LIFE BEATS DOWN AND CRUSHES THE SOUL AND ART REMINDS YOU THAT YOU HAVE ONE. STELLA ADLER

Monday, April 23, 2012

PIN SEARCH CONTEST IS NOTHING NEW

I wanted to share another fun article from "Reminisce" magazine Nov/Dec 1999

Pin Search Contest is Nothing New
(by Frances Kimball, Dexter Oregon)

In the 1930's, we were very poor, so mother did plenty of sewing to keep my four brothers and me looking decent.  We wore a lot of hand me downs and nearly all had to be remodeled.
Just about once a year, mother would gather us together and say "it's time for a needle hunting party"  You see, she had one of those big, fat tomato pincushions, and after so long all of her needles would disappear into the sawdust in the center.
We would each get five minutes at a time to try to find the lost needles.  We'd squeeze and poke and push trying to see who could find the most.
The pincushion had been our grandmother's so there was no telling how many needles were still in there from years ago that we simply couldn't get without ripping the cushion.
The most we ever found was 17, but we always knew there had to be more and hated to stop.  When we tired of looking, mother would have a big plate of warm peanut butter cookies waiting as a reward.
To this day, I have a small tomato pincushion.  Every so often when I am out of needles, I start squeezing that thing and, sure enough I find all of my lost needles except for those few elusive ones.
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I hope you enjoyed this article from one of my favorite magazines.
Do you have a tomato pincushion??
Thanks for stopping by
Michele

14 comments:

Lululiz said...

What a sweet story, and yes, I have a small tomato pincushion as well. I love that nostalgic look.

Doni said...

HA!! I do that too! And the way those little suckers just dissappear is amazing!
My tomato's are precious to me..one being my grandmother's and another was my mother's..
thanks so much for sharing that!
Blessings, Doni

Kathy said...

What a great story! Thank you for sharing. I have many tomatoes and love them in every shape and size and better yet if they still have the little strawberry attached. Thank you for sharing this memory.

Stan and Jody Gabara said...

Love the tomato pincushions. I have one my mother gave me.Thanks for sharing.


Jody

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

Fun story! My mom had one when I was a girl...and I actually found two at a sale last week!

Rita said...

I still have my Tomato Pin cushion from Colledge days too. Where do the years go. Hugs Rita xx

Jacqueline~Cabin and Cottage said...

So much has changed! This is delightful! Thanks for sharing, and for letting me know you came by!

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

What a precious story. I hope you wear a thimble while searching for needles...ouch. I used to love reading through the stories in Reminisce magazine. My parents subscribed to it for years and the stories were always so much fun.
I don't have a tomato pin cushion, but my mom has had dozens of them.
Thanks for sharing:-)

andrea@townandprairie said...

No, I don't have one, but they do made you think of days gone by and Grandma's sewing basket. I used to love playing with the button jar.

elizabeth said...

Hi and thank you so much for your kind comment on my post about my old watering can! I remember those pincusions so well. Mama had one that looked like a circle of little chinese girls holding hands.

Linda @ Life and Linda said...

Cute story....I think I had one years ago...

chateau chic said...

Very sweet article. I remember those pin cushions from my grandmother.
Mary Alice

Dee ⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️ said...

My mother has that same one. :)

Dee

Jennifer @ Town and Country Living said...

Yes! I have a tomato pincushion and I love it. Thanks for sharing this story. It brought back memories.