This weeks theme is Old Fashioned

Since this weeks theme is Old Fashioned I thought I’d show you what I call the ‘ol Milk Canister although I have a feeling it never held milk but rather coal or some other form of fuel according to the markings on the bottom of it.

When my mother passed away a few years ago I was assigned the task of inventorying the houses contents and then my brothers and sister and I picked out the items that we wanted. I won’t say that the divvying of items went perfectly but it went ok.

I remember this old canister from my childhood. My parents never used it. It was always stored in the basement. Our house was built in the early 40’s and until sometime in the 50’s it was heated by coal! I believe that this canister might have held some of the coal used to heat the house. I’ll have to look at the markings again to verify what it says but as I said it appears to have something to do with a fuel company.

My second oldest brother turned out to have major allergies and I guess the coal particles in the air aggravated his allergies so I believe my parents were one of the first in our neighborhood to change over to oil heating. I think oil was the main heating source for homes (in Canada) in the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s. They eventually changed over to gas heating when the gas lines were being laid on our street.

The canister was an off white color when I brought it home. Some of the paint was beginning to peel off but over all the canister was in good shape. I thought it would make a great garden ornament so I painted it blue.

I should bring it in, in the winter and I usually do, but it was left outside this year! I guess it’s not too late to bring it indoors huh?