Thursday, December 04, 2008

Carnival of Genealogy, 61st Edition



Welcome to the December 4, 2008 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. The topic for this edition is: Traditions! What a treat we have in store for you. There are a wide variety of traditions here, old, new, ethnic, ever-changing... we have them all. Some you've surely heard of and others will be new to you. All of them are meaningful to the families and cultures that practice them. It's hot chocolate season again so pour yourself a mug of the dark creamy stuff with a big dollop of whipped cream, put on some soft sounds of the season, and indulge yourself in traditions. Ymmmm......

Starting us off, Randy Seaver presents Family Holiday Traditions posted at Genea-Musings, saying, "We're just a typical modern-day American family - observing the typical family Christmas traditions like Santa Claus, a tree, gifts, dinner, games, etc. Then there are the nudes on the bathroom wall and the Betty Seaver Memorial Game we play."

Bill West presents SOME HOLIDAY TRADITIONS posted at West in New England, saying, "Time marches on, traditions change, and the holiday meals are still great!"

Janet Hovorka presents How to share your family history with your family,--Traditions and The Chart Chick: Holiday Traditions--Carnival of Genealogy both posted at The Chart Chick. Do not miss Janet's articles. In the first one she writes about the importance of traditions and suggests ways to pass them on. In the second she treats us to a photo essay of Christmas traditions in her family. Learn and enjoy!

Sandusky Library Archives Research Center presents Sandusky History: Letters to Santa Claus posted at Sandusky History, saying, "In most places throughout the United States, children have always liked to send a letter to Santa Claus with their wishes. This post discusses some of those letters from youngsters in Sandusky, Ohio."

Sharon Klein presents Jewish Traditions posted at Genealogy. Thank you, Sharon, for writing such simple and personal descriptions of the traditions of Jewish culture. If you're a gentile like me, you'll appreciate Sharon's article. Do stop by!

Jasia presents Wigilia, A Polish Tradition posted at Creative Gene. Like the Jewish culture, the Polish culture is rich with tradition. I wanted to share the Wigilia tradition because it is the one most near and dear to me. Enjoy!

Travis LeMaster presents Seasons Past posted at TJLGenes : Preserving Our Family History, saying, "A trip down memory lane on a few of my childhood traditions at Christmastime."

Wendy Littrell presents Traditions - Carnival of Genealogy 61st Edition posted at All My Branches Genealogy, saying, "First posted on July 13, 2008 - I've done some updating plus added pictures. From the normal traditions to those traditions only the family "gets" - stop by and stock up on new ideas for your family!""

Midge Frazel presents The Gift of Grandparents posted at Granite in My Blood, saying, "Holidays with grandparents form the most traditional of memories for children. Although my grandparents are gone, they were a role model for planning Christmas traditions for my future as a grandmother."

Barbara Holz Sullivan presents A German Christmas Tradition on Wood Street posted at Chapter & Wurst: Exploring My German Heritage, saying, "German Christmas Traditions in Dubuque, Iowa"

Henk van Kampen presents Traditions! and Sinterklaas, the number one Dutch tradition both posted at Trace your Dutch roots, saying, "The first part of a two-part article is about traditions in The Netherlands. The second part focuses on the most popular tradition in The Netherlands: Sinterklaas, the Dutch Santa Claus." The first you'll find very interesting, the second you'll find very charming. Check them out!

Chery Kinnick presents A Flaming Christmas Tradition posted at Nordic Blue, saying, "Though Chery's family has carried on typical Norwegian traditions through the decades, there were also new ones introduced from time to time, including the flaming surprises during the Christmas Eves of her childhood."

Melody Lassalle presents Holiday Traditions Old and New posted at The Research Journal. I'm not going to spoil the surprise but this one is guaranteed to make you chuckle... don't miss it!

Amy Coffin presents We Tree: Early Christmas posted at We Tree, saying, "Find out how this busy family made time for each other amongst the holiday madness with an unrealized tradition we call "early Christmas."" This one made me laugh out loud! See if you don't get a laugh too!

Apple presents Changing Christmas Traditions posted at Apple's Tree, saying, "My family's Christmas traditions have changed and evolved through the years, not always for the better."

Janet Iles presents Family traditions on Christmas Day chez the Iles family posted at Janet the researcher, saying, "Opening one gift at a time has always and still is the tradition in the Iles family."

Donna
presents Being Traditional in an Untraditional Family posted at What's Past is Prologue, saying, "I love traditions! But, it's not exactly a tradition in my family to love traditions..."

Msteri presents Traditions or Not? posted at Heritage Happens, saying, "Do you see traditions here? There MAY be couple, but it is more like each generation starts their own."

