Antique Hanger

I am not sure when an item becomes an antique but because this hanger belonged to my Grandma Aunt I will call it an antique.

We have been remodeling here at my house and yesterday while I was replacing the cloths and hangers in the cloths closet I notice this one wooden hanger that had HARTMANN written into the wood.  I thought I remember this hanger.  I am not sure but I think it is the one my Dad hung his Fireman uniform on and it is his writing. 

I turned it over and I could barely make out some writing on the other side, the first word I noticed was Corkish.  It took a couple of minutes but I was able to see Mrs. Richard Bently Corkish.  I have never seen or remember seeing this writing  on the hanger before.   But I remember the writing from birthday cards I use to receive from my Grandma Aunt.  I stand corrected my grandfather was Alfred Bentley, so this belonged to my uncle's wife.  Thanks cousin Holly for the correction.

Why did Grandma Aunt Lucille write her name on her hanger?  Was it so it would be returned to her? Was it a tradition or a gift? 

I think my Dad wrote his name on it to find his uniform easier when it hung with other uniforms.

So how did this hanger make it all the way to Mesa, Arizona from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts?  This is what I think my Mom Annette Corkish used the hanger and took it with her to New York.  She married my Dad who used it.  Then I took it when I left home and moved many times until I arrived here. 

I like wood hangers so I won't have thrown it out.  I think I never noticed the writing before because I wouldn't have appreciated it then as much as I do now. 

Funny how things change as you mature.

One small step for me and my ancestors.