Are You Related to Mary Yvonne Cadotte?

One of the activities I enjoy is going to antique stores and picking up various pieces of ephemera. Now I do this for a number of reasons, primarily to provide me with inspiration for articles and presentations. Occasionally it's because I need that type of document to take a photo of to illustrate an article.

Recently, one of my favorite places to find ephemera was selling stuff by the bag. Now this isn't the greatest way for me to get materials for articles since some of the ephemera could be items that have no genealogical or historical value. Because the bag was full and I couldn't see everything in the bag, I took a gamble. I just knew there was one item that looked promising.

On the back of this photo was this:

Don't we wish all family photos had this much detailed information? It's rare but it's wonderful that this person added so much. It really turns this from an orphan photo to one that we may find a relative for.

So what we know about Mary is this:

• She was born October 26th 1909
• She graduated Marine City High School in 1927 (There is a Marine City High School in Michigan)
• She was married twice
• First marriage to Everett Neal (October 22, 1928)  who died in a car accident in California
• After first marriage, she and Everett moved to California.
• Second marriage to Tom Herbert who had a son from his first wife. Son's name was Howard, born in 1942
• Mary had no children
• Photo is stamped November 15, 1944

Are you related to any of these families?

Ephemera Find: Grandma Belle's Children

I love ephemera and like my friends Denise over at the Family Curator and Caroline at 4YourFamilyStory, one of the things I look forward to is shopping for ephemera.

One of my more recent finds was a short family history.

I love the Foreword because it  is a good reminder to us all to write our family history, memories, and life story before it is too late.

Surnames found in this booklet include Rumsey, Harvey, Ford, Marvin, Clark, Cummings, Clemensen, McFarlane, McBeath, Carter, Heinze, Parker, Hoppe, Zingery, Ramon and Lehman. Of course, if this booklet is part of your family history I would be happy to send it to you. Just leave me a comment below.

Sometimes a Business Card is Much More than a Business Card

Are business cards genealogy documents in disguise? They can be. I know when a family member died a few years back, his collection of business cards led me to relatives and their phone numbers. They also served as a timeline for his own life and where he worked over the years.

Consider this business card I picked up at a vintage paper fair this year.

Not only is the man's name, address, phone number and occupation listed  but at the top right he provides the names of his three daughters. While men's business cards are not typically seen as a source for female ancestors, in this case it is.

Business cards can carry important information  While there isn't many places to find them currently, be on the lookout for business cards as home sources in the homes of other family members.

Ephemera, Genealogy Style

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

One of my favorite events every year is a vintage paper fair in Glendale (California). This year I was able to pick up many great finds that are genealogical in nature including postcards, photographs, membership documents and occupational documents, church records and more.

I will be featuring many of these documents in blog posts and articles as examples of what our ancestors left behind.

Interested in attending a vintage paper fair? Below are the dates for California. For those outside of California try Googling "vintage paper fair" and the name of your state.

Want to know more about ephemera and genealogy? I wrote this post, Ephemera: A Surprising Fertile Genealogical Resource  for GenealogyBank on ephemera, including images of pieces from my collection.