Today we are inviting you to delve into the world of Artifcts with us through what we fondly refer to as “chasing histories.” What we mean is chasing the details about objects that pass through our lives. Why would we do this?  Because we suspect they should have meaning and value if someone has chosen to hold onto them and yet no one you talk with seems clear on the details. The keepers of these objects have lost the thread of the histories behind them.  

And these lost histories leave us, the keepers, to wonder – do we even keep the thing? Why not sell, donate, or rehome it instead? One may think, “It has to go, because I have a small home, it’s ugly, it smells funny, it’s something I don’t want, …” unless maybe you give me a good reason! 

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In a period of history when story is king, we still somehow find we have a lot of stuff and relatively little meaning to go with it. We’re stuck chasing histories to bring back heritage and bring forward memories.  

As you might imagine, the Arti Community has done a lot of history chasing since Artifcts was launched last year, so we thought we would introduce the idea of chasing histories with a few of our own. We hope to inspire you along the way to Artifct those histories now—the ones you know, the ones you are creating daily—to avoid the potential pain, uncertainty, and loss later. And we certainly hope that you have fun doing it.  

The gold watch was in a bin of pegs. 

This was my mother's watch. I found it cleaning out one of the spare bedrooms. It was buried in a box with the old wooden pegs we used to have/use to hang plant baskets. We can't remember her ever wearing the watch. Read more >

But where did this silver come from?

A well worn jumble, seldom polished nowadays. And, I love it. Just think of all the family members whose hands have touched these through the years. Read on >

This brooch is so special.

So special that we know almost nothing about other than the aunts each wore it on their wedding days. Where did my grandmother get this brooch from? And when and why was it made? I tried all my aunts. I tried reaching out to my grandmother's sister through a cousin, but no luck yet. Read on >

Why, yes, my bible is shedding. 

My siblings and I have a lot of questions but few answers with these Bibles. We weren’t overly religious growing up, so imagine our surprise finding them on a bookshelf in the garage, nearly adjacent to a set of golf clubs and a snowblower. And one is in German. If only we knew. Read more >

Go get your histories! And happy Artifcting.

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 Maybe you see a bit of yourself and your family in these stories?

We'd love to hear from you at Editor@Artifcts.com. We may feature your experience in a future story here on ARTIcles.

© 2022 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

I had to go say hello. I've never known her! 

My Great Aunt Muriel is 97 years old and has spent roughly 75 years of her life in Tucson, AZ. For the record (and in my defense), I grew up in Wisconsin. We weren't exactly neighbors. 

This visit to Great Aunt Muriel was born out of curiosity, frustration, and fear. 

To me, she's somewhat of a legend. I've heard my parents talk in awe of her in recent years, remarking on her independence and mental sharpness. Others told me she is feisty and opinionated. I was curious. I also kept thinking, "You do know that I think I missed my calling as a lawyer, right?" I bet she and I will get along just fine! 

My frustration was about how difficult it is to gather and preserve family history without it being your primary occupation or hobby. Chasing histories, I call it. And I'm not talking about black and white details that sit in databases behind paywalls of newspapers and genealogy sites. I'm talking about the stories that connect those details - the lives lived, the legends created, the humanity of it all. Within my own family I heard drips and drops about distant relatives going off in the gold rush, for example. Who were they? When did they go? What became of them? Any details at all or am I really just stuck with family lore?  

And, of course, fear - Aunt Muriel's now an only. She's the last of her generation. My cousin put it into interesting perspective, "Just think, she's the last who knew our parents as infants!" Time is absolutely our enemy if I want to know her and to know pieces of the family's past. If I wanted her insights and advice, her laugh-out-loud replays of historical moments, the only time was now. 

If you stop reading here and venture like Alice down the rabbit hole of Artifcts we created together and are featured below, let me tell you what you'll discover from these Artifcts: This woman was radically more than advertised. I hope you have a Great Aunt Muriel in your life. Go. See. Her. Today! And listen, a lot. 

