Be prepared. It’s what we’re taught in life, and fortunately that’s what I was.
A number of you would know that I was on Unlock the Past’s 8th history and genealogy cruise recently which headed to Scandinavia and the Baltic. One of the ports we stopped at was Helsinki in Finland.
Helsinki was the hometown of one of my great grandfathers, and it is home of a number of relatives that my family keeps in touch with. While other cruisers were off seeing the sights of Helsinki, my parents who were also on the cruise, and myself were headed for an amazing family reunion.
The day was full of highlights, but what I want to write about here is in relation to the Flip-Pal mobile scanner. as i was limited in space in what I could take with me I didn’t pack mine, so I borrowed the demo one from Tony from My History, who was onboard the ship selling them. I wasn’t sure I’d need it, but I wanted to have it with me “just in case” because you just never know.
Being prepared was a good thing, as it turned out it certainly was needed. We were shown an old family photograph album (as thick as some old family bibles) that was filled with old cabinet card photographs, most from the later 1800s – and what’s more some were even named. This album has photos of my great great grandparents, photos of my great grandpa’s siblings, and photos of numerous other family members, most of which I’d never seen before. We struck genealogy gold and I was genealogy happy dancing for sure!!
here’s the family photo album
But rather than simply be content with ‘looking’ through the album, Alan whipped out the scanner and Flip-pal’d them. I know that you won’t find that word in the dictionary, but it is certainly one that I have heard used before, and it seemed appropriate here.
scanning the photos with the Flip-Pal
still scanning
Anyone who owns a Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner knows it’s true value. It is made to be small, light and portable, and to work without the need of any other equipment. So that combined with the fact that you scan there, on the spot, made it ideal, and allowed us fabulous copies of family photos that we may not have otherwise been able to obtain.
So a visit to the cemetery. Meeting relatives for the first time. Discovering old family photos … this day just kept getting better and better.
So if you’ve been wondering about getting a Flip-Pal mobile scanner, but haven’t yet made up your mind. My suggestion is DO IT! You won’t regret it. You’ll have it ready for whenever you make that quick trip to see someone, or to your society or archives office. (Please note, some allow you to use it, though some don’ – so be sure to check first), It really is a wonder machine.
one of the scanned images from the album
we made sure we scanned the names too
Again, a big, big thankyou to Tony from My History for loaning me the scanned for the day. It truly was appreciated, and gave us the ability to record these precious family images.
If you’re interested in buying a Flip-Pal mobile scanner, you can purchase them from numerous places around the world:
Australia – Gould Genealogy & History
England – My History
United States – Flip-Pal
