Best of the

Photo Detective Put names and dates to mysterious old family photos with step-by-step guides and investigations of real-life cases from Family Tree Magazine’s professional picture sleuth, Maureen A. Taylor

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very family has boxes or albums full of old photos— including pictures whose subjects or dates are a mystery. But those images contain hidden clues that

can help you determine who’s in them and when they were taken. How you do know what to look for? Family Tree Magazine’s Photo Detective, Maureen A. Taylor, is a professional photo historian and genealogist who specializes in identifying historical images. Here we’ve compiled some of her best advice and most interesting cases so you can discover how to tease out those clues­—and solve your photo mysteries. If you like what you see, you’ll find more of Maureen’s advice in Family Tree Magazine and on our Photo Detective blog, where Maureen tackles readers’ photo conundrums and shares tips for identifying and preserving pictures from the past. A new blog post is featured each week in the free Family Tree Magazine E-mail Update newsletter. You’ll

Contents Click any bulleted item to to go to that article.

Starting Strategies • Step-by-step photo identification guide and worksheet • Success stories

Clues in Clothing

Photographs, available through bookstores and online retailers. For more on Maureen’s

• Styles by era, 1840 to 1900 • Ethnic dress • Women in pants • Halloween costumes • Children’s fashion

professional photo identification services, visit .

Answers in Accessories

also find in-depth help in Maureen’s book Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family

• Hats and headwear • Political campaign jewelry

Evidence in Group Portraits • Two photos of the same family? • Unknown faces in a crowd • Class portraits • Wedding portraits

Caption Conundrums • Labels as a starting point • Inaccurate captions

Object Lessons • House photos • Automobile images

Visit the Photo Detective blog »

Special types of Photographs • Salt prints • Photo postcards

Unusual Cases

Learn more about this book »

• Woman under a blanket • Doctored photos

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Calling the

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o your great-aunt Alma bequeathed

Having trouble attaching names to the faces in your family portraits? Fill in the blanks with our step-by-step photo-identification guide and worksheet.

a boatload of family photos to you, but she didn’t label them—now what? Whatever you do, don’t throw them away. Identifying and dating old pictures can be a challenge, but it’s also a good way to learn more about your relatives. Have you ever wondered where you got your curly hair and freckles? Now’s the time to find out. You might discover you’re the spitting image of Great-great-grandma Lucille. Are you curious which side of the family a group portrait depicts? With a little research, you can discover that, too. The worksheet on page 23 will help you solve your picture puzzles one step at a time. By writing down everything you know about an image, you’ll uncover ancestral connections and ultimately save yourself plenty of genealogical grief. Just fill out the form and attach a copy (not the original!) of your mystery photo for your future reference. We’ll walk you through the entire photo-identification process so you can start piecing those puzzles together like a pro.

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By Maureen A. Taylor

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1. Type of photograph 2. Type of enclosure

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Both tintypes (top) and daguerreotypes (bottom) are made of metal.

Begin by identifying the photographic method: Do you have a daguerreotype, tintype, ambrotype or paper print? Certain types of photos were popular at different times. The first photographs, daguerreotypes (1839 to 1860), are easy to spot because they have reflective metal surfaces, and you must hold them at an angle in order to see the image. You’ll usually find glass ambrotypes (1854 to 1860s) in protective cases (see step 2); look for holes in the backing material. Iron tintypes (1856 to mid-1900s) resemble daguerreotypes because both are made of metal, but they stayed popular longer than daguerreotypes and ambrotypes. Paper prints (1855 to the present), of course, have endured the longest, and have come in a wide variety of colors and sizes. For help identifying early paper prints, consult Care and Identification of 19th-Century Photographic Prints by James M. Reilly (Eastman Kodak Co., out of print).

signed, sealed, DELIVERED

Certain clues can immediately date an image. Between Aug. 1, 1864, and Aug. 1, 1866, the US government levied a tax on photos. Photographers had to affix stamps to the backs of their images, and hand-cancel each one with their names or initials and the sale dates. If your mystery photo has one of these stamps, you’ll know exactly when it was taken. Pay attention to postage stamps and cancellations on picture postcards and old envelopes that held photos, too. These clues can place a picture in a certain country at a particular time. Postal history books such as the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue series (Scott Publishing Co.), available in print and on CD-ROM at large libraries, will help you date international stamps.

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During the 19th century, daguerreotypes and ambrotypes generally came in cases. Consumers could buy tintypes in cases, too, though these images often had paper enclosures instead. Cases came in a variety of sizes, shapes and designs—from simple to elaborate. Woodframed cases, such as the one shown at left, were popular in the 1840s and 1850s. They were replaced by union cases, which were constructed from gutta-percha (a tree resin) and other substances that could be molded into sturdier cases with elaborate surface designs. Various shades of velvet line the insides of most cases. Brass mats (plain in the 1840s and embossed in later decades) frame the images. To learn more about cased images, consult Adele Kenny’s Photographic Cases: Victorian Design Sources, 1840-1870 (Schiffer, $59.95). Note the type of enclosure (case, paper mat or frame) on your worksheet.

3. Size

Measure your photograph in inches (width by height) and write down the dimensions. Cased images (daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes) were made in standard sizes, from the sixteenth plate (2x2 inches) to the mammoth plate (61⁄2x81⁄2 inches or larger). Diminutive 1x1-inch tintypes, known as gems or thumbnails, came in paper enclosures. Most 19th- and early-20th-century paper photographs were mounted onto cardstock or cardboard for support. These images also came in standard sizes. The carte de visite, which first showed up in the United States in 1859, measured 41⁄4x21⁄2 inches; the cabinet card (1866) was 41⁄2x61⁄2 inches; the Victoria (1870), 31⁄4x5 inches; and the Promenade (1875), 4x7 inches. After you see how your mystery photo measures up, use these dates as a guide to when it could have been created.

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6. Subjects & caption

Finding a photographer’s name and/or address, known as an imprint, on a picture is like winning a prize. That one detail can tell you where and when a photograph was taken, narrowing the identification possibilities considerably. On cased images, you’ll likely find the imprint scratched into a plate attached to the case, or on the brass mat or velvet interior of the case. Bear in mind, though, that the majority of cased photos don’t have imprints. With paper prints, you don’t have to hunt quite as hard for the photographer’s name: You’ll see it on the front or back of the image. Study the photographer’s imprint carefully, and record the information exactly as it appears. Then see the next step.

A caption such as “Aunt May” or “Aunt May’s sister” gives you a possible identification—but take it with a grain of salt. You don’t know who wrote the caption or how reliable the information is. Copy the caption onto your worksheet and then try to confirm it. Start by comparing your photograph to identified images of Aunt May or her sister, and see if the facial features match up. Examine the handwriting: Does it resemble other writing samples in your collection? Try to figure out whose it is.

5. Photographer’s dates of operation

7. Costume

descriptions

Once you have a name, you can find out when the photographer was in business. Look him up in the surname section of an old city directory (a listing of a town’s residents, similar to today’s phone books—see the August 2003 Family Tree Magazine for help finding one), or consult the commercial listings for photographers in the back of the book. Use several directories to track his business over a period of time. You also might find him in Biographies of Western Photographers by Carl Mautz (Carl Mautz Publishing, $50) or a similar directory. And check out Photographers: A Sourcebook for Historical Research edited by Peter E. Palmquist (Carl Mautz Publishing, $25) and the Finding Photographers Web site for a list of books and online resources arranged by geographic focus.

Take out a magnifying glass and look closely at your ancestors’ outfits. Notice the shapes of their sleeves, the lengths of their skirts, the widths of their trousers, their hairstyles and accessories. Fashion constantly evolves, and clothing clues such as these can tell you if you’re looking at a picture of your great-grandparents or your great-great-grandparents. Write down everything you see. In the next step, we’ll explain how to date your images based on these clues. Note that baby boys and girls dressed alike until about age 5. You can tell them apart by their hairstyles: Girls usually wore their hair parted in the middle, and boys parted on the side. After their toddler years, children generally dressed like mini adults. Clothing can convey more than a time period. For instance, folk costumes clue you

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A photographer’s imprint can point to the date and place where your photo was taken.

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4. Photographer’s imprint

STEPS

FROM THE CO L JANE S CHWER LECTION OF DTFEG ER

Pay attention to the hairstyles, clothing and props in your photos.

in to your ancestors’ ethnicities, and fraternal-order regalia— such as medals, buttons, sashes and badges—provide evidence of membership.

8. Costume time frame

By comparing the clothing in your photograph with fashion depicted in a costume encyclopedia such as Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900 by Joan Severa (Kent State University Press, $60), you can establish a time frame for the image. To get started, use this 19th-century style timeline. You can learn more about costume dating from the August 2004 Family Tree Magazine. ■ 1840 to 1849: Dresses had long, tight bodices with fan-shaped gatherings that usually were pointed in the front. Women often wore fingerless gloves, gold watches on long chains, caps, bonnets and ribbon bracelets. Men’s outfits consisted of coats with extralong, narrow sleeves; tailored white shirts with small, turned-up collars; and dark neckties worn in horizontal bowknots. ■ 1850 to 1859: Broad-collared dresses had sleeves that were narrow at the shoulder and widened at the wrist, displaying white undersleeves. Men wore generously cut suit coats with vests and wide-legged pants. Shirt collars turned over 2-inch-wide ties, worn in wide half-bows. ■ 1860 to 1868: Women wore hoop-skirted dresses with military trim and sleeves gathered May 2005 21

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Having trouble identifying a family photograph? Send it to photo historian Maureen A. Taylor. If she selects your image for identification, we’ll publish it along with Taylor’s analysis in the online Identifying Family Photographs column < www. familytreemagazine.com / photos / current.htm >.

Scan the picture you’d like to have identified in JPG format with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Then send it as an e-mail attachment to [email protected]. If you can’t scan the photo, mail a photographic copy (no originals, please!) to Family Tree Magazine, Attention: Identifying Family Photographs, 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236. Sorry, we can’t return photo submissions.

at the wrist or flared. Accessories included shawls, hairnets, wide belts, elaborate earrings and brooches. Men favored white shirts with narrow ties, oversized sack coats, wide-legged pants and suspenders. ■ 1869 to 1882: Ruffled bodices and necklines were all the rage. Skirts trimmed with apronlike overskirts had large bustles. Common accessories were hairpieces, black-velvet neck ribbons and large jewelry. Between 1875 and 1877, skirts had smaller bustles and long overskirts and trains. Into the early 1880s, bodices extended over the hips, and women posed with fans and parasols. Wide black or striped ties worn in a loose knot or overlapping ends accented men’s close-fitting jackets, which were buttoned only at the top to display the vest and watch chain underneath. ■ 1883 to 1889: Form-fitting bodices extended below the waist and had low-standing collars and tight, three-quarter-length sleeves with trim at the cuff. Women accessorized with muffs and novelty jewelry. Men sported a variety of hats, from straw sailor hats to black homburgs (felt hats featuring dented crowns and shallow, rolled brims). 22 T RACE Y OUR FAM I LY H I STORY

C O U R T E S Y O F M A U R E E N A . TAY L O R

ask the PRO

Paper stereographs, which you view through a special lens for a 3D effect, usually date from 1854 to 1938. Most stereographs were collectible scenes—it’s rare to find one showing a family member.

