Scrapbooks and Genealogy

Genealogy tip for today: Scrapbooks and other Saved Ephemera 

 

 It’s interesting to me, to see how people combine 2 or more loves they have to create something new. Scrapbooking has seen a big surge in interest since the 90’s, even though some form of scrapbooking has been around for a long time. Scrapbooking and genealogy bring two loves together and result in some beautiful albums. 

There are two ways we could go with this topic – making your own family history scrapbook, or searching for Grandma’s scrapbook to see what goodies are hidden there! 

We have this book in our library.

For making your own there are a lot of products ‘out there’ that you can use to make a beautiful scrapbook for your grandchildren and descendants to come. Hobby stores offer albums, pages, embellishments and more to make beautiful albums. You can even upload your digital pictures to websites that will make/print out a book for you with professional bindings. 

You will need to scan in your pictures to a computer and put them in a digital format if you use the website versions. For creating your own album by hand, you should make copies of all your pictures and keep the originals stored away. If you want to make multiple albums, say one for each child, then you will need to make that many copies of each picture.

Large pictures – wall hanging size – can be tricky. You may want to take these to a professional to make copies (and possible reduce the size) of your original. If you want to preserve these for future generations this would be the way to go. It will be worth it in the long run.

Now, about Grandma’s scrapbooks… If you are fortunate enough to have albums that have been passed down through the family, these can be a treasure trove. You may or may not find pertinent information like names and important dates. But you probably will be able to find out what your family was interested in, (like houseplants), events that they attended (like a concert), and important things that happened in their lives, (like a graduation or wedding). All kinds of saved ephemera can add to that person’s life – a napkin from a special event, a poster or ticket from that concert, or a membership card to the Garden Club. All of these help us to round out who our people are and bring those people more to life.

Even if you never write that definitive book on your family, you will at least have that extra tidbit of information that brings an ancestor to life; make them more real than dates and places. I know I was excited when I found where my great-great- grandfather had bought a pound of nails. He was a carpenter, so this was evidence of day to day life for him in that occupation.

 

Today in History

 

1540 The Society of Jesus, a religious order under Ignatius Loyola, is approved by the Pope.

1669 The island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea falls to the Ottoman Turks after a 21-year siege. 

1791 Jews in France are granted French citizenship.

1864 Confederate guerrilla Bloody Bill Anderson and his henchmen, including a teenage Jesse James, massacre 20 unarmed Union soldiers at Centralia, Missouri. The event becomes known as the Centralia Massacre.

1869 Wild Bill Hickok, sheriff of Hays City, Kan., shoots down Samuel Strawhim, a drunken teamster causing trouble.

1916 Constance of Greece declares war on Bulgaria.

1918 President Woodrow Wilson opens his fourth Liberty Loan campaign to support men and machines for World War I.

1920 Eight Chicago White Sox players are charged with fixing the 1919 World Series.

1939 Germany occupies Warsaw as Poland falls to Germany and the Soviet Union.

1942 Australian forces defeat the Japanese on New Guinea in the South Pacific.

1944 Thousands of British troops are killed as German forces rebuff their massive effort to capture the Arnhem Bridge across the Rhine River in Holland.

1950 U.S. Army and Marine troops liberate Seoul, South Korea.

1956 The U.S. Air Force Bell X-2, the world's fastest and highest-flying plane, crashes, killing the test pilot.

 1964 The Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, issues its report, stating its conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole gunman.

1979 US Congress approves Department of Education as the 13th agency in the US Cabinet.

1983 Sukhumi massacre: Abkhaz separatist forces and their allies commit widespread atrocities against the civilian population in the USSR state of Georgia.

1996 The Taliban capture Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul.

2003 European Space Agency launches SMART-1 satellite to orbit the moon.

2007 NASA launches Dawn probe to explore and study the two larges objects of the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres.

2008 Shai Shigang becomes the first Chinese to walk in space; he was part of the Shenzhou 7 crew.



cartoon by Tom Nast

 

  

Birthdays today

 

1722 Samuel Adams, American revolutionary patriot and statesman, helped to organize the Boston Tea Party.

1840 Alfred T. Mahan, navy admiral who wrote The Influence of Seapower on History and other books that encouraged world leaders to build larger navies.

1840 Thomas Nast, caricaturist, creator of the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant.

1862 Louis Botha, commander-in-chief of the Boar Army against the British and first president of South Africa.

1898 Vincent Youmans, songwriter best known for musical scores such as No, No Nanette and Flying Down to Rio.

1917 Louis Auchincloss, novelist (Portrait in Brownstone, The Embezzler).

1924 Bud Powell, jazz pianist.

1927 Red Rodney, trumpeter.

1945 Stephanie Pogue, artist and art professor.

1947 Meat Loaf, singer, songwriter (Bat Out of Hell album trilogy), actor (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fight Club).

1948 Robin "The Jackal" Jackson, Northern Ireland loyalist, commander of Ulster Volunteer Force (1975-1990s); allegedly responsible for a large number of deaths, perhaps more than 100.

1958 Shaun Cassidy, singer ("Da Doo Ron Ron"), actor, TV producer / creator, screenwriter (American Gothic).

1965 Peter MacKay, lawyer, politician; last leader of Progressive Conservative Party of Canada before it merged with the Canadian Alliance in 1953 to form the Conservative Party of Canada.

 

Word for the Day

paregmenon

PRONUNCIATION:

(puh-REG-muh-non) 

MEANING:

noun: The juxtaposition of words that have the same roots. Examples: sense and sensibility, a manly man, the texture of textile.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek paregmenon, from paragein (to bring side by side). Earliest documented use: 1577.

USAGE:

"The Songs poets also used paregmenon for more than two words in succession ("Climbed those high hills,/ Ridged hills and higher heights").
William McNaughton; The Book of Songs; Twayne Publishers; 1971.

 

Quote for the Day

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)

 

Today’s Recipe
Home Cooking

Scrumptious Apple Pie

 

Pastry

2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening

4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Filling

1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (8 medium)

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1. In medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

2. Gather pastry into a ball. Divide in half; shape into 2 flattened rounds on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

3. Heat oven to 425°F. With floured rolling pin, roll one pastry round into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.

4. In large bowl, mix sugar, 1/4 cup flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Stir in apples until well mixed. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over filling. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of plate.

5. Roll other round of pastry into 10-inch round. Fold into fourths and cut slits so steam can escape. Unfold top pastry over filling; trim overhanging edge 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute as desired. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.

6. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Serve warm if desired.

Makes 8 servings

 

 

ENJOY!

 

Now You Know!