My Generations
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"The outbreak of WW II meant that nobody was buying Japanese goods."
Transcript
"These objects link four generations of women. My mother bought this Noritake tea set in a sale. You see, the outbreak of World War Two meant that nobody was buying Japanese goods. It seems so fresh compared to my grandmother's orange and gold tea set, set up on her lace tablecloth.
The jewellery box was on my mother's dressing table and still smells of her bedroom. I would furtively finger the contents with such delight. The thank you letter was written to my grandmother after my tenth birthday. My brother and I shared the same birthday and as he was the younger, the thank you letters fell to me. I can feel my mother breathing down my neck dictating it. in contrast, the letter from my daughter is informal and spontaneous, and the spotted outfit is a memory of her childhood. She is the fourth generation. Now aged fifteen, she has little interest in these things. One day she will have."