Mother's Day Gift Idea, 1922

My wish today is that all mothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, and all who have a maternal role take a little time for themselves on this Mother's Day. No housework!

The Kansas City Kansan, May 11, 1922
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A Valentine from 1933

I hope you're having a great Valentine's Day. Here's another greeting card from my grandmother's collection. She received it from my grandfather in 1933, a year before they married. I love these vintage cards!

Related Posts:

• Vintage Easter Card
• Happy Valentine's Day from 1928
• Christmas Greetings from 1930
• Vintage Anniversary Card

Another Friday the 13th

Happy Friday! It doesn't bother me when the 13th falls on a Friday, but many people are superstitious. Here's an article about this special day that was published in a Pennsylvania newspaper in 1922:

Indiana Evening Gazette (Indiana, Pennsylvania), October 13, 1922

    "Keep your fingers crossed--look out for ladders and spilled salts--and run if you see a black cat. For today is Friday the 13th, the star Jonah combination of them all. That is, if you are superstitious.
     But if you're inclined to scoff at the Friday jinx, here are a few arguments in your favor: Columbus' expedition which discovered America, set sail on Friday and landed on Friday; Richard Henry Lee introduced the Declaration of Independence on a Friday; Cornwallis surrendered on Friday.
     And to argue against the 13 superstition: There were thirteen original united states; there are 13 stripes in our flag, and, originally, it contained 13 stars; President Wilson considered 13 as his lucky number--and he was right about it--California's 13 electoral college votes re-elected him.
     As for Friday, the 13th: General Pershing was born on Friday, the 13th. The Yanks won at St. Mihiel on Friday, September 13, 1918.
     Where the Friday 13 idea came from is still in doubt. The most probable explanation is that the Crucifixion gave rise to the Friday part and the 13 part from the fact that the Hebrew words for 'death' and for 'thirteen' were identical."

You can find great articles by searching newspapers, especially if you find pieces that mention ancestors!

Related Post:  Superstitious Beliefs of Ancestors

A Merry Christmas in 1932

The Christmas card below was given to my grandmother in 1932 by my grandfather, two years before they married.

I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and hope that you make many genealogy discoveries in the new year!

Related Posts:

• Happy Anniversary to My Grandparents
• Vintage Easter Card
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Thanksgiving Ad, 1920

This vintage advertisement is from The Saturday Evening Post dated November 13, 1920. You can find images like this by searching the Internet Archive Book Images on Flickr.

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Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Halloween Costumes, 1916

If you're giving out candy this Halloween, you'll see children wearing lots of different costumes. The advertisement below from The Philadelphia Inquirer shows what kids might have worn a hundred years ago.

Advertisement for Snellenburgs store,
The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 25, 1916

Happy Halloween!

Memorial Day Thoughts, 1897

In honor of our upcoming Memorial Day, here are some excerpts from an article published in The Daily Republican (Monongahela, Pennsylvania) on Saturday, May 22, 1897:

     "Approaching Memorial Day reminds us of our duties to our beloved dead, not only to those whose last resting places may be under the cypress, in the swamp, on the hillside, in the valley, on coral reefs or in the ocean depths, but to those who have followed later and left vacant chairs in our homes.
     Nearly three thousand years ago ancient Greece, that nation of pioneers of the higher civilization of the world, paid tribute to its dead who died in their Country's cause. Let us then pay homage to our Comrades, our brothers who fell in the cause of liberty for all mankind; let us gather the brightest and fairest of Spring's most beautiful flowers, and with music and with speech eulogize those who dying left the priceless heritage of citizenship in free America.
     Let us so observe this day of ours--this day of America's people--that no reproach may come to ourselves and no indifference to the deeds of our noble dead."

This Memorial Day, take time to remember those who died for our freedom.

Happy Easter from 1933

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter weekend. Here's another greeting card that my grandfather gave to my grandmother, this one from 1933 when Easter Sunday fell on April 16th:

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• Happy Anniversary to My Grandparents
• Vintage Easter Card
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My Childhood Scrapbook

My son celebrated his 12th birthday this week. As he opened his cards, it reminded me of the wonderful scrapbook that my mom created and updated annually for me.

My parents raised 7 children, and my mom somehow made time to sew all of our clothes...and update a scrapbook for each of us! When we left home as young adults, she handed a book over to each of us. I haven't looked at mine for years, but I decided to get it out yesterday.

