grandma.’”