“Treasures” From The Past: My High School Wallet
by Jenners • 11/13/2011 • My Childhood • 66 Comments
My brother inherited our parents’ house after they passed away, and he has been steadily excavating through the piles of stuff they stored in the basement. (We’re finding out now that my parents apparently saved EVERYTHING.) He recently came across a “treasure trove” of my stuff and packed what would fit in a box and sent it to me. Although he called it “a big box of your crap,” I think a better word might be “a big box of blog fodder.” I thought it would be fun to write a series of posts about these “treasures” from the past. The first post featured my homemade Rolodex. This time out, let’s take a look at my wallet from high school.
Nothing says “money” and “class” like a dirty canvas wallet emblazoned with the incredible witty “Life Savings.” (I guess I missed the Velcro unicorn/rainbow wallets that seemed to be de rigueur among bloggers like Ti and Jill. ) I wonder what a person who had a wallet like this looked like?
Like this! Who carries an extremely unattractive photo of themselves in their own wallet? (Apparently me.) By the way, if you want to see this photo clearer, why not look at my Evolution of a Nerd post? It presents me in all my nerdy glory—from my cute beginnings to my inevitable descent into inescapable nerdom. What other photos did I carry in my wallet?
A snapshot of my dad, of course! (Also photos of my mom, brothers and cousins.) The best part of this photo was what I wrote on the back of it.
Awww…I always was a Daddy’s girl. Besides photos, I had a collection of cards for various organizations, including the Big Mac Club, a (vintage) Chick-Fil-A free sandwich card (never used), and my membership in a very important and prestigious organization:
My Girl Scout membership card! (By the way, if you missed it, here is a link to my Girl Scout badges post. I had them all, baby! And, if I may say so myself, the post is pretty funny.)
I’ve moved up in the world since I had this wallet (although not really all that much). My wallet is no longer canvas (it isn’t leather either though … it is a made of “ripstop nylon”) and I don’t carry my Girl Scout membership card anymore. (But maybe now that it is back in my possession, I’ll start carrying it again, even though it expired in 1981.)
Next up: the personal “flair” I wore to personalize my Catholic school uniform!
I love this post and the other you did on your Rolodex! I am so happy that your parents saved this stuff for you to rediscover and appreciate now.
I’m happy they saved it too. It makes me want to hang on to more of my son’s stuff so he can have the same pleasure rediscovering it later in life.
I am convinced we had the same eye doctor. Why oh why were giant glasses popular?
I’m convinced they only sold those types of eyeglasses. Why else would everyone be wearing them???
You really had me laughing with this post, but talk about tugging a heartstring with the words about your dad. That is so dear.
When I saw what I wrote on the back of the photo, it made me laugh and cry at the same time.
Now that is very cool! I wish I had saved stuff like that. I wore a Catholic school uniform from k-12grade. I do remember getting detention in H.S. for hemming my skirts too short
They didn’t give us many ways to rebel with those uniforms, did they? My skirts got too short just from wearing them year after year!!
Oh love it! I am pretty sure I carried a picture of myself in my wallet as a kid.
Thank you for making me feel better about carrying my own (unflattering) photo of myself!
You make me laugh! I love that you carried a picture of yourself in your wallet. Too awesome! Hahaha.
I”m not sure what that says about me … probably nothing good. ; )
I like how it’s not just Life Savings but “Life Savings.” Those parentheses make it that much better.
And this was way before the day of ironic “air quotes.”
I love these posts. Thanks for sharing some of your goodies. Do you remember the Preppy Bermuda Wood Handled Handbag?
I don’t recall that kind of handbag … me and preppy weren’t two words that often appeared together. Now if you want to talk about fanny packs, I”m your nerd!
Awesome wallet. It looks like maybe you and your dad had the exact same (size and style) glasses? ha! So cute what you wrote on the back of his picture! He did look handsome!
I think my dad and I “rocked” the same glasses. Nerdiness runs in my family.
