Photos are not the only thing you should identify for those who may come after you. Personal effects that you have collected or have inherited also need identification. Sometimes it’s possible to put labels on these items and sometimes it is not.
Consider making an electronic picture book of your items, artifacts, etc. with a description of what you know about the item, where you got it, its original purpose, etc. The illustration is a “rooster cookie jar,” but jewelry, furniture, and other items can be included in such a compilation. The “picture book” could be a great place to include longer stories than one can put on a notecard, the back of an item, etc. Electronic copies of the book can be shared with those who may have a need for it.
And if nothing else, at least you have a picture of each item. Making a picture book of your family history effects can be a great genealogy-related activity for those times when you need a change of pace.
Identification of family history items is always a good idea.
3 Responses
For those of us who are older (I’m 82) it can be an expansion of social history that we remember from childhood but our relatives who are thirty years younger never experienced. Recently my oldest niece & I emptied a storage unit that my sister had abandoned. It was filled with things that had belonged to my mother & grandmother. One of the things we found was a bedspread that had been crocheted by my grandmother. None of my nieces at ages 42 to 52 had ever seen or heard of a crocheted bedspread. They were amazed that when I was a child, I was often taken into a bedroom in a house my family was visiting by the hostess to look at and admire her crocheted bedspread put over a separate dark cranberry colored or navy bedspread so the complexity of the pattern was easy to admire. None of my nieces had ever seen or heard of a crocheted bedspread, but in checking with friends my own age, I found this visit to see the bedspread when visiting some house was a common occurrence. It was a little like wearing fancy clothes on Sunday; it was something that wasn’t used every day but only for special occasions like having visitors. I think that no one uses crocheted bedspreads now; they may be seen in museums.
My grandmother’s crochet bedspread is hanging on a quilt rack made by my father. I know the history of it but I suspect the rest of my family does not. You have created one more project that I may or may not get done in this lifetime!
great idea – will add to my miles-long to-do list …