Ever wonder what life was like back in the old days? What was your family up to back then?
Ancestry has some handy tools that let you take a quick peek into the past to uncover old family photos, precious documents, and other family history gems. Here are 6 wild things you can find out about your family’s past with Ancestry.
Find Out What Your Grandparents Looked Like as Teens
Was your grandfather one of the original hipsters? Did grandma look just like you when she was in school? With Ancestry’s Yearbooks Collection you can easily find out.
You might even discover one of your family members was classmates with Tom Hanks (check out his yearbook pic above) – or one of the many celebrities whose yearbook photos are on Ancestry.
Uncover What the Toys Your Ancestors Played With Were Like
The Sears catalogue was part of the lives of American consumers from the late 1800s to the 1990s, offering everything from sewing machines to bikes and even cars.
Ancestry.com has a Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogue collection, featuring catalogues from 1896 to 1993, that provides a unique glimpse into every one of those 97 years.
You can do a search for “dolls” for example in 1915 and see the dolls your grandmother or great-grandmother might have played with in 1915 – and how much they cost back then.
Discover Your Family’s Military Records
Throughout our country’s history, men and women have served in our armed forces to protect our country. If you have any family members who served in the military, you could find out some fascinating details about their lives in Ancestry’s collection of Draft, Enlistment, and Service records.
If you found a World War II draft card for your grandfather or great-grandfather, for instance, you could uncover a number of cool things about him like:
- where he lived when he was drafted
- how old he was at the time of the draft
- what he did for a living before the war
Learn More About Death in Your Family (dark, we know – but read on)
Okay, this one might seem a little bit dark, but bear with us for a moment. If you search Ancestry’s death records, you might find out not only cause of death but also details about their lives such as what their parents’ names were and how old they were when they died.
Of course sometimes there’s even more to the story than the documents tell. Jack Daniel, of Jack Daniel’s whisky fame, for example officially died from “blood poisoning from operation,” (as you can see below).
But the cause of Jack Daniel’s death legend-shrouded death was reputedly brought on by a fit of frustration in which he kicked his safe and injured his toe. The resulting infection is what ultimately may have claimed his life.
Uncover the Meaning of Your Family’s Last Name
Do you know what your last name means? It could tell you, for example, what your ancestors traditionally did for a living. Or tell you something about the place they were from.
There are for instance 7 types of English surnames. And German surnames tell you something either about your forefathers’ occupation, their physical characteristics, their region of origin or their first names.
Some last names even hold clues at to whether you could be of royal blood.
See What Types of Status Updates Your Ancestors “Posted”
FOMO is not an invention of the 21st century. Long before social media, travelers updated their friends on their fabulous travels by sending postcards.
You can take a colorful trip into the past, browsing Ancestry’s fabulous collection of U.S. historical postcards dating back as early as 1893!
Bonus: You can also search postcards collections from the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, and Sweden for postcards of waterfalls, castles, and some of your favorite European landmarks.
Millions of Records at Your Fingertips
Whether you’ve got time to spare on a lazy Sunday afternoon or just a few moments on a #WaybackWednesday, you can easily access millions of cool records on Ancestry.com.
The perfect historic treasure is just a click away. And you can start your free trial today.