Important Papers And Photos - How do you store them?

I have long maintained a soft sided briefcase filled with our important documentation - copies of BCs, marriage certificate, old passports, insurance, bank accounts, wills, powers-of attorney, pet records, warranties, healthcare, certificates, and diplomas, etc. You name it, I've probably got it in the briefcase. I have been slowly digitizing the important papers and putting them on a portable hard drive, while still keeping hard copies in the briefcase. We also have original hard copies of everything and the current passports in a safe deposit box at the bank.

We also have a lot of photos. Not only our own, but those we inherited from relatives who passed. Most were/are in disarray. A lot are loosely store in boxes (including our own!), with no dates, no identification, other than the fact we know some or all of the people in the photos.

I decided to start sorting, organizing, and digitizing some of them. Some are taken in obvious foreign ports, without any identification. I have found that you can import an image on your computer, and use Google to do a reverse image search. 9 times out of 10, it works! Here's the URL for those of you who might need it.

Google's Reverse Image Lookup

Since this is a gigantic endeavor as we have nearly 100 years time span and thousands of photos, this will be one of my winter tasks. Yes, there is even one daguerrotype (printed on a tintype) of Husband's great-great-grandfather. For those interested in family history, these photos are great to have.

Once I finish copying each part of the family, I will transfer the photos to jump drives to store with the hard copies and in the safe deposit box. I bought plastic photo storage cases rather than albums, because not only do they store more, but they can be put into larger briefcase style boxes for portability. These are the style that I bought:

Photo Storage Boxes

While it may not seem important to some, having good records/photos that identify who you are might be necessary one day.

Cinnamon wrote:I have long maintained a soft sided briefcase filled with our important documentation - copies of BCs, marriage certificate, old passports, insurance, bank accounts, wills, powers-of attorney, pet records, warranties, healthcare, certificates, and diplomas, etc. You name it, I've probably got it in the briefcase. I have been slowly digitizing the important papers and putting them on a portable hard drive, while still keeping hard copies in the briefcase. We also have original hard copies of everything and the current passports in a safe deposit box at the bank.

I wish I were so organized.

We also have a lot of photos. Not only our own, but those we inherited from relatives who passed. Most were/are in disarray. A lot are loosely store in boxes (including our own!), with no dates, no identification, other than the fact we know some or all of the people in the photos.
...

This sounds more like my office.

Not that I have a lot ,but all our stuff goes in a gun safe.. I really lack organizational skills lol

Beware, though. Gun safes aren't meant to be impregnable, just tough. They kinda assume the burglar will grab something quick, and not waste his time.

And beware, if it is made by Liberty:
They feel it is ok to give away an "access code" that allows "cops" to gain access to the safe no matter what you set the combination to (the big deal is they gave it up without a subpoena, meaning they don't have serious safeguards to prevent giving it to anybody who knows the serial number). It has made several news stories, and Liberty Safe doesn't deny it, nor do they admit they need to change their ways.

This guy tells you to remove the serial number.
https://youtu.be/1ly6egQ4FEk?feature=shared

Our photos were in boxes. Cardboard, wicker, some even in bags. Albums. Binders. They're a complete mess. And now that I'm digitizing, the family thinks I should do theirs, too. My brother just handed me 4 albums this afternoon. Sigh.

Thankfully, we do not have a Liberty safe.

Cinnamon wrote:Our photos were in boxes. Cardboard, wicker, some even in bags. Albums. Binders. They're a complete mess. And now that I'm digitizing, the family thinks I should do theirs, too. My brother just handed me 4 albums this afternoon. Sigh.

Thankfully, we do not have a Liberty safe.

Your brother has his photoes in "albums" !

I am so hopeless

All digital locks should be expected to have a "backdoor" or access code, so the safe company can "help" people who accidentally lock themselves out. The problem with Liberty is how easily they gave away that access code. Gun safes are tough, meaning they will deter an amateur, but generally, anyone with training can defeat them in an hour, with either power tools or a torch.

You just have to know the limits of what you use.

I plan to start digitizing stuff, in another couple years.
Unless Jesus comes back and saves me from my boondoggles.

TRex - they weren't his albums, they were my our parents'. They're still doing OK, but both are in the middle stages of dementia. He's cleaning out their place and and he knows I'm digitizing, so he handed them over to me...and he also gave me a long box of photos he found yesterday!

At first I was sorting by people and had a massive mess. Now I'm sorting by year. Most of the photos are either marked on the back by someone in the family, or they have a stamped date from the photo processor. I have a long table against a wall. I put post-it notes on the wall with dates and location. Then I started stacking photos under each post-it note that corresponded.

There's still a lot to do, but goodness, it made it so much easier. Even if I don't know the date, I can tell by the background or the haircuts, or the clothing, about what year they were taken. Hope to have this done in a few weeks.

My garden is finished. We've not had a lot of rain and despite me watering, the heat has killed/retarded growth of a lot of stuff. The mornings are turning crisp - Autumn is arriving.