There’s exceptions to every rule of course. But we know the trends. Actual silver silverware is considered a burden by most folks under the age of 60. My wife’s sole memory of the family silver is that her mother would force the kids to polish it as punishment. Her mom stopped using it over a decade ago. Because she doesn’t trust her thieving grandson (who she really should kick out) the silver is in our possession. It’s on top of the cabinets, hasn’t been touched since it was given to us, and will be sold within a week of her dying.
Names on the back help. But eventually you still get to the point where nobody alive knows who they are. So even “Sam and Marge at their wedding” mean nothing to anybody. They DON’T get handed, they get thrown out. It’s current way.
Sure your Gen Z kids love them NOW. I liked old family photos when I was young. Once I hit adulthood and stuff became a burden. Once you have to move box of photo albums for the 3rd time since you last opened them. The attitude changes. And keep in mind the other thing about Gen Z, they were raised in the streaming world, physical media isn’t their thing. Photo albums that are in with the family library of other books are very different than photo albums that are the only books they have. Especially when all their other photos, the ones they took, are digital, on some cloud somewhere.
They WILL be thrown out. Maybe not your kids, maybe not your grand kids, but at some point they will wind up in the hands somebody who has no memory of you or anybody in the pictures, for whom they mean nothing, and they just a burden, and they will just be gone.
I’ve been working on family genealogy the past five years. What I would give to have old family documents, letters, and photos today! Even from my folks and grandparents.
Somehow you’d have to incentivize multiple succeeding generations to hold onto the stuff and then, somewhere down the road, hope that one of your children, grandchildren, gr-grandchildren, gr-gr-grandchildren, etc. becomes interested in who they are and where they came from. They they would have that treasure trove of family info.
My progeny are under 60 and my grand is 17! And you couldn't be more DAMNED DEAD WRONG about me and mine, if your tried harder!
My grand has NEVER met/known any generation of relatives prior to mine and yet, know ALL about generations 5 generations removed and LOVES knowing family history and what stuff belonged to whom. And that's just my side; there's also family stories from the other parent that is known, which goes back even farther.
And this is also true for my friends and their progeny and grands, and also nieces and nephews.
LOL...not most of MY books! Though I have far to many and some can be ditched, most will NEVER be thrown out and many will ONLY be sold IF money is needed extremely badly.
Perhaps it's a "class" thing and you and yours are in a different socio-economic strata.
Arguing with total strangers, whom one knows nothing about, and only using your perspective, is NOT a wise thing to do! Sweeping generalities, ABOUT ANYTHING, is unwise. So too is claiming to know what future generations will or will not do.
By NOT educating one's own kids and they repeating that error, means that future generations can be made to believe any damned thing; true or NOT!
And "family stories" ARE history; history that needs to be handed down.