Faaaabulous Friday!

I had a boyfriend when I was in high school whose father would often film us with his 8mm camera for their "home movies" - sometimes we'd dress up and act up, or make up stories. I can still picture some of it in my mind and I sometimes which I could see them again.

My lost and found treasure: my granddad had a beautiful tenor voice and would often sing at weddings etc. Mostly he sang in the church choir and he also sang in an all male choir. I remember the excitement as a child when this choir was recorded for the radio. Anyway that was all a long time ago, my granddad died in 1963 when I was 13. Recently an uncle of mine took the trouble to track the recording, found it, has it put on CD and sent copies to all the family. I put it on to play, not expecting too much - and lo and behold, I instantly recognised my granddad' s voice soaring above the others. It gives me goosies.

Oooh, Grannyknot, that sounds fantastic.
I've a video of DS singing in a Christmas school production when he was about 9,which gives me goosebumps.
And makes him cringe with embarrassment

Several years ago the Reading University got in touch with the print shop at Amberley Museum & Heritage centre, because they wanted to make a record of old skills, and knew that several of the volunteers there were of that vintage. A gentleman from Reading came to our home and asked my husband all sorts of questions about his childhood, apprenticeship, and work experience, then sent us a copy of this. It is very interesting to listen to, and I hope the grand-children will enjoy it, and the volunteers at the Museum have their lives recorded for posterity.

We have cine films, made between 1970 and 1985, mainly featuring our 5 children, ourselves and mine and hubby`s relatives, usually filmed on holidays, but sometimes at home. Because the projector was a bit dodgy, and we didn`t want to risk damaging them, we haven`t seen them for several years. I recently saved up enough to have them transferred to dvd, and it`s lovely to see them all again............but not so lovely to see how I`ve aged!

We never had the luxury of a cine or video camera when DC were young. I'm a little bit of those that did. It must be so lovely to look back at.

DH was delighted when clearing his late mum's flat to find 2-3 years worth of old birthday cards and telegrams sent to her, including ones sent for her 21st c1943. Some are the old embroidered post card type. We had some put in a large frame.

That is a lovely idea for the old birthday cards and post cards, nina. If anyone has old cigarette cards, a whole set of these look really nice set in a good frame. It seems a pity that these things are just bundled away somewhere, when they are quite attractive, and an interesting talking point.

I have a framed set of 50 cigarette cards, showing theatre and cinema stars of the thirties... it was a gift, but the friend who gave it to me thirty years ago doesn't remember it!

feetle that sounds great and printmiss how lovely to have been part of that.

nina - the downside of old home movies: my daughter visited friends in Australia who have home movies of all our kids when they were little (we were neighbours) and when these were shown my daughter (who was there with her fiancè) "nearly died of embarrassment when XXX saw what a ragamuffin I was as a kid" (apparently she had an old torn T-shirt on); quickly followed by "How could you let me ...?" Then I have to remind her how feisty she was as a child about dressing herself!

It is lovely to have recordings of DC. We have old tapes of ours as toddlers. I also have CDs of DD singing with a school friend and a one of her singing in Brahms Requiem. It is good to hear her, she lives abroad now and I miss her singing.

We had a cine camera when we were children and my Dad took yards of it. The most embarrassing film was of me aged about 15 wearing a bikini - and very very skinny indeed! - walking towards him on a beach and my top falls down, so I pull it up. He took great delight in running this bit backwards (especially in company) so I look as if I am running backwards ripping my bikini top off - thanks Dad!

It has just occurred to me that I do not know where those films went - both parents have died now and all their belongings scattered, but we did not find those. What a shame.

My other half put all our cine-films on to dvd and made copies for the family and any friends who might be interested in the events we had filmed. I think they are safer stored this way. We have however kept the cine-films just in case!

A friend of DH's family found a video in a car boot sale of a ministry of transport (I think) film made in about 1948. It was about Hull Docks and there was late FiL in his merchant navy uniform on his ship. He was shown a couple of times in the film. We were amazed as he had never spoken about it. We now have it on DVD to pass to figure generations.