The Wonderful Shapes of Backdoor Keys

 The title is from Dr. Seuss. I have a 16-month-old so there is a lot of Seuss happening. In clearing out my grandmother's house, among other doodads and treasures my mother has a jewelry-sized box of keys. Of course they are generally not labelled, but one was! And I have to say, I never expected something like a plain old house key to be beautiful. 

My mom recognized the address as my grandparent's very first house together. 5416 34th st sw, Seattle. You can see the teeny house, who knows if it is the same as it looked back then, but I imagine it can't have been changed too much, since currently any old house seems to just get knocked down and replaced with an ugly cube. Ah yes, useful but not pretty, just like keys. Russwin hardware is an American company (still exists!) located in Connecticut, and is a portmanteau of the founders Russel and Earwin's names. 

Here's the back. My grandfather lived here before he married my grandmother. His first wife passed from breast cancer and left him two little girls to care for (with the help of a housekeeper), so it was important to marry again. They met through the Mountaineers organization. My aunt told me it wasn't just convenience, they had a connection, and sometimes stayed up all night talking at her mother's house. I have lots of stories like this (and maybe even some love letters!) for another time.