1890 to 1900: By mid-decade, women favored balloonlike “leg-o-mutton” sleeves worn tight at the wrist. After 1896, sleeves got smaller, with fullness at the shoulder and a slight flare over the hand. Feather boas, large fans and parasols show up in pictures from 1893 to 1896. Later in the decade, women wore small earrings, watches pinned to their bosoms, and small decorative combs placed high on the back of the head, but visible from the front. Throughout the 1890s, men wore narrow coats buttoned to the top, narrow black or patterned bow ties and slim trousers. ■

9. Props & background description

It’s easy to overlook background details, but they can be the most telling parts of a picture. Some people sat for portraits with tools of their trade: A milkmaid might have posed with her stool in one hand and bucket in the other. Perhaps you have a picture of an ancestor holding a foreign-language book—that’s a clue to his origins. Use antiques guides such as Treasures in Your Attic by Joe L. Rosson and Helaine Fendelman (HarperCollins, $18) to research such props.

10. Owner’s name &

contact information

Note the name of the image’s current owner and her contact info. Ask where she got the photo and if she knows who originally owned it. Tracing the picture’s provenance can lead to more photos held by the owner’s relatives.

11. Clues in

genealogical records

Once you’ve narrowed the photo’s time frame, use genealogical records to identify the subjects. Vital records provide a person’s life dates, census records and city directories confirm a place of residence, and military papers supply evidence of service and sometimes a physical description. If your portrait was taken in Boston, for instance, scan your research for a relative who lived there—even for a short time. Record any details that look promising. This is a good place to jot down family stories associated with an image, as well.

12. Possible subjects & their life dates

After examining clues in the photo and rummaging through records, you should have an idea when the picture was taken. Now list each family member whose age, sex and location at the time make him a possible match for the photo’s subject(s). Further narrow the options by comparing the mystery image to identified pictures of people on your list. Store your photo worksheets with your genealogical research forms (see page 65) so you’ll have all your data in one place. We guarantee this form will keep nagging you to fill in the blanks until you finally solve your picture puzzles. 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor is the author of Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs, revised edition (Family Tree Books, $21.99).

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photo-identification worksheet Solve your family photo mysteries one step at a time. Using the accompanying article as a guide, fill in the following information about your mystery photo, then attach a copy of the image to the form. (Feel free to photocopy this form for personal use.) Type of photograph

2.

Type of enclosure

8.

Costume time frame

9.

Props & background description

3.

Size

4.

Photographer’s imprint

10. Owner’s name & contact information

5.

Photographer’s dates of operation (cite source)

11. Clues in genealogical records

6.

Subjects & caption

7.

Costume descriptions

12. Possible subjects & their life dates

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Our expert photo sleuth reveals how she solved

8 photographic mysteries— and how you can piece together your own picture puzzles. B Y M A U R E E N A. TAY L O R

Pictures

OF SUCCESS S

herlock Holmes solved many a mystery, but his exploits don’t compare to the patience and persistence required by genealogists trying to identify old family photos. I’ve spent four years analyzing readers’ picture puzzles for the Identifying Family Photographs column at FamilyTreeMagazine.com < www. familytreemagazine.com / photos / current.htm > and the Photo Detective column in this magazine. Although I haven’t cracked every photographic code, I have put names to dozens of unfamiliar faces. Successful identifications result from partnerships: Readers supply their family data, and I sort through the clues. Faithful readers know it’s possible to identify a picture based on their knowledge of family history and attention to photographic details, such as image type, photographer’s imprint and costume clues. The following eight strategies have brought me success, either by dating a picture, identifying the subjects or eliminating suspects. Employ these surefire methods to tackle your own mystery pics.

34 Family Tree Magazine February 2005

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Get fashion conscious, and you could solve a photo mystery. The woman’s dress in the picture above helped date the image. Sometimes you have to consult genealogical resources in order to make a positive identification. An obituary confirmed the identity of the man at left.

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she wrote, “It’s possible that this picture is of my grandmother’s mother, who was orphaned in Indiana and raised by family members in Illinois.” She had shown the picture to several relatives, but no one could identify its subjects. Yet they did notice a A cousin could provide the strong resemblance to her grandmother’s side missing piece of of the family. a picture puzzle— Werner specifically wanted to know if the in this case, it was picture predated World War I. The little girl’s another image. hair bow and the length and style of the women’s dresses dated the image to 1900 to 1. Consult family. 1910. Although I answered Werner’s quesIn 2001, Rita Werner sent me a candid pho- tion, I couldn’t identify the image’s subjects. tograph of two women and a young girl (see The photo seemed to be a dead end. No above), which appeared in the column one could identify the group, and having a “They’ve Got Personality—But Who Are date didn’t help, either. Then a cousin mailed They?” at < www.familytreemagazine.com / Werner the missing piece to the puzzle—an photos / may10-01.htm >. Werner had found early 1900s picture of her grandfather’s famthe image in an album that belonged to her ily (see above left). Werner sent me a jubilant grandparents, both born in 1910. At the time, e-mail: “When I saw this picture along with the original one in question, I knew beyond a doubt that I had the identity! Notice the tiny waist on the woman on the right in both pictures. Also, the hairstyle of the woman on the right is the same in both pictures.” Connecting with family and comparing images resulted in a positive identification. The women belonged to Werner’s grandfaNeed help identifying one of your ther’s side, not her grandmother’s, as others family photos? Send it to photo had suggested. Werner discovered that the historian Maureen A. Taylor. If she woman on the left in both pictures is her selects your photo for identification, great-grandmother Adah (Whitaker) Brown, we’ll publish the picture and born in 1880. The woman on the right is Taylor’s professional analysis in Adah’s sister Dessa Mae Whitaker, born in the biweekly Identifying Family 1885. The child in the first picture is Dessa Photographs column, online at Mary Gerzella Brown, the only sister of < www.familytreemagazine. Werner’s grandfather. She was about 5 years com / photos / current.htm >. old when the picture was taken. Werner Scan the picture you’d like to recalled that her great-aunt never went by have identified in JPG format with a Dessa Mary, only Gerzella. “Now when I look resolution of at least 300 dpi. Then at her with fresh eyes, I can see the resemsend it as an e-mail attachment to blance to my grandpa!” she wrote. “Gerzella [email protected]. was born in 1904. So now I know that it’s If you can’t scan the photo, mail a Gerzella holding onto her mother’s and aunt’s photographic copy (no originals, hands in a picture taken prior to 1910 because please!) to Family Tree Magazine, that’s when Grandpa was born—and as you Attention: Identifying Family can see, Adah is definitely not pregnant.” Photographs, 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236. Sorry, 2. Use genealogical resources. we can’t return photo submissions. Some of the same resources used to collect

g

Unsolved Mysteries

family history information—such as city directories, newspapers and vital records—can 36 Family Tree Magazine February 2005

solve picture puzzles, too. The photographer’s imprint “M. Chandler, Marshfield, Mass.” on the man’s portrait on the previous page started the identification process. (See “Unraveling the Past” < www.familytreemagazine. com / photos / june10-04.htm >.) By checking A Directory of Massachusetts Photographers by Chris Steele and Ronald Polito (Picton Press, $89.50), I learned that a Martin Chandler worked in Marshfield between 1853 and 1896. You can find information about the photographers of your family pics by consulting city and professional directories and the Web site Finding Photographers < www. findingphotographers.com>. Knowing when a photographer was in business can help narrow a picture’s time frame and the identification possibilities. In this case, a date appeared on the back of the image: 1879. In 1879, Marshfield was still a small town, and it couldn’t have had many residents around this man’s age (I guessed he was at least 90). Working with that hypothesis, a colleague checked Vital Records of Marshfield, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 compiled by Robert M. Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sherman (Society of Mayflower Descendants, out of print), which actually included vital data beyond 1850. A quick scan of the listings provided a possible candidate: “Samuel Curtis, died 21 August 1879, aged 100, 22 days.” The final clue was Curtis’ obituary in the Boston Daily Advertiser Aug. 25, 1879. This sentence confirmed my hunch: “On his last birthday he had his photograph taken twice, once alone and once in a group.”

3. Get fashion conscious. Recognizing fashion details, such as a leg-o-mutton sleeve or a shawl collar, and knowing when they were in style can help you date a photograph at a glance. When Barbara DiMunno submitted a group portrait of a woman and her children (see the previous page and “More Than Meets the Eye” ), owned by either her

great-aunt Lillian (Clark) Hewitt (18731955) or Lillian’s mother, Harriet (Ogden) Clark (1842-1912), she asked for help dating the image. The woman’s clothing provides the most clues. With one hand on her hip and the other on the photographer’s chair, she draws attention to her small waistline, which is held

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in by a restrictive corset. According to Support and Seduction: A History of Corsets and Bras by Beatrice Fontanel (Harry Abrams, $19.98), these undergarments were popular from the 1870s through 1914, which provides a tentative time frame for the image. John Peacock’s costume encyclopedia 20th Century Fashion (W.W. Norton & Co., $31.85; see the box on page 38 for other resources) indicates that the mother’s dress— with the deep V-neck opening, white highnecked shirt with full collar, and tight lower sleeves with fullness at the upper arms— resembles dresses worn around 1906. These details suggest the picture was taken between 1900 and 1910, accounting for style variations within the decade. The three girls in this photograph wear dresses of similar design and fabric. Girls’ attire mimicked women’s fashions; notice that the oldest child wears her hair in a topknot like her mother’s. At this point, DiMunno can’t name the family in the portrait. Hewitt would be the right age for the picture, but other portraits of her disprove this theory. Although the costume clues weren’t enough to identify these individuals, they did allow DiMunno to narrow the possibilities.

4. Know your photo history. Determining the photographic method can establish an image’s time frame and correct a

Can you name the type of photograph in this case (right)? Knowing your photo history will make the identification process easier.

misidentification. Different types of photos were popular at different times. For instance, the earliest images— shiny metal daguerreotypes (1839 to 1860), glass ambrotypes (1854 to 1865) and iron tintypes (1856 to mid-1900s)—all debuted in the mid-19th century, but only the tintype remained popular into the 20th century. Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes and paper prints all came in cases like the one above, which Carole Dolisi Bean discovered in her grandmother’s sewing box. (See the June 2004 Family Tree Magazine.) If you have to hold a cased image at an angle to view it, you know it’s a daguerreotype. Ambrotypes often have holes in their backing material; this makes them look transparent. Tintypes are magnetic. If at first glance you can’t determine the photographic method, resist the temptation to remove the image COURTESY OF CAROLE DOLISI BEAN

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The key to dating this picture was the number of stars on the flags. Magnify your images to see details you’d otherwise overlook.

from its case. Doing so can cause irreparable damage to both the picture and the case. The cover glass is missing on Bean’s image, so I could tell that it’s a paper print. Dating an image’s enclosure—frame, mat or case—also can aid the identification process. Cases came in a variety of sizes, shapes and designs. Two great guides to cased images are Floyd and Marion Rinhart’s American Miniature Case Art (A.S. Barnes, out of print) and Adele Kenny’s Photographic Cases: Victorian Design Sources, 1840-1870 (Schiffer, $59.95). The Rinharts’ book lists names and locations of case manufacturers—a handy reference tool if your case bears its maker’s name. All the evidence in Bean’s photo case—the wood frame and ornate mat—dates the image to the 1850s. The man’s patterned vest, colorful tie, white shirt and loose sack coat with velvet collar suggest the picture was taken in the late 1850s. These clues disproved Bean’s theory that the subject’s her greatgrandmother’s brother August Edward Moll (born 1847). Using the photo’s date, she’s still trying to discover the man’s identity.

