When a parent or grandparent passes away I attempt to contact the descendants or talk with them in person to politely ask them to not throw any of their old pix and history away, and if I could go through those things before they divide them between other family members which then is taken out of town/state...or worse yet, thrown away or will eventually be thrown away.

Fortunately, a number of people appreciate our history and think of me when they find/discover old stuff such as the recent discovery by the Winter family who was doing some renovation in their home at 63 May Street.
Behind the Parlor Pocket Doors they found some amazing items and in this feature story you'll see what I was able to carefully flatten, press, and then scan, along with some digital restoration started on some of the items - more to be done later on when I find some extra time.

Tammy (Henkelman) Winter told me at the recent Rib/Soup contest at the Hausbarn I was covering, that they found these items and I could scan them.

Unfortunately, like a lot of old paper items, they are folded or crumpled, old and very brittle, and also were chewed on by paper eating insects and/or mice.
Fortunately, in the case of the items I wanted to scan, there was no damage from critters, but most of them were very brittle and cracked with some discoloration and fading.

So I had to carefully brush off the dust and then open them if folded, then place them on the concrete floor and press them under a book for a day or two.
There are some steps such as using heat and some steam to help iron out the wrinkles but I've never tried it and just don't have the extra time to do this.
So please click on the links on the left to see some of the items and how I was able to connect more history to them from what I already had in my database.