Shoeboxes

Does anyone else get excited about dusty old shoeboxes in your grandparent’s closets? For family researchers, these old boxes might hold a lot more than some really cool, or really out-of-style, vintage shoes. These boxes are often full of pictures, letters, ticket stubs, postcards, old appointment books, and programs of events attended. These items can be a valuable insight into the personal lives of our ancestors – they can flesh out the real human being. Sometimes it can get discouraging to feel that family members’ lives get reduced to a few facts on a family tree. Seek out those pieces of information that flesh them out into real people.

Most of us keep mementos from our lives. Scraps of times that are important to us. What people keep can be very telling. Typically, unless the item is important to us in some way, we don’t hold onto it for years. Why does your uncle have 20 ticket stubs from Gone With the Wind in his dresser drawer. Search for the stories and find your real family.