Historic Hobbies & Pastimes

**webfrau** · 07-05-2012, 05:09 PM

How did your ancestors spend their leisure time?

Did they have special hobbies or pastimes that we would consider unusual or "out-dated"?
Perhaps they were involved in handcrafts or collecting and perhaps some of the results of those hobbies have been handed down as family heirlooms.
Maybe they didn't pass down objects but passed down skills and talents instead.
Do you have old photos of children at play, amusing themselves with things today's children would never consider?

Tell the story of bygone leisure time in a layout.
Post your layout in the Family History Gallery and link it in this thread.

If you found any particularly useful resources or sources of information please share them.

**Elisabeth** · 07-07-2012, 02:52 AM

Ooh, I have photos of my great grandfather's garden! They are black and white but I still want to scrap them. Thanks for the prompt! Oh, and note to self, photograph the doll beds he made too. Wow, I don't believe I never thought of that before.

My heritage album is REALLY going to get a boost this month!

PQ · 08-02-2012, 07:47 AM

My grandfather's favorite past time was photography......and my grandmother loved to pose......a match made in heaven........

KENDALL AND MARIE 1923User:PQ

PQ · 08-02-2012, 08:16 AM

Another page on my grandfather's passion for photography....

Grandfather with His F...User:PQ

*Lynnie* · 08-07-2012, 09:48 PM

My Uncle Stan was a Morris Dancer:

My Uncle Stan was a pilot who was killed in the war. When he was young, he was a Morris Dancer, which is a form of folk dancing. There was a side (team) of dancer revivied in Lancashire in 1936 and we assume him to be a part of this. Journaling reads "A morris dance is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, tobacco pipes, and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers.

Morris dancing has been known since the mid 1400s, although it has faded in and out of fashion. Several English folklorists were responsible for recording and reviving the tradition in the early 20th century, often from a bare handful of surviving members of mid-19th-century village sides (teams). Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the Lancashire tradition was taken up by sides associated with mills and nonconformist chapels. My uncle was part of one of these teams."

**webfrau** · 08-07-2012, 09:59 PM

Love your photo Lynnie. For some reason I can't leave a comment. I have fond memories of the Morris dancers at the Knutsford May Day Parade.

*Lynnie* · 08-07-2012, 11:17 PM

Try now - it might have something to do with the fact that it was moved to that gallery when we set it up. You don't have to leave a comment :-) You already did here, but it might be good to check and see if it is okay now!

I love the picture of my Uncle.

Limequilla · 08-08-2012, 03:07 AM

Elisabeth, My grandfather made doll beds, too! Was that a craze or something?

My grandmother sewed the pink and white pillows and bedding and little canopies and dust ruffles They were darling.....Fast Forward 50 years. Then my dad made them for his grandkids (my daughters and my nieces), beautiful little mahogany canopy beds, but nobody know how to sew the linens, so they sat there -- hollow little canopy beds that a doll would fall through. Very sad (but funny).

I have a LO half started somewhere on this topic of hobbies and pastimes. I need to find it because I went to a lot of work on it, but it just wasn't coming together.

Limequilla · 08-14-2012, 02:10 PM

Here's one from me...the circus!

Snake Girl at the Scarsdale Society Circus

This LO might be for DET Bootcamp, but I'm not sure it's good enough. LOL!

Limequilla · 08-18-2012, 07:37 PM

Here is one more from me - the New York World's Fair. It goes back to 1853 and was housed in a building a great great great uncle designed called The Crystal Palace. The gorgeous building was brought down by fire only 5 years after it was finished.

New York Crystal Palace

DebbiePhelps · 08-22-2012, 02:57 PM

I never met Ruby but always knew of her, and worked for a while with her daughter. When I married my husband in 1999, she gifted me with this crocheted doily with my new family name. Her daughter had told her that she knew I would treasure one, so she started right on it and her daughter told me she made it in just two or three nights. I was just so thrilled with it, and I immediately had it framed and matted. Her daughter was right, It proudly hangs in my livingroom and I will treasure it always!

Gallery Link