Iloko Antiques: Mementos of My Childhood in La Union, Philippines

I adore old furnitures and artifacts, even when I was younger. It reminds people of their heritage and origins. My personal love for the rustic style stems from my parents’ adorning our properties with local antiques. Fancy earthen pots that have been ignored by others in the past are considered rare finds that my parents buy from sidewalk stores in different parts of the region.

I remember almost 25 years ago how I’d wake up to the sounds of the local kalesa going around the town to perform various errands of transporting goods from the barrios to the town markets. The old kalesa guy would shout “hiiii-yaaahhh!!!” as he nears the intersection where our house is located. I’ve always been entertained by that laughing shout, and have mimicked it more than once, but now I realize that it had a purpose, too: to warn passing motorists (usually tricycles) that a kalesa is about to cross the intersection.

My younger sister put up her own restaurant to compliment our parents’ catering business. I was delighted that she adorned her store with the same ilokano style that makes a person feel instantly at home. Some of the furnishings she displayed in Halo Halo De Iloko (the restobar) are the things that our grandparents have kept in their attics since world war II ended. The house where the store is located is an antique in itself. It has been there since the war and has been through a lot (like our family).

This photo shows the old flat irons that our grandmothers used to press clothes. I have witnessed this in action when I was about 5-6 years old. They used charcoals to generate heat, and banana leaves were used as platforms for resting the irons. I’ve always thought that the smell of partly “cooked” banana leaves on my school uniforms during my kindergarten was very fragrant.

Sculptures of old iloko icons remind me of the stories weaved by our elders and passed down to the more recent generations. Reminiscences of farm life, and how happy they were when the harvest is bountiful. Stories of bravery, of heroism and of happiness in the simple life. Legends like that of Lam-ang, which by the way, still never fails to amaze me.

The capiz windows that adorn old houses in Ilokandia always reminds me of home. This doorway at Halo Halo de Iloko shows 2 capiz windows that were salvaged from debris of an old rundown construction in the region. They find a new home in out store, where young generations may still admire them.

One icon of the Ilokanos is Manang Biday, the young ilokana maiden who is being wooed by admirers at night time with songs. Several depictions of Manang Biday involved an elderly woman smoking a rolled up tobacco leaf. Tobacco is virtually the only plant that thrives in the Ilokos region because of the aridity of the land, and is indeed a part of the Ilokano culture. One such photograph of an Ilokana smoking a huge joint of hand-rolled tobacco is displayed in our store.

With all these artifacts, you might be getting curious as to what my favorite Ilokano artifact is. My answer is … log sofas!!! This is a photo of the chairs we have been using in our gardens.

The wood in these benches are made from local trees and planks of old railways that our parents salvaged for displaying. I know that they last through time because they have always looked the same. Admittedly, lacquer was added for that glossy sheen, but sit on them and they feel so cool and comfortable. I have read multitudes of books and have wrtten so many poems just sitting on these benches, usually under a mango tree during summer time.