Tag Time

Time matters, whether you’re going on a research trip or reviewing your maternal line with Great-aunt Anna. So wouldn’t it be handy to have a compact, easy-to-use, illustrated reference point for the family tree information you need, the moment you need it? Enter Tag-Alongs, a set of family history “flash cards” that offers an organized way to keep statistics and photos close at hand. With these tags, you don’t have to carry bulky folders of family documents with you.

A Tag-Alongs set comes with 31 cards — one for every ancestor through your great-grandparents — on a metal ring. Each 3 ½×5½-inch tag, made from heavy card-stock, has a different design and provides spaces for vital statistics such as birth date and place, death date and place, spouse name, marriage date and a few immediate family members. You can put a photo of a family member — or a tombstone — on each card for a quick visual reference.

The product’s creator, Michelle Collier of Osceola, Ind., made her first set of TagAlongs from paper glued to cereal boxes that she had cut and fastened together to take along on her library research visits. Like many beginners, she sometimes found sorting through all the names and dates confusing. So she kept the tags with her as she researched to quickly connect a face with a name. A librarian suggested she consider selling them.

Available at Fun Stuff for Genealogists (<www.funstuffforgenealogists.com>, 877-259-6144), Tag-Alongs are simple and convenient. But keep in mind that just like your other genealogy paper files, the $29.95 cards aren’t invincible. Keep them safe from coffee spills, and you’ll have a conversation piece as well as a cache of organized facts to spark your memory as you trace your family tree.

From the December 2006 issue of Family Tree Magazine.