From Photo Albums to Scrapbooks

If you’ve ever wondered how scrapbooks began you’re not alone. Most people are familiar with the photo album and understand that once the camera enabled people to have their own photos, these photos were stored and organized in a sensible manner. However, scrapbooks are a bit more detailed than photo albums. Scrapbooks also contain other information, documents, text, and images than mere photographs. In fact, the art of scrapbooking includes using other items that are appropriate for the subject and displaying them in a creative and beautiful manner. Scrapbooks are much more than photo albums. They have the ability to tell a story, and are comparable to journals with photos. They are true memory books and are very sentimental. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Every picture tells a story,” well, scrapbooks provide the room to “tell the story” alongside the photo.

The inherent wonder and beauty of scrapbooks is found in the fact that generations may not only view the photos as they would in a family photo album, but have a theme, style, and journalized information to help explain the photos as well. Since scrapbooks are often customized and designed according to a theme, it makes it much simpler and more organized for readers to understand what was taking place in each photo.

However, what may be interesting to realize, is that scrapbooking is in fact older than photo albums. Before there were cameras and family photos, there were news clippings, magazine stories, drawings, notes, and memorabilia. These items were often arranged and displayed in books and the art of scrapbooking was formed. It is said that both Mark Twain, the writer, and Thomas Jefferson, the politician, were both avid scrapbookers. They kept close journals, records, and details of their lives by creating scrapbooks that displayed personal memorabilia.

Not only is scrapbooking a step above the traditional family photo album, scrapbooks are also very popular for those who are involved in genealogy. In the past, these scrapbooks were referred to as memory books, and they were used to document family journeys across generations. It was only logical that these books would contain personal information to help explain the nature of each memorabilia that was included.

Scrapbooks offer many more advantages than traditional photo albums. The way scrapbooks are displayed, the ability to create books with themes, and the ability to pour out your own creativity, heart, and soul into your scrapbook is a benefit not provided with photo albums.

Another important aspect of scrapbooking is that old photos that are in traditional photo albums are often displayed in paper that contains acid. Over a period of years, this paper deteriorates and leaves the photos to become damaged. It is imperative that old photos are removed from these albums and displayed in safe, acid free binders or papers. Many people are choosing to replace photo albums with scrapbooks to not only protect their sentimental photos, but to combine them with journaling and other important memorabilia. The popularity of scrapbooking continues to rise as more people discover the benefits and advantages of using scrapbooks as compared to photo albums.