First of all….how sweet it the message on the back of your Dad’s picture? I hope he knew how much you adored him. Secondly, who knew that being a Girl Scout made you a member of the “movement”? I didn’t….until I saw your card. You were quite a revolutionary, weren’t you?
Not many people know about the underground revolutionaries that are the Girl Scouts. Our secret activities have been responsible for several overseas coups and we’ve propped up several governments in the Middle East. HAHA!
I wish my parents had kept my stuff from when I was younger, would love to look back at some of it!! And some of not so much I guess!
It is a fine line between “fun” finds and “embarrassing, why didn’t they destroy this?” finds!
What a precious find! Love that shot of your dad and what you wrote about him… so moving.
It was a fun thing to find after all these years. And seeing my dad’s photo and what I wrote made me feel teary and silly at the same time.
Love your treasure, I was never a Girl guide or any of those organized girl things, my sisters were, they were older, and by the time my mother finished with their duties she gave up on me. You do look like a goody goody.
Oh no … you got the dreaded “burned out mom”! My youngest brother complained of that too! I was such a goody goody it isn’t even funny.
I love it, especially the caption on the back of your dad’s picture! Too funny!
The caption cracked me up too. I was SUCH a daddy’s girl.
This is great! You really do you look like your Dad!
Are you guys free this Friday? We have off from school and wanted to know if you wanted to get together for a playdate. We would love to see you guys and meet Romeo!
Glad you enjoyed it. We’re not off this Friday. I should have called you last week … he was off from Tuesday to Friday but it got kind of hectic. Guess who needed glasses? Yeah … it was quite an adjustment for him and he’s not too happy about it. Plus Scott was gone all week. I’m barely recovered. We’ll have to shoot for December I think.
I clicked over to that evolution post and good lord, I laughed my ass off. Sorry, but I did! Your comments are hilarious. My fave photo was the “clear glasses” pic. Only because I had some almost like it. Mine had more of a pinkish hue but they were nearly the same size.
I don’t really have any pics of me growing up besides what’s in my yearbooks. Good thing too because I was a trend setter…or thought I was. Think leg warmers, mini-skirts and sparkly purple headbands. Gah!
Trust me … you are meant to and encouraged to laugh at the nerd post … it is just chock full of horrors that you can only laugh at or you’ll cry. I’m glad you too had a pair of ginormous “subtle” glasses. Sadly, I never rocked leg warmers, mini skirts or a sparkly headband ever! Were you in the Go-Gos by chance?
I still have a wallet from when I was a teenager. I pull it out once every couple of years and just love going through all the items I still keep there. I have friends photos, an old drivers license and other items that always manage to bring a smile to my face.
I felt the same way going through mine. It is like visiting with your younger self. An old driver’s license is classic!!
I was brownie and junior scout — by the time a became a girl scout, I’d show up for meetings only when I knew a camping trip was being planned. Oh well — I had my own set of priorities. Love these posts!
I did SO MUCH with Girl Scouts. A lot of it depended on your troop leader I think. I had a really good one … my mom.
I LOVE this post. I think I’ll be a new loyal follower!
Welcome aboard!
You didn’t charge for this 3D posting.
I love these. I cannot wait for the next one. I can totally tell you were a girl scout – of course, by your love of Girl Scout cookies.
I hope you are saving some of these things of Little One, too.
I am saving things for my son now that I realize what fun they can be. And I learned my love of Girl Scout cookies the honest way … by selling them door to door!
Tee Hee! Thanks for the smile/smirk
I love that you carried your own photo in your wallet! And your dad was handsome and it is so sweet that you recognized it.
I guess I was a nerd and a narcissist!
You do look like your dad….look at that thick head of hair on both of you –lucky!
I think it was so cool that your parents saved all of this stuff. (We were a “tosser” family).
I’m looking forward to the Catholic school uniform next week as both of my children attended Catholic grammar schools, even though I went to public school LOL
The art of dressing up a Catholic school uniform is an art form! And I was becoming a tosser but getting this stuff is making me rethink that.
