Scrapbookers determine what is scrapworthy by sifting through the photographs they have taken or been given of moments from their life. Photographs are not taken continuously but are taken selectively. Scrapbookers then have to label a moment as scrapworthy in … Continue reading
Scrapbookers may play with boundaries through scrapbooking. Nippert-Eng (2005:304) argues that two conditions must be met in order for boundary play to occur: First, players must possess a shared, normative expectation for where one draws the line between two semiotically … Continue reading
Scrapbookers lump together items they consider scrapworthy and split them from the rest which they consider to be not scrapworthy (i.e., trashworthy or forgettable). Scrapworthiness is shaped by how scrapbookers classify their lives within their scrapbooks. For example, a scrapbooker … Continue reading
Respondents struggle with explaining why they make the choices they do as far as what is included in the scrapbook, especially after the photograph(s) and journaling were accounted for. Most commonly, respondents say they do not know why they chose … Continue reading
In my dissertation, I wrote: Scrapbookers “frame” memories to be remembered in scrapbooks, implying that all other memories can be discarded or ignored (see Zerubavel 1991; 1997; 2006). Scrapbookers are deciding which memories are scrapworthy—or are worth remembering. To be … Continue reading
One thing that I love about the scrapbook industry is that children are allowed. While I am critical of the child-centered, mom-guilt narrative that is often used as a marketing strategy, at least the industry is supportive of families, too. … Continue reading
Other sociologists have also studied scrapbooking. I wanted to take a post to discuss the following quote from Goodsell and Seiter (2010:4-5). They argue: [t]here are multiple layers of reality [in a scrapbook]: what happened, the pictures of what happened, … Continue reading
Over the past few weeks, I’ve covered some of the ways in which my respondents organize their scrapbooks. In case you missed any of the posts, here they are: I Scrapbook Chronologically. How is Time Measured? The First Year Child-Prompted … Continue reading
Scrapbookers create scrapbooks of specific events but also “general family scrapbooking” which includes “keeping up with vacations, birthdays, regular pictures.” A more out of the ordinary scrapbook subject is about a person’s occupation. One industry worker has a customer who … Continue reading
One thematic trend that was somewhat surprising to me when I encountered it was education-themed scrapbooks. I think it surprised me because this style of scrapbooking is not heavily promoted by the industry aside from the production of school-themed product. … Continue reading
Stephanie Medley-Rath is a sociologist and scrapbooker who studies scrapbooking and memory keeping. Scrapworthy Lives is a blog focused on her sociological analysis of scrapbooking, with a sprinkling of posts about Stephanie's own scrapbooking projects.
