Old Family Photo: Before and After

It's probably obvious, but I love old family photos and feel passionately that they should be preserved for future generations. For that reason, I decided to offer preservation as a Gerald & Joan service line in September 2013. In addition to creating photo books, I also scan and edit photographs and film slides. My scanner isn't the fanciest machine on the planet, but it does a great job when coupled with Adobe Photoshop and an observant eye. It can be painstaking work, but it's fun and rewarding. Once these images become digital files, they can be shared with family and friends to ensure family stories live on forever. I love keeping those stories alive.

Here's a great example of the sort of work I can do.

My mother-in-law has very few photos of her father Clovis Geno, and I'm pretty sure this is the only one she has of him as a boy. The photo is in decent shape when you consider it is almost 100 years old (Clovis would have been 100 on October 3, 2014), but it had a couple of bend marks that I knew I could remove. 

Clovis Yates (before preservation services)

Clovis Yates (after preservation services)

I love digitizing these old photos, and when I can help restore a photo to its former glory, it totally makes my day! Learn more about preservation services by contacting me here.

Collections: Vintage Stamps

Earlier this year, I ordered some vintage stamps for inspiration. I love the detail poured into each one, and the colors are so fun. Plus, it's really amazing how many people, organizations, causes and moments have been commemorated by the United States Post Office!

Which ones are your favorites?

My Grandfather's WWII Helmet

My grandfather, William Andrew Cannon, around 1942.

On October 24, 1942, my grandfather William Andrew Cannon enlisted in the Air Force at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He would become a pilot based out of Foggia, Italy during the war. During his time in Italy, he met my grandmother on the Isle of Capri. They married in December 1945 and moved to Meridian, Mississippi in 1946. They would eventually move back in Italy in 1955, where they lived until he retired from government service in March 1990. They moved to Booneville, Mississippi later than year. 

On October 25, 2014 (72 years and a day after my grandfather first enlisted), a man named Grant sent me a message through the G&J website. He owns an Ebay store called Circa1941 that specializes in WWII helmets and other military gear. He had purchased a helmet with the name Cannon written on the inside along with the serial number 4357. A quick search of this website told him the helmet belonged to my grandfather. Another quick internet search led him to Gerald & Joan and the blog posts I've written about my grandfather. We connected a few days later, and he offered to send us the helmet as a gift. My grandfather passed away on February 28, 2002, so being reconnected to him in this way is a true gift that means a great deal to our family, especially my grandmother. 

There have been times over the past two years that I've wondered what I'm doing with this blog. It has really become more of a family history/photo preservation blog, and while it provides inspiration for my work, it doesn't really do much for my business. When Grant emailed me, I was reminded why I started this business and this blog -- Through my work, I wanted to tell stories, preserve history and share memories. Because of this blog, we were reunited with a piece of our family's history and we're able to honor my grandfather's memory. If that isn't Gerald & Joan in a nutshell, I don't know what is.

Thank you, Grant, for this wonderful gift.

My grandfather, Lt. William A. Cannon, is at the bottom left. 

Update: My dad with the helmet!

School Days...

I'm in the middle of a photo book for Sadie's sister Linda, so I've been scanning and editing all sorts of fun photographs. Linda is the youngest of the Yates' sisters, and she graduated from Jumpertown High School in Jumpertown, Mississippi in 1961. Jumpertown is a small rural community located just outside of Booneville in Prentiss County. 

Aren't they cute? Linda is the third from the left on the bottom row. 

The Jumpertown High School Class of 1961. Linda is on the bottom row on the far right. 

I love this yearbook photograph all of the girls in front of Jumpertown School. (The back of the photo actually has the job, page and position number on it.) 

The senior class all dressed up for prom or their school banquet. Linda is in the center. 

The Jumpertown High School Class of 1961. I graduated from Booneville High School in 2002, and Torrance School Photography took our class photographs as well!