I hope your brother finds another box of cr-, um, treasures from your past — these posts are fantastic! So many of us are reading them saying “yeah, I was a nerd then (and now), too, but I don’t have the nerve to show it.” You rock, Jenners!
I stand up for nerds all over the world! Let your nerd flag fly!
You always crack me up! I shudder to think what my wallet would have looked like as a kid (I’ve either blocked this out of my memory or didn’t have one, I don’t know). What I think is really funny is that I almost posted a photo of my parents for Saturday snapshot this week (but then my hubby sent me his yale photos), and I had totally planned on mentioning how handsome my dad is.
Some things never change with us daddy’s girls I guess!
Awww…you were a daddy’s girl too! I hope you post that snapshot next week or sometime soon.
Classic! I love what you wrote on the back of your dad’s photo. So sweet! Can’t wait for the next installment. This is fun!
Glad others are enjoying this series … I was afraid it would be too weird!
I can’t even imagine what would be in my childhood wallet. Okay, I can — some skeeball tickets, maybe a token from the mini-golf course and pictures. There certainly wouldn’t be any money. I never had any of that! And that wallet is just so awesome. Is that the “hang in there” font?
I sincerely doubt that my wallet ever had any money in it. And the whole wallet just epitomizes class and sophistication don’t you think?
I love that you wrote on the back of your dad’s pictures – that’s the perfect touch.
It cracked me up when I saw that.
oh that is just great that you got your life savings back, now you can retire….. right??
Yes … I can retire for about … let’s see … zero days!
Your parents did save everything! You were hip and happen’ even back then! lol
My parents really did save everything!! It is mind-boggling.
I love that you had a photo of your dad in your wallet, and your written comment on the back. I don’t even remember having a wallet when I was young, so I can’t compare yours to mine, but I love that you are sharing bits and pieces of your past with us. I would love to have a retro wallet like this one for my daughter!
Well, I could sell this vintage wallet for your own daughter for a small fee. HAHA! I’m sure I had no money in it ever.
In the insanity of my week, I missed some posts! Ack! I need to go back and read them. I love this. My heart is warmed by the little Jenners, who was a good girl and loved her daddy.
I was a good little girl who loved her daddy. Seriously, I was a total goody goody.
Awesome post! That is quite a simple looking wallet you carried back then! I think I was one of those girls who carried the Hello Kitty plastic wallets. I’d much rather use the simple stuff these days since they go through so much wear and tear
I love seeing those old photos of you and your dad! I think I wore similar glasses when I was in the 6th grade too! Man, I can’t believe how large those frames use to be. I think I actually chose them that big because they hide freckles really well.
I’m actually quite jealous of your girl scout membership as well as all those badges you got. I was in the girl scouts for about a week until my mom realized that we had to go and sell cookies AND we had to have scout meetings on a regular basis. Suffice to say, she immediately pulled me out of the troupe. I guess I can’t blame her though since my parents sent us to a Catholic School where we had to sell candy bars every year (World’s Finest Chocolate, baby!) as well as participate in all these other school functions, bake sales AND go to church every Sunday.
Back in the day, I don’t think they made small eyeglass frames. Every pair I owned prior to the 2000s were HUGE and AWFUL! And I think your mom was totally justified in pulling you out of scouts — it sounds like a full-time job to be in a Catholic school!
You look just like your dad!!
I was a Camp Fire Girl when I was a kid, but my girls were Girl Scouts and I was the leader for both. I much prefer the GS program to CF and stayed a registered member long after they quit. In fact, I volunteered as our council’s cookie chairman until about two or three years ago. It was a convenient way to be on top of things during cookie sales, if you know what I mean!
Oh we hated the Camp Fire Girls … imposters!! (Totally kidding. I don’t anything about the CFGs.) I like your infiltration into the cookie sales … excellent maneuver that I totally admire!