Mama's Old Suitcase of Treasures

Happy New Year!

On January 1 and 2 I spent time sorting through an old suitcase that belonged to my mother. My sister, Kimberly, found it last year and brought it to a family meeting in Tallahassee last July. Keith took a few things from it and I quickly scanned those items before he left. I took the remaining items in the suitcase (and the suitcase) home with me. I briefly looked at a few photos inside and put the suitcase in a visible place to remind me I had work to do. I finally got to it months later and I'm glad I did. Walking down memory lane is a lot of fun!

I found lots of treasures . . . photos of my English family from the 1940's and 1950's, cards sent from England for my mother's 21st birthday, a Firestone receipt that showed toys my brother and I got for Christmas in 1949 and 1952, proof of addresses prior to my parents buying their first house, menus from the ship "Queen Mary" when my mother and brother came over from England to the United States, my baby books, and much, much more. My genealogist heart is overflowing!

After looking at everything inside, I decided to sort into piles that made sense: photographs, taxes, Navy stuff, Firestone, miscellaneous receipts, and more. That will help when I scan, and I've got a lot of scanning to do.

The photographs were quite interesting. Most I remember seeing when I was a little girl. I saw them many times, and I'd ask, "Who's that?" I wish I could remember a lot more of what Mama told me because many of the photos have nothing written on the back. She had several formal wedding group pictures of family and friends and then pictures of children of some of those friends. There are photos of her Land Army friends. I found one of my good childhood friend, Billy, who died when he was 10 or 11, and another of my next door neighbor, Becky and her mother, Hazel.

When you look at the photographs of the suitcase, look for my mother's name and address on the inside of the top. The suitcase itself is small:  17 1/2" w x 10" l x 5" h. I wonder if she packed my brother's baby clothes in it for the long trip from England to Alabama.

My sisters, brothers and I often talk about how Mama saved EVERYTHING (well, almost everything), but I'm so glad she did. She left us with with reminders of our everyday life.

Old handkerchiefs on the left and Mama's old purse on the right

You can see one of my baby books on top, compliments of Peninsular Life Insurance Company

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Remembering Frances Amelia Langdale Jowers

Frances Amelia Langdale Jowers, about 1944

December 7 is a national day of remembrance for our country - Pearl Harbor Day.  My sisters and brothers and I realize that if this day back in 1942 had never happened, there would be no us. My daddy, a country boy about 18 years old, joined the Navy and eventually ended up in England. My mother, a Londoner and teenager of about 17 or 18, joined the Women's Land Army in England and was sent to Cornwall to work on a farm. Cornwall is where they met and married.

Three years ago on December 7, 2008, my mother, Frances Amelia Langdale Jowers, passed away. It left a huge hole in my life and the lives of all those who loved her. My brother, Keith, emailed my sisters, brother, and me a sweet reminder about this day and our mother. He gave me permission to publish it. I'll let Keith tell more of the story.


 Hello Everyone,

It's 8:55 A.M. I'm sitting here thinking about what to say about mama. She was an amazing woman. Having lived through the perils and dangers of WWII, she undertook one more journey. She left her family, friends, and country to make a new home in a foreign country with her husband and new baby. Leaving everything behind had to be a tough decision. But, she made it. I believe this is one of the reasons she was amazing and it helped make her what she was. Once her mind was made up, she rarely changed it. Once here, she had to adopt and adapt to a new way of life. Food, money, clothes, jobs, and people were things she had to learn. She became a citizen of her new country, but never forgot her English heritage, nor her native England. You could tell this by the way she talked after one of her meetings with "The British Ladies of Tallahassee". Things I remember are of the "Christmas Season". The fabulous cookie machine. Oh what great cookies it made. The Ice Box Fruit Cake- Janice makes it now. Hanging Christmas cards on a string from wall to wall. The meal at Christmas. Seems like we had turkey until the end of January. These things stay with you no matter how long we may live. I also miss her cooking- collards, cornbread, southern cooked meals,and helping can corn peas, beans, squash, and other vegetables. However, of all the things I miss, I miss mama the most. I love her and daddy.

                                                                              Keith


I would like to add that the new baby was Keith, who was about 2 months old at the time.

Manifest of Alien Passengers, "Queen Mary," May 10, 1946

Thanksgiving and Mama's Dressing Recipe

Today I scanned Mama's dressing recipe and emailed it to my sisters. That recipe has been in our family a long time. I don't know where it came from and never thought to ask Mama about it. It's just always been a part of my family's life. She only made it twice a year -- Thanksgiving and Christmas. She never missed making it except maybe her last Thanksgiving. One of my sisters might have made it that year.

 In 1971 Mama sent me the recipe when I lived in Spain. I couldn't eat Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner in Rota without Mama's dressing! That's when I made her dressing for the first time myself. It was good, but somehow, it didn't taste the same. I knew that later that day Mama, Daddy, and my younger sisters and brother would be eating the real deal.

In 1972 Jim and I had been invited to have Christmas dinner at some friends' home near us in Rota. I offered to bring dressing. I was pregnant at that time with my first baby, Jeffrey, who was espected to come any day. A day or two before Christmas I made the cornbread that is the base for the dressing and I would finish making the dressing Christmas morning and bake it. Well, my labor started Christmas Eve day and Jeffrey was born at 1:06 am Christmas morning. Needless to say I wasn't going to be taking dressing to my friends' home. That day Jim jumped into action, He followed Mama's recipe and finished the dressing. I heard he did a good job!

 Later, when we lived in Orlando and Winter Park, Christmas dinner was alternated each year between us and Jim's brother, Mike and his family. Then I made Mama's dressing every other year, but I still got to eat it at Thanksgiving.

No matter what it's called . . . Mama's Dressing, Grandma's Dressing or Great Grandma's Dressing . . . it's part of my huge family's Christmas and Thanksgiving traditions.