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1. Do
you only do military albums?
2. My military service was a long long
time ago, but I have a lot of great memories! Can you
make a book for me?
3. My life isn't interesting. Why do an album?
4. My photos are crumbling or fading. Can
you use them?
5. I only have photos, no back up stuff
or other documents.
6. My photos and documents are treasured and
irreplaceable. Can I trust you not to ruin
them?
7. I've got many years left in which to
enjoy my passion in life! Why should I do a memory
album now? and if I do
get one now - what will I do with the memories yet to come?
1. Do you only do military albums?
Not at all! We do all kinds of careers, sports, "life passions",
collections, events, corporate, organizational and community histories,
even family heritage albums - basically anything where there's a
story to be told. If there is an album you'd like that we haven't
mentioned here - let's discuss it.
2.
My military service was a long long time ago, but I have a lot of
great memories! Can you make a book for me?
Certainly!
You took part in one of the greatest moments in history - every
single participant has a unique perspective well worth documenting.
The very first album I did for a client was done for a World War
II veteran. His granddaughter knew he was proud of his time in service
and had fond memories of it. She wanted him to have a fully journaled
album for Christmas. In that case, she interviewed her grandfather,
using guidelines and interview techniques I supplied, and then sent
me everything he had - which was a small treasure trove of medals,
ribbons, photographs of friends, souvenirs, reunion notices, separation
papers, pay check stubs and even recent pictures of he and his buddies
at a reunion. - covered with sticky notes on which she recorded
the details of the item. It was accompanied by a narrative she had
written from the memories he shared with her during that interview.
(Faced with an interested audience, granddad was able to recall
minute details he hadn't thought of in years.) I filled in some
missing pieces, such as photos of his first training camp, descriptions
of the colors in his ribbons, and a map of his postings in France,
all from internet research. Memorabilia were either scanned or photographed.
In consultation with the young lady, I designed a 26 page Masters
Album in the style of the 1940's, including black pages, photo corners,
and white pen journaling but in today's acid free materials. It
made an impressive Christmas present he will cherish for years to
come. (There are copies of some of the album's pages in our gallery.)
In
this case, the subject's granddaughter did the interview, but in
other cases the service member writes his own memoirs to include
for journaling Often times, though, the subject prefers to be interviewed,
feeling that a more complete story will emerge in response to skillful
questions from a friendly but sympathetic interviewer.
3.
My life isn't interesting. Why do an album?
Everyone has a unique life story - creating an album offers an opportunity
to reflect upon it - how did you look at the world and how have
you dealt with it? What were your challenges and how did you overcome
them? Who were the people you spent time with? How did they influence
the course of your life? What happened that surprised you most?
Perhaps you'll decide there are some things you want to do differently
in the future, or maybe not. You may well find your life was more
rich and varied than you originally thought! Either way, it will
certainly be interesting to future generations who will have no
idea what it's like to live today. Take my own grandfather. He died
in the influenza epidemic of 1918. Before that he was a poor dirt
farmer in the Green Mountains of Vermont. All I have is a faded
picture of him with a team of oxen. He probably thought he led a
very uninteresting life! But to his dozens of grand children and
great-grand children, the story of how he lived, the values he lived
by, and the choices he made would have been infinitely precious,
had he had the time or interest to record them. Ellen Goodman (
a columnist) quoted from the Boston Globe '. . . what the next generation
will value most is not what we owned, but the evidence of who we
were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it's the family
stories that are worth the storage.'' Talk to us - we will work
with you to create the album of your dreams so that you can celebrate
your life and share it with your loved ones!
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4.
My photos are crumbling or fading. Can you use them?
First, the bad news. One of the things I learned during my time
as a materials test technician is that virtually every material
degrades - iron rusts - plastic lawn furniture suddenly breaks under
the same loads it held up successfully last year, even carved stone
cathedral details are worn beyond recognition by repeated exposure
to weathering and and the acids of air pollution. It's no wonder
then, that paper, writing paper, book paper, especially newspaper,
and even photographic paper and the images printed on it fade with
time. Their demise is hastened by improper storage, exposure to
light, heat, and foreign substances such as paperclips, rubber bands,
'magnetic' photo albums, vinyl photo sleeves and various adhesives.
The
good news is - there are things that can be done. If you have the
negative, the picture can be reprinted using modern materials which
may offer longer life. Or, depending on the condition of your photos,
their value, and the amount you are willing to invest, they can
be copy printed on a Kodak Picture maker; photo copied on a high
quality photo grade copy machine, scanned in and printed on a computer
printer, or digitally restored by a photo restoration specialist.
We can even encapsulate the crumbling original in an archival envelope
so that you will have that as well as a more intact copy. Then,
we will create your album using acid and lignon free papers and
adhesives to minimize the danger of decay to the new or restored
photos. We can even scan your album and burn it on to a CD for your
safe deposit box, if you like.
5. I only have photos, no back up stuff
or other documents.
What
kind of album will that make? Remember, you not only have photos,
you have your precious memories. A picture is worth a thousand words,
it's true, but it's your memories - your anecdotes - that will breathe
life into those pictures. (For example, I have a small stash of
inherited photos with no writing on or with them. Who the people
pictured are and what their relationship is to each other or to
my family is a total mystery. Without words, the photographs are
without value.) If you feel there are documents that would enhance
your story, it may be possible to locate copies or recreate them.
Copies of historic documents can be had oftentimes from the National
Archives. Your branch of the military may be able to provide you
a new copy of your retirement or separation notice. Other people
from your unit or squadron may have saved what you lack. Kaleidoscope
will apply our expertise to aid in the hunt for missing pieces,
when we create an album for you. We can also create pages with no
pictures or documents at all, by showcasing your story with appropriate
embellishments such as stickers, die cuts, borders or titles.
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6.
My photos and documents are treasured and irreplaceable. Can I trust
you not to ruin them?
Your peace of mind is important to us! Ideally, of course, you would
provide us only with copies of photos for which you have duplicates
and or negatives available, but we understand that's not always
possible. We promise to take the same tender care of your pictures
as we do our own. Our workspace is child, pet, and smoke free, climate
controlled as a home, and equipped with smoke detectors. Neither
food nor drinks are permitted in the work space. The building is
10 years old, built to code, and in a safe area, well above any
flood zone. We recommend shipping your photos to us via the United
States Postal Service, insured, or hand them directly to one of
us. We will ship your return album in the same manner.
7.
I've got many years left in which to enjoy my passion in life! Why
should I do a memory album now? and if I do get one now - what will
I do with the memories yet to come?
I'm so glad you asked that! Memories kept only in the mind tend
to fade with time because there's so much current information vying
for attention. Photographs stashed in shoeboxes tend to fade as
well, along with the little details like names and dates. I think
the easiest time for the client to do a memory album is when those
memories are fresh enough to capture the excitement of the moment.
You can relive that excitement through the pages for years to come.
As you make new memories, we can add new pages to your memory album,
if there's space (that's why I only use post bound albums) or start
a new album. Sometimes there are convenient time milestones - a
year, perhaps, if recordable moments gather quickly, or a decade;
one's tenth safari or tenth anniversary with the firm. Then there
are other ways of grouping memories - for example - when one changes
career, style or direction - retirement, all hand stitched quilts,
the Kenyan safaris or Joe's career as a college athlete. Sometimes
albums are intentionally ongoing -- such as photo journaled records
of a collection with the story of how each piece is acquired or
why it is special; or the history to date of a business on some
anniversary.
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