Three Times the Trouble: Photos in the Family

Sometimes all it takes is to meet up with the right relative. In Tammy Stevens’s case, she traveled to Alaska to see her Aunt Rose. As often happens when relatives get together, the conversation turned to family history. Rose had her husband get a box from their storage area. In it were three oversize identically framed portraits. Rose smiled at Tammy as she showed them off.

Anna Stevens

The two women immediately identified Tammy’s great grandmother, Anna Delimont. It was identical to the smaller version in Tammy’s collection.

Lloyd Stevens

The second picture was of Tammy’s grandparents, Lloyd and Livona Hasenyager (Livona was Anna’s daughter).

Ed Stevens

The third image is one that Tammy was familiar with, too. She owns a small copy of it. A distant uncle in Arizona told her it was her great grand parents, Ed and Cora May Hasenyager (Lloyd’s parents). Her Aunt Rose disagrees with the ID, but isn’t sure who they are.

Dating the Pictures

I’m a bit of skeptic when it comes to photo identification. I need proof. Let’s start with when the photos were taken.

The image of Anna is from the World War I period. Her hairstyle was popular in circa 1916. Women piled their hair towards their forehead in a reverse bun. Square yoked dresses were popular then as well. She was born in 1879, so this ID fits the time frame of the image.

The Hasenyager couple posed in the 1920s. Her wavy hair is a dead giveaway. It’s short! A key clue for dating early twentieth century images. It’s a style called the Shingle. There are variations with names like the Wavy Shingle or the Naturally Curly Shingle. Her drop waist dress from the 1920s as well. The couple married in 1927, a likely date for the image.

Next week I’ll tackle the third picture.