Episode 704: Family Histories

logo episode 704 family histories

Welcome to Reading With Libraries!
Thank you for joining us on this season of our Reader’s Advisory book group podcast! We have more genres to discuss, new books to recommend, and we’re so glad you’re here to join us. It’s hard to be an expert on ALL of the great books out there! So we pick a new genre each week to chat about and hopefully provide you with some insight into what may be an unfamiliar genre!

Our organization is the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. At CMLE, we work with all types of libraries. We started this podcast to provide information for our library community doing Reader’s Advisory work. It’s hard to be an expert on ALL of the great books out there! So we pick a new genre each week to chat about and hopefully provide you with some insight into what may be an unfamiliar genre!  

Beverages:

Each week we like to connect the theme of our books with our beverages! As we are looking into the past this week, our beverages come from an article called Nine Forgotten Vintage Cocktails to Bring Back Immediately. We link to it on our show notes page, so you can try out these beverages as well as the others!

The Bee’s Knees:

With a simple mix of gin, lemon, and honey syrup, it is perfect for spring and summer relaxation. Originally created to lessen the overpowering taste of bathtub gin during Prohibition, it faded away but is making a comeback in an awesome way. If you love a heavenly mixture of booze and springtime then try out this awesome vintage cocktail.

  • 2 oz gin
  • .75 oz lemon juice
  • .75 oz of honey simple syrup

Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker, shake well and then strain into rocks glass. Garnish with lemon peel or twist.

Widow’s Kiss

Combining strong herbal flavors, it is a seriously sweet drink that doesn’t mess around. It is said to have been created by George Kappeler, and first appeared in his 1895 book Modern American Drinks. If the name of this classic cocktail isn’t enough to entice you, a revival is well deserved due to its perfect combination of interesting flavors and taste.

  • 1.5oz Apple Brandy
  • .75oz Yellow Chartreuse
  • .75oz Benedictine
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

This drink calls for straightforward instructions. Simply stir ingredients together with ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Moonwalk

Created to commemorate the 1969 moon landing, this sweet cocktail is said to be the first thing that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong drank upon their return to Earth. How freaking cool is that sentence? I had never heard of this forgotten cocktail but upon looking at the ingredients knew it was a winner. With floral and fruity notes I think it’d be a hit at brunch or anytime during spring or summer.

  • 1 oz fresh grapefruit juice
  • 1 oz of orange liqueur
  • 3 drops of rose water
  • top with champagne or sparkling wine

Combine grapefruit juice, orange liqueur, and rose water into a shaker with ice. Shake and then strain into champagne flute, top the glass with your choice of champagne or sparkling wine.

Genre Discussion:

If you have looked into your history at all, you may have found some family histories. Or there may be a collection of them in your local public or academic library. And of course, your local history center will be a great place to find this kind of material!

So, what is a family history? Essentially just want it sounds like: a history of your family. And of course, there are all sorts of different ways they can be assembled. Family Tree Magazine discusses different formats you might find, or that you might choose to create for your family:

  • Standard book: This book traces the ancestry of a person, working back through time. It’s ideal for showing the origins of a family or for birthday, graduation, new baby or holiday gifts.
  • Combination book: This option illustrates the ancestors and descendants of one couple, great for anniversaries, holiday and family reunions.
  • Descendant tree book: Working forward through time, this book documents descendants of an ancestral couple. This is great for family reunions.
  • Descendant list book: This book is similar to the above descendant tree book, but it emphasizes text over photos. Consider it for large reunions or donating to libraries.

The University of Delaware has some information about their family history material. “Family histories, descendent lists, and genealogies are among the hardest works to locate. Many of these publications were privately printed and/or few copies were published.” This is going to be a continuing issue as you hunt for the best family histories for yourself or your patrons. 

Many of our listeners work in libraries, so you may be approaching this issue thinking about how to connect people to histories of their families, or of other local families. If you are working on your own history, you may want to be focusing on the material that is related specifically to your ancestors – though you might find useful information in surprising places. Don’t narrow your search too much! Be patient, keep hunting.

You may want to consider writing up a family history and making it available to share. When you have done a lot of genealogy research, sharing it with other people can create a very useful tool to help their search. And if they can connect their work with yours – you are all benefiting! There are always people interested in their family history who just will not have the skills or the time to dig into it. If you share your work, it could help a lot of other people to learn at least some information about their family history. And maybe you will inspire them to go farther with their interest!

Suggested Reading Resources:

Our Book Discussion

We have our beverages, we are familiar with this week’s genre, let’s get to the discussion! 

Conclusion:

Thank you so much for joining us on Reading With Libraries! 

Special thanks to our Guest Host, Jessie! We’re so happy you were able to join our book group today! 

Join us next Thursday with another genre, more guest hosts for our book group, and more books to share and discuss. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss a single episode! And if you want to hear more about the work we do in libraries or expand your library skills, check out our podcast Linking Our Libraries!

Bring your book ideas, bring your beverages, and join us back here on Thursday!