I spent part of the day yesterday sorting through family photographs. Remember, I've made a commitment to reorganizing and decluttering, so this is one of the things that requires some serious attention this year. (We have LOTS of pictures around here!) I figure that if I deal with a little at a time, it won't be such a chore.
I came across these tintypes, carefully tucked into a box with other family images and decided to scan them to share with you before I put them into archival pocket pages for safekeeping. You can see that they've already sustained some damage, mainly in the form of rust, so we want to care for them to keep them from degrading further.
This first one is of Handsome's grandmother, the opera singer (on the right). I don't know who is on the left, but I assume it's a sister or cousin to his grandmother.
I love this one. Look at their beautiful dresses.
I've often wondered why so few of these old images
show smiling faces. Everyone is always so somber.
Look at this Dapper Dan! It appears that
he's pretty pleased with himself, don't you think?
I always love old photos of children with pets. In a day when there were no "speed" shutters, a little dog moving was going to end up looking like a ghost image. I wish this one had turned out. There are actually two of this image...and sadly, both are blurry. I love this little girl's dress, too!
Mommas and babies are another timeless image. They don't look very happy, do they? But they're a family record of loved ones long-gone, and in some cases, unidentified. I do know they're all related to us, but it will take more research - in other old album holding photographs with names carefully written on the backs - to identify these faces. I hope you enjoyed seeing these pictures as much as I did.
I'll have more studio goodies tomorrow. Sewing quilt blocks is on the agenda today.
Loved your old photos,it's something that's close to my heart,keeping family history intact.xxx
ReplyDeleteFamily history is fascinating isn't it? Love the ghost image dog one. :)
ReplyDeleteI love going through old photos!! I have quite a few from my family and a ton from John's family. My girls always asked when they were little why everyone looked so mad or cross in the photos. They asked if they all had bad teeth-LOL!!! They just might have the way dentistry was in those days!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful photographs! I read, or heard, or made up in my own little mind that the reason people look so somber in very old photos is that it took so long to take the picture that they couldn't hold a smile for that long. It made their face hurt to hold a fake smile so you get a no smile face which in turn, looks incredibly stoic.
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky to have such great, old pics.
How special it is that you have these photos and hopefully you are able to identify them. A wondeful way to spend your time:-)
ReplyDeleteLovely old photos Donna.
ReplyDeleteThe photos are great, Donna.:D
ReplyDeleteI love family history. Years ago, DH's brother was living in a suburb where the owners of the funeral home had the same surname as we do. The wife of the o, she was really involved in doing the family tree, but BIL didn't think so- they are at least 4th generation Aussies. Anyway- they were!!! The family tree had been traced back to Somerset in England in the late 1700's, and we also found out that folk in our own suburb here who we were friends with, were related to DH through his Great grandmother.
It really is a small world. :)
Old photos are so cool! I don't have any that are that old. Makes me think though what future generations will be looking at with all our digital stuff.....
ReplyDelete