What's in a Name?

William

Gustaf

Hattie

Mattie

Carl

Aunt Fronie

As you walk around YesterNook, you will most likely notice these names and several others.  In fact, starting this week, you'll find them prominently displayed on lovely trays that have been repurposed into nameplates.  You'll find one in every room of the store.  The names have been there since the store opened, the new signs will make them more noticeable.  They'll also fit in with the decor and theme of the store.  Look around and above the door in each room and you will see them.

So what do these names mean?  Why do the rooms have names?

There are actually several answers to that question.  One is actually quite practical.  When the store opened, we wanted to have a way that would identify each area that would make it easier to direct customers to the items they wanted.  Names were used because they're easier to remember than booth numbers.

Other reasons are more philosophical in nature.  The names used are the names of deceased family members of YesterNook owner Patti Cape and her husband Doug.  In a store that pays homage to items from other eras that still have use and worth, it only makes sense to also pay homage to persons from the past who have been a part of the lives of Patti and her family.  Another family tie comes from the trays used to make the signs, which were all lettered by Patti's daughter-in-law, Sarah.

Finally, when you consider that the building used to be a funeral home, the connection with relatives who have passed on kind of makes sense.  Many customers come in and tell us about relatives who had their funeral service in the building.  It kind of connects people with loved ones from the past, just as the room names do for Patti.

As you come up the steps from the front door, if you walk past the register into the room that is straight ahead of you, you'll come into a large room that is divided into three sections.  Carl is on the far left, Edith is on the right, and Jessie Edward is straight ahead.

Carl and Edith were the parents of Patti's father, Wayne.  According to Patti, Carl was a woodcrafter.  "He could make anything."  He also owned almost "every tool imaginable."  Edith lived to the age of 94.  Jessie Edward died when Patti was a baby.  He was married to Hattie, who was Patti's great-grandmother.  (More on her in a minute.)

If you turn around and come out of this room and turn into the little hallway with the showcases on your left, you'll see the entrance to the front rooms, which are named for Arch (the big room) and Virginia (the smaller one with the windows).  They were Doug's grandparents, who were very influential in both Doug and Patti's lives.  Patti recalls that she and Doug spent a lot of time with them.  They were both "very" German and "super people."  At one time, Arch owned a filling station in the Iroquois area.

Across from the register, you'll find Hattie and Mattie, large rooms named for Patti's great-grandmothers.  Patti says that Hattie was the first collector she ever knew.  "She had cases and cases of salt and pepper shakers."  She died when Patti was 12, but the shaker collection made an impression.

Also in this room is a shelf named for Aunt Fronie.  Interestingly, Patti had an Aunt Fronie on both sides of her family, but never knew either of them.  One day a customer came into the store, saw the "Aunt Fronie" sign and told Patti that he had  an Aunt Fronie on both sides of his family too!

If you go to the back door of the store, you'll see the room called Shirley Ann.  She was Doug's mom, who passed away not long ago, after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.  Nearby, just before the back staircase, you'll find a tiny room called "Clem's Closet."  Clem was the longtime companion to Dolly, Doug's grandmother.  (More on her in a minute.)

Going up the front stairs, if you turn to your immediate right at the top of the stairs, you'll come into a large room called Mary Margaret.  Go through the arch on the other side of the room and you'll be in William, a smaller space by the windows.  These were the parents of Patti's mother, Patricia.  Patti says they were her favorite grandparents, because she spent a lot of time at their house.  She says that Mary Margaret "liked everything and collected everything, but none of it was worth much."  She describes her grandmother as the "sweetest lady."  She passed away in 1996.  It's kind of fitting that Patti chose this name for the upstairs room that she uses as a booth for her items.  William was also a carpenter and worked at a brickyard.

Leaving these rooms and turning towards the hall, if you take the first door in the hall to your right, you will be in Dolly, named for Doug's grandmother, who is known in family lore for her bold personality.  Walk through this room and you will come into a large room called Mayme's Ballroom.

Mayme was Patti's mother's grandmother and she says that the entire family has nothing but praise for her.  "They all say she was a saint on earth."  She died very young, in her forties, from pneumonia.  Patti chose this big room, which holds several vendors, to name for her as a tribute to the affection the family has for her memory.

Coming back out in the hall, the second door on the right leads to Amelia. You can walk through that room into Maggie, and from there into Gustaf, and finally to Dora off that.  Gustaf was Virginia's dad.  They have pictures of him coming over from Germany to this country.  Amelia was his wife.  Dora was Doug's great- grandmother.  Maggie was Patti's mother's aunt.  She tried to join a convent at 16, but was turned down because she was hard of hearing.  Patti remembers her using an ear horn and "always carrying a rosary."  She was known in the family for being very spiritual.

If you come out of Gustaf, you will be at the end of the hall.  Across the hall is Claude.  You can pass through there into Alice, and from there into Edna, which leads right back to the hall, by the front stairs.  Claude was Patti's great-uncle.  She remembers him as a great story-teller.  Edna and Alice were Mary Margaret's sisters.  Neither of them ever had children.

Head downstairs from the front door, and you will be in Lizzie's Lounge.  This room is named for Patti's paternal great-great aunt.

Finally, outside the back door, behind the store is Godfrey's Garage, the rough room.  It is named for Dr Godfrey Russman, the original owner of the building, which was built in 1915.  It became a mortuary in 1935.  Eventually, he moved across the street into the house with the stone front, and his son took over the building.

We hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit more about the stories behind the names you see around you.  We think it contributes to the unique atmosphere of the building, something that customers have often commented on.  Patti notes that "people love the peace that they find here."  Indeed, some of them come just for the sense of calmness that you can feel throughout the building.  Maybe this blog will inspire you to come down and take a "walking tour" of the store!  You'd be more than welcome.