Certain memories stand out of my grandparents and the differences in what hung on the walls of bot
h maternal and paternal grandparents. I don’t actually remember photos or pictures on the walls of my paternal grandparent’s home, there was a very large map, which probably came from a school as my grandpa’s nephew was a school headmaster.
There was a barometer and beside the fireplace was a leather strop, which my grandpa used to hone his cut-throat razor. Perhaps their walls weren’t interesting enough for me to remember.
My maternal granny had a large framed picture of Pear’s Soap advert, I always thought it was really nice.
In the kitchen there was another framed advert for Fry’s Five Boys chocolate, showing all their moods.
The kitchen wall was also home to a framed copy of the Minnie Louise Haskins’ poem, originally titled as “God Knows” but is known better as “The Gate Of The Year”. The poem became popular in 1939 when King George VI quoted in his Christmas broadcast to the British Empire
“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
I have always remembered those words, they were committed to memory a long time ago from a framed print of the speech.
The one thing made me curious though was a tin brewery tray of the Scottish brewers, Wm. Younger & Co. Ltd., as granny was a devout Christian and didn’t approve of strong drink, I never knew where it had come from. Although one answer could be, alcohol applied in correct dosage, could also be medicinal. Whisky could be used as an antiseptic, an ease for toothache and stout was an excellent tonic long before antibiotics.
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