Photos
Adding up the Clues to Identify an Old Mystery Photo
Last week I wrote about the importance of knowing the lineage of your photos. The key details of provenance can keep you from making a photo identification mistake. Kimble DaCosta knows a lot about the photos she inherited. Her ancestor Ella Seamands identified most of the images in a chest...
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Tips to Trace the Lineage of Your Photos
Tracing the line of descent of your family is more than putting names and dates on your family tree. You can use those same genealogical techniques to trace the history of ownership—the provenance—of your pictures. Knowing how a group of pictures came to be in your...
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Photo Jewelry
Last week I showed you a picture of a piece of photo jewelry owned by Teri Luna and discussed a few clues. Teri saw the column and wrote back with a few more details. This particular pin is 1 3/4 inches high and 1 3/8 inches wide.&...
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Identifying Old Photos in Lockets and Brooches
Teri Luna's grandmother Catherine Walker Brown Robson owned two pieces of photo jewelry. Her locket contained two photos, one of Catherine and the other of her sister Jean. When Teri removed them, two other images fell out that had been stored behind the other pictures. One was Catherine's...
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13 Websites for Finding Old Family Photos
Search these 13 sites for pictures of your ancestors and the places they lived. Plus, some tips on copyright to consider.
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Old-Time Baby Pictures
Social media today is full of pictures of children and grandchildren, but posting historical, black-and-white baby pictures hasn't really caught on yet. Babies born 100 years ago are just as cute as the darlings posted today. Take this image for instance: Maria Baker submitted it and wants to...
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Big Hats in Family Photos
Ronnie O'Rourke's great aunt Mary (Mamie) Smith (b. 1892) wears an enormous hat in this family portrait. Her grandson identified her in the image, but now the family wants to know who's standing with her. Her hat and dress are quite stylish for this outdoor event. The presence of the...
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First Photo Mystery of 2015
Diana Luellen and her father found this old photo at his sister's house almost 20 years ago. A lot of the aunt's pictures were identified, but the portrait of this man and several others were not. Diana emailed me that "this is the one I keep on my computer desk...
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My Favorite Photo Websites of 2014
Happy New Year! Here are some websites that readers and friends told me about in 2014. Add them to your to-do list of sites worth exploring in 2015. Edit and Share PhotosPixlr.com Not a week goes by that I don't take time to explore new ways to...
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More Mystery Photos in an Old Family Album
The trouble with women in light colored dresses is identifying the occasion. Not all dresses that appear white in a picture are that color. Many pale shades such as light blue look white in nineteenth century photographs. A woman wearing a "white" dress could be dressed for a wedding, a...
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