Home Sources: 50th Wedding Anniversary Invitation

Home Sources are so important to beginning a genealogical project.  It's always important to see what kinds of documents, photographs and objects we or our family may have lying around that may provide clues.  The thing about home sources is that not everyone in the family sees them as valuable so they may get thrown away, given to a thrift store or sold at a yard sale.

The other thing about home sources is that a family member may own some but not understand the importance of that item to genealogical research. Asking family members if they own something from Grandma may not be enough to uncover these gems.  More detailed questions like if they own any letters, diaries, correspondence, cards, etc..might help sort out the types of items you are looking for.

To provide some ideas about what types of home sources might be useful I am going to be posting images of various home sources.

The following is a 50th wedding anniversary announcement for Mr and Mrs. G. F. Munson, presumably from Corpus Christi, Texas (but not necessarily).  They married in 1895.  This announcement provides the year of the announcement, the year of marriage and a location.(I should note that this not my family so if it is your family, please contact me.)

This announcement is precisely the kind of small card that family members may keep as a memento of an event they went to.  Do you have one of these announcements for an anniversary celebration that you went to?  Scan it, attach it to your genealogy software or to a narrative you are writing about your family history.  Don't forget to add photos of the event or a scanned image of a newspaper clipping. You may want to put the original announcement in an archival sheet protector to keep it safe.