[Blessings2You]

It's one thing to accept that my children and granddaughter are NOT going to want duplicates, similars, blurries and negatives of every photo ever taken of every relative and ancestor back 'til when Moses was still in the bullrushes.

It's another thing to stand over a wastebasket with pictures of Mom and Dad in my hand.

[kicker]

Ah, I save them all. Let the next-of-kin make decisions when I'm gone. My brother (gone now 10 years from cancer) called me keeper of the flame. Let them decide what they want and don't want.

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by kicker

Ah, I save them all. Let the next-of-kin make decisions

Save the pictures. It will be hard for you to know which pictures your children or grandchildren may or may not want...let them make the decision.

[SallyC]

I have all the pictures saved by my Grandmother, her two Old maid Sisters, some of MIL's, of peeps I never knew and my DMother's.

I went through and tossed a bunch of Grandma's. my 2 great Aunts and Mom's. I already gave a collection box of photos I took and saved to DD and she has an historical Family album, she made, in the 3rd grade, with a few of our Ancesters in there.

Everything is neatly packed away in cubby holes. she will have fun going thru and tossing, after I'm gone.

ALL DONE..

[karousel]

Originally Posted by Blessings2You

It's another thing to stand over a wastebasket with pictures of Mom and Dad in my hand.

Please tell me they were duplicates of ones they already have and cherish.

My mother and aunts all have the same pictures of all the same family members. So when my Aunt Lucy passed away it took forever for all of us to go through the pictures. The duplicates were not tossed, just put in a box that my mother still has. Guess my sisters and I will be the recipients of duplicate pictures -- pictures we all already have. If my mother gave me those pictures today, you can bet I would never toss them in front of her, even if they were duplicates of ones I already had.

My one sister is the keeper of family pictures. She has every aunt, uncle, grandparent, etc., on her staircase wall. My other sister is the one who has keepsakes from some of those relatives. I'm the keeper of the family tree and all the juicy secrets all written down in a book.

[Dejibo]

do everyone a favor, write on the back of the photo. Please tell us who it is, and approx what year. Cant remember the year, just say mom and dad in the 60s! I hated when I inheireted the box of photos from my dad, and 1/2 had nothing on the back. it took me a decade to figure out that my grandmother was a teenager in a couple of them. I am glad I took the time to research them.

I agree, keep um!

[Blessings2You]

I bought some clear plastic sweater boxes from the Container Store (I LOVE that store) and have a different box for each "branch" of the family (photo albums fit in them). I have inherited photos going back to my great-greats at least.

Lots of mystery pictures, but the ones I know I'm putting in albums (at least in page protectors) and labeling, such as "Wales Cheney, born 1835, wounded at Bull Run, married to..." and so on.

Also have copies of death certificates, war records, obituaries, etc. which I am putting with photos. I have those tabbed pages to separate the family by siblings, so all of the cousins are filed with the proper aunts and uncles.

It's going to be harder when I get done with my Dad's side (Vermont mostly) and get to my Mom's (Ohio/PA/Ontario) because I didn't know them as well and I don't know the missing pieces.

I'm doing it as much for myself as I am for my offspring. I'll do the family history stuff. When I croad, they can have the joy of sorting through cardboard boxes, old Christmas cards, Tupperware, and seven sizes of clothes that don't fit.

[kicker]

When my mom died, going through her things was kind of a comfort and a connection. 30 years later about once a year my cousin, sister and I go through old photos of our young moms, grandma and great grandma. It makes us closer too.

[Erin524]

My great aunt had a box of pictures that my great-grandfather had taken back in the 19teens and the 20s and 30s (he was an amateur photographer)

She threw them out in the ditch behind the farmhouse she was living at at the time, because she said no one wanted them. When my dad found out the pictures were gone, he was seriously ticked off. He would have loved the pictures. She never asked if he wanted them. That aunt (married to my grandma's brother) was a bit of a <bad word> and would do stuff like that without asking all the time. She also tossed a bunch of antique stuff (that was still good and had been made by my great-grandpa) because she didnt like it. Luckily I managed to get the crochet hook he carved for my great-grandma. (it's probably over 100yrs old now)

We only have a small amount of photographs now that my great-grandfather took. He wasnt a bad photographer, wish we still had his pictures. His camera was a basic little box camera that he made from a kit...used the glass slides. I wish I had that camera and the slide negatives. (I'm also an amateur photographer)

[AfterMyNap]

I think I've mentioned it here before, I am literally scanning and pitching all of my own photos. I'm sick of keeping 'em. I love being able to look at them in slide shows on my TV, no more hauling out albums and boxes for me.

My family photos go back about... well, since Kodak was born and we're having them all scanned to master disks with online backups. My sister is determined to keep them all and I say, "good! I don't want 'em!"