Several years ago, when I was writing a blog post about my great-great-grandfather’s tin shop, I really wanted to find a photo of the small town where he had his first shop. The best photo that I found actually came from an old postcard from 1908. It was for sale for a few dollars on eBay, so I bought it! Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for old postcards that depict places where my ancestors lived. It is fascinating to imagine my relatives strolling down those old dirt roads or visiting those long-gone businesses.
In the past several years, my postcard collection has grown to about 900 postcards. Most of these postcards are from Northern and Central Illinois, where many branches of my family are from, but there are also other categories that relate to my interests, such as historic trees, libraries, and steam engines. I decided that these unique cards were too good to keep all to myself, so I scanned the oldest ones and organized them into an online collection. See the whole collection here!
Please enjoy a gallery of a few of my favorites!
Happy Thanksgiving! Today is the day for family, food and traditions! At our feast today, we made pies with my Nana’s pie crust, Papa’s pumpkin pie filling, my Mom’s Cranberry Apple pie filling, and a ten-year-old cousin’s mincemeat recipes. We also had my aunt’s casseroles, traditional cranberry relish and my sister-in-law’s baked macaroni. It all came together into a delicious feast!
The Family History Librarian 