What is the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge?
Well, you see, I have this problem. I am attracted to antique stores and antique malls. When I walk through them I can't helped but be pulled by each piece's history. The what ifs...the I wonders...consume me.
I am especially drawn to ephemera...those letters, postcards, those photos, those books, etc., that were never meant to last forever, but against all odds they've managed to survive giving me a glimpse of yesteryear...of days gone by...of people's lives and stories. And when I find ephemera that has identification of some kind on it, I buy it.
 Then I research it. Well, I used to research it by myself, but now I research it with other people for fun, for practice, and for discovery. I created the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge forum so that interested researchers could take a break on their own research and tackle a fresh problem with their own talents and skills and with other researchers' talent and skills through collaboration. It's always interesting to see how others research...their go-to online resources...their workflow. I think I learn at least one new thing from someone else with every challenge. And somehow those new skills are catalogued in the vastness of my brain and pop up again when I need them in my own research endeavors.
And? Those who don't want to research it publicly can just watch for purely entertainment reasons or watch for educational purposes. It can be very fun and enlightening to see a family story {or stories} unfold in front of your eyes in real time.
 And the best part? I mean, the very best part? The forum and all the research is completely Google searchable. This means that if a family member is searching Google, the collaborative work we do in the forum can be found. If they contact me {and, believe me, they do}, then I mail the ephemera piece(s) back to them.
We are Ephemera Whisperers and using our research skills we coax the family stories from these long-forgotten pieces of family histories in hopes of the piece being returned to the family where it belongs.
We took a break, but now we are back. This Friday {tomorrow}, April 6th, 2013, sometime in the afternoon the new Ephemera piece will be posted, and it's not a small piece either...a Red Velvet Victorian Album once owned by a woman from Ottawa County, Ohio, and it's full of photos - some identified and some not. And it has this typewritten message on a separate piece of paper just full of clues. The photos and paper indicate several families. How are they all related? How did they know each other? What is their story? Where did everyone come from? What did everybody do for a living? Can we make a guess as to the identifications of the 4 tintypes that are in the album? Can we tell their story?
 Can the Ephemera Whisperers put these families back into history where they belong? In 48 hours? There's only one way to find out. Will you join us this weekend and help us discover the family stories behind this Victorian album? Will you be an Ephemera Whisperer? The Victorian Album Case will be posted tomorrow afternoon in the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge Forum.~Caroline Update: The challenge has now been posted in the forum. Good luck! =)
 I hope after a couple of weeks' rest, y'all are rested up for the next 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge!
It's definitely going to be challenge. Take a look at the quick intro video about it:
Joined us before? Come on back! Haven't joined us before? Then please do! [What a perfect way to start ~ with a murder.] Mr. Charles O. Kaiser, Jr supposedly married Emma P. Then supposedly killed her. [This newspaper article doesn't paint him in a favorable light.] He had some kind of questionable relationship with this one guy. They definitely had a history. And then this guy knew this other woman who wasn't exactly honest. And she definitely had a history with this one guy. And you are definitely going to need to bring your A-Game to this 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge. [Are you good with newspaper research? Then this challenge was made for you.] Can we find where they came from? Who they were related to? Whatever happened to them? Can we find their stories? Can we put these characters ~ these people ~ back into history where they belong? In 48 hours? There's only one way to find out. And good luck! =) The 'Charles O. Kaiser, Jr. put on trial' challenge is now posted in the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge Forum!~Caroline
 It's Friday again, and you know what that means, right? The 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge! This week I have a photo of a young girl named Emilia Kebe. I bought this photo in an antique store in Gruene, Texas [pronounced like Green cuz, um, it's German for green. =) ] I've no idea how a photo from Guadalajara, Mexico ended up in an antique store in the itty bitty town of Gruene, Texas. Who was Emilia Kebe? Was she from Guadalajara? Did she ever come to America? And if so, when? Who were her parents? Did she have siblings? Did she ever marry? Have kids? Did she ever work outside the home? What is Emilia Kebe's family story? Can we find Emilia Kebe's family story......in 48 hours?We won't know unless we try.And? You've just been challenged!Join us this weekend in the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge Forum as we attempt to place Emilia Kebe back into history where she belongs. No, you don't have to know everything about genealogy to help. And you can watch, help, whatever you like. =)~Caroline
 This Week's 48 Hour Ephemera ChallengeWho were Mr. and Mrs. George Koehler and their son Earle? Whatever became of them after this photo was taken? What happened to them before this photo was taken? Did Earle marry? What was George's occupation? What was Mrs. George Koehler's name? Can we find their stories? Can we put them back into history where they belong? In 48 hours?There's only one way to find out.Come join us in the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge Forum this weekend. No experience necessary. Watch, participate, whatever... And? You've just been ephemerally challenged. ~Caroline
This weekend? We're diggin' up bones.
Here are 3 scans for this week's challenge of a copy of Lord Tennyson's Enoch Arden. Who was Mrs. Lyle Bones and Libbie F. Ward? How did they know each other? What was Mrs. Lyle Bones' first and maiden name? Who were their families? Were they related?
Can we do it? Can we dig up their stories in the next 48 hours?
There's only one way to find out.
