Our Old Bookcase
A few years ago, my husband Alvin and I were playing cards with his friends and their wives. One card player told me that he had no use for history! I asked him if he remembered the people who made their own liquor during times of prohibition. He told stories, until his friends were telling stories and “Revenuer” stories and everyone was laughing so hard. This friend said, “Someone should write down these stories!” I then asked him if he understood that the stories they were telling were a part of history! We all laughed together. My husband’s friends will remember that evening playing cards.
What do you want to remember about your ancestors? I watch the museum guests as they look at the family histories of their past relatives. Many readers simply scan quickly across the names and dates, but they take the time to look at the photographs and to read the stories. The adults grin as they read the antics of their grandparents when they were teenagers. They laugh at the mishaps of their grandmother being chased by a billy goat! They raise their eyebrows when they read about their grandfather and uncles setting the haymow on fire, while smoking the cigarettes which they had rolled. They laugh at the wedding story of their grandmother picking up the wrong suitcase when leaving on their honey moon. Many of them chuckle at the tales of cousins taking out the old “Model T” and going to the barn dances and then parking on a dark lane in the country. Anyone doing family history should visit the local libraries and see the broad scope of family histories available. If anyone tells me that he thinks history is boring, I believe that he should read his own family history.
Some readers do not want funny stories; they want academic facts which can be documented, rather than told as “hearsay.” Some readers want facts of why, when and where their ancestors lived and worked and raised a family. When previous generations’ families got together for holidays, they repeated old stories about their younger days and laughed together, while the young people listened. Stories of tipping outhouses and “belling newlyweds” were common stories. It was a time of bonding among family members. Over the holidays, you should take the time to contact your relatives and ask them to share their memories with you. You might learn that your older relatives led exciting lives and the older generation might learn that you younger people are leading exciting lives with the electronic world. I want to share with you an example of one author who crosses several generations and several countries and several Mercer County villages, with his detailed and academic research, as well as his telling the humorous human interest stories of his past. Former St. Henry resident, who now lives in Cincinnati, has not forgotten his hometown.
Staying home over the holidays may be a blessing in disguise to you as you review the old family albums and listen to the old stories. For all of you Mercer County citizens and all of your friends and relatives who enjoy good stories of the past, you are each historians of the first class. Thank you for being there. By the way, remember to write down your stories told over the holidays before you forget them.