Old Photo Mysteries and Genetics
At the recent New England Regional Genealogical Conference (NERGC) I met Pat McHugh. She told me about a very interesting image in her family collection. The name of the couple is currently unknown. Their clothing and the studio setting suggests it was taken in the late...
View DetailsWavy Hair in Old Photos: Spot the Right Decade
The next time you curl your hair, think about the success of 19th-century hairdresser Marcel Grateau. In 1872, he turned hair tongs upside down when styling a stage star's hair, and created a trend that remained popular for more than 50 years!Last week I discussed Jim DeVogt's funeral card...
View DetailsPhoto Clues in 19th-Century Funeral Cards
Funeral cards are nothing new. In the 1860s, mourning cards were popular after the assassination of President Lincoln, but not to announce the death of an average person. By the 1880s, though, it was fashionable to print cards to memorialize relatives. This funeral card dates from 1891 and is printed...
View DetailsLabeling Old Photos: A Good Deed
Along the bottom edge of this photo someone wrote: "Noland...Ohio." One of the problems is that on the back Melanie Ohm's mother and aunt wrote that this image depicts Martha Ann Noland Hammond (1843-1870), George Hammond and Mary Hammond as well as a statement: "This would be...
View DetailsFinding Gold in Old Family Photos
Family photos can depict a single individual or a large group. While we think of them in terms of our family history, large group portraits might be important to other families as well. Take this photo of a group in Shaws Flats, Calif. Shaws Flats was a Gold Rush town...
View DetailsFacial Features as an Old Photo Identification Clue
Who do you look like? I'm my father's child from the nose up and my mother's child from the nose down. Often, looking at family photographs will trigger a familiar response: "Ah, that's where I got that nose" or "those blue eyes." Using facial features to identify family...
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Quiz: Can You Read the Hidden Clues in this Old Photo?
Hidden clues in old photos can tell you more than just when and where a picture was taken. Test your skills in reading the clues in this old photo.
View DetailsReading Hidden Clues in Your Old Family Photos Premium
Learn how to uncover eight kinds of surprising new clues that can help you identify your old mystery photos.
View DetailsUsing Women’s Collars to Date Old Family Photos
The last two images blog reader Kimble DaCosta sent me are from the same period, but show off two different collar styles: one from the mid- to late 1870s and the other from the late 1870s to early 1880s. Both photos are tintypes. You can read the first two installments...
View DetailsAdding up the Clues to Identify an Old Mystery Photo
Last week I wrote about the importance of knowing the lineage of your photos. The key details of provenance can keep you from making a photo identification mistake. Kimble DaCosta knows a lot about the photos she inherited. Her ancestor Ella Seamands identified most of the images in a chest...
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