Archive Pages

  • Once Popular Given Names

    May 21

    Just like clothing styles, hairstyles, homes, – things do go out of style over a period of time. This is true of given names. For both females and males, some names were super popular for different reasons to name a baby and today, that name is hardly used for a newborn. Yet, as you do your family tree, you may well come across these old-fash...

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  • All Ancestors Have a Story – Every Voice Matters

    May 19

    We work on our Family Tree and do try to learn as much as possible about each individual. The individuals on our trees, we identify with them, get to know them and try to piece together their stories, whether they are cut short by tragedy or they live to a ripe old age. These ancestors need a voice, you are that voice, it’s up to us to ensure th...

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  • Painting Your Nails

    May 17

    Everyone remembers when they first had fingernail polish on their nails. Some parents may have forbidden it, and others allowed it at an early age. What is your experience? The practice of adding color to one's nails could go back thousands of years. The Chinese used bold colors on their nails made out of beeswax, egg whites, gelatin and vegeta...

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  • Remembering Childhood Toys

    May 15

    There were many childhood toys produced for the 'Boomer Generation” of the late 1940s into the 1950s and early 1960s. Here are a few. See how many you remember or that your parents had as kids. The Magic 8 Ball – Since the 1950s, the Magic 8 Ball has been a consistent source of advice for all of life’s problems. The toy’s inventor, Albe...

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  • Things No Longer Done in a Kitchen

    May 13

    Cooking and preparing meals really has changed over the decades. You might recall some of these vintage things done in the kitchen that are just not done anymore. Baking food items, many times those items then had to cool. Today a cooling rack might be used but your ancestors usually had their baked goods cooled on the windowsill or on a table ...

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  • Clothing Styles of Our Ancestors

    May 11

    Everyone loves viewing vintage photos of our ancestors to not only see what they looked like but also their clothing styles. Some examples of fashion styles follow: Women wore a corset under their dress and around their wrist to pull in their wrist 1-2 inches. It was fashionable to have a silhouette figure of an hourglass. Men and ladies ...

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  • Playing Cards

    May 9

    Playing Cards are a global fun game whether it is Gin Rummy, Old Maid, War or a high bank poker game, cards have been popular for years. The cards are standard size and design now but they have changed over the years. It is estimated playing cards came about during the late 1300s and early 1400s in Europe. Yet similar early cards were in the 12...

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  • Mother’s Day

    May 7

    Anna Jarvis originated Mother's Day when, on May 12, 1907, she held a memorial service at her late mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers. Although Jarvis, who started Mother's Day as a liturgical ...

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  • Diseases and Vaccines of the 1920s

    May 5

    You might not have known but there were many diseases and illnesses during the 1920s that could have affected an ancestor of yours. One especially bad was the typhoid epidemic. It was affecting the population in areas in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California in 1927. Besides typhoid, children were hit with infantile paralysis (polio), men...

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  • Birth Certificates

    May 3

    Having official birth certificates is a fairly new concept. Years ago, writing in the date and name of a baby born to the family was done in the family Bible on a special page. As government forms and requirements increase an official document of one's birth became necessary. This was especially true as 'child labor' laws came about – proof t...

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