Ye olde Junque drawer...

A friend shared this on Facebook.... and, naturally, it brought some memories along with it....

If northern Illinois is "Midwest" then we fit the description.... in the northwest suburbs of Chicago....  and there was a junk drawer.  The junk drawer I remember came after the candy drawer..... yes the candy drawer.  I was one picky 7 year old.  I only liked about 4 items out of a very full bag of Trick or Treat candy that particular Halloween.  

We lived for about a year, in a Cape Cod style home, on the "S" curve of a highway, in a town in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. So, having moved from a long time home, my father had thrown away EVERYTHING ,.... according to my mom.  I don't recall, I was too young and distracted by childish things....  Suffice to say that there was more storage space than we needed in that Cape Cod. So, there was an unused drawer in the kitchen, and that was the receptacle into which my father dumped the trick or treat candy that I did not want to eat.  

Imagine the delight of my little friends, when my dad would give them a "tour" of the main floor of the house, and with relish open that candy drawer and tell them that they could each have one piece of candy. He would smile and wink, and promise not to tell their parents....  

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Now, the junk drawer that I remember was in the next house we lived in --for the next couple of decades.  It was in the kitchen, and it contained many useful items.  Rubber bands, a couple of screwdrivers, a pliers, pencils, rubber bands (off the daily newspaper), paper clips, coins, some screws, candles (in case the electricity went out), chains from overhead light fixtures,... oh so many things.... more than I can recall at the moment.  I may even still have a few of those items, packed together in a box someplace.....

That junk drawer was located in the counter, next to the refrigerator, and below where the telephone was installed.  A wall phone, yes in those days.... a standard wall phone with a 6 foot spiraled cord.  And in front of the drawer was a step-stool chair.

Exactly like this, only ours was red vinyl.

I would sit on that chair, talking to a friend on the phone, and I would organize the junk drawer.  That is why I remember it so well.  It occupied my time whilst talking about nothing, as twelve year old girls tended to do rather often.  I never made it look perfect, and I never wanted to,.... I was really taking inventory, in case I ever needed to use any of the items in that drawer.

Is the junk drawer a region specific thing?  I don't know... it never occured to me. I always thought that everyone in the world had a junk drawer. 

Did you have a junk drawer?  Do you still have a junk drawer?  I actually have more than one junk drawer, but that is a condition of living alone, and of trying to keep certain things where they are more easily found.

...come to think of it, my parents actually had more than one junk drawer.... certain things, like birthday candles, and road maps were kept in the drawer of a small hutch in our dining room.

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"Ye Old Junque Drawer".... my dad would like that phraseology. 

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