Old Blue Eyes in a Family Photo
This man's pale blue eyes stand out in this portrait.Jay Kruizenga submitted the photo with an inquiry about a date for the picture. He's hopeful it was taken circa 1857, making James Pennington (1828-1903) a potential ID for this man. Pennington would be 29 years old in 1857. This...
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Walt Whitman and Your Old Family Photos
Walt Whitman, 1854, Library of Congress. What could a famous man have in common with your picture collection? It turns out, plenty! Whitman (1819-1892), an American poet, journalist and essayist, had picture problems you'll find familiar. In 1888, surrounded by images taken of Whitman during his life, his friend...
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Finding Clues in Old Photos | A Memorial Day Tribute in 1918
A quick search for Memorial Day photos on the Library of Congress website turned up this image. According to the cataloging record, the original was a glass negative, and on the envelope was a note suggesting this was taken by the National Photo Company on Memorial Day 1918. ...
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Counting the Clues to Solve an Old Photo Mystery
The three parts to this German photo mystery are the caption, the date of the image and the family history information. The first blog post dated the image to the 1880s, and the second post discussed caption translation confusion. Please read the comments to the Caption Confusion post. A woman...
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Piecing Together Old Photo Albums: A Challenge
Last week, I collected images from individuals who'd found photos in their registration goody bags at the National Genealogical Society conference in Fort Lauderdale. As the images flooded in to my exhibit hall booth, it quickly became apparent that this was an enormous photo identification challenge. Would it...
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Caption Confusion in a Foreign Photo
Caption confusion is a common condition. You may suffer from it. The main symptoms are squinty eyes and a headache from trying to figure out what someone wrote on a picture years ago. You can't read the handwriting or follow the cryptic clues. Maybe you discover that what's written isn't...
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Foreign Photo Caption Mystery
Ownership is a clue to who's in a mystery photo. The problem is while most people know who gave them a picture—such as an aunt, parent or grandparent—but before that, ownership information may be unknown. Debra Allison can trace the provenance (ownership) of this picture back to her great-grandmother Antoinette...
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Caption Mystery for an Old Photo
Identifying captions written with good intentions years ago often confuse descendants rather than clarify who's who. On the back of this photo found among the things of Roxanne Turpin's mother-in-law is a cryptic note: "Relative of Grandpa (Grande), I think." The person wrote in ball point ink, which...
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Quick Guide: Online Photo Editors Premium
With news that Google is abandoning its photo-editing service, Picasa, you may be wondering how you’ll edit your pictures now. The choices are many, both online and via your mobile devices. Some services feature one-click fixes, stickers, frames and fun collages; others have the sophistication of high-end editing software...
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Round Three: Clues in a Nineteenth Century Family Gathering
Heidi Thibodeau is determined to identify the folks in that July group portrait. It's a key to other unidentified photos she may find. It can take time to solve a photo mystery. The clues stack up, but making that right match often involves re-examining photos in your collection or asking...
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