Treasure Chest Thursday – Aunt Bertha’s Tray

I have had this hammered aluminum tray for a number of years. Aunt Jane, my Dad’s sister gave it to me, along with a story.

Aunt Jane said that Bertha went to some classes and made the tray. That is an interesting story, I wish I knew if it was true. There is no mark or emblem of any kind on the tray, which is just over twenty-one inches in diameter.

. Bertha Elizabeth Kaiser was born 21 February 1893 in Cadillac, Wexford, Michigan and died there on 11 June 1981. She was my grandmother’s half sister, the daughter of William Kaiser and his second wife, Delia Conway. Bertha married Henry Cornwell Ballou on 10 August 1916 and the couple lived in Cadillac and Detroit.

When I knew Aunt Bertha she was a widow, and in my child’s eye, a typical older lady. When Papa and I decided to marry, she had us to lunch one day. At that time, she would have been seventy-six years old. No wonder I can’t imagine her taking a class and hammering out an aluminum tray!

I wonder if the B stood for Ballou, or for Bertha?