Why Thanksgiving Is the Most Meaningful Moment to Share Your Family’s Book
Every Thanksgiving, someone asks an older relative a question about a great-grandparent’s hometown, an old photograph in the hallway, or how the family first arrived in the United States. Usually, no one has the documents in front of them to answer with certainty.
With either our Ancestor Portrait ($590) or our Lineage Edition ($1,690), our historians retrieve the original ship manifests, US Federal Censuses, military files, and European civil records—turning family lore into a verified, cloth-bound volume that everyone at the table can pass from hand to hand.
Two Ways to Present It on Thanksgiving Day
- Option 1 — Present the finished hardcover book. If we begin at least 21 to 30 days before Thanksgiving, you receive the bound hardcover book in time to unwrap after dinner.
- Option 2 — Present the Commissioning Certificate and gather photos together. If Thanksgiving is just days away, we prepare a numbered Commissioning Certificate within 48 hours. You present it at the table and spend the afternoon choosing the family photographs and stories to include.
What Every Commission Includes
- Complimentary 48-hour feasibility study: Before you pay a dollar, we verify what the US and European archives contain for your family and send a written chapter plan and firm quote.
- Primary-source archival research: US Federal Censuses, passenger arrival manifests, military draft and service files, and European civil and parish registers.
- Custom literary narrative & hardcover binding: Choose either the Ancestor Portrait (from $590, 28 to 40 pages) or the Lineage Edition (from $1,690, 45 to 70 pages), delivered with tracked air shipping to the United States.
Frequently Asked Questions
01Can siblings and cousins split the cost of the Thanksgiving gift?
Yes. Many families divide the commission among two, three, or four adult siblings, and order additional hardcover copies ($65–$95 per copy) so each household takes home its own bound volume.
02What if Thanksgiving is less than three weeks away?
Choose the Commissioning Certificate option: within 48 hours of your feasibility study, we send a personalized certificate ready to print or present in an envelope on Thanksgiving Day, and then complete the book with your family before Christmas or New Year’s.