Notes Under a Victorian Parlour Table

In addition to this website's collection of writing, I also compose pieces on people's objects, their heirlooms, their keepsakes. For other object histories, please visit:The Heirloom HistorianSometimes parts of who we are can be found in what we keep and what we leave behind.It’s About to Start a New JourneyAt this moment, it stands in an apartment in downtown Toronto, beside a sofa, holding a lamp. Its owner, James, is about to move, and he has decided to let it go.But before it leaves the family that has kept it for well over a century, James began to look at it properly, and felt the pull that inherited things sometimes have. He will part with the table, but not without its story. These pages are that story, and they will travel with it, tucked beneath its top, for whoever owns it next.Before we come to the specifics of this particular table, let us take a moment to conjure a scene.The First HomeThe table was made sometime between about 1870 and 1890. Its first home was probably…