Above, a snapshot of Dad, Harold D. Burk (1909-1978) during a brief leave to visit family before shipping overseas to serve in World War II.
Not only is the framer arranging Dad's dog tags, unit insignia, shoulder patch, and Army lapel pins inside the box, she is including the black-and-white photo of Dad in his uniform, shown at top.
A pro photographer recommended I have a high-resolution scan of the snapshot printed on special paper designed to last for decades. I used Mpix, which offers archival-quality prints. Other companies also offer similar services, so shop around if you want to do this, and also consider photo restoration if needed.
The goal in creating a custom shadow box is to protect these 80-year-old items and enclose them within a frame and with a story, so they are preserved and passed down to future generations as part of our precious family history. For me, the investment in quality framing craftsmanship will give these items a much longer life and make them look more important than just leaving them in an archival box.
There are so many ways to store and share family artifacts (see my book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past) but this project is designed especially to showcase artifacts from my Dad's service in WWII, before he met and married my Mom.
I'll share more about this project once I get it back from the framer. And yes, after I join my ancestors sometime in the far future, I have multiple heirs for this new heirloom.
What a great way to showcase the memorabilia. I hope you have someone to pass it down to.
ReplyDeleteMy husband has made a shadow box for his grandfather's medals - it is on the wall under a copy of the VE day edition of the newspaper.
ReplyDeleteWonderful idea to display the medals and a copy of the VE day newspaper on the same wall! Thanks for sharing this tip.
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to honor your dad and remember his service! Are you going to update with the final product? :)
ReplyDeleteI will definitely share a photo of the finished shadow box when it's ready! Thanks for taking the time to read/comment.
DeleteI love this. Can't wait to see how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see this when I get it back from the framer in about a month. Many thanks for reading/commenting.
DeleteWhat a great idea! How are you incorporating the story into the shadow box?
ReplyDeleteMy plan is to write a bite-sized bio of Dad, focusing on his WWII service, and attach to the back of the frame. That way the story will always be with this artifacts. TY for reading and commenting.
ReplyDelete