In our family, serving up ice cream serves as a reminder of our ancestor’s Depression era business, the Davis Bookstore in Ocala, Florida. My grandpa, George L. A. Davis, featured a soda fountain in the front of his store to attract customers to come in and shop for school and office supplies. We still have the heavy-duty ice cream spade that my grandpa used to make milkshakes and sundaes.
Here’s a video that shares the story and gives a peek into his bookstore.
Click here to learn how you can make a video like this.
A kitchen utensil or tool could contain a story about your ancestor. Look around you to see what reminders of family history you might have.
Or, think about what your grandparents or great-grandparents did for a living and find their stories in their occupations. Whether they owned a business, worked on a farm, in a factory, practiced a trade or in a profession, there could be some images and information related to their work.
You can look for occupation-related images and information in city directories, local newspapers and the U. S. Federal census, including population and agricultural schedules. Also, try trade publications. I found an article about a relative who owned a music store from a publication for sheet music merchants. As always, look at home or with relatives for photographs and documents.
You can learn about great resources for finding historical images in the free eBooklet: No Pictures? No Problem! Click on the picture of the booklet or click this text to get a great guide to finding family history images.
Leave a Reply