During this special time of the year when many families gather, most of us practice time-honored traditions passed down from our families.  Why not record those traditions so future generations can practice them also and know the meaning behind them?  You could interview members of the family and ask them to recall all their past holiday traditions as well as ones still practiced.  You could tape record their responses or video tape them.  How nice it would be to have a tape recording of a loved ones voice!  You could also take photos of the family practicing their holiday traditions and preserve the photos in a scrapbook album along with the story.  If you are not sure of the origins of your holiday tradition, you can do a little investigating.  Holiday issues of magazines and holiday books often tell the story of specific holiday traditions that your family might practice.  And perhaps you didn't know the history behind your individual family tradition. You could keep all the interviews and photos in one "Family Christmas Holiday" album and add to it each year.

What a better time of the year to take photos and record family history than at the holidays, this happy time of the year.  Use this time to ask family to fill out pedigree charts, family group sheets and share family history. Take photos of individuals, each individual family and the whole family together.
[written by Elaine Powell, Historian/Archivist of the Central Florida Genealogical Society, December, 1999.  Used with permission of the author]