As promised, Ancestry.com has released a database of U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925.
This database contains passport applications from 1795-1925, including emergency passport applications (passports issued abroad) from 1877-1907. It also contains passport application registers for 1810-1817, 1830-1831, and 1834-1906.This won't help me much. My ancestors never left the country for fear that they wouldn't be let back in.
Ancestry.com will soon release a US passport collection with "millions of names from the years 1796 to 1925."
Passports became more popular in the late 1840s. In 1914, American citizens were permitted to travel abroad without passports. If your ancestors were travelers this will be a great collection for you. If you find a hit for one of your ancestors you will get a little gold mine of information. Many of these applications include photos. [Link]This announcement comes with a sample image, which is almost readable if you squint really hard.
For the next few days you can bid on Walt Disney's last passport on eBay.
This United States passport is dated August 19, 1965, and was issued to the legendary animator shortly after the giant success of Mary Poppins (1964) and 16 months before his death (December 15, 1966). Disney signed the passport twice in blue ink (as "Walter E. Disney"), including once along the edge of his smiling photo. It bears only one set of visa stamps, for a trip to and from London. [Link, via Boing Boing]
