Comments on: Yearbooks: Worth keeping or clutter?

By: abby

abby — Sat, 01 May 2010 18:26:16 +0000

I say pick at least a few of them and keep them AS IS.

Digital scans are useful, but not as cool as holding an old yearbook in your hands.

I found a 1930s yearbook of a relative last year. Digital can NEVER replace flipping page by page of that old yearbook that the relative has had for decades, and whose hands have flipped through the pages, too.

Even if you don’t want them all, pick a few. One day, you or your grandkids will appreciate having a few of them… in a HARD COPY. Digital can’t touch that.

By: Rita Sclavunos

Rita Sclavunos — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:26:23 +0000

I agree with the suggestions to donate the yearbooks to libraries, or to places for genelogical purposes. Another good use for them is as research for costume design or fashion design students. My yearbook from the later 1970′s is very useful for this, especially to young students who only have vague ideas of what people actually wore, how they did their hair and make-up. For design research, the actual images from the period are always better than fantasized fashion illustrations.

By: Joe L-E

Joe L-E — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:46:39 +0000

I actually use my college yearbooks as a monitor stand so that it is at the same level as laptop, which is on a standard stand. It’s nice because it keeps them out of an old box or in a basement, and they also serve a purpose!

By: Red

Red — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:01:21 +0000

Thank you so much for this post! I’m reading through your archived content (because I’m a new reader), and I’m glad you touched on this topic.

I’ve recently began trying to unclutter my 650-square-foot apartment, and my large stack of yearbooks in the closet have become a source of discord. I have yearbooks from every year of schooling but kindergarten. But I never look at them. I have used them – like you said – as a reference for those rare times that an old friend tries to get in contact. But I think maybe the only useful ones – for the reference purpose – would be the high school yearbooks. Now I think I’ll scan the important pages – that people signed – of those yearbooks and then call up the schools to see if they have use for them. (It really makes me sick to think of the money my parents spent on my yearbooks considering that I feel no emotional attachment to them.)

By: Sharon

Sharon — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:13:34 +0000

I actually scanned some pages in my computer and then used them in making a couple of scrapbooks of the decade. I did a 1960′s decade and a couple scrapbooks for the 1970′s decade. I did a lot of research on the Internet to get the big news stories of the time, the TV shows, books, music, sports events, housing, decor, fashion, hairstyles, fads, cars, etc. And I used photos, ephemera (draft card, etc) stuff of my family from those times and the yearbook scans to put us in the middle of it all. I had hairstyles like that. I wore clothes like that. I had a purse like that. I listened to that music, I went to see that movie, I had that car, etc. My family enjoyed looking through them and the next generation have learned about those decades and see the old fogey family members in them when we were young and their age. It was a lot of work but very enjoyable. They aren’t looking through a photo album and laughing at my funny hairstyle or my stupid looking clothes. This way they see it was in style at the time. It puts us in perspective. But I didn’t tear my yearbooks up to do it. I still have them and I will keep them.

By: Marie

Marie — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:47:58 +0000

My yearbooks are part of my resume, since I’m a writer and editor. Every other page has an article I wrote (small staff) so I can’t see ever chucking them, even though they aren’t nostalgic.

By: Keri

Keri — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:37:50 +0000

I have some I think I will get rid of from elementary/middle school. Those years were not good years for me; I was bullied and had only a few friends. Why would I want to look at the ugly mugs of those people that bullied and tormented me? My best friend from that time is on my MySpace list, so I can see her now. I couldn’t even guess how many years it’s been since I flipped through them, so clearly they’re not something I want to revisit.

High school, on the other hand, was great, and things kept getting better as the years went by. The pictures aren’t worth nearly as much as the messages my friends left. I will keep those and probably pop them out at my next reunion (which I look forward to going to).

I think I already got rid of my one college year book. I was the only one of my friends who graduated and I became a commuter student after my first year, so not only are there no pictures of my friends in there, but there are no pictures of me, because I never went to have my picture taken. Not that it matters; I didn’t go to pick up my last three anyways. Also not good times to remember.

I’m not going to have any kids anyways, so it’s not like I have someone to pass them down to.

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:57:43 +0000

I had yearbooks from my parents high school, from my own high schools in two different cities and college. It took a few emails but lo and behold, the state historical societies took some, the local libraries with a historical acquisition department took the others. They had collections of them and were pleased to get them. I was relieved, because I did not want to throw away those nicely bound records.

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:19:10 +0000

Yearbooks are such a fabulous source of history and nostalgia. If you are determined to not keep them any longer I suggest you get the books professionally scanned (no rinky-dink scanning at low resolutions and images that are not squared). e-yearbook.com is one place to consider. Then check around to see if you can donate your books to a local library or historical society.

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:08:10 +0000

I think it depends on how much school was a part of your life. My older daughter, who had somewhat unremarkable school years & has many personal photos of the friends she still gets together with, opted not to even purchase her yearbooks. On the other hand, my younger daughter, who was President of the NHS, in many clubs, swim team, etc., purchased hers, which had pictures of her activities & groups in many parts of the books. Neither of them has regretted her choice.

By: Michelle Sparks

Michelle Sparks — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:08:13 +0000

I never saved any yearbooks and I have never missed them. Those who can’t bear to part with them might consider cutting out pages and photos that are important to them and put them in a scrapbook.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:58:56 +0000

I still have my high school yearbooks from the late 1980s, and I've considered scanning them and making them available to my former classmates, who recently held a 20th year reunion (I did not attend). College was completely different: We didn't have a yearbook, and the school had stacks of older yearbooks that they couldn't even give away. Trivia: Until the early '80s, the yearbook had been called The Swastika.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:33:51 +0000

Ask a library in the school’s area if they want them. My library has a genealogy department that collects old yearbooks from schools in the county and surrounding counties. People like to come in and look at them.

By: Scotto

Scotto — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:55:10 +0000

I was happy to toss them along with a lot of other junk about year after graduating from college. It was part of clean break with my old self and of living in yesterday. A symbolic act, for sure, maybe even overly dramatic, but it did the trick. From the moment they hit the dumpster floor, I felt compelled to create my new life, one lived by my values, with friends of my choosing, and one I would be completely responsible for. It has been great. No regrets.

By: consumer_q

consumer_q — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:22:59 +0000

NPR had a newsbit not too long ago on the usefulness of yearbooks in the social networking age: http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....d=90225972

re: ancestry.com
Personally, I do not like people submitting information on my behalf (e.g., yearbooks) to the ancestry organizations. The information always ends up at the LDS headquarters where it will be used to baptize me for my ‘own good’. Thanks, but no thanks.