Jewelry
is small, fraught with memories and family connections, passed down through
generations, and usually really, really
pretty.
It behooves every
genealogist to have a sit-down with each of their relatives, especially the
women, and take an annotated stroll through their baubles.
My jewelry box
includes a wedding band engraved with my grandparent's names and wedding date,
and a ring given to my mother on her 16th birthday (along with the story about
how it was presented, in a set of 16 nested boxes, the smallest a ring box, and
the largest the size of a toilet paper carton).
I also have my great grandmother's embroidery scissors, the only item
remaining from her dresser set, and the
ID bracelet my father had engraved with his name and military serial
number. (Old school; now the military
uses Social Security numbers as ID's.) I
wear the rings from time to time, and use the scissors when I sew.
As part of your
recording, be sure to include items that were added to the collection by the
person doing the talking. I often wear
ring with overlapping leaves, chosen as a celebration of my work in genealogy. It's not a particularly valuable piece of
jewelry, but the story makes it valuable to my family's history. Another favorite was bought on holiday with
husband Bob.
And of course, you
are going to take good clear pictures of the jewelry, and LOCKSS the resultant record --
:-)
Till next time,
Liz
(L is for LOCKSS... stay tuned)
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2018
begins with an "ABC-darium," a walk through the alphabet expanding
into short comments on matters genealogical. Published on Tuesday and
some Fridays, a letter may be visited more than once before moving
on.
©
2018, SE Ross