I’m finishing up sorting the envelopes by year. I have a pile of “unclassifiables”, things that aren’t dated. A couple of telegrams, some cards that must have been given in-person because they’re not addressed (or one that is addressed but not stamped), two envelopes from 1942, and one from 1941 and 1947 (this one addressed to my uncle Colin or “Master” Colin). There’s a pile of statements from Superior Dairies, dates ranging from September to November 1953. My mother would have been one year old. There’s a stack of what I will call “notices” from  what was possibly a company called “Newcomer Service” and it looks like it was a company that assembled potential clients for businesses. The notices all begin with “NEW RESIDENT”, list an approximate moving date, name, and what business the person is in. The slips say on them “Here Is Another Potential Customer”. Ah how quaint, marketing in the days before personal information was sold like french fries. I came across an envelope from the Treasury Department (they still look the same! some things never change, like government…but that’s a whole ‘nother topic). Inside of the envelope was another envelope, sticking up from the top. It was addressed to my aunt Bonnie from an “R. Campbell”. A letter from my great grandmother to her granddaughter, my aunt. She was sending her money for a dress. In 1965, from the postmark.

Now that everything is sorted by year, I am going to find a way to sort by month. A trip to Target yesterday yielded a filing box and hopefully enough folders in which to organize the letters.

Categories: Family History Project