internet detective

[holli]

So, I own these paintings.



I bought them at a thrift store a few years ago, and I've always really liked them. Lately I've been curious about the painter, Elizabeth Mize Jones, so I did a little digging. I managed to turn up a phone number for what I thought was her son, in the same town in Kansas where she's buried.

Well, I just got off the phone with him. He is apparently 77 years old, still lives in Kansas, and was very surprised and pleased to hear from me. We both wondered how the paintings had made their way from Kansas to Maryland. His mother died in 1953, so my paintings are probably from the forties.

He told me that in addition to painting, she made hooked rugs that won prizes at the Kansas state fair. He also told me that she turned his grandfather's Spanish-American War uniform into a hooked rug, and he'd never quite gotten over it. I'm sending him pictures of the paintings as soon as I can get good color printouts made.

I love knowing the history of my stuff.

Comments

[ambyr]

That's so cool! I'm glad you were able to track him down. (I would never have had the courage to make that phone call.)

[holli]

I was pretty nervous about calling. But I've done it once before, with a suitcase a of vintage photos, so I knew if I had the right guy he'd probably be happy to hear from me.

[brownbetty]

That's really really cool.
(Also, man. That hooked rug! I bet it's nice sturdy wool, though.)

[holli]

Yeah, I flinched a little when he told me about the hooked rug.

[coyotegestalt]

Ooh, that's awesome! It's nice to be able to track down the pasts of things.

That poor uniform, though....

[crantz]

That's pretty cool her stuff's still making the rounds after all these years. Also, them paintings are pretty. Nice decorative choice.

[untonuggan]

that is awesome!

[brownbetty]

Hey, did you notice that your Strange Horizons story got metafiltered? People are saying nice things about it.

[holli]

...whoa! Thank you for pointing that out.