Around the House
By: Adelle A.
Have you ever wondered how some of the things around your house changed from about 1900 until now? Many people don’t use hookahs or mortars and pestles anymore. We have more advanced technology and we can now use blenders or electric mixers. In our gallery we have an old tea set and a Turkish coffee maker and a hand knitted blanket which were used years ago and are still being used today.
All artifacts have a story about them and if you take time to read them you might be surprised at how interesting the stories are. These artifacts like the silverware set, the old drum, a pair of eyeglasses, and the room service bell have fascinating histories. They came from different countries and cultures and everything was used a different way. Whether it is a kitchen utensil, hobby, or just something found around a house, everything is special and has a sentimental value to each of our families.
Tea Set
England
Susan B
It was given to my great,great grandmother, Lily S, by her aunt. My great grandmother\'s aunt, Lucy S, gave it to my great great grandmother, Marie. It is used to serve either Turkish coffee or hot chocolate. They used it because it was pretty. It was used about in the 1930\'s and 1940\'s. My great great grandmother, Lily S, used it. They put hot chocolate mix or coffee into one of these tea cups and enjoyed!
It has been in the family for many years.
Silverware Set
Greece
Florette A
This silverware set belonged to my great great grandmother and was brought over from Greece in 1908. It was brought by boat with my great great grandmother when she left Greece in search of a better life in America. The silverware set was very expensive, and it was only used for holidays and special family occasions. It has been in our family for 5 generations and it is the only thing I have from my great great grandmother. It is service for 8, and each contains 1 knife, 2 forks, and 2 spoons.
This was our special silverware set that was used for Jewish holidays and Shabbat.
Eye Glasses
United States
Sarah S
These glasses were worn by my great grandfather Leon S. He was born in Aleppo, Syria. His mother died when he was five and his father died when he was eleven. At fourteen and fifteen, Leon and his brother traveled together as orphans from Aleppo, Syria to Cuba and then to Mexico where they peddled linens door to door on bicycles. After, they came together to New York, Leon began Sultan\'s Linens which at one point expanded to ten stores. He then married Sarah S. and had five kids Anita, Esther, Julie, Linda, and Ike. He was always known as a trustworthy, loyal, kind, and brave man to which all his children and grandchildren looked to for advice. Through these glasses Leon S. was able to see the world in his own special way and he saw all the opportunities that awaited him in America.
The legacy of the S. family has begun and has lasted many generations until this day.
Mortar And Pestle
Aleppo, Syria
Ezra and Francine S.
This mortar and pestle is 5 to 6 generations old. It came to America from Aleppo, Syria. This came from a family of wealth. This artifact weighs about 30 pounds. This must have been very important to them since they brought such a heavy thing with them on a boat from Aleppo, Syria all the way to America. This belonged to a family who came to America in the 1890\'s. This has great sentimental value to the Schweky family.
This artifact was used for crushing things, like garlic, onion, and different spices and mixing things together. Cooking was very important in the Syrian Jewish tradition then and still is today.
Hookah
Aleppo, Syria
Charles A.
My grandfather, Sam A. kept this hookah in his house and then my uncle inherited it. It\'s a family heirloom that hopefully we can pass down for many generations. The first hookahs were used in India 5 centuries ago. It was used mostly for social time but also for medicine. The Muslims were not allowed to drink alcohol so instead they smoked tobacco in a hookah. The water was used to filter and cool the smoke down before it reached the lungs.
Smoking the hookah became very popular in many of the countries in the Middle East. On my recent trip to Israel, I saw many hookahs for sale.
Marxophone
America
Jack F.
The marxophone is a combination of a mandolin, guitar and a zither. It was my great grandmother\'s. She played this musical instrument when she was a teenager. Many years later she stopped playing it. The Marxophone was put down in the basement. After she died it was found by my grandmother 40 years later.
It brought her much happiness.
Great Grandma\\\'s Blanket
Brooklyn, NY
Bobbie B.
