Clothing
"What kind of clothing did each family member wear? How about shoes? Did the women and children go barefoot? Did they spin or weave? Did they buy clothing, shoes, cloth? If so, where?"

Local newspapers may carry either advertisements for the types of clothing worn in that area at that time, or photos of local people. To see what newspapers were available, visit your state's Newspaper Project.

Local historical societies often feature exhibits with period costume from their area. Two historical society Web pages that I visited today mentioned costume exhibits. (California Historical Society and the Western Reserve Historical Society ("Of Corset Matters"))

The Library of Congress' Web site contains a plethora of historic photos from across the country during various eras.
American Memory Project at the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs: An Illustrated Guide

Prints & Photographs: Online Catalog

Not limited to U.S.—some ethnic costume photos included. (Example: Italian costume)

Here are some other sites that can help
Vintage Closet—Victorian Millinery

Boys Historical Clothing

Godey's Lady's Book Online

Victoriana Library

Harper's Bazaar Magazine, from the Victoriana Library

Publications
20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment, Expanded Edition, by Francois Boucher.

Art of Dress: Clothes and Society, 1500-1914, by Jane Ashelford

Children's Clothes, by Clare Rose

Children's Fashions, 1860-1912, by JoAnne Olian

Sears Roebuck Catalog, 1890, Intro by S. J. Perelman

Food
"What kind of food did they eat? What were their meals like? How was the food prepared? Did they cook on a fireplace or a stove? Was the kitchen part of the main room, a lean-to, a separate building? What did it smell like? Where did they get their food? Which items did they buy grow, raise, slaughter? What kind of animals did they own?"

A search of the American Memory Project's American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 for "diet food meal" (match any of these words) turned up 100 different results, including the following excerpt from an interview with a family from North Carolina:

"So cotton is raised on the farm, but four and a half acres of tobacco were planted this year. The rest of the cleared land is in corn, hay, peas, and soy-beans. The garden to adequate to the needs of the family, and usually from 200 to 300 quarts of vegetables and fruits are canned during the summer. Most of the food for the hogs is raised on the place and very little meat is bought. The corn grown upon the place furnishes all the meal needed, but no wheat is raised. Flour is about the only food purchased which might be raised on the farm. Most of the butter they make is used by the family; though some of it is sold at the stores. The same is true of eggs.

"This family has read the government bulletins on balanced diet for animals and people. Meat takes a lower place in the family rations than vegetables and fruits. The good health of the parents and children can undoubtedly be attributed in large part to a balanced diet."

Another from South Carolina:

"The black babies started to come soon after William and Mary were married and had settled themselves on the old farm among the pines. First to arrive was Sadie; then in rapid succession, George Lee, William, Viola, Ernestine, Henrietta, Alberta, and lastly Josiah, known better by the name of Bluesteel. They came from sturdy Afro-American stock on both sides and in spite of a diet composed largely of fat pork, hominy grits, sweet potatoes, and rice, with an occasional fish and crab thrown in, all of them managed to survive. As soon as the black babies were weaned they would sit flat on the draughty floor and eat yellow yams sucking contentedly on the tubas for hours at a time. Sometimes there was milk in the house for when the Geddes were in funds they kept a cow, but often there was nothing for the children to drink but water sweetened with molasses or weak tea. Condensed milk was a luxury, reserved for the grown folks, or the sick. The sweet sticky stuff was ranked with candy and horse cakes. Vegetables were rarely seen on the table and fruit was unknown except at Christmas."

The New York Public Library has a comprehensive Research Guide to Culinary History.

Regional and ethnic cookbooks can also be helpful in this aspect and may help you to recreate some of the foods of your ancestors.

"The Ellis Island Immigrant Cook Book" by Tom Bernardin

Foodbooks has a great selection of historic cookbooks. Sections of the Web site include "Preserving America's Culinary Past," as well as regional and ethnic pages.

Historical Cooking Links

Period and Camping cooking links
(Also has links to costuming sites)

See the entire series:
Part 1: Turning Paper into People
Part 2: Historical Context
Part 3: Clothing and Food
Part 4: Migration
Part 5: Land
Part 6: Ethnicity
Part 7: Housing
Part 8: Community
Part 9: Environment
Part 10: Family