When we think of heritage photos, we think of weathered black-and-whites of stiffly posed ancestors wearing high collars, layers of lace and hair neatly combed or tightly braided. However, as the years pass, you will learn that heritage is in the eye of the beholder.
At a recent family wedding in Rochester, New York, the photographer hired by my niece told me that they place a higher value on pictures taken in black-and-white. Not only do they last longer than color pictures, they also look sharper and more dramatic.
If you were able to keep the original vintage photo, make a duplicate copy by scanning it, so you can crop the duplicate for your layout. Protect the heritage photo by using photo corners.
Store pages in an archival album, which includes PVC-free plastic page protectors. The page protectors will shield acid migration to photos.
Use acid-fee, lignin-free papers in your album. Cardstocks that have been matted will also act as a barrier between photos and migrating acids.
Write with resin-coated pigment inks, which are longer lasting than most dye-based inks.
Treat paper memorabilia with a de-acidification spray called Archival Mist to make them acid-resistant. Archival Mist is manufactured by EK Success Ltd. Visit its website at www.eksuccess.com.
Dig and discover new ways to document your past.
One popular scrapbook suggestion is to make a family tree page. Interview the senior members of the family to get names and photos of your ancestors. While photos may show family resemblances, there are other distinct ways to show similarities throughout generations.
A scrapbooker suggested making a page of three generations of signatures. A signature is said to be your fingerprint, and since many family members are no longer living, their signatures are the next closest thing. She collected signatures from old checks, business and personal letters, cards and other signed documents. She reduced or enlarged the signatures for uniformity.
Cooking recipes, marriage licenses, birth certificates, news clippings can also be a good source of preserving your roots.
Don’t throw away those old passports. The ones I managed to keep gave me moments of combined disdain and hilarity because of the old hairstyles that were in vogue then. The most outrageous hairdo I had was the half-foot high, heavily teased bird’s nest and the stiff-with-spray net fly-away flipped ends. I just wanted to die after seeing them!
If you’ve inherited a favorite recipe, explain its history. You can also write about mealtime traditions. In the movie Sea Biscuit, the family gathered around the meal, with the father testing his children’s quick response to questions on math, history and music. The young boy kept those childhood memories with him and this later inspired him to aim for the best no matter what circumstance he found himself in.
Write about your family kitchen. I can still remember looking up from the double sink at a black box with a set of numbers from 1 to 10. Every time the buzzer sounded, a number flapped down, meaning someone from that specified numbered location needed assistance. I would rush up to my sister’s or brother’s bedroom leaving behind whatever kitchen task was assigned me to surprise them with something from the hot stove. I always got a special treat for the effort.
Write a typical menu. Include the native word for cultural dishes, its origin and ingredients. It was amazing to discover that our dinuguan has a similar recipe used in Germany for their blood sausages.
Describe a typical Sunday or any special day. My father designated Friday as "good time" day for the entire family. He would come home early to treat us to a Spanish, Filipino or Chinese dinner, followed by shopping for records, books and magazines, and finally, a movie. He required full attendance – no absences allowed.
Note down useful family cooking tips. My friend from Italy, Silvana, wrote me about her Nonna (grandma) Rosa’s sure-fire technique to cooking pasta, "Nonna always says that pasta is ready when a noodle thrown against a wall sticks."
Write down the names of the people in the picture because nameless subjects in an old album become meaningless to the person who inherits it. Your goal is to ensure that future generations – third, fourth and beyond – will be able to see themselves in the faces of their ancestors. Remember that an image becomes meaningful only when we know who we are seeing. If we can’t connect to that image, we feel no need to keep that photograph.
The words, "Lola Trining and me" written below a photo leaves a lot to guesswork. Conversely, "Letty with Lola Trining Palma Jacinto" is loaded with information. The second label identifies the faces in the photos and the inclusion of Lola’s maiden name tells future generations that they are descended from the Palma line.
Add your personal notes, or journal your scrapbook. Committing your thoughts to paper is like speaking from the past, a gesture that would surely be appreciated in years to come. Speak from the heart.
Here is a sample of a mother journaling about her five-year old son:
"Just Sometimes!
"Just sometimes I love it when you sleep. It gives me a break from your constant toddler demands and chitter chatter about the fish, the turtle, the beetles and your Quick as a Cricket books.
"Just sometimes I love to contemplate your deep, even breathing that reminds me of your precious life and how thankful I am to have you
"Just sometimes, I want to pick you up in my arms and hold you tight because you are my baby and in some ways I want you to remain a toddler forever.
"But sometimes I can’t wait to see where you will go, what you will do and who you will become – just sometimes."
Lastly, everybody swears by the herbal tablet gingko biloba in aiding memory recall. That’s what I call a re-gained memory. Next time, there won’t be any need for that. All you need to do is turn the pages of your scrapbook to travel back in time and be simply enthralled.