It seems to me that the American Holidays are a down time for genealogy but an up time to collect what will become family memorabilia for future generations.
These days photographing people and things and uploading them rather than printing out photos is the way to go, though I still like to print out a copy for my files. I also like to ask questions and do interviews, though I wish so much that I had recorded them in the past so that I could hear my relative's voices again.
The other day I was watching an old movie from the 1970's. I knew it was old because of the telephone being used. These days few people have land lines. Remember party lines? (A shared line meant that someone in your close neighborhood could pick up and listen to your personal conversations.) There's a history of technology in films and today the use of a cell phone is incorporated in action as are the latest in computers and other technology. So a film can easily become dated quickly. I still remember my dad getting really excited by Jurassic Park (the first film) when he realized that some dinosaur DNA was in the faux can of shaving creme that went down the falls. Now millions have taken DNA tests for themselves.
Why not ask your visiting relatives to tell you about their first telephone, or television, or computer, and keep that testimonial as a memory? Ask your grandparents when their parents first had a phone, television, or computer and what kind it was. Did they use it for local and long distance? Remember before Unlimited Cell Phone Use that long distance could be expensive and some families reserved calls for wishing Merry Christmas to their far away relatives?
What television shows did various family members like? Watch together?
How about favorite films? Actors?
These days the availability of old shows and clips from old shows makes re-watching them possible. You might find that you don't like the humor, that it makes you wince. That's the reaction I had when watching old shows - The Honeymooners, with the threats of wife beating, and The Three Stooges, with the violence of hitting Larry around his head. The violence as funny was not to me. But these were popular shows, so what does that say about American culture when they were popular?
There is a strong argument that computer animated games have stoked violence.
I also watched some old stand up comedy on YouTube because some of my family loved the Johnny Carson Show.; you're not going to find too many comedians who weren't sexist or insulting. Yet, people also seemed more willing to understand what joking was. Those times domestically were not as violent as life is today because school yard bullies existed and there were gangs and organized crime but terrorists and mass killings of innocent people who were just in the wrong place at the right time were rare in America.
