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Sample from the Idea File
Family Tree Book Idea #6
Photographing (and writing about) Family Keepsakes
Don’t your family heirlooms deserve to be included in your family tree book?
I love scanning or taking digital photos of family mementoes, then importing them into my genealogy software program 
for later inclusion in a family tree book.
Heirlooms are such precious additions to your book – especially for the family members who aren’t lucky enough to have the real things.
Some of the items I’ve photographed or scanned for my family book are a valentine sent to my dad sometime in the 1920s, one of my grandmother’s dance cards, as well as her 1910 report card.
Lately, though, I’ve been looking for items that depict scenes where my family lived.
Just today I was over on eBay, bidding on early 19th century postcard of St. Joseph, Missouri (my hometown), and Shelbyville, Indiana (where my gg-grandfather was married). For me, these kinds of items really bring a family history 
to life.
What else can you scan or photograph for your family tree book?
Military records, a wedding dress, v-mails, jewelry, china, silverware, perfume bottles, military decorations, or a family bible.
I’ve even photographed some of my grandmother’s hankies—why? because I can’t remember her ever being without one.
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