The Tale of a Table
Years ago, when I was a new young teacher, I bought a house — not a big one — but once I moved out of my shared house, I realized how little furniture I had. I had a couple of bamboo chairs from Mum and Dad, but what was really needed was a dining table.
So I scouted around the second-hand places and found a round dining table. Perfect, I thought. I like round tables and these days I play cards on it and nobody has to reach for the pack.
It was old, and a bit battered and the polish had been worn off in some places and replaced with a different finish, but it was well made and I knew one day I’d have the money to get it properly polished.
I soon realized the table could expand — there was a winding mechanism in it, but there were no leaves to put in, and no winder. No problem.
I bought some lengths of timber and cut them to size, and I learned to open and close the table using a wrench. It was a tedious process, but it worked. The boards also weren’t quite the same thickness as the rest of the table top, so the middle section had a slight dip, but I didn’t care. As long as I could fit six or eight people at the table, it was fine. And I generally use a table cloth for visitors anyway, so they don’t even notice. (That’s a Christmas lunch with some of my school-friends.)
One day I was preparing for a dinner with friends, and I was winding out the table, inch by slow inch using the wrench, when my friend Charlie popped in. He looked at what I was doing and I explained the process. Charlie is a wood turner.
He zoomed out to his truck and came back with a drill and a handful of little wooden plugs. To my bemusement he drilled holes in the sides of the boards that exactly matched the plugs and holes in the table opening. “There,” he said. “That’ll make the top even.”
I was delighted.
About a week later he dropped in again, and this time he gave me a proper winding tool that he’d made, with a wooden handle he’d turned. I was delighted. Now winding the table in and out was a breeze.
I still have that table and the boards and the winder, and I use them whenever I have more than 4 people to feed. The other day a friend lifted the table cloth and looked at the table — she was sitting where the boards were. She asked me about it, and I told her the story. (Below is the table, partly open with the boards and the winder — and a dog underneath.)
“But you could surely afford to get it polished and the leaves made to match,” she said. “Why on earth don’t you do it? Better still, buy a whole new dining set.” (Everything in her house is perfect and she’s forever replacing things with a newer version.)
I smiled. “Because this table has a history, and a story,” I said, “and I like the story.”
She rolled her eyes. She didn’t get it. But every time I fit those boards together and use Charlie’s lovely winder to expand my table, I smile to myself, remembering a time I was almost broke and a friend came to my rescue, without ever being asked.
And the table is well used and well-loved and fits my needs perfectly, and I don’t have to fuss over water or wine stains, as I would with something new. So the table and the winder stays..
Do you get it?
I totally get it and I’m glad you have stayed with your “first love” table.
Thanks, Connie, yes, I’m glad I kept it too.
I absolutely get it. I dislike new things. It takes me time to get used to them. I feel more comfortable with familiar things and I enjoy the memories (stories) that surround them.
So true, Dorothy. The various things I have are all old-ish and even when I buy something that’s new to me, it’s often not new. I bought an old wooden tea trolley not long after I bought this house, and it fits right in with the rest of my stuff.
I would like a table like that!!!
Thanks, Jean. It’s very useful. Being round, it’s perfect for four people playing cards and eating, which is my main regular visitor occasion. And the rest of the time, iot just looks nice, especially when I’ve just polished it with beeswax polish, so it smells lovely as well.
Absolutely! Especially now that my late husband moved to heaven and I have lovely memories of tables he made, old furniture from when we were broke that he fixed. Bought a lot of vintage furniture at auctions and yard sales. People still ask me where I got thingsand if I would consider selling. No way.. every time I use my table or look at my telephone stand, I smile and have amazing memories.
Thanks, Nan. How lovely that you still have so many memory-sparking items that you shared with your late husband. I’ve always loved getting used things, and also fixing up things, rather than shopping in a modern showroom — even when I wasn’t trying to save money. There are some items I found in among bits of dusty junk, and even today, years later, they make me smile. And why would you want to sell such precious-to-you things?
I love that story and the table. My mom and dad have a long rectangular table they bought 50+ years ago when a tea room restaurant went out of business. It had to be refinished after 30+ years of use. It had to fit 8 people constantly since there were 7 of us in the family. It too is expandable and has two leaves that pop up/down. No winder needed. Just pull the ends of the table toward you, pop up the leaf and then push it all back together. So depending on the number of people you pop up… Read more »
Thanks, Vicki. That expandable table sounds brilliant — I’ve seen others that do that, too. And your family gatherings would have sparked many memories, I’m sure.
Love your table. I have my mother’s 60 year old table.
Thanks, Joan. It’s lovely that you have your mother’s old table. I’m sure it has lots of stories.
What a wonderful story, Anne! Why would you want to get rid of a table that has so much story in it?!!!
Exactly, Mary Jo — I thinbk some people just don’t think in terms of story, and so don’t get why things can be special.
That’s so lovely. We let our quite old expandable table go recently to purchase one that expands enough for our expanded family. I still miss it, it was old and gracious. Maybe over time the new one will have the same stories to tell. What I did do, as we all spill drinks and such (and one grandson accidentally set fire to a table cloth during an exciting birthday candle moment), was I purchased a nice, thick waterproof table topper. The material came from Spotlight, and I purchased enough to cover the small and larger shapes of the table –… Read more »
Mavina, I’m sure it was hard to let your lovely old table go, but what a joy to be able to fit the entire extended family around the new one. The waterproof topper is a good idea. I’ve been thinking of getting something similar for the table on the deck, as it gets very dusty and occasionally damp, even though it’s under cover. All the best for 2026.
I get it. I am fortunate my late father enjoyed “antiquing” in Pennsylvania, USA where we lived at the time. A table very much like yours landed in our laps 60 years ago and had been with me until one month ago when it went to a grandchild. Many other items from that time are still with me. Great stories and great memories.
Thanks, Melissa. I’m so glad your lovely table went to a grandchild. When we cleared out Mum and Dad’s home, the grandchildren didn’t want anything, and I was the *only* one of the children who wanted any of their lovely old things. I feel blessed to be able to look around me and see various items that are not only beautiful, but make me smile and remember. They’re part of my history.
I totally get it! What a wonderful story. When I was growing up we also had a round table that slid open and had leaves. It is still a fond memory, not only of eating at it but playing games around it. Now I have a truly ugly table my husband made years ago that is heavy and awkward but we keep and love because of the memories we made around it.
We also have some other items that have similar back stories. The stories are much more important that the thing.
Thank you Karri — I’m so glad you get it too. Anbd I also have a couple of clunky pieces that somebody made for me, and I’ll be keeping those forever, too. And this table — I’m typing on it now— really does have a lot of lovely happy memories associated with it. And each time I polish it I smile.
Just want to say I loved your story! Nowadays too many people throw out items just because they are not perfect. I am sure when I am gone my daughter will look at my items and wonder why I kept things. But part of what makes things worth keeping are not only the reasons why we have them but the stories that make them unique even if they are not perfect. None of us are perfect either. We all have a little worn wood and story to us.
Thanks, Katharine. I don’t understand why people would rather buy cheap modern furniture than use something old and sturdy and beautiful — and with a story, and memories. A lot of those cheap pieces only last for a few years. But I also know people who prefer to buy new things every few years. We’re all different, I guess.