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5. Magnify your images. The key evidence in the photograph at left, submitted by Valerie Moran, was so obvious that she initially overlooked it. (See “Star Signs” .) Sometimes the smallest details can be your biggest clues. In this case, the details were the flags. By simply magnifying the image, counting the number of stars on each flag and reading up on Old Glory’s history, I discovered the picture was taken within a four-year time frame—July 4, 1908, to Jan. 6, 1912. www. familytreemagazine. com 37

Our past includes food and the time we spend with our family in the kitchen and at the table sharing our lives with one another.

CookBook Maker ™

i

Style Sources

Reading up on yesterday’s fashion trends can help you analyze your ancestors’ dress and ultimately date those old photos.

■ Battledress: The Uniforms of the World’s Great Armies 1700-Present by I.T. Schick (Artus Co., $95) ■ Illustrated History of Hairstyles 1830-1930 by Marian I. Doyle (Schiffer, $39.95) ■ Men’s Fashion: The Complete Sourcebook by John Peacock (W.W. Norton & Co., $29.95)

20th Century Jewelry: The Complete Sourcebook by John Peacock (W.W. Norton & Co., $35) ■

U.S. Army Headgear, 1812-1872 by John P. Langellier and C. Paul Loane (Schiffer Books, out of print)

■

Gather family recipes so you can publish them using CookBook Maker™ software. The software includes a space for a short story. Tabs, margins, and page breaks of your cookbook are preset for you.

Preserve your food heritage for generations to come.

For information go to: CookBook-Maker.com or call (402) 253-2382.

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■ Victorian Costume for Ladies 1860-1900 by Linda Setnik (Schiffer Books, $29.95)

Vintage Hats and Bonnets, 1770-1970 by Susan Langley (Collector Books, $24.95)

■

■ Women’s Shoes in America 1795-1930 by Nancy Rexford (Kent State University Press, $60)

Everyone in this picture wears summer attire—most of the women have on white summer dresses or shirts, while the men pose without jackets. The women’s pouched-front blouses, wide belts, straight skirts and Gibson Girl hairstyles fit the flags’ time frame. When identifying a photograph, I usually try to narrow the time frame even further. The flag’s history came in handy here. Oklahoma joined the Union Nov. 16, 1907, but the new flag didn’t debut until July 4, 1908. The subjects’ summer attire and crisp flags suggest these people were celebrating the Fourth of July, or maybe the introduction of the new flag. Based on her family data, Moran suspects the photograph was taken in 1912. She thinks the young man on the right is Clifford John Caminade (born 1885), who would have been 27 that year, and the older man on the left is his father, Louis Cass Caminade (born 1852). Their apparent ages and the photograph’s date support this conclusion. 38 Family Tree Magazine February 2005

Be sure to examine the props in your pictures. Mid-1800s photographers used this style of chair to hold children still.

6. Examine props. Many photos submitted for analysis have identifications, but no dates. Such is the case with Betty Ann Tyson’s hand-colored tintype, tentatively identified as “Grandma Tyson” (see above left and “A Rosy Glow” < www. familytreemagazine.com/photos/may22-03. htm >). Positive identifications rarely rely on

a single piece of evidence; you must add up all the clues before drawing a conclusion. Here, the child’s dress and chair date the picture. The girl wears a white summer dress with a wide, open neckline; ruffled (perhaps eyelet) trim; and shoulder bows—features of dresses popular in the late 1860s and early 1870s, according to The Child in Fashion 1750-1920 by Kristina Harris (Schiffer, $29.95) and Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900 by Joan Severa (Kent State University Press, $60). The chair in this image was a common photographer’s prop during the same time period. Since it usually took a few minutes for a camera to capture a scene, photographers used furniture or special braces to hold subjects still. You’ll find examples of this furniture in Identifying American Furniture by Milo M. Naeve (Altamira Press, $15.95) and The Tasteful Interlude: American Interiors through the Camera’s Eye, 1860-1917 by William Seale (Rowman & Littlefield, $19.95). Judging by the furniture, clothing clues and subject’s age, we’re sure this image depicts Betty Ann’s grandmother Lizzie Tyson, who was born in 1867.

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DNADNADNA NADNADNA DNADNADNA Have NADNADNA you hit a DNADNADNA brick NADNADNA WALL? DNADNADNA NADNADNA DNADNADNA NADNADNA DNADNADNA NADNADNA DNADNADNA NADNADNA DNADNADNA NADNADNA NADNADNA DNADNADNA NADNADNA DNADNADNA NADNADNA NADNADNA DNADNADNA NADNADNA

kin through surname message boards, such as those at RootsWeb < www.rootsweb.com >. Through photo-reunion sites such as DeadFred < www.deadfred.com > and AncientFaces < www.ancientfaces.com >, you might even find some long-lost images of your ancestors.

COURT

MICHA ESY OF

OYCE EL R. B

8. Be persistent.

Still can’t put a name to that mystery face? The owner of this tintype found success by networking via the Internet.

7. Network online. By connecting with cousins over the Internet, Michael R. Boyce has discovered that some of the seemingly far-fetched stories his father told him—including the one about their relation to a Dutch sea captain—are true. (See “Tall Tales and True Stories” < www. familytreemagazine.com/photos/may16-02. htm>.) Through these “Internet cousins,”

Michael also has uncovered a surname change, an unexpected link to his ancestor Stephen V. Boyce and a tintype (above) of a man he thinks is Stephen’s father, John Boice (born 1794). Confirming that identification requires comparing family pictures to eliminate other prospects. Michael thinks the portrait above depicts his third-great-grandfather because he already has identified images of two of John’s three brothers. The third brother died as a young man, so this couldn’t be him. Clothing clues further support the identification. This man wears work clothes suggestive of the 1860s. At that time, John would have been in his 60s. Although Michael still can’t confirm this man’s identity, he’s off to a good start. Perhaps his photographic family tree posted on the Buys/Boice/Boyce Web site < webpages. charter.net / boyceweb > will help bring new information forward. Consider creating your own family Web site, or connect with distant

It took Jackie Hufschmid three years, but she finally identified the young couple in a photo she’d submitted for my first Identifying Family Photographs column (see “Frame of Reference” ). Initially, I researched the photographer, Bonell, and the couple’s clothing to place the portrait in Eau Claire, Wis., between 1875 and 1890, but that’s as far as I got. An amazing thing happened when the picture appeared online and then again in the August 2000 Family Tree Magazine. We received e-mails from several people who said they’d seen the photograph before—some even owned copies of it. A network of family historians developed, and they worked together to try to identify the couple. Hufschmid refused to give up. In summer 2003, she finally found the missing link to Eau Claire. A cousin in Wisconsin revealed that two of their female relatives had moved there in the late 19th century—one to open a dress shop and the other to work in it. Upon hearing their names, Hufschmid realized that she had another picture of the couple taken years later. Once she placed the identified 1920s image of the couple and their children next to the original portrait of the young couple, she knew she had a match. The mystery people are Julia Gullickson (1872-1948) and her husband, James Wood (1868-1933). Scanning and enlarging sections of the images to compare facial features confirmed the identification. Like Hufschmid and these other Family Tree Magazine readers, you can date and identify your own old family photos. Just put on your detective cap, pull out the magnifying glass and start sleuthing. All it takes is a little time, perseverance and old-fashioned genealogical research. 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor is the author of Preserving Your Family Photographs (Betterway Books, $19.99). Her Identifying Your Family Photographs (Family Tree Books) is due out this fall. www. familytreemagazine. com 39

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Tracking ~ eterday's s fashion trends could solve your picture

Puzzles. We'll show you how to analyze your ancestors' dress for successful photo identification.

When we h n k of destones in US hstory the Revolutionary WX Civil Wir and civil nghts movement immdately come to mind Knowing the details of events such as these puts your ancestors into historical context. But rnrning points in American fashion history-for instance, the first riveted blue jeans (1873),sunglasses (1885) and nylon stodungs (1940)-matter, too. Match them with clothing and accessories in old photos, and you can identify those mystery faces. Fashion constantly evolves, and our photographs reflect the changing styles. By examining the clothing clues in your unidentified images, you can narrow their time frames to just a few years, and determine which relatives peer back at you. Even a single accessory could tell you whether you're looking at your great-grandmother or your great-great-grandmother. For example, during the 1840s,women wore daycaps (bonnets made of starched white cotton) for everyday and special occasions. By the 1850s, this headgear had fallen out of fashion, though elderly women continued to wear them for several more decades. If you have a picture of a relative wearing one of these

BY M A U R E E N A . TAYLOR

hats in her youth, the image likely dates back to the 1840s. (Of course.,W'II have to examine other clothing clues to ,

certain.)

Once you've narrowed the photo's time frame, you should consult your genealogical records to determine whether your female ancestors' ages at that time correspond to the age of dx picture's subject. With luck, you'll find a match. You don't have to be a fashion maven to spot clothing clues in photog~~phs. JW follow these identificationt i p and OW 19thcentury fashion-trend timelines, and you'll be putting names to those mystery faces in no time.

STYLE baSzc~

Begin by enlarging segments of an unidentified picture with a magmfymg glass or by scanning it. Examine every detail of the subject's outfit. Look at the shape of a woman's bodice, neckline, sleeves and skirt-and don't forget accessories and hairstyle. Pay attention to a man's coat shape, trouser width, necktie style, hairstyle and accessories. Any of these details could clue you in to when the photo was taken. Of course, shoe styles have changed, too, but they're usually difficult to distinguish in old photos. Most family portraits show relatives dressed in their "best." In the 19th century, popular magazines such as Godey's Lady's Book advised women on what to wear. But if your ancestor lacked the latest accessory, some studios kept shawls, pins and hats on hand for patrons to borrow. After all, a happy customer meant repeat business and referrals. Our ancestors' economic circumstances did influence their clothing choices, but style variations between classes usually aren't significant. Women who lacked financial resources or

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period, though the center part is not. The bride's dress has a tight bodice, small ustle and trim t the wrist and alongthe hem. Her short,frilzed hangs andflowerdorned veil Iso suggest the

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lived in rural areas still followed fashion trends-they would remake dresses or add a few accessories to fit the current styles. You'll find more-significant style variations in portraits of recent immigrants or ancestors living in foreign countries. These differences actually could simplify the identification process, though. For instance, a headdress worn for a wedding photo could tell you whether the image comes from your Russian mother's side or your Scottish father's side of the family. See the February 2002 Family Tree Magazine to learn more about clues in immigrant images. Dating a photograph through costume requires some knowledge of fashion historyand that's easy to get. Consult the books on page 39, and keep this guide handy. Here, we identify key components of 19th-century fashion since the advent of photography, decade by decade, so you can sta.rt solving even your toughest picture puzzles now.

W H A T women wore Women's fashion has changed dramatically through the years, so even the length of a skirt or the shape of a sleeve can help you date an image. jewelry, hats and fans Accessories such as gloves, have fallen in and out of fashion, which means they can aid identification, too. The basic elements of our female ancestors' clothing remained the same regardless of their economic status. Pantsweren't popular unt~lthe mid-1900s, so women typically wore dresses. Frugal women often pieced together two or more dresses to create an oudit reflecting current styles. Be on the lookout for dresses with bodices and skirts made of different materials.