Click any image below to view the related Artifct.

When I arrived in Tucson, Great Aunt Muriel was prepared. She had photos and mementos, stories and family lore, all ready to share. And with her permission, I'm sharing a few of those Artifcts we created together with you. Of the many worries Great Aunt Muriel had for the future, lost connection and family bonding was clearly chief among them. Let these Artifcts inspire your own conversations with loved ones. 

You could say this was time well spent. Well spent visiting. Well spent Artifcting. 

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© 2022 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

Sometimes collections sneak up on you. You may not realize it as you browse through tin spoons in a souvenir shop, or rummage through stamps at a yard sale. Yet, when you get back home, you might realize as you go to put your newfound treasures away, wow, I have a lot of those spoons, stamps, you name it!  

This is the story of  @Grandmom, and her secret-not-so-secret coin collection.  

Grandmom never set out to collect coins per se. She's a world traveler, and enjoys bartering in local markets, from Kathmandu to Liberia. Grandmom has always found that she can get a great deal if she offers to toss in an American coin or two. And, when she’s lucky, she gets back local coins and currencies.  

Forty years and just as many (if not more) countries later, Grandmom has quite a coin collection. Not just a couple of bowls of coins by her bedside table. Nope, we’re talking bins and bins of coins and currencies from all over the world. Some date back to the 1800s!  

The funny thing is, she never explicitly told anyone about it. Her grown sons vaguely recall, “Yeah, she might have had a coin collection.” Her grandkids had no clue either. Imagine our surprise one Sunday afternoon when she pulled out the bins (and bins) of coins and asked for help to identify a couple of her favorites as she can no longer remember when or where she got them, “It was so long ago.” 

Got a secret-not-so-secret collection on your hands? Don’t know where to start? Grandmom’s got a couple of tips to share when going through collections that may have snuck up on you over time.  

1. Start with your favorites. Which ones do you like the most? What can you remember about them? Don’t worry if you can’t remember everything. You can always go back and add more details later. This is one of Grandmom’s favorite coins.  
2. Are there any unique pieces that you think others should know about? Grandmom has all the stories in her head, but she’s started to Artifct some of the more unique pieces of her collection to make sure that her family knows the details, like these Victory nickels.  
3. Pair travel photos with coins from that location to tell the story. It’s a great way to connect the “what” (the coin) with the experience (the trip, the memories). Can’t remember the exact details? Knowing just the trip and some of your favorite memories from that trip is easily enough to tell the story and connect the dots.  

Have a surprise collection to share? We’d love to feature you! Reach out to us at Editor@Artifcts.com.  

Happy Artifcting! 

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© 2022 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

From the ages of five to nine, little Nancy lived in the farm country of Missouri on a parcel of land with a house, corn bin, smoking shed, and barn all built by her grandpa. Life for her grandfather had been simple by today's standards. If he needed something, and it wasn’t easily accessible from the farm, he built it. If only we were all so resourceful!
 

Some of the artifacts of his life speak directly to the resourcefulness of this everyday inventor. The screwdriver does not fit well in your hand? I’ll make a new handle. The meat needs efficient parceling in the smokehouse? Here’s a one-of-a-kind twine winder. The cabbage shredding makes a mess of the kitchen during each batch of kraut making? Here’s new tray to contain and slice it. Check out the Artifct  Inventions of the Everyday Inventor. >
 
The biggest tale Nancy grew up hearing was how her grandparents were the first in the area to have electrical power and running water. Her grandfather had installed the wiring and plumbing on the farmstead himself. Of course he did.

The tale no one thought to share was that Grandpa was not just an everyday inventor. Documents show that Stark W. Craddock held patent #1,418,778 for the “Permutation Lock,” issued on June 6, 1921, by the US Patent Office. He truly was an inventor even in the professional sense. “But never mind that,” he’d surely have said.

