Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Any thoughts on how to identify family photo from about 1907?


Here is a cautionary tale.

I decided to use a move across country 20 years ago to clean out things I thought I didn't need anymore. Unfortunately, that included some family photos.

Many of those were photos were so out of focus or badly developed that they were totally unrecognizable by anyone. But it did include a few small  head-shoulder photos of unidentified people. All of the relatives who could have identified them were dead. So out they went.

At the time I didn't have a computer and the Internet was something that people called the Information Superhighway but didn't know much about.

Today, the Internet lets us connect to relatives we didn't know we had and who may be able to identify those unidentified photos.

Above is one of the many photos I did save. The family is not identified. But the photo is printed on a postal card stock with places on the back for a message, address, and stamp. After about 1907, this was a popular way to have photos made. They could be mailed or they could also be handed out to friends and family. Many of the photos from the Pierce side of my family were printed this way. But it also could be from my Poore side.

Although the people remain unidentified, I am hopeful they will be some day.

Have you been able to use the Internet to identify one of your old photos? Any thoughts on what other steps I can take to get this photo identified?
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5 comments:

  1. These people do look recognizable when the photo is enlarged. I hope you find a relative who can recognize them. Even when asking other relatives, I haven't been able to identify old photos. Haven't tried the Internet yet, but I hear that results are possible, especially on ancestry.com. Good luck!

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  2. Thank you, Mariann. Good luck with your own search!!

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  3. That house is the house my brother in law use to own. I sent him a picture to ask. But my husband said it's the house.

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  4. That house is the house my brother in law use to own. I sent him a picture to ask. But my husband said it's the house.

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