Saturday, April 28, 2018

Memories of Places You have Traveled

What places have you or your family traveled? Are there any special memories from visiting certain places? What do you remember?

 A lot of people take a yearly vacation to some place special. You may have pictures or even videos of the places you have visited. Pictures say a lot about your trips, but there are stories to go along with the pictures. Why did you go there? Was it as nice as you thought it would be? Who went with you? Did you spend a few hours or a few days there? Every trip has a story behind it. Write about your trips to add to your story.

 I grew up on a farm. We didn't travel very much. I don't think we ever went on a trip more than two or three hours from home. Usually we only went for the day, since my dad had to get someone to take care of the animals while we were gone. Most of our trips were to Salt Lake City since it was the closest big city. My parents may have needed to do some shopping there, but they usually planned something fun for us to do. We went to the zoo, the amusement park, the state capitol, Pioneer Village, and frequently Temple Square.

 My husband planned trips for our family to see some of the beautiful places around us. He took us to Yellowstone on a trip up to see his parents. He took us to see fireworks on the Fourth of July of the lake at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He took us to see the Giant Redwoods and to see Yosemite National Park.

 We didn't take photos of many of the places we went. Remembering cameras and film and paying for developing the film was often not done when we traveled. Today with digital cameras and smartphone cameras you usually have a camera with you. The cost of developing film is gone. You just have to have memory to store the photos. You can choose to print the photos or you can keep them in a digital format and view them whenever you choose. Many photos of places are available online now. Seeing those photos can bring back memories. You can purchase photos or you may even find some photos available for your use without charge. Even if you don't have photos of you or your family at a certain place, you still have the memories that you can write down to preserve your story.

 Take time to write about the places you have gone and your memories of those places and add to your story.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Hair Styles

How did your ancestor wear their hair?

Hair styles change throughout the years.  How your ancestor wore their hair probably was affected by the hair styles at that time.  Both of my grandmothers wore their hair in a bun for their wedding pictures.  My maternal grandmother continued to wear her hair long and put it up in a bun throughout her life.  When I attended college, I was able to visit with her on my lunch break.  Some days she asked me to comb her hair and put it up in a bun since she suffered from arthritis in her hands which made it difficult for her to do.  My paternal grandmother had shorter hair in the photos of her later years of life.  The choice to have shorter hair may have had to do with the fact she had nine children.

Men's hair length and style plus whether they had mustaches or beards are also affected by the hairstyles of the time.  My paternal grandfather had a short hair and no facial hair in the photos I had of him.  Recently I found a photo of him posted online and in a book with a mustache.  At first I didn't think it could be him when I found it online.  Then when I found it in a book also, I realized it was him even though he looked different to me.

Of course the color of hair can be important in identifying someone.  Black and white photos can make it difficult to tell the color of hair.  You can tell the difference between blonde and black with some shades of brown in-between, but you can't tell red hair from brown or white hair from blonde.  When recording information about a black and white photo, it would be good to indicate the color of hair if you know what color it was.  You may also want to record whether hair coloring was used to change the natural color of the hair.

You may want to record how a certain hair style was obtained.  Did it require sleeping on curlers?  Was it braided?  Was it teased to create a bouffant or beehive hair style?  Was the hair naturally curly or was it permed?

Part of your own story could include how you wore your hair and why you wore it that way.  Did you have long hair because you wanted it, or did your mother or father not want your hair to be cut?  Record why you decided to change your hair style.  Did you try to wear your hair differently or were you content to wear your hair the same way each day?  Did it take a long time to fix your hair or did you just comb it and go?

Add more to your ancestor's story or to your own story with a description of the hair.