Page 1 of Stark W. Craddock's patent for the Permutation Lock. Click to view the Artifct.

This history had faded from Nancy’s family lore. In some ways it was a sad tale, too, which may have been partly to blame. Nancy’s mother grew up following her father around, talking through his projects and processes with him. But back in the 1940s, little girls could not grow up to be engineers. No. So when her little brother Jr. eventually came along, it was he who trailed after their father and grew up to be an engineer for IBM.

Stark Craddock family, Missouri, c. 1930. Click to view the Artifct.

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© 2022 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Lori Roux, founder of Whole Story Productions (WSP), for many years. In fact, Lori was one of our earliest sounding boards as we contemplated building a community around all things “stuff” and “stories.”

Aside from being a die-hard skier and former New Englander, Lori was an Emmy-award winning team member of ESPN’s X Games and the creative genius behind WSP. Lori and the WSP team help families bring to light the stories, memories, and histories that make them who they are today through beautifully directed family videographies. 

We saw an immediate fit between Artifcts and WSP—we couldn’t help but think about all that family “stuff” as we listened to Lori talk about the families she has worked with and the stories she has helped them tell over the years.

Sure enough, families, “stuff,” and stories go hand in hand. Whether it is a collection of old photos from the turn of the century or Grandma’s china or an assortment of antique silver. Those objects all represent lives lived, adventures had, and the very essence of what it is to be us, to be alive.

I sat down with Lori for a virtual conversation last month and wanted to share with you some of our key takeaways.

Heather Nickerson: Tell us a bit about your typical client. 

Lori Roux: Usually I’m working with a family, but once in a while there may be more of a corporate lean, where the story is more business oriented. Many clients have had successful family businesses and are telling the story of how it started, where, and when. Then we progress through family evolution, historical aspects, philanthropy, and legacy.

I also had a project for a museum exhibition – that creates challenges around length, how long can you keep people’s attention while standing at a kiosk of some sort.

Nickerson: How do clients typically find you?

Roux: Clients usually find me by word of mouth, so somebody knows somebody who knows somebody who I’ve worked with. I’ve also met clients through their other service providers – attorneys, accountants, financial advisors. I am listed as a service provider with large and small financial institutions.

Nickerson: You’ve said that people often tell you that they are not interesting enough to do a video. How do you convince people that they are?

Roux: Almost to a tee people will say, “Oh, there’s not much to tell.” Or, “We’re not really that interesting.” But I try to explain that to their audience, their family and friends, it’s incredibly interesting. It’s a story for the rising generations. A story of who they are, their successes and failures, and what their message is for those that they may never meet.

As one client said to their hesitant father/patriarch, “It’s not about you Dad. It’s about us. It’s FOR us.”

Nickerson: Can you share a story or two that stands out from the families you’ve worked with?

Roux: There are a number of stories, so I’ll pick one of my favorites.

I had a family that I worked with in Australia with eight adult children. The family tells a story debating whether they were “free settlers or convicts” when their ancestors came from the Isle of Skye. There were multiple versions of the story depending on who in the family you asked. I don’t usually do the research, but I was searching for an image of a ship from the 1800s to include to help the visuals of the story. I happened to come upon the original manifest of the ship’s passengers. It listed a number of the family names with a $ fee next to it, which means they paid for passage! Not sure it put to rest the argument, however, as they genuinely like the mystery and family lore!

Nickerson: Getting people to talk about their most intimate family details has to be challenging. How do you get people to trust you? 

Roux: You know, that’s something that I work really hard at. It all starts at that first meeting – trying to talk about the project while also expressing your own humanity and sharing a story of your own that might apply. Even offering a comparison – like, my own family immigrated from Eastern Europe and though they thought they really didn’t know much about their history, it turned out, the more questions they asked each other, the more they discovered they knew collectively!

I also talk about their privacy, and how they will end up including other family members, and how we keep their final product secure. 

