Snapshot of the Past: 1937
Does a single snapshot tell a story? I think it does. Take for instance this glimpse of circa 1937. Cynthia Wilson sent in this picture of two of her uncles with an unidentified man in overalls. She wants to know if the man in...
Read MoreTexas Mystery Photo Puzzle: No News
No news ....is not good news in this case. A week ago I posted the Two Texas Mysteries column with the hope that someone out there would be able to shed some light on these two pictures. Nope! Not a word. I received an email from David Lintz of the...
Read MoreTwo Texas Mysteries
Take a good look at these photos from Peggy Batchelor Hamlett. I can date them, but I'm still working on identifying the symbolism on the men's shirts shirts. Pictorial Evidence: The design of the mat for the above image suggests it was taken in the 1860s...
Read MoreOne More Time: Funny Pictures
I have another album of funny pictures to share with you. This time, there's even an entry from faraway Chile. Thanks to the Web, this column has readers around the globe.Laura Cook sent me several images of her grandmother Marie Schultheis clowning with friends in the summer of 1913...
Read MoreAn Album of Funny Pictures
Last week I asked readers to submit funny pictures. Thank you to everyone who sent images. I've been laughing all week. So here they are...fun images that leave you wondering, "What were they thinking?"Sue Edminster sent in this photo (above) of men with numbers on the soles of...
Read MoreFunny Ancestral Pictures
Roxanne Turpin sent me a photo that made me think about the transition in photo poses. In most of the images from the 1840s, 1850s and even 1860s technology and our ancestors' discomfort with being photographed combine to make folks look like they're in pain. Then suddenly, people started to...
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Collecting Pictures of Your Ancestors
Genealogists are famous for collecting relatives, but what about acquiring images of those folks? Is it really possible to find previously unknown photos of family members from the advent of photography in 1839? The answer is that it depends. Family circumstances, their comfort level with photography and the availability of...
Read MoreSpotlight: Denver Public Library Picture Collection
It's over 90 degrees in my town today. The heat and humidity make me start thinking about winter. With months to go before the snow, I did the next best thing. I looked at pictures of cooler temperatures I found on the Denver Public Library Web site. All right. Not...
Read MorePictures Without Provenance
Hilda Barton sent me this lovely photo of a young girl with the subject line: "No Idea Who This is..." It's a picture without provenance. I've written about provenance before. It's the history of ownership of a photograph or other object. It's easy to underestimate the value of knowing...
Read MoreTweet. Tweet. I’m on Twitter.
I've watched fellow genealogists talk about Twitter, but I've held back. Books, magazine articles and newspaper articles mention the power of Twitter. Oh boy, I thought. What is this new tool and how will I use it? I'm not really sure at this point...
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