Photos
Photos
Facial 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.
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Reading 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.
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Using 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...
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Adding 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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Tips to Trace the Lineage of Your Photos
Tracing the line of descent of your family is more than putting names and dates on your family tree. You can use those same genealogical techniques to trace the history of ownership—the provenance—of your pictures. Knowing how a group of pictures came to be in your...
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Photo Jewelry
Last week I showed you a picture of a piece of photo jewelry owned by Teri Luna and discussed a few clues. Teri saw the column and wrote back with a few more details. This particular pin is 1 3/4 inches high and 1 3/8 inches wide.&...
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Identifying Old Photos in Lockets and Brooches
Teri Luna's grandmother Catherine Walker Brown Robson owned two pieces of photo jewelry. Her locket contained two photos, one of Catherine and the other of her sister Jean. When Teri removed them, two other images fell out that had been stored behind the other pictures. One was Catherine's...
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13 Websites for Finding Old Family Photos
Search these 13 sites for pictures of your ancestors and the places they lived. Plus, some tips on copyright to consider.
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Old-Time Baby Pictures
Social media today is full of pictures of children and grandchildren, but posting historical, black-and-white baby pictures hasn't really caught on yet. Babies born 100 years ago are just as cute as the darlings posted today. Take this image for instance: Maria Baker submitted it and wants to...
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