Archive Pages
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Traveling the Oregon Trail
May 1
Many of our ancestors traveled west, some just to the Indiana-Ohio territories, others to Missouri, to the Dakotas and some all the way to Oregon on the west coast. People traveling to Oregon came from many locations, the New England states, the southern states or areas of Tennessee and Kentucky, but took the established trail known as the 'Ore...
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Use of Snuff
Apr 29
When one looks at the beginnings of tobacco (1600s into 1700s) from the early Americas, it was grown and exported to Europe. But for years tobacco was not smoked as cigarettes. It was used in different ways, such as in a pipe or later a cigar but what was really popular was using tobacco as snuff. It was not just in European countries but location...
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Crayola Crayons
Apr 27
A favorite of youngsters during the 20th century and into the 21st century has been Crayola Crayons. The basic colors first started off for Crayola were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black. However, it did not remain just 8 colors, more varieties were added over the decades – some 120 different colors with creative names s...
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School Days of Long Ago
Apr 25
Many behaviors, activities and methods have changed in the classroom over the decades. The schooling your grandparents got is quite different, especially compared to elementary classes today. The classic light punishment for passing notes or talking out of turn was getting a casual hit with a ruler on the hand. Not done anymore. Helping arou...
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Beauty Myths
Apr 23
Our female ancestors had many routines as far as their beauty and upkeep they followed. You might remember your mother or grandmother doing some of these beauty tips. Brushing your hair before bedtime at least 100 times for shiny and healthy hair. As it turns out ladies do not need to brush their hair that much, especially if they have curly or...
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Your Ancestors Mail Service – The Pony Express
Apr 21
America was expanding as our ancestors started moving westward in the 1840s. The only major problem was getting goods and products along with mail to these western outposts. If things were sent from the east to the west using a steamship it would be months arriving and then additional time to get to the family living somewhere out west. There was ...
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Heirloom Jewelry Boxes
Apr 19
Most of our female ancestors had some form of a container or box to place their jewelry, even if they only had a couple of pieces. Many people in recent years have loved to collect some of the vintage jewelry boxes used years ago. Especially popular are vintage jewelry boxes; some are hand-carved, others musical, and occasionally you’ll find ...
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Apple Cider
Apr 17
For the early settlers of the 1600s and 1700s to America, there was not always clean safe water to drink. Many instead turned to beer, such as the Pilgrims but it was difficult to grow wheat, rye and barley for brewing the beer. Another early English settler's beverage was cider. With apples growing very well in the New England region of Americ...
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Easter Bunny
Apr 15
A song by Gene Autry became famous in 1950 titled “Peter Cottontail” reminded kids of the Easter Bunny and all the candy he could bring to each child. It started with civilizations who may well have celebrated the onset of warmer spring weather by hailing hares, eggs, or other emblems of fertility. First popular in Germany, the German immig...
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Easter Traditions
Apr 13
Family Easter traditions have varied over the decades. For most people today remember when they were youngsters, there were Easter egg hunts to the Easter baskets to a new outfits to wear to church to the big family dinner as their family traditions. A popular Easter item was the Chocolate Bunnies. The favorite thing for a kid was bite the ears...