DSs interviewing Grandparents..Question help

[TwingleMum]

My DSs are going to interview their Grandfather(WWII vet) and Grandmother on video. We came up with some questions can you help with more? These are the ones we have so far

1. Where did you grow up?? What was your address?? What was your house like? Did you have your own bedroom?
2. Did your Dad and Mom work?? What did they do?? What was your Mom & Dad like?? What were their names?? Where were they from? What town?? Did they have brothers or sisters??
3. What was your favorite toy as a kid?? favorite game to play?
4. How did you celebrate your birthday? Cake? presents?? What was your favorite birthday gift?
5. What was Christmas like?? What did you get?? Favorite Christmas gift??
6. Did you have a pet? Pets name?
7. What school did you go to?? Favorite subject?? What did you want to be when you grew up?
8. Who were your best friends??
9. What was it like before WWII?? What made you join? How old were you? Where did you serve?? Scarest moment?? Happiest moment?
10. When did you meet? Was it love at 1st sight?

Any others????

 

[My sister's princess]

I love this idea! How about:

What has been the most helpful invention that you have seen become common in your lifetime?


What was the most important day in your life?

What was your favorite chore growing up, least favorite?

 

[TwingleMum]

I've been thinking about doing this for years but kept putting it off but lately I've really been thinking about it. Might sound weird but I think I should pay attention to the "feeling" and do it now. I think it would be nice to have a living record of their lives. I think everyone should think about doing this before its too late.

 

[worm761]

What about asking about school. It was very different back then. They could ask about cars, telephones, and tv. Daddy always talks about listening to the radio because they didn't have tv when he was kid. Have them ask about the price of things when they were kids. A gallon of milk was a nickel when my dad was a kid. Ask what they did on weekends. What games did the play. What was it like to be a teenager? Who was their favorite singer? What kind of medicine did they take when they had a cold? What was their favorite meal? We cook a lot different now a days than they did back then too.

 

[Luvchefmic]

People don't put it off you will be so sorry if you let the chance go by. The only other thing I would add is see if you can get more family history/family tree kind of stuff. Life is soooooo short, blink of an eye really.

 

[C.Ann]

Do you remember any bad storms as a child?

What were you afraid of as a child?

What was your favorite/least favorite food?

Favorite book?

Is there anything from back then that you wish was the same now?

Do you think life today is too easy with all of our electronic gadgets?

What were the prices of:

Gasoline?
Food?
A brand new car?
A home?

 

[can84]

I think it's a wonderful idea! My niece wanted to do this with my Mom, but she passed away just before my niece was going to interview her. If Grandad was a WWII Veteran, they can ask what it was like growing up during the depression. How about how different clothing was back then--and how they had to dress more formal? Did they go to the movies a lot? What would they go see? Did they get to go on vacation/trips? Where did they go? If they lived in or near a city, did they have a car growing up?

 

[Pooh67_68]

I don't want to be a downer, but don't be suprised if their grandfather won't talk about the war. None of my uncles would talk about it.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Good for you for doing this. We have with a few of our older relatives, but missed others thinking "there is still time". Now is always the best time.

In addition to the questions, try to arrange for them to have photos to talk about (film the photo for a minute or so, then let them explain). Likewise, if you're doing it in their house, maybe pre-scout for momentoes around the house to show. Some people are awkward just sitting answering questions and it's easier to have a "thing" to be talking about. (While you're at it- copy any old photos for everyone to have as well. Such an easy thing to do these days!)

As someone else said, don't be overly surprised (but also don't not-ask, because they may ) if they don't want to talk about the war. If so, see if you can connect it to outside events. (Instead of "what was your scariest moment"- something like "where were you when you heard the war ended?"

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

there is a scrapbook company called K and Company that has an ancestry.com line. They have journal boxes with some great questions. I believe they are still sold at Michael's arts and crafts.

http://www.webyfl.com/ancestryquestionstoaskpadscrapbookpaper.aspx

a good question is "Who influenced your life the most?"