Before drawing conclusions about your photographs, be sure to add up all the clues, rather than focusing on a single style detail. When in doubt, make a list of an outfit's significantcharacteristics. Look not only at the shape of a sleeve, but also the width of the cuff. Since most women made their own clothes until the 20th century, you will see some style variation. But watch out for these common elements:

The first photographs, known as daguerreotypes, appeared in the United States in 1840. Throughout the next decade, a resurgence in religious and moral conservatism led women to dress in modest, restrictive clothes, which often inhibited natural movement, according to Dressed for the Photographer by Joan Severa (see box, page 39). Worn over corsets, back-fastening dresses had long, tght bodices with fan-shaped gatherings. The wide, shallow, horizontal necklines gradually narrowed later in the decade, when high-standing collars came into vogue. Sleeves were long and tight, especially on the upper arms. Popular accessories included fingerless gloves, gold watches on long chains, ribbon bracelets and bonnets that extended past the chin. Women wore their hair close to the head, with a center part, long ringlets and large combs.

Women's fashion loosened up a bit in the 1850s, and ladies' magazines such as Godey's increasingly reported on the trends. Dress sleeves were still narrow at the shoulder, but

'18338s

clothjng clues: draped ovmkirl collars; center-parted koirr hoopskim

,

ered at the wrist once again.

During the Civil War, women selected bodices that buttoned down the front and had pointed or round waists decorated with d i t a r y braid. Most dresses featured high, narrow, round collars, but some had V-necks with lapels. Sleeve styles varied: Some came in at the wrist, and others flared. Skirts worn over hoops were pleated, and some looped up (with assistance of cords on the inside of the skirt) to expose underskirts. Women accessorized with shawls, hairnets, wide belts, elaborate earrings and brooches. They wore their hair with a center part and covering their ears. Some opted for braids or short ringlets. Bonnets changed shape from round to oval early in the decade. As hairstyles became more elaborate after the war, women sported smaller hats.

(1869to 1874) Ruffles were all the rage during t h s era: Bodices featured ruffles and large, prominent buttons; necklines were high with

1

trimmed with apronlike overskirts, and bustles--some quite large-expanded underskirts. Accessories included black velvet neck ribbons with brooches or charms attached to the front, large lockets on gold chains, crosses, and long jet-bead necklaces with matching earrings. Women continued to part their hair in the centel; and began to wear false locks with large combs. They often braided their hair at the crown and left the rest streaming down their backs. Small hats and bonnets trimmed with feathers, lace and flowers accented these high, full hairstyles.

(1875t0 1877) During the mid-1870s, waistlines lengthened, and two-piece dresses gained popularity. Front-opening necklines featured low collars or V-necks with ruffles. Sleeves were narrower and decorated with trim. Skirts began to lose their fullness, and had long overskirts and trains.

to the chin. In the early 1890s, women wore large, balloonliie "leg-o-mutton" sleeves that were tight at the wrist. After 1896, sleeves got smaller, with fullness at the shoulder and a slight By the late 1870s, the full hoop skut had gone out of .style, and flare over the hand. Skirts were smooth at the hips, but flared the bustle disappeared. Skirts now fell straight from hip to floo~ dramatically. Between 1893 and 1896, women favored feather Front buttons adorned tight-fitting bodices, which came down boas, large fans and parasols. At the end of the decade, they over the hips. Necklines were high with low-standing collars, accessorized with small earrings, watches pinned to their and sleeves remained narrow. Women continued to part their bosoms, and small decorative combs worn high on the back of the head, but visible from the front. Short bangs, worn with hair in the center, and wore short, frizzed bangs. a small topknot, remained popular during the first part of the decade, but went out of style by 1896. Then, women parted and flattened their hair into waves along the temples. Although By the mid-188Os, women had entered the work force as sec- older women still sported bonnets, most young women had retaries, telephone operators and department-store clerks, and switched to hats, especially small hats with vertical trim.By the demanded less-restrictive clothing. Draped overskirts, often end of the decade, wide-brimmed hats also were popular. apronlike in shape, appeared. The bustle returned in 1883 and reached its maximum size in 1886, before deflating the next Men's clothing is harder to date because style varyear. Tight bodices extended below the waist, and had high ied little in the 19th century. Their dress clothes necklines with low-standing collars. Tight, threequarter-length comprised a coat, sh~rt,trousers, necktie and possleeves with trim at the wrist also were popular. Look for lace ' w sibly a vest. Work attire consisted of a collarless parasols, muffs and novelty jewelry. Hair remained frizzed shirt, no tie, pants, suspenders and sometimes a vest. The best around the face with a bun in back. Women chose hats in a variety of styles, the most popular being high-crowned hats clothing clues are hats, vests and shirts, as these garments changed the most over time. You'll have to look closely for subtle clues. with wide brims and elaborate trim.

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The demand for less-restrictive clothing increased as women began to exercise outdoors. As a result, corsets loosened, and shirtwaists came into vogue. Necklines had high collars worn

CLOTHESmake the man

During this decade, men wore coats with extra-long, narrow sleeves; tailored white shirts with narrow sleeves and small turned-up collars; and dark-colored neckties in horizontal

Clothing clues: leg-o-mutton sleeves; high, st$

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bowknots. Smocklike work shirts came in a variety of colors and patterns. Men kept their hair at ear length and parted high on one side. Most were clean-shaven, but some sported fringe beards that framed their jaws. Hat styles included wool stocking caps, black felt bowlers and shiny silk top hats.

Narrow sleeves remained stylish into the first part of the 1850s. Around 1854, generously cut suit coats (worn with vests) and wide-legged pants came into vogue. Shirt collars turned over Zinch-wide neckties, worn in wide half-bows. Men wore dress shirts in a variety of colors and patterns. They also bought fancy starched shirtfrontsto dress up their attire. Most men were clean-shaven until the end of the decade, when full beards appeared. They wore their oiled hair long on top and combed into a wave at the center of the forehead. Later in the decade, their hair grew long enough to cover the ears. Young men wore cloth caps, which resembled railroad caps. Tall black hats with flat brims also gained popularity.

Men's suit coats came in a range of new shapes in the 1860sthe most popular being the long, oversized sack coat, worn with wide-legged pants that were longer at the heel and held up by suspenders. A white, striped or plaid shirt and narrow necktie completed the look. Men parted their ear-length hair on the side and grew whiskers, rather than full beards. After the Civil War, they continued to wear military caps to work.

The popular sack coat got shorter and narrower during this decade, and buttoned only at the top in order to display the vest and watch chain worn underneath. White, striped and plaid shirts were made without collars-our ancestors bought those separately. They wore wide black or striped neckties in loose knots with overlapping ends. Fur hats and coats also gained popularity at this time.

In the 1880s, men's coats got even shorter and narrower, and the necktie. Our they closed high at the throat, nearly con&g ancestors wore these coats with narrow, creaseless pants and wide shirts. Neckties varied in width. Throughout the decade, young men sported a wide variety of hats, from straw sailor hats to black homburgs (felt hats featuring dented crowns and shallow, rolled brims), which businessmen favored.

Narrow was the key characteristic of 1890smen's fashion: narrow coats worn buttoned to the top, narrow black or patterned bow ties and narrow trousers. White shirts had small, stiff, pointed collars at the beghmg of the decade and high, stiff collars at the end of the decade. Men wore their hair short and grew large mustaches. Bowlers and derby-style hats' popularity exploded during this decade.

m InternationalCostumers' Guild

',* ,., W E BS I T E S r Accessible Archives K www.accessible.com

>:

Subscribe to this archive of 18thand 19th-centurypublications to view the full texts of Codey's Lady's Book from i830 to i880. Bissonnette on Costume : This visual fashion dictionary from Kent State University Museum covers 1700 through today. The Costumer's Manifbsto cwww.costumes.org>: Follow the links to histories of corsets and underwear, ethnic dress, military uniforms, religious dress and more.

: Created to "bring hobbyist and professional costumers from around the world together," this organization offers three fashion-focused mailing lists and links to costume-related resources. Saundra Ros Altman's: Past Patterns : Re-create your 19th- and early 20th-century ancestors' outfits with these patterns.

m 20th Century Fashion by John Peacock

Dressedfor the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion 1840-7900 by Joan Severa (Kent State University Press, $60) Illustrated History of Hairstyles 18301930 by Marian I. Doyle (Schiffer, $39.95)

B An

m Men's Fashion: The Complete

Sourcebook by John Peacock (Thames and Hudson, $29.95) U.S. Army Headgear 1812-1872 by John P. Langellier and C. Paul Loane (Schiffer, $69.95)

B

Victorian Costumefor Ladies 1860-7900 by Linda Setnik (Schiffer, $29.95)

(Thames and Hudson, $34.95)

= Vintage Hats and Bonnets 1770-

B 20th Centuryjewelry: The

1970 by Susan Langley (Collector Books, $24.95)

Complete Sourcebook by John Peacock (Thames and Hudson, $34.95)

m The

Child in Fashion 1750-1920 by Kristina Harris (Schiffer, $29.95)

Women's Shoes in America, 1795-1930 by Nancy E. Rexford (Kent State University Press, $60)

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K I D - F R I E N D L Y ~ ~ J ~ ~ O ~ ALL IN fbe details In the 19th and early 20th centuries, babies of both sexes wore long dresses; current adult fashion trends dictated the gowns' lengths and details. Toddlers sported shorter dresses to accommodate movement. The best way to tell girls and boys apart is to look at their hairstyles. Girls usually wore their hair parted in the middle, and boys' hair was parted on the side. Parents dressed their older sons in short pants and their daughters in dresses. Children's fashion generally followed the same trends as adults'. As children grew older, their clothing styles changed-which enables you to estimate a child's age based on his or her clothing. For instance, the length of a girl's s k i gradually got longer as she approached adulthood. Boys wore short pants until approximately age 12, then donned long pants. Frances Hodgson Burnett started a fashion trend for boys when her book Little Lord Fauntleroy was published in 1886. Until the early 20th century, mothers dressed their sons in outfits that mimicked those in the book's drawings by Reginald Birch. A typical outfit consisted of a white shirt with a full Vandyke collar (a large linen or lace collar with a scalloped edge), a satin sash, a plumed hat and long, curled hair.

Not only can clothing help you date an image, but it also can clue you in to your ancestors' experiences. Keep an eye out for these telling details: rn Traditional ethnic dress: Upon arriving in America, immigrants often abandoned their full ethnic dress so they could better assimilate. But occasionally, accessories such as caps, head scarves and mantillas will identify their ethnicity. Robert Harrold's Folk Costumes of the World (SterlingPublishing Co., $29.95) offers an overview of clothing styles around the globe. r Fraternalorder regalia: You might find photographic evidence of an ancestor's membership in a fraternal order, such as the Freemasons, Modern Woodmen of America or Elks. Medals, buttons, ribbons, badges, sashes and jewelry (including watches, fobs, pins and rings) could contain symbols and slogans of one of these organizations. For tips on researching fraternal orders, see the June 2004 Family Tree Magazine. Militaryun'ihrms: Studying headgeq buttons, shlrts, pants, weapons and decoration can date a photograph and provide evidence of military service. For instance, during the Civil Wal; many Union volunteers wore belt buckles with their states' abbreviations; Confederate soldiers wore buckles with the

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letters CSA, whch stood for Confederate States of America. If you're trying to trace Civil War ancestors, those belt buckles could give you enough clues to locate military records. Occupationalclothing: Look for hats, aprons or props suggesting your ancestor's employment. Consult Dressed fov the Job by Christobel Williams-Mitchell (Blandford Books, out of print) for pictures of people on the job. Religious attire: Photos of altar boys, priests, nuns and other people in religious garb can be difficult to date because the clothing styles don't change. But these portraits can provide clues about your ancestors' religious affiliation. Look for Bibles, candles, flowers and other religious symbols.