This handmade blanket is important because my great grandmother, Celia B.M. made only 3 of these blankets. It is also important because we use it all the time in our house and it makes us think about her. She also made one for my aunts and uncles after they got married. Ours is the only one with different colors. We\'ve had it since 1993.
My great grandma loved to crochet and knit different things for her family and now they are very important to my family because she passed away.
Mortar and Pestle
Syria
Isaac S.
This artifact was passed down to all the Sultans in my family. This artifact was made before the 1850\'s. It has an engraving of my grandfather\'s name: Judah S.(in Hebrew). The mortar and pestle was used to make medicine in pharmacies.
Pharmacists and ordinary people would use the pestle to crush all the ingredients and mix them together to make a powdered cure.
Drum
Syria
Great Grandmother Rachel
This drum belonged to my great great grandpa, Selim. This was given to him by his father. My great great grandpa gave it to my great grandma, Rachel. This was important to my great grandma because it was her father\'s. Selim used to play slow music with it. He played at his house every morning.
This drum is sometimes called a \"derbecke\" and was used to play music. My great great grandpa enjoyed it a lot because he was very good at it. This artifact is important to my great grandma because whenever she looks at it she remembers the good times they had playing it.
Hawahn- Mortar and Pestle
Syria
Gloria A.
This Hawahn was lent to me by my Great-Grandmother Gloria A.. It was given to her by her mother, Fortune B. and it was given to her by her mother, Bolissa A.. It was made in Syria in the early 1900s. The women of my family loved to bake and they were well known for their Syrian pastries, such as Baklawa and \"Kra\'bij.\" They used the Hawahn to grind the \"fistou\", Arabic for pistachios, for the pastries. My Great-Grandmother told me they also used it to grind the rice for the meat to make \"kibbe\" balls. She said if her mother needed to use it to mash garlic she would first wrap the garlic in a piece of paper or plastic so the Hawahn wouldn\'t get the flavor of the garlic. There were also different sizes like smaller ones that were used for grinding spices.
Most Syrian pastries had ground nuts in them. Aleppo was well known for its famous pistachios. My great-grandmother said there were no mini choppers then; everything was done by hand. The Hawahn made it possible to have delicious foods on Shabbat, holidays, and special occasions. It was probably used every day in a Syrian kitchen like my Great-Great-Great Grandmother\'s.
Mortar and Pestle
Egypt
Yvonne T
The mortar and pestle belonged to my great, great grandmother. It has been in my family for a very long time. She used it to grind fresh spices, such as allspice and cinnamon, which are commonly used in Syrian cooking.
The mortar and pestle are used to help cook kosher food. Every Jewish person is commanded to keep kosher. This is a symbol that we accepted kosher as a Jewish nation and we still keep kosher today even though it may be difficult.
Bell
America
Lisa B.
The bell was used for room service and other occasions at a retirement home by my great grandmother, Frieda B. She couldn\'t move very well so she got the bell which was very useful when she needed to call for help.
Jewish families in our community always lived close to each other. Although my great grandmother lived in a retirement home family members always visited her.
Object of Art
US
Patricia N.J.
This is an Object of Art from my great-grandfather, Fred N. He owned a store on 699 Fifth Avenue, between 55th and 56th, in New York City. He sold this object in his store. He owned this store from the early 1940\'s to 1969. This is special to me because it was one of his treasured items.
This artifact has a Mid Eastern style so we think that it came from a country in the Mid East.
This artifact has a Middle Eastern look and shows us that our ancestry is Middle Eastern.
Turkish Coffee Pot
Turkey
Great great grandmother, Rebecca
This Turkish coffee pot was my great great Grandmother Rebecca\'s Turkish coffee pot. It was brought from Turkey in the late 1800s and then traveled with the family to Egypt. Eventually it came to the United States. It was used by my Grandma Nicole and passed down to me, and we still use it.
This Turkish coffee pot is used to make delicious Turkish coffee. In Turkey it was very popular back in 1889. This is an important artifact to remember my family members who have passed away.