"You will hardly believe, when I say it, but I distinctly remember as a very small boy, going to a house in this same primitive town of Westford where we were invited to dinner. The only drinking vessel on the table was one of the quart Staffordshire mugs (would that I had that mug in my collection today) which was filled with water, milk or cider, I have really forgotten which, and passed around the table at the demand of any thirsty one. The family consisted of a man and his wife, an ancient grandmother, and several children with not too clean faces. I couldn't refuse the mug when urged upon me and selecting a place on the brim at the right of the handle, I drank, when one of the children exclaimed, 'See, mar! He's got granny's place.' Of course that practice in this instance was possibly nearly a century out of period." One of the standard examples of American humor is the picture of the _Mayflower_ loaded to the cross-trees with the chairs, chests and cradles that devout New Englanders now own and claim were brought over on that memorable voyage. It is so easy to attribute age and romantic history to a treasured family relic that it has become possible for a museum in the city of New York to exhibit a punch bowl of Staffordshire ware, as a veritable relic of the _Mayflower_. The bowl could not possibly have been made before 1780-1790. There is another piece of Staffordshire treasured in the china closet of a New England family, which the owner is certain was formerly possessed by an ancestress who died years before the Revolution. Well authenticated family tradition vouches for the fact which cannot be disputed. Yet, the observer will soon discover a steamboat pictured on one side of the pitcher and what is more interesting, the stars and stripes are flying from the masthead and the canton of the flag contains fifteen stars. It is undoubtedly true that some pieces of furniture were brought over from England by the first settlers and the tradition connected with such pieces can be authenticated by an examination of the chair or chest showing that it is made of English and not American oak. While most family possessions, for convenience in shipment, came over in bales or bundles, covered with canvas in the true European manner, a custom followed by emigrants of a later day, yet, many articles of fine clothing and the treasured belongings of the better-equipped families came over neatly stowed in chests and cupboards and some of those chests have survived.