At the beginning of the scrapbook, she pasted both of our hospital bands and newspaper clippings from the day I was born. There also are pages of my baby cards, like this one:

The rest of the book has every card I received from age 1 to 13, which I can open to see who sent it to me. And she continued to include the news headlines, fashion, weather, and horoscope that appeared in print on my birthday. I love that she saw the value of newspapers! 

Because of this family tradition, I've saved and dated all of my son's cards...but I haven't put them in a scrapbook yet. I don't know how my mom did it all!

New Year Advertisement, 1916

This advertisement appeared in the January 1916 issue of St. Nicholas Magazine, which I found by searching the Internet Archive images via Flickr:

Happy New Year!

Portrait on a 1910 Christmas Postcard

Have you seen a portrait postcard like this? It's absolutely lovely, and I couldn't let it go when I saw it in an antique shop.

The recipient of the postcard, Mrs. Libbie T. Reeves, was a postmaster in Ohio for more than three decades. The sender is a little harder to identify. The postmark is 1910 from Downington, Ohio, in Meigs County. There were three women with the name Aura who were living in that county in 1910. The most likely match is Aura Mae Wilcox Wood. She was the closest to Libbie's age, and her husband Frank was a mail carrier.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and hope that you enjoy every moment with your family and friends!

Lighting the Christmas Candle, 1920

From the December 1920 issue of Farmer's Magazine, a Canadian publication, which can be found in the Internet Archive:

Lighting the Christmas Candle

A Tradition That Is Growing in the Present Day

An old tradition has it that "a lighted candle set in the window on Christmas Eve will guide the Babe of Bethlehem to your home, that he may bring you happiness." In some countries it has long been the custom so to mark the coming of Christmas, and John H. Stedman, of Rochester, N.Y., has originated a movement to spread it in this country, so says a brief article in the Literary Digest. In a pamphlet urging all to light the "Christ-candle" on Christmas Eve he says:

"The Irish will tell you that the Christ-candle was always lighted in their homes in the Emerald Isle as it has been for years and years in Norway and Sweden. Boston has had it for a decade. In Rochester 1916 was our third celebration--the first year a few houses shone--the second over a thousand--the third nearly every one; and it has spread to town, village, and country over a forty-mile radius. Many far-away homes, Wisconsin, Maine, California, Florida, kindled their candles from ours, and when you have lighted yours you will appreciate why."

Christmas Ad Featuring Family

As I take a little holiday break from blogging, I hope you enjoy this vintage advertisement for a 1921 phonograph that I found via Flickr. If this family had been real, they would have appeared in the 1920 census, and someone out there would be researching them today!

Christmas Shopping in 1913

With Christmas approaching, you're probably finishing your shopping for items to give to family and friends. I came across this great image from 1913 while searching the Internet Archive book images on Flickr. It makes me extra grateful for online shopping!

From Christian Herald, December 24, 1913
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Historical images on Flickr help to give us a view of our ancestors' lives, including the towns and cities where they lived and their holiday traditions.

Thanksgiving Greetings from 1909

The postmark date on this postcard from Wampum, Pennsylvania, is difficult to read, but I was able to figure it out from the message written:

"Did you know John Fosnaught's youngest boy was dead. Was buried today. Grover was his name. He had Typhoid Fever. Your cousin Ola"

The postcard recipient Minnie Beighley can be found in the 1900 census at the same address that is shown on the postcard. She was a dressmaker, living with her parents Joseph and Susan.

A search of Pennsylvania death certificates on Ancestry.com shows that 24-year-old Grover Fosnaught did die of typhoid fever on November 20, 1909, in Big Beaver, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. He was a single farmer, and his parents were John and Sarah Lambright Fosnaught. Grover was buried on November 22, 1909, in Wilson Cemetery.

This Thanksgiving, we should be thankful for every minute we have with our families and remember those we have lost.

Halloween and "Chalk Night"

Today is my husband's birthday, and we always tease him about being born on the day of pranks that my family and others in Pittsburgh call "Devil's Night." Apparently in the early 1900s, there were other names used to describe the nights when kids ran rampant in anticipation of Halloween. Some of these included "Chalk Night" and "Corn Night."

