Can an Old Mystery Photo Prove a Passed-Down Family Tale?
Don't you love a good story? I do. As genealogists we're trained to listen to the tales told at family gatherings and sort fiction from fact. Pictures not only come with their own set of stories, but they also can be used as proof of a genealogical event. ...
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3 Translation Tips for Foreign-Language Captions on Old Photos
Ann Sandler's mother-in-law left behind a mystery photo. The family doesn't know who's in the photo and they can't read the caption on the back. It's in a language they don't recognize. Many immigrant families brought with them images of family and friends they'd left behind. Without the...
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Solve WWI-Era Photo Mysteries With Fashion Clues Premium
The rapid transformation in WWI-era clothing styles can help you solve photo mysteries and illuminate your ancestors’ changing world.
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Old Family Photos of Women in the Workforce
Jeanine Black saw the post How to Learn About Working Women in Old Photos and sent me two images of women in her family. It's a fitting end to Women's History Month.In about 1909, her 15-year-old paternal grandmother, Louse (first on the left) worked in a Brockton, Mass., shoe...
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Comparing Faces in Old Family Photos
Here they are again. I'm enamored of this photo; it's a layered puzzle with many clues. In my first post about it I examined the clothing details and asked for additional information. In the second post, we considered the other couples in the family that married in the 1880s. William...
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How to Identify the Right Couple in an Old Wedding Photo
In the recent post 3 Clues to Identify Family in Old Wedding Photos, I asked a series of questions relating to this image belonging to William Davis: This week, I'm back with more information.The clothing clues in this picture, including the woman's front-pleated skirt and her bodice...
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Old Movies: Study These Three Clues. Tell the Story.
Romney, WV, March 1938. Library of Congress. Another Oscar statuette has been bestowed upon a movie of the year (not withstanding some painful-to-watch onstage confusion when the presenters announced the wrong Best Picture winner due to an envelope mixup). My family has a long history of being film...
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3 Clues to Identify the Ancestors in Old Wedding Photos
Dr. William Davis dated this photo in his collection to sometime between 1860 and 1890. It once hung in his parents' house, but he can't remember which side of the family it represents. The photo documents the wedding of one of Dr. Davis' ancestors...
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How to Take the Headache Out Of Old Confusing Photos
Carol Tear has a photos that's full of contradictions. It's enough to give a genealogist a headache, but it doesn't have to. She thinks this is Hannah Marquart Obenshain (born in 1788, dies sometime between 1850 and 1860). With a bit of research and family data, some of the identity...
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3 Old Photo Stories You Can Tell Today
What are you going to do with all your old photos? You can tuck them away for safekeeping or you can use them to tell your family about their ancestors. Or, you can do both. Your original prints belong in acid- and lignin-free boxes, but you can use...
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