It’s all about them… and I try and express that it’s not a “gotcha moment” when we do an interview. It’s all preplanned and preapproved so the final film is what they envisioned.

Nickerson: Explain how you incorporate other keepsakes in a video (e.g., photos, letters, music). 

Roux: Some of the most important parts of a project are the photos, videos, letters, and other family records. You know the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, that’s so true! We can tell so much of someone’s story with a few photographs and some music, without even a word being said. We try and include whatever is meaningful and significant to each family – whether it’s a business contract or a love letter.

Nickerson: You know the story of Artifcts. How do you think Artifcts could help you in your work with your clients?

Roux: With all the photos and keepsakes that people share, that we include, Artifcts is a great place for them to find a home. When the project is complete, all the photos can be archived on Artifcts so family members can then go and peruse them at their leisure. When it’s in the film, you might only see something for five seconds. All the people in the photo might be recognizable, but in the film, the images fly by so quickly. Having organized, archived access for everyone who the family wants to share with will be invaluable. It’s like a secure online photo album shared with the entire family, accessible any time, only the family can then add documents, stories, and all the details that you typically don’t get with a photo album.

< End of interview >

We know that when it comes to our personal lives and histories “someday” often turns into never or maybe simply too late. We hope you will think about those pieces of you that should be Artifcted and archived to pass to friends and family and future generations before it’s too late. Take it one object at a time. If you get stuck, see if some of our partners and membership organizations can help you!

Interested in creating a family video biography? You can reach out to Lori at Whole Story Productions  to start the conversation. 

© 2022 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

He said it started with a train ride to buy a harp at the turn of the 20th century.  

Jerry May’s father made young Jerry wait until he was 10 years old to learn to play the accordion. Begging since the age of seven, his dad wanted to be sure his eldest son “knew the value of his music” and would not give up on it. But Jerry would never give up. 

Music was in his blood. From Jerry's grandfather taking the Burlington railroad into Chicago to purchase a Chicago Harp to his mother and eventually his siblings each playing piano, music was an ever-present part of Jerry’s life.  

The accordion by design is a lonely instrument. With the keyboard on the right and bass on the left, you are your own accompaniment. But you don’t have to be. By the time Jerry was 13, he was taking his 12 bass accordion to accompany his twin sisters who would sing at events in town. Jerry recalled the amazing payment they received after playing for the local fire department where their dad volunteered - a pizza dinner! This was the early 1950s and pizza was just getting its start. He delighted in the novel treat. 

Fast forward to Jerry’s senior year at the Marmion Military Academy, a local Catholic high school, when he joined the school’s professional band as the only accordion among largely classic brass musicians. He was inspired and upon graduation he and a friend started a band named the Mello Tones.  

For the next 40 years, the band—which also included tenor sax, alto, clarinet, drums, and a bass—played classic dance tunes, including polkas, waltzes, and period classics from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s, at weddings, clubs, private events and parties, riffing off each other, and loving life. Jerry led the band with a singular mission after all — making people happy.  

About 20 years ago Jerry shifted his music back to his family’s German roots. He formed a new band, Jerry’s Happy Wanderers, and with lederhosen, a pinned fedora, and a collection of over 30 German songs the now seasoned musician found his dance card fully booked with requests to play Oktoberfests, pubs, and special events throughout the US and Europe. He was now only one of a few remaining accordion players in the 80,000 strong American Federation of Musicians and the only one playing German music.  

Jerry is now in his 80s and intends to retire from professional music at the end of this year. We suspect you may still find him in one-man shows at the request of his family, like the snippet above from his recent gig at Two Brothers. His 60 years have brought him as much joy as the merriment he has inspired. From state fairs and festivals, river cruises and clubs, and even those sparkly Chicago high rises, Jerry has brought what is becoming a lost art to many and become one of its keepers along the way. 

We close with a tantalizing surprise. Artifcts from Jerry’s extended private collection, which includes accordions that came into Jerry’s life from those who play no more.  

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© 2021 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.