This "Victory Scrap Book" is in the collections of the Michigan Historical Museum, Lansing. It was sold with the preprinted cover and blank pages. Its owner filled the pages with newspaper clippings about battles and other events in World War II during 1944 and 1945.

Many people save photos and newspaper stories about events that happen during their lives. Select a topic that is important to you and start your own scrapbook.

For example, if you are concerned about the environment, save newspaper and magazine articles and pictures about environmental problems and ways to solve them. Add photos of you and your friends helping during a clean-up day in your town. Put in photos of your friends and their environmental projects at your school science fair. You'll find lots of ideas once you start.

Maybe you're interested in sports, hobbies or national events. You might already have a collection of photos and clippings for your favorite topic. Put them together in a scrapbook with a theme. You can find good ideas for scrapbooking at your library, on the Web or in a store that sell scrapbooks. Some stores have classes to help you get started.

To make sure your scrapbook is still interesting to look at 50 years from now, be sure to:

• Look for the words "acid free" or "archival quality" when buying your scrapbook, blank pages, glues, tapes and photo mounting corners. Acid-free materials last longer.
Make a colorful cover with a title for your scrapbook.
• Put your name, age and the date on the cover or on a title page.
• Give each photo a label with
1. a title that tells what's happening in the picture,
2. Give each newspaper or magazine article a label with
1. the name of the newspaper or magazine,
2. the date it was published and
3. the page number where you found the article.

Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries
Use and Reproduction Information [PDF]
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