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Invitation Required
 Christenings,
Bar Mitzvahs, high school graduations, weddings,
retirement parties, funerals: These private, personal expressions of joy
or sorrow are the events that mark the passages of our lives. Over the
years, Michiganians have saved countless ribbons, programs, veils, gowns,
ornaments and photographs that trace these shared moments of our lives.
(Click on each artifact image to read about it and see a larger photo.
Welcome, Baby
The birth of any child is a historic event. Some of the most elaborate
announcements heralding such events were created by printers at the end of
the 19th century.
Rites of Passage
Before they are considered adults, children within some social and
religious communities pass through a set of ceremonial rites. It may be a
child’s First Communion, Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah. Some young women
participate in debutante balls when they reach their middle teens.
Congratulations, Graduate
 The creation of high schools with their expanded academic programs
began toward the end of the 19th century, but it was 1907 before Michigan
law required that all children between the ages of seven and sixteen
attend school and graduating from high school became more common. Despite
the larger number of youth graduating, the celebration of high school
graduation has remained a Michigan tradition.
Starting a New Life
  After high school may come college, a career, marriage or all three.
High school and college reunions bring out old collections of photographs
and souvenirs and sometimes generate a new set of their own.
 Whether a
wedding is a traditional religious ceremony with a white dress, veil and
tux or a ceremony in less elaborate attire, most brides and grooms save
special mementos.
Retirement celebrations also generate
gifts—such as this pocket watch and fob—programs,
awards and anniversary pins.
A Fitting Memorial
 The ways in which grief has been expressed over the
past century and a
half have changed with each passing decade. Photographs of elaborate
floral tributes surrounding a memento of the deceased began to appear
before the 20th century. In the 19th century, mourning attire
represented the stages of grief. All black attire was worn first, then
shades of gray and maroon, then clothing that was only edged in black.
Stationery for correspondence followed a similar pattern. Printers produced elaborate mourning cards announcing the death of an
individual well into the 20th century. Today's funeral homes make memorial cards
and laminated copies
of newspaper obituaries available to families.
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