Why care about old stuff? Because preserving artifacts from historical events, or even just times, helps us and future generations learn about, remember, and honor the people and ideas that went before. Maybe you just want to be able to show the great-grandkids what you looked like as a newly-wed, or maybe you like old furniture and want to keep it in working shape.

You can do much to preserve such valuables without going to extreme efforts and expenses, just by keeping some basic things in mind. We’ve gathered up some resources for you which we’ll be presenting in a small series. If you have other sources and links to share, thoughts to add, stories to tell, comment below. We LOVE to get conversations going, so chime in!

Our Rosie thinks history is riveting!

First, there’s photographs. Oh so many photographs.

Those folks up in Minnesota tell us how to preserve old photographs.

AARP knows what you need to know. (Heck, they even have some thoughts on how to date old photos.)

If you’re more concerned with saving digital photos, The Atlantic Monthly talks about options. So does the Library of Congress.

Tune in tomorrow for more resources to help you preserve the past.

Where to get archival supplies: Gaylord, Talas, and University Products.

And, as always, we can count on the Library of Congress to guide us to deeper knowledge.

(The “real” Rosie the Riveter: Who was she? And the well-preserved model for our meme? She’s real too.)