 

[C.Ann]

Oh! Don't forget to have her get any recipes that have been passed down forever.. I missed out on my grandma's recipe for her bread pudding (no one in the family has it) and I've been trying to duplicate it for all of my adult life (and I'm 60!!!)

 

[snarlingcoyote]

What do you remember about the Depression? Were you/your father out of work? What did you do to get by? Did anyone work for any of the public works programs (CCC, WPA, PWA etc.)? What did you think about Roosevelt?

Where did you go to worship growing up? How is it different today?

What was your first job?

What did you do in school? How was school different then? What things are better and what things are worse?

Do you remember the first time you heard about Hitler?

Did you go to the movies? What was that like?

What was grandma doing during WWII?

Where were you when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor? On D-Day? V-E and V-J days?

What did you think would happen with Roosevelt died?

What did you think about the atomic bomb when you first heard about it?

Tell us about post-war America.

Did you know anyone who served in the Korean Conflict or in Vietnam?

When did you first eat pizza?

When did you first see TV?

Did your family always have a radio? What were your favorite programs?

When did you switch from an operator to direct dial? Did you ever have a party line?

What was your favorite car?

What music did/do you love to listen to? What memories do you have of it?

What did you think when women started working instead of staying home?

Did your kids go to kindergarten?

What did you think about Haight-Ashbury and the Hippies and the Summer of Love?

Did you ever own a Beetle?

Whew. I could think of more, I'm sure, but those are some I wish I'd asked my MIL and FIL before they passed.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I don't want to be a downer, but don't be suprised if their grandfather won't talk about the war. None of my uncles would talk about it.

A friend of mine did an oral history project with her uncle before he passed. He'd always refused to talk about it - was critically injured in the Battle of the Bulge - but he agreed for this project. She filmed it, got someone with professional experience to edit it and add in some photographs, and burned every member of the family a copy of the DVD of his telling about his experience and then his experiences after the War. It was the ONLY time he ever spoke about it.

 

[mickaholic4077]

How about asking if G'ma and G'pa were married during the war,and if they were,how they coped with the seperation.

 

[can84]

If you have any pictures, make sure they identify people in it, and that you write it down. We found so many pictures and we have no idea who some of the people in it are

 

[Grendalynn]

I am also interested in oral history... I wish we had the foresight to do this with my grandfather before he passed a few years ago. He was also a WWII vet on the USS Miami in the South Pacific. He didn't talk a lot about it, but he would tell DH about things after a few rum and cokes.

 

[golfgal]

Defiantly ask about the prices of things and their wages. That is really an eye opener. Also ask about rationing during the war and how they made due with things. If they are old enough to remember how things were in the great depression, ask about that and how they got along.

I know when we talked to my Grandpa about these things he paid $8000 for 500 acres which included a house, 2 barns, a shed, chicken coop and another outbuilding. The foundation for the barns are battery casings and the ceilings in the house are only about 6'5" tall because that was all the lumber that was available. The house was build right after WWI.

 

[TwingleMum]

Great suggestions!! Now go charge your cameras and interview your loved ones

 

[MerMom60_94]

I love C. Ann's idea about asking for a family recipe. Good thinking!

You have a question about their parents, but why not take it a step further and ask if they knew their grandparents and what they remember about them.

This is such a wonderful idea.

 

[clh2]

After my grandma passed on - my grandpa LOVED to talk about my grandma, how they met, what she was wearing when they met, where they went when they went on dates. They went fishing, and their "attempts" to bone, skin and filet the fish were classic stories. They actually got a parking ticket when they went fishing. Wedding nights were often spent at relative's houses.

Stories of what happened during the depression are heartwarming (if they were alive then). The amount of caring/sharing that took place would be a great lesson for all.

Also - see if any of them have high school yearbooks. I saw my grandma's after she had passed on. I cracked up with this.

Ask how they picked their careers. Did they ever "own a car" with someone else? (My FIL did -and they pretty much had a very formal "custody" agreement on who got the car on which days of the week.)