IMAGES OF AMERICA

The bookstore chain I work for has a Local Interest category
and (in what is clearly a case of serendipity for me) I’m the
person responsible for that section in my bookstore. It’s fun
for me on several levels stocking the books and there’s one
series of books that are particular favorites.


The Images of America books by Arcadia Publishing consists
of titles with historical photographs of many cities and towns
in the United States. While some may have a few illustrations
most of the contents are black & white copies of daguerreotypes
and photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries. These books
had caught my interest even before I became more active in my
genealogy research because there were books on Dorchester,
Malden, and Abington, all towns where I’d lived in at one point
or another in my life. It’s that nostalgia which makes them sell
very well as customers shop for birthday and Christmas gifts
even if many of the scenes and people shown are from a century
before they were born. The books are paperbacks and are priced
usually at $19.99


From a genealogy viewpoint there’s a chance to see what my
great-grandparents might have seen when they walked down a
street in Boston or Maine. Last fall I special ordered in one title
for myself: “The Oxford Hills: Greenwood, Norway, Oxford,
Paris, West Paris, and Woodstock.” My paternal grandfather
Floyd E. West, Sr. was born in South Paris so these towns would
have been familiar to him. I didn’t find any Wests among the
high school class or church portraits but still it was a lot of fun
looking through it. Maybe they’ll come out with a book on Upton
soon.


Maybe they have one on your ancestors’ towns, too. Check at
your own local bookstore or online if they sound like something
you’d be interested in!