Y'all ready to find some family stories? You've been challenged. ;)
Join us in the 48 Hour E
~Caroline
Yes. Brown. And? He's John Brown. *snort* And she's Harriet. Who were these folks? Were they born in Ohio? If not, where'd they come from? Who were their families? What is their family story? Can we put them back into history where they belong?So many questions.48 hours to answer them.Can we do it? There's only one way to find out...Join us this weekend in the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge Forum. Watch. Participate. Whichever you prefer.~Caroline
 The Lucky Winner is...Mr. E.D. Seeley is the lucky winner this weekend of the privilege of the attempt of being placed back into history. That's right. Researchers will be tirelessly researching the photo of the man with a long, long beard to uncover his family story in the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge Forum this weekend. The Wha-?The 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge is a forum that my 14yo daughter thought of and named. [She's brilliant, yes?] Then I created it in a forum format so that researchers can have a little weekend fun researching a piece of ephemera from my ever-growing private collection. [Lest ye judge, fun can be individually defined. And? I could've been collecting Beanie Babies. Remember that. ;) ] Eventually, the challenge will include other researchers' ephemera pieces. The public forum is completely searchable by Google so that others can find the pieces and the info that has been found on them. Additionally, being public, the forum can be viewed by anyone. However, if you'd like to join in the search and post results, you must join for FREE. Will you be joining us this weekend in the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge Forum? All lurkers and voyeurs are welcome. All help will be very much welcomed and appreciated.Will we be able to find out who Mr. E.D. Seeley was, what his story is, and where he belongs in history?~Caroline
 A sampling of my ephemera collection. Over the holidays, my 14yo daughter was watching me do my spontaneous ephemera mystery tweet-a-thon, or whatever you wanna call it. I had visited the antique store [again] and had purchased ephemera that had some identifiers / clues on them. [Again.] I do it all the time actually. I buy other family's stuff, try to identify it and the story behind it, and try to see if a descendant or family member is looking for their ancestor online, then try to reconnect the two. Why? I dunno. Obviously I have a problem. I just know how happy I'd be if someone were to email me and say, "Hey, is this yours?" and it turn out to be a photo of my 2nd great-grandmother, Annie O'Brien. I'd finally be able to find out if I have her to blame for my freckles. Anywho. My daughter said, "Mom, you should, like, give this thing its own site, make it a 48 hour challenge, and get everybody to work on it together. And you could call it The 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge." This. This is why I had children. So I don't have to come up with all the brilliant ideas. <grin>I know a lot of you are like me. You like a good mystery. You like things our ancestors left behind. And you love a good story. Voila! Here's the forum: http://48hourephemerachallenge.lefora.com/_ It's not perfect. And I'll be fixing it up as we go. But I wanted to start as quickly as possible. I've a stack of people's dreams, hopes, fears, and stories. And they're fading fast. Can you identify them?So. Welcome, to The 48-Hour Ephemera Challenge Forum, where a new ephemera piece is posted every Friday night, and you have 48 hours to work with others in a forum atmosphere to figure out the story behind the piece using clues from the piece and online resources. - All people of all levels of experience are welcome to watch and/or participate. That's the beauty of it. We'll be learning from each other. We'll build each other up while coming together to try to solve an ephemera mystery.
- This is a public forum. All may watch or lurk. However, to participate you must register. It's FREE.
- To start out, I'll be posting pieces from my collection. However, in the future, pieces from your collection that have identifiers on them [name, location, etc.], may be accepted for use in a particular week's challenge. That's right. Have a bunch of genealogists take a look at your family ephemera conundrum and see if they can figure it out.
- All searching will be done using online resources. BUT our goal is to take the research to the point of offline researching and identify the specific places we would need to look if we were to take the research offline.
- This public forum is fully searchable by Google. So, if a piece from my collection [that I acquire from antique stores] is found by someone searching for their ancestor, then arrangements will be made to return the piece to the family. And if it's a piece that's from your family's collection, then we'll get y'all connected. Cuz BINGO! You're related.
- A form of a citation [basically where we got the info from] will be posted with each clue/document found. This will be explained a little bit more further down below.
That's it in a nutshell. It's a game. We're gonna have hands on learning with using online resources. It's a game. We're gonna meet a cousin or two hopefully. It's a game. We're gonna solve ephemera mysteries. It's a game. We're gonna learn from each other. It's a game. We're gonna learn how to take our online research and get it to the point of offline research. It's a game. We're gonna hopefully reunite descendants with their ancestors' ephemera. It's a game. We're gonna find family stories. It's a game. But most importantly? We're gonna have fun. Genealogy-style. Sometime on late Friday afternoons, I will blog a post announcing the new ephemera piece here on 4YourFamilyStory.com. You can either follow the link on my blog [there's a tab for it now on the menu], or you can check the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge Forum on Friday's. When you see it, get started. The following will be the instructions posted with every piece: - Transcribe the handwritten message.
- List all identifying information that can be gleaned from the handwritten message.
- List any information that can be gleaned from the photo.
Then, we can start looking up information on the internet. When you do find something on the internet include the following in your post to the forum: - A link to where you found the information.
- Name of website or database.
- A transcription of all or part of the information from document or site that is pertinent.
- If possible, how you think the information fits into the puzzle. [This is optional. You may not know, and that's okay. Other members may be lurking, and they may see where the piece fits into the puzzle.]
- If possible, what you think is the next logical step. Another online site? Or is offline research the next step? And where would that be?
- Attach of copy of document, if applicable.
Note: We aren't going to research offline, but I want us to get to that point and figure out where we might look if we were to go offline. Archives, library, courthouse, etc. Y'all ready to find some family stories? You've been challenged. ;)~Caroline
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