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November 5, 2005
Exploring my past in an old cardboard box
With John in Georgia, I thought I'd do some things here at home that I don't seem to have time for when he is here.
I have had an old cardboard box stuffed full of pictures and papers since my mom died in 1986. She had it before me. I recently realized that I ought to start scanning and saving those pictures before they are lost forever, so I sat down and started going through them all.
There are pictures of my sister and I when we were little, pictures of Mom when she was little, and pictures of other relatives, too.
I also found First Communion Holy Cards going back to 1904. For those of you who are not Catholic, I should probably explain about that tradition.
When a child makes his or her First Holy Communion, it was traditional for each child to give out Holy Cards to all the other children making their First Communion. Assorted relatives, nuns and priests would also present children with Holy Cards for other occasions, like winning a spelling bee, etc.
Anyway, these are absolutely incredibly beautiful cards - pierced paper, gilt, some in German (my grandmother's maiden name was Mangold - I think her parents might have been immigrants - don't know for sure.)
Now, I need to figure out what to do with them. I think they would look lovely matted and framed - matted on a dark background to bring out the pierced paper.
Any suggestions?
Posted by Beth at November 5, 2005 7:04 PM
Comments
whatever you do, use archive paper, acid-free at a minimum. Frame behind glass and hang them out of the sunlight.
What a wonderful treasure!
Posted by: caltechgirl at November 5, 2005 9:02 PM
My Omi's maiden name was Marz - and she never emigrated here, but her Daughter did - with my Daddy :-)
John's one great guy, Beth - we had a blast at the battlefield and the museum today. I tried to get him to spend the night here, but he's headed back to Columbus tonight.
Looking forward to meeting you too - maybe the Texas blogmeet in April?
- D
Posted by: Donnie at November 5, 2005 9:28 PM
Caltechgirl has it right. Also, look into using specially-treated glass that blocks UV Light (those are the rays that do the damage).
Posted by: FbL at November 6, 2005 9:00 AM