COLLECTIVEevidence As you add up all the costume clues in your photographs, remember: Looks can be deceiving. Just because your ancestor's outfit seems to date to the 1880s, that doesn't mean it actually does. For example, in some tourist spots, you can have your picture taken in period clothing. One of my friends has a tintype of himself in a Civil War uniform. Not only did the photographer copy the 19th-centuryphotographic process, but the clothing looks authentic. To an unsuspecting descendant, this photo might appear older than it actually is.

It's easy to misidenufy both the person and the time period if yau look onIy at costume clues. Wedding pictures, for instance, can offer conflicting evidence if the bride wears an heirloom gown. So be sure to look for other hints, such as props, before drawing a conclusion. Once you've used costume clues to estimate a picture's time frame, consult magazines and store catalogs from that period, or flip through books with historical photos to confirm your analysis. If you're still having trouble placing the photograph within a fashion context, youmight w&t to consuit a costume professional. Some historical societies and museums have staff who specialize in costume history. Over the years, I've developed a fascination with historical fashion. The clothing provides glimpses into our ancestors' everyday lives and insights into their personalities. The next time you pose for a picture, think about what you're wearingand what those clothes will say to your descendants.

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Contributing editor MAUREEN A. TAYLOR is the author of PreservingYour Family Photographs (Betterway Books. $19.99) and Identl@ing Your Family Photographs (FamilyTree Books), due out next fall. She helps solve readers' picture puzzles in Family free Magazine's Photo Detective column and the biweekly Identifying Family Photographs column at .

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photo d e t e c t i v e

Ancestral Wear-abouts

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Your kin’s ethnic dress can tell you where they came from. Here’s how to read the clues.

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| By Maureen A. Taylor 2

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f you have a family photograph of people in unfamiliar attire—such as the outfits on these two women—you might wonder “What in the world?” Instead, ask “Where in the world?” That photo could show your immigrant ancestors dressed in clothing common in their homeland. Fortunately, you needn’t make a transAtlantic voyage to figure out the origins of a foreign photograph. Finding your family’s homeland based on a picture is easier and cheaper than buying a travel package on Orbitz. The same clues that helped me sort out this photo mystery can lead to breakthroughs in your own immigrant ancestry.

Fashion fiction

First, let’s clear up a myth regarding immigrant forebears: People from other countries didn’t always wear ethnic-looking “folk” costumes like those on the women here. Your ancestors’ everyday clothing depended on their country of origin and whether they lived in a city or the countryside. Urban dwellers often wore the same fashions popular throughout Europe and the United States. For instance, in the 1890s, the leg-o-mutton sleeve (a puffy shoulder tapered to a narrow forearm) showed up on Western-style dresses in Copenhagen, Paris, Rome and Ankara, Turkey. In rural areas, attire was usually a mix that depended on cultural identity, economic status and lifestyle. Women occasionally accented everyday clothes with ethnic headgear, such as the beaver hats shown here. 70 Family Tree Magazine February 2007

Outfit origins

Unusual clothing requires a special costume guide. Check libraries for Auguste Racinet’s The Complete Costume History, first published in 1888 (reprinted in 2003 by Taschen, $200). It covers the entire history of costume, most of which predates photography, but the final chapter is a genealogical gem full of color plates illustrating traditional fashions up to 1800. A smaller book, Robert Harrold’s Folk Costumes of the World (Sterling, $29.95), describes the history of Welsh dress, which became a symbol of national identity. Today, ladies might wear outfits like those shown here for occasions such as St. David’s Day, which honors the patron saint of Wales. This 19th-century photo is sepia tone, but Harrold’s illustrations let you imagine the clothing in full color. A typical late-1800s or early-1900s Welsh costume consisted of a tall black beaver hat with a white frilled bonnet, a white blouse with red trim at the cuffs, a bright red underskirt, a checked apron and a shawl. These women aren’t wearing bonnets, white blouses or folded-back skirts, but one sports a checked apron and both have shawls and hats. According to the Welsh National Costume Web site , women started wearing these hats—based on the men’s top hats popular from 1790 to 1820— during the 19th century. The longevity of this style of dress doesn’t do much to narrow the photo’s date.

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Informative imprints

Ideally, your picture will bear a photographer’s imprint, which provides the studio name and, often, its location. Then you can research the locale—in this case, Holyhead—using gazetteers. The 1884 Gazetteer of the World (Lippincott, out of print) tells me Holyhead was an island off the coast of Wales (it’s now called Holy Island), home to a town of the same name. I also found out the closest port is Dublin, which was under British rule during the 19th century. This last bit of information would come in handy when searching for a point of emigration. Pay attention to the style of the photographer’s imprint—whether it’s printed, script or part of a decorative logo. This 2½x4-inch gilt-edged beveled card has the photographer’s name in script, common in the mid-1880s. To learn more about narrowing a photo’s time frame by researching photographers’ imprints, see my online Identifying Family Photographs column at .

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Family History Online

Foreign Affairs 1 Head case. Women often mixed traditional accessories with contemporary clothing. 2 By the book. Costume encyclopedias supply clues these women’s outfits are Welsh.

Courtesy of Maureen A. Taylor

3 Sense of place. A gazetteer puts this town on an island off the coast of Wales. 4 Back up. The elaborate painted backdrop dates to the mid-1880s. Got a picture puzzle? Post your photo questions on the FamilyTreeMagazine.com Photo Detective Forum at .

If your photo lacks a photographer’s name and you’re not sure where the subjects came from, try browsing costume books for clothing similar to what’s in your picture. You also can compare your photos to the images of immigrants in native dress in Augustus F. Sherman: Ellis Island Portraits 1905-1920 (Aperture, $40). For descriptions of props and backdrops, such as the painted one in this photo, see Linda Setnik’s Victorian Costume for Ladies 1860-1900 (Schiffer, $29.95). The next time you see a foreign image, instead of wondering “What in the world?” you can say “Aha!” And if you can make that trans-Atlantic voyage after all, plan a trip to your ancestral homeland and check out a few genealogical documents while you’re there. Don’t forget to take a copy of the picture in case you meet some long-lost relatives. 3 Contributing editor and photo historian Maureen A. Taylor is the author of Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs, 2nd edition (Family Tree Books, $24.99).

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www.familytreemagazine.com 71

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Your Aunts in Pants Fashion clues may not apply if women wore the britches in your family photos—but you still can identify gender-bending images. | By Maureen A. Taylor

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1 ace it: The hoop skirts, bustles and corsets our female ancestors wore most of the time weren’t exactly comfortable, especially for active pursuits. In Women in Pants: Manly Maidens, Cowgirls, and Other Renegades (Abrams, $35), Catherine Smith and Cynthia Greig explain why genteel ladies of the past—such as the pair pictured here— sometimes donned men’s clothes. From the early feminists of the 1850s to Calamity Jane in the 1890s, photos prove women wore bloomers, knickerbockers, breeches, pantaloons, pants and trousers. Pants were outside the norm for 1800s and early 1900s ladies, though, so a fashion encyclopedia might not help you interpret a portrait of Great-aunt Nell sporting the latest in trouser wear. Instead, learn about your female relative by using other photo details and focusing on the interests and activities her legged outfit reveals.

Pretty political

Clothing reflected our ancestors’ economic status, personality and, for women’s rights advocates such as Amelia Bloomer, their politics. In 1851, Bloomer began publishing articles in her biweekly newsletter, The Lily, advocating less-confining clothing for women. In place of their heavy dresses and restrictive undergarments, Bloomer wrote, ladies should wear shorter skirts over ankle-length pants (a garment eventually named for its proponent). A few brave early feminists, including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, embraced bloomers, but the style faded around the end of the decade. Several different types of photographs existed during the 1850s, so look for a photographer’s name (called an imprint) on the back of a paper print, 20 Family Tree Magazine February 2006

or embossed in the brass mat of a cased picture. Then look up the business in city directories and consult your research to see who lived in the area at that time. 2

Secret service

Mary Livermore, who headed the Midwest area of the US Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, estimated more than 400 women disguised themselves as men to enlist. Perhaps the female soldiers agreed with Medal of Honor recipient Mary Walker, one of three women surgeons known to have served the Union, who declared, “Patriotism has no sex.” Such convictions weren’t confined to the Civil War: Until women were officially allowed to join the armed services, they infiltrated the ranks in all wartime conflicts. Some managed to remain undetected; others were sent home once injured and discovered. These soldiers carefully concealed their identities, and many are indistinguishable from men in photographs. Maybe you have Civil War photos but no male relatives the right age, or the soldier pictured bears a strong resemblance to a female ancestor’s portrait. If you suspect your soldier is really a woman, pay attention to family folklore, look for military records (see the October 2005 Family Tree Magazine for research advice) and read Richard Hall’s Patriots in Disguise: Women Warriors of the Civil War (Paragon House, out of print).

Good sports

In the late 19th century, special bifurcated costumes, practical for recreational activities, offered women acceptable alternatives to wearing their husbands’ altered clothing. All sorts of legged costumes became fashionable

Courtesy of Maureen A. Taylor

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for horseback riding, gymnastics, swimming, bicycling and tennis. Compare clothing in your photos with the examples in Smith and Greig’s book and in American Dress Pattern Catalogs, 1873-1909 edited by Nancy Villa Bryk (Dover Publications, $14.95).

Business casual

Women engaged in farming, ranching, painting and carpentry found pants comfortable for doing “men’s work.” In England, women who worked in mines donned men’s attire for safety and ease of movement. Unlike men, however, women often complemented their pantaloons with simple accessories, bodices reminiscent of dresses and, as the two ladies in the photo above demonstrate, hats to shade their faces from the sun. Honing in on those details gives you more clothing evidence to work with. The exact occupation of these women is unclear, but their bucket, large-brimmed hats and flat shoes suggest an outdoor endeavor.

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Getting a Leg Up 1 Clothes call. These feminine fitted bodices with minimal trim date from the 1880s. 2 Professional advice. Some props, such as the one-handled bucket in this photograph, are occupational clues. 3 Fancy footwork. Compare shoes to the descriptions in Nancy E. Rexford’s Women’s Shoes in America, 1795-1930 (Kent State University Press, $60). 4 Background information. During the 1880s, photographers often decorated their sets with props such as wooden fences, rocks and hay. 5 Twenty questions. Asking family members about unusual photographs may be the best way to get the scoop.

Sometimes, dressing in men’s clothing was scandalous but reasonable. When Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich wore pants in the 1930s, they were taking cues from theater mavens such as Sarah Bernhardt, who often played male roles. Although 19th- and early 20th-century social conventions suggested women belonged in skirts, strong-willed, independent ladies often felt otherwise. Rather than trying to “wear the pants in the family,” the majority of women photographed in trousers wore the unconventional costume to ease their work or recreational activities. Date these pictures using enclosures, photographer’s imprints, genealogical information and clothing clues, but don’t overlook the larger story they tell about your family’s founding mothers. 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor helps solve your picture puzzles in her online column. Learn how to submit photos for free analysis at <  www. familytreemagazine.com /photos / photohelp.htm>.




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www.familytreemagazine.com 21

Costume Clues

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of sa nd y fo re st

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Don’t be scared! There’s nothing tricky about gleaning genealogical treats from Halloween photos. | By Maureen A. Taylor

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ph ot os : co ur te sy

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onning a Halloween costume, ringing doorbells and getting a pillowcase full of candy is one of the great joys of childhood. The curious group portrait here— one of a set Sandy Forest owns—shows “big kids” enjoy celebrating in masquerade, too. With a few photo-research tricks, Forest can treat herself to the story behind this intriguing image.

