this christmas, my parents gave me the most special gift i have ever received: my great-great-great-grandmother L. Liconia’s scissors. my father thinks the scissors our oldest family heirloom, going back six generations to the mid-1800′s. they were passed down my great-great and great grandmothers, all women who lived in the adirondacks. my father described them as “working and industrious folk.”

my mother inherited them from my great-grandmother, Avis and this year, passed them to me. i’m certain there is nothing in my possession more meaningful to me than this small perfect pair of scissors. i like to take them out and think about how they were used, what clothing and quilts were cut and mended, how many hands held them. with the scissors, my father included a letter about them, saying that he hoped they will give me “a sense of tradition and family and the recognition of a rich heritage of strong and capable women.”

the scissors were made by the A. Field and Company, Criterion, Germany. i’d love to find out more about them. i also would love to start collecting antique scissors. wouldn’t that be lovely?