Discovering Links: A Bunch of “General” Sites
What do vintage adverts, old maps, stock photos, military acronyms and rescued heirlooms have in common? They have made it on to my second “Discovering Links” post.
It is these “General” links that I’ve decided to share with you. Why “General” you may ask? Well, simply because they are either about a topic as opposed to a place, or they don’t fit into any ‘one’ specific country category … so they get filed into general (well in my world they do anyway).
I hope you find the following links of interest.
=== GENERAL LINKS ===
Military Acronyms #1 and Military Acronyms #2
When I was doing some research for my Anzac Day post and reading through a bunch of military records, I needed some help with the military acronyms. Afterall they pretty much write in acronym, so to make sens of anything you need to decode what they’re on about. Anyway I found the above two sites of use, so noted them, and though I’d share them with you.
Letters From the Past
This is one seriously fascinating site. If you love history and have a spare day (or even just an afternoon), log on to Letters from the Past and have a read of the fascinating letters that people from history has written. The earliest letter in this collection is dated 1660, with the last being the late 1800s. Each letter has been scanned, as well as transcribed. There are details of holidays, of court cases, family details, and anything else you can think of that would be written in letters. There’s over 160 of them listed so far, with more being added regularly. Like I said, you’ll find it fascinating reading.
one of the letters on “Letters from the Past”
Vintage Ad Browser
Do you love those old vintage adverts? If so, this is a site that you’ll be bookmarking for sure as you’ll find over 10,000 of them! They are all categorised by theme, and then divided into era, so it’s easy to navigate your way around, and browse.
one of the thousands of adverts on Vintage Ad Browser
Lost Ancestors
This is an interesting site that I have discovered, and one I want to explore further. It is a site for lost and found heirlooms and memorabilia. Also it seems that you can submit information that you have about your heirlooms, so others can potentially find you from that. This site started out in 2004 with a UK focus, but as it has grown since then, the information on it is worldwide now. You can keep up-to-date with the latest additions, by following their Facebook page.
morgueFile
This is a site I learnt about on one of the Unlock the Cruises. Ok, it sounds a bit bizarre, maybe even a bit morbid, but bear with with, because if you are looking for high resolution stock photos for your publication or blog, morgueFile is the place to look. And you know what, they are all completely free. whether you’re an illustrator, art director, instructor or blogger looking to add a defining visual to a presentation they are all there to use.
Historic MapWorks
As researchers there’s no doubt we need to consult old maps of the regions our research focuses on. And Historic MapWorks is one of the websites I have found that is very useful for this. It is a US based company that has digitised an enormous collection of maps from numerous archives and made them available on a single site. Simply choose the area of the world you’re looking for, then narrow it down with the various options. And yes, there is a US focus with some seriously amazing maps you wouldn’t believe, but there are some gorgeous maps of Australia and New Zealand included too. So don’t dismiss this site. For more on this company and their maps, check out the video below.
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That’s it for today, but stay tuned as there will be more cool links from my genealogy journeying in the future.
3 Responses to “Discovering Links: A Bunch of “General” Sites”
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Thank you. I have bookmarked the Vintage Ad Browser.
Most bureaucracies have just as many acronyms as the Military.
Thanks Alona. A few newbies her for me.