Stories in a cup

I have a collection of antique engraved silver baby cups that is great fuel for the writer's imagination.

I love thinking about those babies. Where were they born? Did they live in a big house in the country or a tiny apartment in the city? What were their families like?

Who did those babies grow up to become?

And what the heck were those special cups doing on eBay in the first place?

I have one that's engraved: George Scoville Higginbotham with a date of 12/25/02. A little Google research revealed that baby George was actually born on September 6, 1902, so I guess that cup was a Christmas gift. He died at the age of 13 in a hotel in Atlanta.

I have one engraved to Edward Mason Williams from Grandpa; 11/9/1871 (my birthday. Well, not 1871, but you know what I mean....). What did Edward do for a living? How many children did he have?

I saw one on eBay once that had FIVE generations engraved on it. Now why in the world was that precious cup not being kept in the family? A great story in there somewhere, I'm sure. (By the way, that one went for big bucks.)

But here's my favorite:


[It says: Unky Hoffy to his little shrimp; Helen Johnston; June 30, '09]

Don't you wonder about that Unky Hoffy? I'm sure I would have liked him - calling himself Unky and all like that. And "his little shrimp?" He MUST have been sweet. But then, maybe he was a scoundrel. The family cad. The black sheep of the family. But Helen must have loved him. Or then again, maybe not....

So many stories in those little cups.