Last week I showed you two wonderful scrapbooks that were passed onto me from my mother-in-law. She got them from her mother-in-law. Some had articles from World War II and I can't believe I let them sit around without scanning them for so long! Well, another wonderful gift that I had received at the same time from my mother-in-law was a magnetic photo album filled with funeral cards. This time they were collected by her mother and passed on.
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| Some are incredibly delicate |
I did rescue the cards from the magnetic photo album they were originally in. It was touch and go there on a few cards as well, but they all remained in pretty good condition. They are now safely stored in an archival safe album with photo corners so they can be removed and both sides can be viewed.
I have over 200 memorial cards in that photo album. A treasure. I know that they were collected for a reason. Family members? Friends? Parishioners? Historical events? Most likely they are all of the above and I just need to figure out which ones are connected with my family. Regardless of which category they fall into, I'll eventually get each one posted.
One of the most unusual memorial cards I have is for President John F. Kennedy. No doubt all the Catholic churches handed them out when he died being our only Catholic President. Just as cards for Pope John Paul II were handed out after he passed. There were millions, I'm sure, but I still get a kick out of the card!
There was some damage done by the magnetic album, but it didn't destroy any of the cards. It did ruin some of the beautiful artwork on the cards though. I love looking at the religious artwork on the cards. I love seeing the cards written in German and trying to see how much I can make out in that old script. And I love the cards with pictures of the departed on them.
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| Damage done by the "glue" on magnetic photo albums |
Is it odd to like memorial cards? Perhaps no more than roaming cemeteries and courthouses. We genealogists are an odd bunch!
Enjoy tending those roots!
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| Gorgeous artwork. Who was he and why did he die in a military camp during WWI? The Great Flu? |
UPDATE: I just had to do some poking around and found several websites on
Camp Sherman, Ohio, one of which (aptly named
Ohio History Central) reports a large outbreak of the "Spanish Influenza" where many of the Soldiers died. The time period would be correct as well. I think I may be ordering a death certificate. Strangely enough don't have anyone in my tree that died of the Influenza Outbreak of 1918 (I hate calling it Spanish Influenza since that name is just so inaccurate). This would be the first person I've discovered that did succumb to the pandemic.
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| Gorgeous artwork |
