Tuesday's Tip: Getting the musty odor out of old photos and documents

We've all been there - we've discovered faded photographs and documents in a basement, attic or storage facility. You immediately recognize the smell.

Today, this blog is turned over to readers to offer their tips. What are some effective and harmless ways to get rid of that odor?

Please share your experiences and comments below.

Amanuensis Monday - Love Letter to Grandma from Grandpa

Greenwood, Neb.
March 20-1910

Dear Friend received your card and upon this date was very glad to hear from you everything here is fine and dandy.

I have got my ida of you write down here and ask me why I never come up.

Do you expect me to come without you asking me? if so Just name the day.

I saw your Papa down here the other day and I didn't hardly know him it surprised me to see him in Greenwood and more

as if you asked about mother she is feeling fine the last few weeks and of course I am the same. as it is late I will close.

From your loving Friend.

Will

hoping to here from you soon.

S.W.A.K.

This letter was written by my grandfather, William Kelly, to my grandmother, Sina Bellinger, in March 1910. They were married October 8, 1913. They were married 42 years, until her death in 1955.

Bill and Sina Kelly
Greenwood, Nebraska

Halloween Memories and Costumes

Lorine McGinnis Schulze of the Olive Tree Genealogy blog is sharing memories of Halloween costumes today. One costume of mine immediately came to mind and I was able to find the photograph in a matter of seconds.

This is the costume I wore circa 1958 in Greenwood, Nebraska. I wore a mask that portrayed a Japanese lady. My "hair" was actually a combination winter cap/scarf that my Mom fashioned into a quasi-wig.

My dress was an old white sheet. I think that I must have colored some Halloween designs on it - black cats, pumpkins and the like.

In our small town, we didn't go door-to-door but just to the homes of people we knew. This photo was taken by our neighbor, Dorothy Maher, at her home across the street. From Dorothy's I went to the Buckingham's home. Mrs. Buckingham apparently thought I was this little Japanese woman who came knocking on her door on the evening on October 31. Or maybe she was just going along and humoring me! What I remember is that when I left her house, my "hair" got caught in the screen door and I went a little crazy trying to free myself!

Some time later, Dorothy shared a story that she had a visitor who was looking through her photographs and asked her about the Japanese lady. Someone apparently thought that it was the real deal.

Looking for the Details in Photographs

Paul Daniel Kelly - and who else?

Over the last 30 years I've looked at this photograph of my grand uncle, Paul Kelly, hundreds of times.

Recently I opened the digital file of the scan of this photograph and I was quite surprised by what I discovered. There are two women in this photograph! Can you find them? Click on the image to see the High-Resolution scan. It's a little bit like Where's Waldo!

Mystery Ladies behind the Tree

Today's photo editing software allows us the opportunity to dig deep into those family photos. High definition scans can be enlarged to the point of being able to examine every detail. You never know what you might find, so always look very closely at those old photographs.

If not, you might not be able to see the ladies for the trees!

Railroad Reminiscences - John Fitzgerald breaks ground in Plattsmouth

John Fitzgerald
Railroad Contractor, Banker, Millionaire

Since the railroad figures prominently in the lives of several of my ancestors, I've decided to add a new blogging theme, Railroad Reminiscences, to share some of the stories of ancestors and relatives who worked on the railroad.

John Fitzgerald was a railroad contractor responsible for laying many of the primary railroad tracks throughout the Midwest. Fitzgerald was the husband of my great grand aunt, Mary Kelly. Mary was the sister of my great grandfather, Daniel Kelly.

Even as a youngster, this photograph grabbed my attention. Fitzgerald epitomized the Irish Catholic immigrant who created a better life in his new country.

He was born in Limerick county, Ireland in 1829.

The following is from Johnson's History of Nebraska by Harrison Johnson, 1880, page 242.


Groundbreaking in Plattsmouth, Nebraska

At a special election held in Plattsmouth on April 24, 1869, $50,000 in bonds were voted by the city, and donations made by individual citizens of a large number of city lots to the B. & M. Railway Company, on condition that the Company should erect there, and maintain depot, shops, and general fixtures, making and continuing Plattsmouth the headquarters of the Company in Nebraska; putting the road through to the west end of the County, all in good running order and actual operation, within sixteen months after June 3, 1869. These conditions were accepted by the company, and the contract closed by W. Thielson, the authorized agent of the Company, and the City Council, June 15, 1869. Early in July, in the presence of a large crowd of spectators, John Fitzgerald, at the foot of Main street, in Plattsmouth, displayed his strength and skill in "breaking ground" for the railroad track. In September, 1869, in a still larger and more excited crowd, the first locomotive, the "American Eagle," was landed and gave her first scream on Nebraska soil. The long wished, and long listened for whistle was now a matter of unquestionable fact upon the streets of Plattsmouth.