Grandpa's Old Chest of Drawers

Dear Niece and Nephew,

Here are pics of Grandpa's chest that I've had stored since 2012 when I returned to Circleville and moved into my new house.  I had loved this chest in my various residences in Crosby, Houston, and Austin since 1982, but now I found I had no room for it in my new place.

While in that storage, the chest's wooden frame had dried out and there was a little mold that had spread on its backside.   I had to scrub it really good this morning before then applying three separate coats of Lemon Oil.  Looks good again, and I hope after selling the property here in Circleville I'll have a new place where I can give it a place of prominence.

Promise me you'll keep this piece in the Loessin family after I die.  

Grandpa Oscar "Sug" and Grandma Elizabeth "Lib" got married in 1933 and had Dad 3 years later.  It was the Depression era, they were too poor for a big blowout wedding and had only a quiet gathering of a few family members.  The chest was their wedding gift from Sug's parents - Oscar Waldimar (Sr.) and Martha (Templin) Loessin.  The Templin family was from Thrall / Milam county area.  Marrying Martha and agreeing to live near her family was the grievous sin Oscar Sr committed.  When leaving the big Loessin Family compound in Fayette county he became pesona non grata among the extended Loessin family for some time.  

The Templin family ran a furniture store in either Thrall or Rockdale (not certain) but it is likely the chest came from that store in the 1930s.  It's a great old piece, the drawers have no nails holding their four sides together, but rather beautiful and strong handcut dovetails! 

When I was ages 4-6 y.o., near every evening Grandpa Sug would pull his light blue Ford out of the first bay of the shed at the 505 house and pull up the drive to our 507 place and Mom would have me ready on the sidewalk.  I'd hop in the big floating ship of a car, and we'd go 25-30 mph south on Highway 95 and turn onto 29 and then into the old gin property.   Dad and Grandpa Sug still had lots of chickens and an old cow they kept down at the gin property and we'd feed and then sometimes take a walk down to the old boat ramp or to the gravel bar in the river and skip rocks for awhile.  

By the time dusk was arriving, we were heading back to the new property north of the gin. But before he called up Mom and walked me back up the driveway, I got to spend time with him and grandma in their house.  He'd go to this chest and pull out the top left drawer.  In it, he kept three things: his pouch of pipe tobacco and pipe, his pouch of cigarette tobacco and roller (he preferred to roll his own unfiltered cigarettes - a habit that surely contributed to his early demise), and the third item he kept in this drawer was a bag of root beer candies.   He'd hand those to me and head over to his big brown recliner and plop down in it.  Once he gave me the nod (signal he was ready for me) I'd squeeze in between him and the recliner's arm.  

Grandma would already have the TV on and soon our favorite show - Batman and Robin - would come on.  He'd stuff his pipe and light it up while I'd start devouring the root beer candies.  I can still smell the sweet cherry aroma of the pipe tobacco he preferred.  When the half-hour show was over, he'd be done with his smoking, lift me down onto he floor, take the bag from me and proceed to put both away in the top left drawer of this chest.

He'd then call my Mom and let her know that we were walking back up the driveway.  Grandma, in the meanwhile, would be preparing his bedtime snack - he always had saltine crackers soaking in milk before bedtime.

And that's why I love this old chest.  It's also why I've always kept his pipe in the top left-hand drawer.  I suppose I should keep a bag of root beer candies as well but, quite honestly, today I can't stand those things.