Personalized 1940 US Census Mug, launching my gift shop!
I’m really excited to launch my new genealogy gift shop, starting with my first product, my personalized 1940 US Census Mug. There’s only one product to start but more to come over time.
I started this little side project over the last year. My main business is as a UX Design contractor, it’s a great job, and I get to work with design teams on all sorts of different projects, but it also gives me the flexibility to learn and improve my skills, mostly as a designer. This last year has also given me some time to be more creative and apply those skills to my side businesses and hobbies. I thought that this was a great opportunity to combine the two things I love to do, family history research and design!
Why the 1940 US Census?
The 1940 US Census is the latest census record we have access to at the moment. If you’re starting in family history research, it’s one of the first documents you’ll discover that will begin to open up more avenues for research on your family tree. Depending on your age, you may find your parents, grandparents, and almost certainly your great grandparents in these records. Only one set of my grandparents were born in the US. Still, both my grandmother and grandfather on my father’s side are represented in this census, and both were born just before 1940, they are also the youngest in their respective families so I can get the full picture of their families at the time, from parents down to all of their siblings! Another benefit of the 1940 US Census is that it is the only census that asks where the family were residing five years prior (1935), so if your family moved during the decade between 1930 and 1940, you could use this migration as a starting point for your search of the 1930 Census. You also get the birth states (or countries) of the family members, which is useful for tracking your great-grandparents back even further.
How do you locate the 1940 US Census?
The best place to start is with an Ancestry search, and the good news is the 1940 Census recordset is free on Ancestry (at the time of writing), so you don’t need a paid account to view these images. You will still need a free Ancestry account though.
The quickest way to get the record is to enter the details that you may know about your ancestor born before 1940. In the example shown here I know my grandfather was born and lived in Toledo, so I entered his name in first and last name box with and in the Any Event box I entered 1940 with Toledo, Lucas, Ohio as the keywords.
Searching the US Federal Census Collection on Ancestry.
Of course, I can add in more detail like date of birth or name of any additional relatives, but I like to start broad with my search strategies and modify them as I need to. In this case, I already know that my grandfather was born in Toledo in 1934, so this is a good start. Using the Any Event field and entering 1940 will prioritize me the 1940 census years in my results of this collection.
Ancestry brings up my grandfather as the first result.
I got my intended results here with my grandfather at the top, so no need to adjust my search. Also, I can see my great-uncle and great-grandfather from the same family in these results (due to their middle initial, ‘H’, it looks like). We then get into the more unrelated results after this. I can also go straight to the image, which is what we’re looking for.
Just a note, you can search up to this point without having an Ancestry account, but to view or download the image you will need to create or sign in to your account from here.
After logging into your Ancestry account you are able to view or download the full census image.
From here you can view your record which will include the entire household plus their neighbors. You can also flip to other pages in the census, or access the tools to download the image for your records. Top tip, when using census records it is always good practice to look at the full record and the neighbors because you never know if you’ll find other family members living close by!
If you’re using the record for your census mug, you can send me the link to this page or record with the family name, and I can get the record to edit from here.
Of course, you don’t have to use Ancestry for this search, or even to start your family tree. Once you get past a few recordsets, you will need to start paying for an Ancestry account to view images. FamilySearch, however, lets you view and download most things for free, including census records (some records might require physical access to a Family History Center to view, but they are still free). The biggest difference between FamilySearch and Ancestry though is that FamilySearch trees are completely collaborative, so anybody can add to your family tree (think of it like one massive family tree that anybody can add to or edit with source documentation). This sort of collaboration can be a blessing and a curse. My standard practice is to use both sites, but if you want the ability to search records for free, I recommend FamilySearch, and if you want to have more control over your family trees, I recommend Ancestry.
What about these mugs?
I use the original census image to design the mug to highlight the family or household you would like to feature. I personalize each record by hand by clearing up some of the dust, scratches, or smudges that appear, without changing or editing the original document details. I then ensure that as much of the important details feature on the mug as I can. Each record is different, so each mug will be different! I have chosen a high-quality printer that can ship directly to you, but before I put any final details to print, I will make sure you see a mockup version, so you know what you’re getting.
The mugs come in two sizes, 11 oz, or 15 oz, and they are microwave and dishwasher safe.
To start, I’m only shipping to the US, but I hope to add a UK specific mug and supplier soon! If you have any ideas of things you would like designed or printed, feel free to contact me through my site to see what I can do for you.