Revealing identities

The woman in buccaneer attire is Forest’s aunt Connie, who was born in 1908 and lived in the town of Maspeth on Long Island, NY. Forest doesn’t recognize anyone else in the photo, but a comparison of facial features suggests the clown on the left has a similar nose, mouth and face shape to Connie’s. Perhaps she’s a relative. Such comparisons are subjective, of course, so don’t take physical resemblances as evidence of relationships—instead, use them to form hypotheses for further research. This group also could be high school friends. To investigate further, Forest should find out when her aunt graduated and browse school yearbooks for familiar faces. The local public library, historical society or school district office might have yearbooks, or Forest can peruse digitized annuals on sites such as Dead Fred and DistantCousin.com . 62 Family Tree Magazine November 2007

Mastering disguises

Obviously, you can’t rely on the shape of a sleeve or trim on a bodice to date the clothing here. Instead, examine the subject of impersonation. In the 20th century, cartoon character and politician costumes joined the standard witch, goblin and pirate Halloween fare. For example, during the Depression, going as a hobo was a popular choice. Connie poses here in a buccaneer outfit complete with a hat and knife. Two comedic harlequins standing in the back sport pom-poms and ruffled collars; the woman between them is wearing a flapper-style dress and headpiece. Seated on the left is a lady dressed as a Spanish princess (holding a fan); a fashionable 18th-century woman perches next to her. These costume choices were common during the 1920s. Commercially produced costumes weren’t available until the 1930s. But an illustration in Dressed for Thrills by Phyllis Galembo (Harry N. Abrams, $24.95) shows a 1925 Pictorial Pattern Co. sewing

pattern for Connie’s outfit, from her hat to her swashbuckler boot tops. She modified the pattern’s skirt hem.

Collecting yourself

In addition to studying the details of each photo, look at all your family photos as a group. Connie’s costume and the identical background make it obvious the images shown here are part of a set. But Forest also has wedding and first communion photographs of family members standing in front of the same painted scene. Though the photographer’s imprint doesn’t appear here, the backdrop is evidence her family frequented the same photographer. She can use city directories to find studios in the neighborhood and, based on years of operation, estimate date ranges for the photos. Check the backs of all your photos, too. The single portrait of Connie is a photo postcard, printed on sturdy cardstock with designated spaces on the back for a message and stamp. The stamp box design can indicate when a photo postcard was

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printed. I compared the stamp box on the back of Connie’s portrait with the examples in Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People’s Photography by Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh (Syracuse University Press, $39.95). It was used around 1910, then reintroduced in 1926.

Are we done?

Clowning around

Private parties to celebrate Halloween were all the rage in the Victorian period; later, cities and towns began holding festivities. It’s likely this group marched in a parade, then had their portrait taken. Connie’s boldly patterned costume makes her stand out in the group photo, and her front-andcenter position suggests she organized the Kodak moment. Forest could sweeten this family history treat by checking the area’s historical newspapers for coverage of Halloween celebrations. 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor blogs about mystery photos at .

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www.familytreemagazine.com 63

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Oh, Boy … or Girl?

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That’s right—once upon a time, little boys wore long hair and skirts. Use our photo pro’s secrets to practice some genealogical gender discrimination. | By Maureen A. Taylor

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uring the 1960s, older folks used to say it was hard to tell the boys from the girls because of the unisex fashion trends and long hairstyles. But the same can be said for your youthful ancestors in family photos from the late 1800s and early 1900s: Both boys and girls wore curly locks and skirts, like the tyke shown at right, so it’s not hard to make a genderbending mistake. If you can’t tell whether you’ve got a picture of Aunt Ethel or Uncle Bert, use these head-to-toe tips for distinguishing the males from the females.

Hair it is

Many a genealogist looks at a photo, sees a skirt and long hair on the subject, and immediately—often incorrectly—concludes it’s another picture of Great-grandma Mabel. But looks can be deceiving, so rely on this identification tip that’s so simple it’s hard to believe: Check out where the child’s hair is parted. Mothers parted their daughters’ hair in the center and their sons’ hair on the side. (For the record, the child shown on this page is a boy.) When boys reached school age, they usually started sporting shorter haircuts.

Wear apparent

A quick glance at a fashion tome such as The Child in Fashion 1750-1920 by Kristina Harris (Schiffer Publishing, $29.95) shows you can’t rely on short hair and pants to pinpoint boys. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, babies of both sexes wore long dresses until they learned to walk. Thereafter, moms dressed 68 Family Tree Magazine December 2006

those restless toddlers in skirts that were short enough to let them motor around. Diaper changing and toilet training were easier in these outfits, too. School-age children are simpler to identify in photos— that’s when boys and girls began wearing distinctive attire. Junior’s clothing usually mimicked designs for women’s dresses. That means you can date kids’ outfits by comparing them to significant ladies’ fashions from the same period, such as the bolero jackets of the 1860s and the pointed bodices of the 1840s. Also use the following childhood fashion trends, which Joan Severa describes in Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900 (Kent State University Press, $60): During the 1840s, young boys and girls “both wore dresses, either the frock type or ones with set-in belts and full skirts, although little boys sometimes wore full-length dark ‘trowsers’ under the frock.” From the 1850s through the 1880s, boys’ dresses came in tartan plaids or featured military trim, which differentiated their clothing from their sisters’.

Outfit for a prince

In this 1890s photo, the boy poses in a skirt, short jacket, ruffled shirt and large bow similar to the velvet suits first seen during the 1860s. This is a feminine look by modern standards, but it became wildly popular for boys when author Frances Hodgson Burnett published her children’s novel Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1886. The velvet knickerbocker suit with

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a lace Van Dyke collar and broad sash turned into a persistent fashion trend that forever after was associated with Burnett’s main character. Eventually, the Little Lord Fauntleroy look encompassed all velvet suits (including those with pants) and any suit with a lace collar. You can learn more about this fashion fad at .

Aging well

In addition to noting gender-related fashion details, try to estimate the child’s age by examining his clothing. Here’s your basic rule: Boys wore long white dresses until about age 3, and short skirts until they turned 5. School-age boys dressed in knee-length pants until around age 12, when they donned long trousers like their fathers’. The boy shown above is probably 3 to 5 years old—the photographer who took his portrait captured his pride at wearing “grown-up” attire.

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Boys Will Be Boys 1 Parting ways. Boys’ hairstyles were parted on the side, as shown here; girls wore their hair parted in the middle.

courtesy of maureen a. taylor

2 Trend watch. Compare outfits to fashion reference books and adult clothing. This boy’s Little Lord Fauntleroy look dates to the 1890s. 3 Age-old advice. The length of this child’s skirt puts him between 3 and 5 years old.

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Translations

Prop yourself up

If you still have any doubts about the sex of the child in your picture, look at the props. Photographers kept toys on hand to occupy fidgety tots, and the selections were pretty stereotypical—it’s a safe bet a wagon means the subject is a boy, and a doll indicates a girl. Now you know it’s a snap to tell boys from girls in vintage photos. After you decide who’s who, date fashion trends and compute the child’s age, rely on other factors, such as the type of image (daguerreotype, tintype, photo postcard) and your genealogical data, to verify the time frame. No more mixing up family photos of Bert and Ethel: With this discriminating advice, you’ll make the right ID. 3

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Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor analyzes readers’ old photographs in her free, biweekly online column, Identifying Family Photographs. See for instructions on submitting your photo. www.familytreemagazine.com 69

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Hats Off to You Earn a feather in your cap when you use costume details—such as hats—to solve photo mysteries.

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| By Maureen A. Taylor ears ago, you could commit a major fashion faux pas by not wearing a hat, or by wearing the wrong one. You don’t see hats as often today, but their past popularity makes them useful photo clues: If your ancestor posed in a trendy topper, you can learn when it was in style. Hats also can indicate whether your ancestor was a businessman, farmer or—as may be the case for this young man—a streetcar conductor. Ellen Copper’s father-in-law stumbled upon this picture in his mother’s collection of treasured possessions. Since then, the family’s been trying to figure out who the person is, and when and where his portrait was taken. Before attempting a positive ID, though, it’s important to find as much background information about the family as possible. For instance, Ellen’s family knows the picture’s original owner, Ellen’s grandmother Laura (Netzle) Copper, was born in 1883 in McKeesport, Pa. They also believe Grandma Copper’s German parents probably immigrated to Pennsylvania in the late 1870s or early 1880s. Grandma’s brother Fritz was a streetcar conductor, but according to Fritz’s daughter, this isn’t him in the photograph.

Curious case

Now that we know a little bit about the family, let’s start with the photograph’s worn wooden case for date clues. The design on the back is a variation on a common flower-filled urn style. Several similar cases appear in Adele Kenny’s Photographic Cases: Victorian Design Sources, 1840-1870 (Schiffer, $59.95). These wooden cases became available in the early 1850s—the same decade as the ornate oval brass mat that frames the image. 70 Family Tree Magazine December 2005

Most cases like this one feature a strip of brass that holds the picture, glass and mat firmly in place—but this case lacks that strip, suggesting it originally held a different image. And with no strip to protect the photo, dirt has built up on the glass and the picture. The tarnished brass mat indicates exposure to fluctuating temperature and humidity. A gentle wipe with a dry cotton swab will remove the grime. (But never swab the surface of an image—that removes any loose pieces of the picture.)

courtesy of ellen copper

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Drop of a hat

The young man’s clothing corroborates the suspected date of the photo. He’s wearing a wide-lapel jacket with a double-breasted vest, wide silk tie and white shirt—all suggesting this picture dates to the 1850s or early 1860s. The young man’s distinctive headgear is either an occupational clue or a fashion accessory. In Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans & Fashion, 1840-1900 (Kent State University Press, $60), author Joan Severa says a new type of hat, “a pilot’s cap, which is very deep crowned and crisp and had a leather band and bill,” was a common boys’ accessory in the 1850s. But is this man’s cap fashionable attire or work wear? In the mid-19th century, just like today, hats could identify the wearer’s occupation. Streetcar conductors, for example, wore hats similar to the one in this photo. Ellen can investigate that possibility by contacting the McKeesport Heritage Center (1832 Arboretum Drive, McKeesport, PA 15132) to ask when streetcars began running in Grandma Copper’s hometown. The center also might have images featuring conductors in its

collection—comparing such photos to this one will help determine whether this young man posed in his occupational uniform.

All ashore!

So far, clues seem to date this photo to the 1850s. But as you’ll recall, the Netzle and Copper families weren’t in America in the 1850s, so this portrait may have been taken overseas. Verifying when family members immigrated to the United States will help Ellen make that determination—one branch of the clan may have crossed the pond earlier than the rest. She’ll find resources for immigration and naturalization documents in Michael Tepper’s American Passenger Arrival Records (Genealogical Publishing Co., $14.95), Ancestry.com’s US Immigration Collection (a $79.95-peryear subscription), and Cyndi’s List pages on immigration, emigration and migration.

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archives for men sporting caps similar to the one in the photo. 5 Gaze into his eyes. Compare the

subject’s features with identified family photos.

