Skippy Lids
The wisdom teeth of my grandpa's forgotten workshop.
Back in the 1950s, my grandpa nailed the lids of Skippy jars to the floor joists in his unfinished basement workshop. He’d fill the empty jars with nails and screws and other small carpentry tools, then twist them into the ceiling for safekeeping.
I spent much of my childhood with him in that workshop. I remember him encouraging me to brute saw through dense 2x4’s with all my 7-year-old might.
Today, the jars are long gone. The lids are still there, in that worn concrete room. They’re fused with the house, like forgotten wisdom teeth.
I’m considering taking them down.
Someone bought his house. It’s no longer my grandpa’s, nor my mom’s, and will never be mine. But I can take this piece of my heavy heirloom with me.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, what you voted for, and why. Don’t be shy!
Thanks for reading, see you next time! <3 E
I mean, I would take them with the wood and all! It would be cool to be able to reuse it all somehow. Salvaging it and repurposing feels like it would be a wonderful way to honor your grandpa and carry him with you. Even just a block of that wood would do. But if that’s unreasonable, then yeah, I would want to take off the Skippy lids and bring them with me if I were in your shoes. The lids themselves are special artifacts—I’d keep them.
However, another part of me thinks it’s worth preserving the integrity of his home by leaving them there. But I would say if you’re going to do that to consider taking a Sharpie and writing the story behind them on the wood. That way the new owners will have a sense of their meaning and then can better decide if they want to leave them or remove them. It would be magical if they left them there, and if you conveyed why they’re special they might.
Generally, I think honoring the story around such artifacts is worth doing. There's a charm and a history to things like this that are worth spending time with and preserving. Other people might not feel that appreciation or desire. That may mean holding onto them yourself.
Even if you're unsure of what you would do with them exactly, that's something you may figure out later. If the thought of not having them in the next chapter of your life doesn't feel right, then I think you have your answer.
I didn’t realize people did this, now I want to nail a lid to my ceiling but I do not think my apartment complex would be please. I say keep them! What a lovely little souvenir.