Bob Kramp presents Hanging the First Pedigree Ornament on my Blog posted at Life's Journey, saying, "Traditions are supposedly the oral transmission of beliefs, customs, information, etc, from one generation to the next. Look, if my own family traditions relied on word of mouth, then there would none today. Grandma initiated a few Xmas traditions, but then she passed away, the big house was sold, and the children and grandchildren dispersed. Then, the Internet was discovered and the blog and social networks sprang into being. For the next couple of weeks, I will be posting a series of unique images that will further characterize each one of my lineal ancestors on my pedigree, beginning today with the principal (me). The images will appear on Christmas ornaments which I will “hang” on my blog each day until Xmas. It is just another way I can memorialize my ancestors and carry on the tradition to future generations."

Julie Cahill Tarr presents Mom's Christmas Tree posted at GenBlog, saying, "Julie Cahill Tarr shares the one holiday tradition that makes her smile in Mom's Christmas Tree at GenBlog."

Denise Levenick, The Family Curator presents A Holiday Tradition: Fire in the Kitchen! posted at The Family Curator. This one will get your mouth watering!

Kathy Brady-Blake presents Our Favorite Christmas Tradition posted at Kathy's Genealogy Blog, saying, "Our favorite tradition--baking Christmas cookies". Yum!

Linda Stienstra presents Our Family's Tradition has been hung with care since the 1930's posted at From Axer to Ziegler, saying, "Our family tradition has been going on for almost 80 years. Check out my blog and see the family treasure that we display every year. . ." Aww... so cute!

footnoteMaven presents Tradition, tradition! Tradition! posted at footnoteMaven, saying, "Every family tradition is a measure of love, laughter, home, food, and family!"

Becky Wiseman presents kinexxions: Holiday Traditions and Memories posted at kinexxions, saying, "Nothing out of the ordinary as far as holiday traditions go but you might enjoy some of the posts from the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories of last year."

Sheri Fenley presents TRADITIONS posted at The Educated Genealogist, saying, "My family had a few more traditions than I thought we had."

Miriam Robbins Midkiff presents AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors: Advent Memories No. 18: Christmas Stockings and AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors: Advent Memories No. 3: Holiday Foods both posted at AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors, saying, "This is one part of our family traditions that continue from my childhood to today...putting out the klompen on St. Nicholas' Eve!" and "And part two of our traditions: the family gatherings, meals, and treats!"

Stephen J. Danko presents My Genealogical Holiday Tradition posted at Steve's Genealogy Blog, saying, "I've just returned from my annual Thanksgiving weekend trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and decided to share the memories of my genealogical holiday tradition in pictures."

In "As I light this flame...": the season of Advent Lisa shares an invitation to begin Advent with a look at the wonderful seasonal traditions of the Irish people. Visit Small-leaved Shamrock for a focus on Celtic Christmas traditions that will warm the hearth of your home this season.

At 100 Years in America, Lisa suggests that we all take the time to reflect on the “luminous quality of this beautiful season and the mystery which surrounds the coming of the Christ Child”. Read Lisa’s Advent: "...the faith of our forefathers makes itself heard in our age..." to get in the spirit of the season and to access twelve articles at about the traditional ways that the Hungarian and Croatian people have celebrated Advent and Christmas.

And to wrap things up... we Genea-Bloggers have a tradition of our own. It was started last year by our dear footnoteMaven. The tradition of blog caroling may be new to you. If so, check out The footnoteMaven's Christmas Tradition Of Blog Caroling posted at footnoteMaven for all the details. And then be sure to join in the fun on December 12th!

Thank you, to all who shared their traditions with us in this edition of the COG. You make it the wonderful publication that it is!

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. You should be feeling all warm and mellow about now... just the perfect mood to indulge in a little fantasy. Which brings us to the Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the COG will be: 3 Wishes! This is your chance to write a letter to Genea-Santa*. Make a list of 3 gifts you would like to receive this holiday season from 3 of your ancestors. These have to be material things, not clues to your family history (we're talking gifts here, not miracles!). Do you wish your great grandmother had gifted you a cameo broach? Or maybe you'd like to have the family bible from great great grandpa Joe? How about a baby doll that once belonged to your dear Aunt Sarah? This is a fantasy so you can dream up gift items. They don't have to be actual items that you know your ancestors owned. However, they do have to be historically accurate to the time period in which your ancestor lived. Do your research. No asking for a new computer from your great grand aunt! Genea-Santa wouldn't like that ;-) The deadline for submissions is December 15th.

*Genea-Santa is a non-denominational guy. He's happy to accept lists from members of all faiths and from atheists as well.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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