Spitting image

This young man appears to be in his early teens, so he probably was born during the 1840s. Ellen should compare his features to already-identified portraits of other male relatives with birth dates around the same time. Similarities in the shapes of subjects’ noses, eyes and mouth—features that don’t change much over time—are particularly telling. And don’t forget eye color: Even though this photograph is black and white, you can tell the young man has light eyes. As you solve your own photo mysteries, remember to think big—keeping the larger family history picture in mind—and start small, with details such as photo cases, lapels, ties and hats. 3 Family Tree Magazine contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor helps solve readers’ picture puzzles in her biweekly online photo-identification column. Learn how to submit your photos for free analysis at .

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Playing Politics

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A tiny detail in your photo may reveal a relative’s political views. | By Maureen A. Taylor

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n a 1776 letter, Abigail Adams admonished her husband, John, to “remember the ladies” as the Continental Congress struggled to establish a government. Even though women weren’t allowed to vote on a national level until 1920, many, like Abigail, took an interest in political affairs. Frances Althea Cuppernell, shown here on the right, didn’t leave writings expressing her views. But as you’ll see, details in this portrait reveal hidden aspects of her political leanings. Her great-great-grandson Orville S. Paller sent this image to me because he’s been unable to crack the identity of the two ladies posing with Cuppernell. Paller wondered if his ancestor’s unique bar pin could hold the answer to this pictorial brick wall. Let’s stack up the facts and find out.

Pinpointing a date Even before we consider the pin, the women’s outfits provide a time frame. All wear dresses with high necklines and buttons down the bodice. The one in front has a wide lace collar; her hair is up on the crown of her head. Frances and the woman in back both wear center-parted hair with soft waves. These dress styles and hairdos were popular in the mid-1880s. Cuppernell’s pin in the shape of the word Blaine, though, more-specifically dates the image and gives us a glimpse into this woman’s life. Paller realized the jewelry is a clue, but wasn’t able to identify its significance—Blaine isn’t the name of any branch of his or an in-law’s family. Research into US history reveals the accessory doesn’t relate to the family, but to

Cuppernell’s political leanings. Even when they couldn’t vote, women still supported or opposed political causes. In this case, the pin shows Cuppernell’s backing for little-known presidential candidate James G. Blaine. The Republican tried to earn his party’s nomination in 1876 and 1880, finally achieving his goal in 1884. Democrat Grover Cleveland challenged him in a tense campaign: Cleveland admitted he’d fathered a child illegitimately; Blaine was accused of being anti-Catholic and accepting bribes. According to Jordan M. Wright’s Campaigning for President: Memorabilia From the Nation’s Finest Private Collection (Smithsonian, $35), US political memorabilia originated around 1796, when John Adams became president. He’d used paper lanterns to promote his candidacy. Franklin Pierce, elected president in 1852, first used photos on a variety of campaign propaganda, some of it—including aprons, hairpins and jewelry—designed for women. (See examples of campaign propaganda in the New York Times article at .) Blaine’s campaign made

pocketbooks for his female supporters. The combination of clothing and Cuppernell’s bar pin date this image to the few months in 1884 between Blaine’s acceptance of his party’s nod and his election loss to Cleveland.

Political leanings Paller was surprised to learn this photo could establish Cuppernell as a Republican. At the time, the Republican party—to

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which Abraham Lincoln had belonged— was considered the more liberal faction. It’s unknown what influence (if any) Cuppernell’s political values may have had on her husband’s vote, whether she supported women’s suffrage, or why she backed Blaine. But by setting this photo into the context of her life, you get a sense of her as a person. Born Feb. 8, 1845, in Illinois, Frances Althea (aka Allie) married William Henry Vredenburgh at age 17. Three years later, May 26, 1865, their divorce was finalized. At the time, divorce was granted only in extreme circumstances. Illinois statutes in 1856 define those as bigamy, adultery, desertion for at least two years, cruelty, drunkenness or felony conviction, says Ray Collins, reference librarian at the Illinois State Library. Cuppernell’s husband had deserted her. In August 1865, she remarried to Albert Marion Swarthout, who remained her spouse until her death in 1891. Paller’s genealogical research and the visual

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COURTESY OF ORVILLE S. PALLER

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Campaign Strategies 1 History matters. Studying history can help you add context to old photos. 2 Pinned down. Look carefully at jewelry: It might be more than mere ornamentation.

COURTESY OF ORVILLE S. PALLER

3 Costume check. Clothing and hairstyles can help establish a time frame for an image. 4 Record review. Your genealogy research may add insight to clothing and accessory choices.

forum Post photos of your ancestors’ jewelry and other accessories in our Photo Detective Forum .

evidence in the photograph suggest she was a woman of strong convictions. Why else wear a piece of political propaganda in an era when a woman’s place was at home caring for her family? Perhaps her choice to wear political jewelry also reflects her position on women’s issues. In the 1880s, the American Women’s Suffrage Association and the National Women’s Suffrage Association advocated for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. Interestingly, members of the NWSA also supported easier divorce laws for women—a stance Cuppernell might’ve appreciated—and an end to sex discrimination in employment. So are the other two women pictured Cuppernell’s relatives, or friends with a similar political stance? The Blaine pin hasn’t yet led to their identities, but it has yielded insights about its wearer. 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor tackles more cases online in the Photo Detective blog .

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Group Dynamics

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Names are just part of the story in a group shot. Learn photo clues that can reveal the occasion for the get-together.

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COURTESY OF LINDA HESS

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| By Maureen A. Taylor

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ven though this photo is a question mark in Linda Hess’s family today, someone once knew who’s pictured and why they’re there. Perhaps that’s the person who circled two of the women. It wasn’t hard to come up with pretty solid IDs for those ladies, but who is everyone else, and why are they there? Let’s look at clues Hess can use to get the full story.

Doing the wave Hess remembers her aunt telling her that this image is somehow connected to family from Missouri, and one of the women was supposed to be the mother of a relative named Grace Mink. The name serves as a starting place, but a general date would help Hess narrow her search. That’s the easy part of this photographic brick wall: Three women in the picture have permanent waves, with hair styled in what was called the “wavy shingle” during the early 1920s. The no-waist dresses confirm this.

Playing family detective Now Hess has to figure out who’s depicted here by researching leads in oral traditions about Mink. Her family disputes Mink’s marriage to a man named William Curtis Nunnally, and their daughters’ deaths at a young age. Nunnally’s sister, Hess’ greatgrandmother, always said her brother died an unmarried man, yet Hess’ aunt

found proof of the marriage at St. Simon’s Church in Washington, Daviess County, Ind., Sept. 17, 1901. Federal census records fill in missing bits. In 1910, William (listed as Doug), Grace, their daughter Irene, and Grace’s mother, Honora (Nora, nee Smith), lived in Madison County, Ill. After William’s death in 1914, the 1920 census finds Grace Nunnally living with her mother and daughter in Missouri. She’s 36; Irene is 14. The household includes Grace’s mother, her brother Marion, his wife, their three children, and two lodgers. Irene—if that is in fact her circled in the front row—is a young teen, confirming the date of about 1920.

Making matches The circled heads were someone’s attempt to point out a relationship. Hess and a distant relative believe Nora is the woman seated on the far right and Grace is standing behind the seated Irene. I tend to agree. Grace and Nora have same-shaped faces, mouths and noses; Irene probably favors her father. Their apparent ages here are right, too. But who are the rest of the young men and women in the picture? In 1920, Nora’s son would’ve been too old

and her grandsons too young to be the men in this photo. The key to solving their identities probably lies with extended family members’ photos. Several of the girls here resemble the Mink women, but let’s consider other possibilities. The others in this photo could be Nora’s own Smith kin; relatives of her husband, Andrew Mink; or family members of William Nunnally. Shared facial traits may indicate a family group. For instance, the man standing second from the right resembles Irene—both have long faces. He could be her uncle or an older cousin. The younger man standing on the far left also looks like them, with strong eyebrows and facial features.

Meeting up I’m not sure this picture was taken in a home. The high ceilings, pictures hanging high on the molding and strong overhead light are characteristic of institutional, rather than homey, decor. Even the furniture appears uncomfortable—wooden straight-back chairs and a bench on the right for Nora. Notice the pillow behind her head to make her comfortable.

72 Family Tree Magazine July 2008

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Northeast Texas History and Genealogy Center

The Center is a research facility dedicated to encouraging the exploration and appreciation of the rich historical legacy of Northeast Texas. The Center offers access to a wide range of rare items, records, newspapers, photographs, and databases to ensure generations can understand and share in their unique heritage.

The Whole Story 1 Homing in. Use markings, family tales and research to pinpoint relatives. 2 Cut ’n curl. Look to hair as well as clothing for a photo date. 3 Look-alikes. Facial similarities suggest relationships.

COURTESY OF LINDA HESS

4 Inside information. Study the background and compare it to other photos for location clues. 5 Common traits. Characteristics everyone shares, such as age, sex and attire, could indicate an occasion. Want more photo solutions? See the Photo Detective blog .

Since the dresses’ predominant color is dark, two possibilities are likely: Grace and Nora are chaperoning an evening gathering of young people, or this is a family attending a wake. More research on collateral lines might turn up supporting evidence, such as an obituary or death announcement naming survivors. But the absence of older men and women other than Grace and Nora is unusual at a wake. If this picture was taken in Missouri, finding Grace’s address in city directories or other documents could help identify the setting. With a street name, Hess could contact the local historical society to inquire about pictures of the neighborhood— home styles could indicate whether these folks posed in a house or business. Since this is a 20th-century photo, many of these young people would’ve lived into the late 1900s. That makes it likely someone in Hess’ extended family will recognize them and name the occasion. It’s a matter of networking with distant cousins to figure out who’s who. 3

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1. Services of staff researchers and translators; 2. AHSGR publications that include four issues of The Journal, The Newsletter and a triennial issue of Clues, a genealogy helper; 3. One of the largest libraries devoted soley to German Russian history; 4. Discounts on books and maps from our On-Line book store. 5. Our SOAR database (Save Our Ancestral Records) contains information on thousands of German Russian Families with names, dates of birth, death and marriage; Personal Narratives, Historical Articles, Photographs & Folklore; History of German from Russia (G/R) Settlements, Cemetery Records, Ships’ Passenger Lists; Surname Charts, AHSGR’S translation of Karl Stumpp’s Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763-1862 (Listing colonies, colonists and dates of emigration from First Settlers Lists); Bohlender Book; Bessarabian Birth, Death & Marriage Records. The entire data base is keyworded, searchable by ALL surnames. The database currently has 156,652 images with almost 6 Million associated keywords to facilitate your search. The database can be found at www.ahsgrsoar.org.

Maureen A. Taylor is a Family Tree Magazine contributing editor.

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Class Conscious

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Pop quiz: Two dozen bright-eyed students stare at you from an old school portrait. Which one is your relative? We’ve got the answers.

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| By Maureen A. Taylor

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f you’ve had kids, you know the drill: Every fall or spring, your child would come home with an order form for school portraits. You’d pin some money inside your little one’s backpack and several weeks later, he’d trot home clutching the photos. School photos go back to the early days of photography when, in 1840, Yale class of 1810 alumni posed for the camera. Some school images are easily confused with photographs from events such as weddings. For instance, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, young women dressed in white for graduations. A rolledup diploma indicates a photo of an ivorygowned woman isn’t a bridal portrait. If your photo collection has a class picture like this one, an ancestor is probably standing among those cute kids. But which one is he (or she)? Here’s how to earn an A+ in school-photo research.

Cheat sheet

To make an ancestral ID, you’ll need to learn when and where the picture was taken. You may be able to take the easy way out: Turn over your picture to see if it’s labeled with the school name, a date and names of anyone in the picture. Some of our ancestors made marks above their own heads on 64 Family Tree Magazine October 2006

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class portraits. In the case of this picture, someone identified several students for a town scrapbook; a relative might have put names on your photo.