Here's a 1907 newspaper article from The Daily Notes, found on Newspapers.com, that explains these nights a little more:

"'Chalk night' is a rather new one and until last night had been but little observed here. However, many youngsters, liberally supplied with chalk, which perhaps the Canonsburg school board paid for, were out, and marks were left all over town. Many a pedestrian went home with the back of his overcoat or raincoat bearing a liberal supply of hieroglyphics which resembled, somewhat, the handwriting of Horace Greeley or a Chinese laundry check.
   
Tonight, 'corn night,' has long been associated with Hallowe'en, and the rattle of corn on window panes will have a familiar sound."

The Daily Notes (Canonsburg, Pa.),
October 30, 1907
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Vintage Anniversary Card

My paternal grandparents were married on this day in 1934 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My grandmother saved some of the greeting cards she received from my grandfather; this one is for their 2nd anniversary in 1936:

Related Posts:

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Stuttgart Beer Festival

If you have ancestors who lived in Stuttgart, Germany, at any time since 1818, they most likely attended the annual Stuttgart Beer Festival, or Cannstatter Volksfest. This year's event ends on October 11 after almost three weeks of festivities.

My family tree doesn't have a connection to Stuttgart (other than it's the name of the ship that brought my German great-grandmother Susanna Truar to America in 1885), but my husband loves Oktoberfest and beer...and I love that it's a historical event that's been held for almost 200 years.

Stuttgart is the largest city and state capital of Baden-Württemberg. The Cannstatter Volksfest is considered the second largest beer festival in the world, after Munich's Oktoberfest. King Wilhelm I and Queen Katharina created the festival in 1818 to celebrate the harvest, two years after Europe's worst famine of the 19th century. Abnormal weather, including snow in the summer, led to extreme food shortages. Thousands of Germans left their homes to escape the famine, going to North America or Russia. After surviving such suffering, the country definitely had something to celebrate.

The Cannstatter Volksfest started as a one-day event for the locals and has grown to attract about 4 million visitors every year from many different countries. While beer, food, rides and special events may attract people today, it's an event based on tradition. Plus, it's interesting to think that someone in your family tree may have been at the festival during his or her lifetime.

Do you have any German ancestors who lived in Stuttgart?

Another September Birthday: Mom

To celebrate my mom's birthday today, I'm posting this candid photo of her in a skirt and pearls, most likely playing basketball. She used to sew her own clothes, so she probably made this outfit.

It may seem like a strange choice, and I could have posted a posed shot. But I think this is a perfect example of how I view my mom: she's beautiful, creative, and a tomboy all rolled into one. She grew up with 3 brothers, so it's no surprise she was as tough as the boys.

Happy Birthday, Mom. You're one of a kind!


Related Post: Happy 80th Birthday, Dad

Labor Day Souvenir Program, 1894

In honor of Labor Day, here's an ad that appeared in the 1894 publication, Official Program and Souvenir, Labor Day, Grand Rapids, Mich.  Clearly, Mr. Livingston thought his image was important for attracting business to the hotel and, if this was my ancestor, I would be thrilled that he included it!

There are some interesting things to note about this souvenir program:

• There are a lot of ads that include images and not just text, so it's quite enjoyable to browse the pages and see the businesses from that time period;
• A few ads from other states appear, such as Illinois and Ohio, so if your ancestors owned a business, don't forget to search surrounding areas for ads since they may have placed them in nearby cities in other states; and
• Various photos of city and state leaders show how your ancestors may have looked at the time; bushy mustaches seem to have been extremely popular!

Another souvenir program from Michigan, Official Labor Day Souvenir, Owosso, Mich., printed this paragraph about Labor Day, 1895:

"Labor Day ... will probably be more extensively celebrated than ever before. Certainly the element of enjoyment will enter into the celebration in a greater degree than it did a year ago, when so many thousands were out of employment and so many other thousands were suffering from depression of spirits as a result of the failure of the big strike led by the American Railway Union. During the past few months the workingman's sky has been growing steadily brighter. Mills and factories that had shut down for an indefinite period when the financial panic swept over the country have been resuming operations one by one, until now the great majority of them are giving employment to the usual number of men, and wages are gradually getting back to a satisfactory basis. In addition to this there has been legislation in a number of states calculated to benefit organized labor in a greater or less degree; so it may reasonably be inferred that the workingmen are in a frame of mind to enjoy their annual holiday."

Enjoy the holiday!