PINE CONE BOUQUET

 

HOOPLA and CURIOSITY STREAM : LIBRARY RESOURCES FOR FILMS, AUDIOBOOKS, E-BOOKS and MUSIC - EVEN COMIC BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

If you haven't already, check to see if your local public library has Hoopla for library card holders. This isn't the same as having Netflix or Amazon, but it's a good resource! It beats YouTube free movies that include interruptive ads. New things are added and other things go bye-bye each month.  Linked into Hoopla is Curiosity Stream, which is the DOCUMENTARY FILM resource.  

It is currently the largest platform for these offerings.

HOOPLA DIGITAL

Recently we watched the documentary about OTZI the ICEMAN! 

CHO CHOOOOOOO

 

THROUGH LUCY'S LENSE YOUTUBE STATION : A SOCIAL HISTORIAN TAKES US THROUGH HOUSING FOR THE POOR IN BIRMINGHAM

 

I love this video and social historian Lucy's work so I'm adding this to my list of YouTube station recommends.  You can bring past posts in this series by clicking on that label below.  Go to her channel to find more fascinating videos!

Excerpt from this station : 

Using the houses as they are displayed today, including the preserved “time capsule” area, this film looks at everyday Christmas life in working households during the 1840s, 1870s, and 1930s. Rather than focusing on tradition or nostalgia, it examines how Christmas fitted into ordinary routines shaped by work, housing conditions, health, overcrowding, and limited income. ... Back-to-back houses were once common in industrial cities across Britain. While examples still exist in places such as Leeds and Bradford, most were demolished during twentieth-century slum clearances. The Birmingham Back to Backs are a rare preserved group that allows visitors to step inside and understand how these homes functioned as lived spaces over time.

MOON ON THE SNOW

 

LOS ANGELES UNION STATION TRAIN FESTIVAL : MODEL RAILROADING GROUPS : ZOCAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Z SCALE MODEL RAILROADING GROUP

I was able to attend the "annual" train event recently for the first time. I went with a friend whose father road the rails during the Great Depression, hoping the coal fed steam engine trains to follow construction work. We got to see a black iron locomotive up close, hear the whistle, and see the smoke.

Although I've seen some model train displays over the years that featured some interesting scale set ups, I was unfamiliar with Z SCALE.  We loved the set up so at this time I want to give a little free advertising to the group.

ZO CAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Z-SCALE RAILROADING GROUP

FACEBOOK ZOCAL Z-SCALE GROUP

This isn't from the Union Station Show but is a display from the same group.

Link to some phots from the last show.  Maybe you'll want to go to the next. This link has a list of other model railroading groups...

UNION STATION LOS ANGELES TRAIN FESTIVAL 2025

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA "S" GAUGERS ORG : MODEL RAILROADING GROUP : UNION STATION TRAIN FESTIVAL LOS ANGELES

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA S GAUGERS ORG  

Model train layouts always evoke the Christmas holiday season for me.  However, I also have the childhood memory of being in the car with my parents and stopping because a train was coming through, and counting the cars. If one was lucky, you might get a wave from someone riding in the caboose!

Back in the day the model train layouts I saw tended to portray quaint villages but as this video shows, these days city buildings and factories show another reality.

SLAVERY IN PENNSYLVANIA : RESOURCES? : QUESTIONS FROM READERS of ANCESTRY WORSHIP - GENEALOGY

Question :

Growing up back east, I didn't realize there was ever slavery in Pennsylvania. But now I think one of my ancestors might have been involved in that. Can you give me some input on how to proceed?

Walter G.

Philadelphia area

Answer : Every few months I look at what's new on the popular Ancestry TM *** genealogy databases, as well as some others, and I ran a search for you.  At the top of the site there is an option for New Collections.  Actually this is where you find the entire "card catalogue." Run a search for Pennsylvania and run down the list.

Pennsylvania, U.S., County Records of Enslaved and Free People, 1780-1834 

Here are some things to consider:

1) The issue of slavery connects to Civil War records. Some slaves did fight. Some were forced to fight for the Confederacy. Some fought for the Union. And some escaped from slavery during this period - and signed up to fight for the Union.

2) Pennsylvania did not have the sharp Western and Southern boundaries it has today. Some of that territory belonged to Virginia where slavery was legal. (And Virginia included what is now mapped as West Virginia.) The Underground Railroad ran through Pennsylvania. 

3) This doesn't mean that the slave catchers stopped trying to capture escaped slaves just because they were in free territory. In Pennsylvania newspapers ads appeared offering rewards for captures. As well, you may find reportage, opinion pieces, and other information that shows what the arguments were, and who was who. Consider the Quakers and the Abolitionists. See if your ancestors shows up in any biographies and check the newspapers too.

4) If your ancestor did hold slaves in Pennsylvania, you may want to see if there are any wills or court records that mention the transfer or sale of slaves.

Actually, I've been planning some posts in January-February 2026 regarding Pennsylvania so do check back!

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*** This blog is not associated with the Ancestry TM genealogy database company.

ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY BLOGSPOT

Our genetic and spiritual ancestors help us with our research quests 

and, while we follow a linear research path, 

amazing dreams and synchronicity abound. 

We explore multicultural ancestry worship 

and the use of genealogy for past-life verification, 

as well as practical ways and means to achieve your research goals.

FAMILY RECORD

 

A PATRIOTIC THANKSGIVING

Perhaps you family genealogists will ask your relatives about their

 politics or military service after you've given thanks this day.

Perhaps you'd like to write out some memories to contribute to the family history project?

 

VISIT THE MAYFLOWER II and A REPRODUCTION OF THE PLYMOUTH COLONY and A WAMPANOAG NATIVE AMERICAN VILLAGE

PLIMOTH ORG : MAYFLOWER II The museums include other exhibits that will teach you this early American history in a special way - beyond reading a book. Go to the burial site of the pilgrims. See a gristmill and a reproduction of the first colony that the Mayflower voyagers lived in, Plymouth. You'll also be able to go to a reproduction of a Wampanoag Native American Village called Patuxet.

Excerpt: When you encounter someone wearing historical clothing, they are playing the role of an actual inhabitant of Plymouth Colony. They will talk about historical events and lifeways as if they are happening in the present, and will express their hopes, fears, and viewpoints. Modern-day guides will help you better understand the 1600s.