The Pocket Watch Part 3

What it meant was, that the pocket watch could not have belonged to anyone before 1928.

In 1928 my dad was four, and Sam was seven. Their dad was forty five. So who was most likely to have owned the pocket watch? Their dad.

But their dad's name was Joseph.

Their dad's brothers? No, their names were Bob and Tom.

Bob and Tom?

Bob and Tom. I have it on the authority of the family tree.

So this may be The Story of the Pocket Watch:

It belonged to Joseph Craig. He was a grown up man. He did not get his name engraved inside. He died in 1947. Not one of the five older daughters wanted the pocket watch. Or perhaps they were not offered it. Their mother gave the pocket watch to Sam. Sam was twenty six at the time.

Sam had his name engraved inside. The war was just over, and you never knew when you might need to have your name in something.

He had it engraved 'Samuel Craig'. The long curling ends of the initial letters S and C are decorated with tiny leaves, in a fashion which looks not quite professional, yet not too amateurish. Perhaps he even did it himself. The final G of Craig is insanely long and ends in a tiny aeroplane, which has completed a circular movement underneath his name.

Sam was very pleased with his pocket watch. It reminded him of his dad, and of himself. He resolved to keep it for ever.

to be continued