Death Photography: Is it For Real?
There's no shortage of creepy postmortem photography on the web. But are those images the real thing? Here's a bit of history to separate fact from fiction.
Read MoreMourners in Old Graveside Photo
This old graveside picture is proof that family photographs are inherited differently in every family. Sometimes the pictures go to the oldest, sometimes the youngest, and sometimes they get scattered among descendants. The same can be true for genealogical information. Huge online genealogy databases like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org...
Read MoreGraveside Clues in an Old Photo
Our family photo collections are full of pictures of happy occasions, such as weddings, parties and kids having fun. But sometimes the camera was used to document a sorrowful family history moment. Pam Fisher owns this graveside group portrait from the Shepardson family. She thinks it was taken in southern...
Read MorePhoto 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...
Read MorePuzzling over Black Dresses
Rebecca Foster wrote to me: Most of my elder family has passed away, so I am struggling to piece together my family history. I believe this is my third-great-grandmother Mary Ann Fagan. Rebecca initially thought this could be her in 1860s mourning dress, but she's right to doubt her initial...
Read MoreStorytelling Pictures
You never know what you're going to find in a family photo collection. If you have an odd picture, please send it along. You can email it to me.Dario X. Musso sent me a lovely family photo:Seated on the right side is Nikita Radionov. Dario's grandmother is...
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Your Mourning Pictures
Two weeks ago I wrote about mourning traditions and clothing and asked for e pictures of women wearing mourning clothes. This week, I'm featuring the two I received as well as one from my work collection of images. Toni Mann sent in this very interesting photo. It's a...
Read MoreIdentifying Mourning Clothes in Victorian Photos
Queen Victoria set the standard for both wedding attire and for mourning. Here are three examples of mourning dress in Victorian-era photography.
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