Style school

No luck? Assign your photo a date by figuring out when the clothing styles were popular. Here, the girls’ dresses have high collars and fitted sleeves, and several in front sport frocks with trim. Compare these key aspects of their outfits to the fashion plates in JoAnne Olian’s Children’s Fashions 1860-1912 (Dover Publications, $14.95) and Kristina Harris’ The Child in Fashion: 1750-1920 (Schiffer Publishing Co., $29.95). The dresses and suits shown here date from around 1901 and would’ve cost their parents from $2 to $4 each, according to Children’s Fashions 1900-1950 as Pictured in Sears Catalogs edited by Olian (Dover Publications, $14.95).

Age gap

Combine the fashion facts with what you know about child development to guess the ages of children in a picture. Skirt and

pants length can help: To allow for more active play, little boys wore short pants and girls wore calf-length skirts. Boys and girls started wearing longer pants or skirts about age 12. Based on their outfits and their appearances—ranging from baby faces to the more mature look of adolescence— they’re probably 10 to 12 years old.

Geography lessons

Now that you’ve estimated a date for the picture, do some local history research into schools near your ancestors’ hometowns at the time. If you don’t know where they lived, try using census records. Though it’s more of a long shot, the school building may give you location clues, too: Schoolhouses reflected whatever architectural design was in vogue when and where they were constructed—a one-room adobe schoolhouse is a hint the picture wasn’t taken in New England. You can compare your photo to historical images of schools around the country in the Library of Congress’ American Memory online collection ; just type school into the search box. See the August 2006 Family

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Fetch your family group sheets for ancestors who lived near the school, and use the process of elimination: Obviously, if you’re looking for a female ancestor, you can remove boys from consideration. Then find children about the age your relative was at the time of the photo. Finally, compare them to known pictures of your relative. Enlarge the photos and study the eyes, ears and noses—features that change less over time. Add to the story of your ancestor’s youth by seeking school records, such as class rosters, report cards and yearbooks (which may have additional photos); see the October 2005 Family Tree Magazine for a primer on finding these records. Now go to the head of the class. 3 Submit your photograph to contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor for expert analysis in her biweekly online Identifying Family Photographs column. See for instructions.

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photo d e t e c t i v e

Wedding Favors

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Sort out the bevies of bridesmaids and gaggles of guests in your old group wedding portraits.

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| By Maureen A. Taylor

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ou’ve searched fruitlessly for proof your ancestors actually married, and you’re starting to think they were living in sin. In the absence of written documentation, though, you can look for another convincing piece of evidence: a wedding picture. Large group portraits such as this one weren’t common until the 1900s—but they give you extra reason to rejoice: If you can figure out the names of the happy couple in the center, the rest of the identifications will fall blissfully into place. You’ll be party to wedding photo success when you marry your genealogical research with this advice.

All dressed up

Start by dating your wedding pictures based on clothing clues. Since a bride would sometimes wear her mother’s or grandmother’s gown, however, don’t draw any conclusions until you’ve looked at everyone’s attire. Women’s clothing varied more than men’s over time, so it’s usually easier to date. Compare key details such as the shapes of sleeves and bodices to outfits shown in costume encyclopedias; my favorite is Joan Severa’s Dressed for the Photographer (Kent State University Press, $65). You also can study wedding pictures from 1900 to 1920 at Victoriana.com . The dresses women are wearing in this photo date to around 1900. 72 Family Tree Magazine June 2006

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Although multiple attendants were less common for our ancestors than for modern brides and grooms, you can look for matching dresses and suits to pick out the members of the wedding party. This couple had flower girls with identical white dresses, hats and bouquets. Two bridesmaids are easy to spot, too: They’re attired in matching gowns and standing one behind the other over the groom’s shoulder.

Strategic positioning

What you can learn about an image doesn’t stop with a date. In group wedding portraits, photographers usually posed wedding parties in a traditional arrangement: The groom sat to the bride’s right with their respective parents beside them, and siblings close by. Generally, the closer someone is to the couple, the closer the relationship, making it easy to figure out who’s in the immediate family. We see a slight variation in this picture—a woman, probably the groom’s sister, occupies the spot next

to him, followed by his parents. Beside the bride are her parents and a woman who, based on her age, is probably an aunt.

About face

You can sometimes tell who’s related to whom by examining each person’s facial features and looking for matches. (It helps to scan the image at a high resolution and zoom in on the details.) This groom’s narrow jaw, large ears and distinctive nose appear elsewhere in the picture: The woman to his right has his nose, and the fellow behind him shares all three features. It’s more difficult to pick out the bride’s side of the family, but you can tell the ring bearer, sitting front and center, shares her nose, eyes and face shape. Some people here don’t resemble anyone, so it’s likely in-laws and friends are present. Of course, you won’t be able to make many hard-andfast conclusions using this method, but you can hazard some guesses to confirm in genealogical records.

Question:

Where can you buy

Club Wed 1 Get cozy. People standing or

seated nearest the couple probably are close relatives. 2 Costume party. Identical outfits give away the members of the wedding party.

Courtesy of Maureen A. Taylor

3 Clothing in. The women’s sleeves and bodices date this photo to the early 1900s. 4 Face the truth. Similar features can suggest who’s related. 5 Present and past. The message written on the back indicates this photo was a gift—other family members may have copies.

Love notes

Not all identification clues are in the image. Based on the way this unidentified image is signed, “With love and best wishes from Maud and Arthur,” it must’ve been a gift from the bride and groom. If you have a photo with a similar message, network with cousins to turn up duplicates, one of which may have names on the back or an owner who knows something about it. You might even come across a guest book or gift register listing people who attended the wedding and may have posed for the portrait. With these clues in hand, examine your family group sheets and pedigree charts for couples married around the estimated photo date, with siblings and parents of the right ages. Your genealogy research will be one step closer to happily ever after. 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor helps solve readers’ picture puzzles in her biweekly online photo-identification column. Learn how to submit your mystery images for free analysis at .

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photo d e t e c t i v e

In Plain Sight Look past obvious clues to uncover the real stories behind family photos.

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COURTESY OF JUDY BENNETT

| By Maureen A. Taylor 4 1

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ometimes your photo ID work is cut out for you even when it seems the answers are right there. Judy Bennett knows where this portrait of the TiftMitchell clan, whose ancestors helped found Albany, Ga., was taken: at a family home on Albany’s Society Street. And it’s a bit hard to tell here, but the names of those pictured are written on the image. An open-and-shut case, right? Not quite. Several aspects of this photo raise questions. Exactly when was it taken, and why did these particular family members pose together? It’s an example of how every picture has a story.

Writing on the wall The names are faintly written below the brick-edged garden. A photographer’s loupe or magnifying glass can be a huge help when reading faded ink. You also can scan an image, open the digital file in a photo-editing program, and adjust the contrast and brightening controls to enhance the writing. Of the 19 people in this picture, Bennett was able to decipher 10 names. By comparing faces to other family pictures and matching key physical features—ears, eyes, nose, mouth and face shape—she added two more names. The children are still unidentified.

An easy time Developing a time frame for this picture wasn’t difficult. The women’s front-pouched blouses, narrow waists, straight skirts and Gibson Girl hair date the image to between 1900 and 1910, a range confirmed by the men’s high, stiff collars, neckties and short hair. Even the season is apparent: If you look closely, you can see a blooming narcissus or daffodil in the garden and a budding tree in the right foreground. In Georgia, these spring flowers bloom in February. Birth dates of those in an image can help narrow the time period. For instance, the baby on the far left, if identified, would date the image to within a year. I’d guess the oldest girl (sitting on the steps) is in her early teens, perhaps 13 to 15. The caption identifies her as Maria Isabel Mitchell; genealogical research reveals she was born in 1889. Based on her estimated age, this photo would’ve been taken between 1902 and 1904. Walter Mann, the white-haired man on the right standing next to the column, was 62 years old in the 1910 US census (he died in 1915). Nelson Tift, on the far right, was 60 in 1910. Both men were

in their 50s between 1902 and 1904— about right for their appearance here. The young men clasping shoulders on the right were both born in 1880, making them 22 to 24 years of age, also likely.

Children, please! Genealogy can help ID the children, too. Bennett should research the identified adults to learn their children’s names and birth dates, then compare the data to the estimated ages of children in this image. This will take time and patience. The posture of three children sitting on the steps is interesting. They’re wearing dresses and hair bows, but mothers likely would’ve admonished girls to sit with their knees together. Perhaps the three kids displaying their drawers escaped their moms’ notice—or maybe these are boys. During the early part of the 20th century, it wasn’t uncommon for boys to wear their hair in long curls tied up in bows, as I’ve noted on Family Tree Magazine’s Photo Detective blog .

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Northeast Texas History and Genealogy Center

The Center is a research facility dedicated to encouraging the exploration and appreciation of the rich historical legacy of Northeast Texas. The Center offers access to a wide range of rare items, records, newspapers, photographs, and databases to ensure generations can understand and share in their unique heritage.

Digging Deeper 1 Fading away. Use a magnifying glass or photo-editing software to decipher pale writing. 2 Latest styles. Dresses, hairstyles and accessories will help date the image. 3 Ageism. Reconcile census data with subjects’ estimated ages to make IDs and narrow a date.

COURTESY OF JUDY BENNETT

4 Posture pointers. A curious pose may be a clue to the person’s identity. 5 Glaring omission. Note relatives whose absence from the image doesn’t make sense.

forum Get help uncovering photo clues in the Photo Detective Forum .

As important as who’s in this picture is who’s missing. Both husbands and wives are present without their spouses, and interestingly, some here are in-laws. For example, Clara Jane Tift Woolfolk is absent from the photo, but her husband is on the far left. Such details could help determine the occasion for the photo. Bennett initially thought it was a funeral, but the lack of dark clothing suggests otherwise. It could be a simple family gathering or the baby’s christening. Bennett should re-examine her research for clues to relatives’ whereabouts around the time the portrait was taken. She may be able to identify the gathering or even find out one of the written labels is wrong. Only by adding up all the bits of information will it be possible to put a name with every face and officially date the image. I’ll write more about this image and update you on any new discoveries on the Photo Detective blog. 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor is a professional genealogist and photo historian. Learn more about her work at .

Located in the W. Walworth Harrison Public Library # 1 Lou Finney Lane, Greenville, Texas Phone: 903-457-2992 Web: www.greenville.lib.tx.us

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mysteries keep accumulating: If Delimont is the woman in this picture, why is she outside Kansas, and who’s the baby? We can’t remove Alice Gray from consideration, though, since cousins often look alike and one of the captioned photos names her. To positively identify the woman and baby in this picture, Ring should learn more about Gray and track down pictures of her for comparison to this one. Gray lived with her parents in Oregon, and her father died in a mining accident there in 1891. This woman could be Gray in Oregon (not Washington) with her own child, rather than Nellie’s son.

posed for a formal picture in a dirty apron surrounded by drying laundry. Traveling photographers moved throughout the country taking photos of families they met along the way; one may have snapped this casual picture. It’s chilly enough outside for a coat, but Mom went without one and perhaps tidied her hair for the shot. Ring’s photo mystery could be a case of well-intentioned relatives providing hitor-miss information in their handwritten notations—underscoring the need for research to support what captions say. With a little more work, this woman’s identity is a solvable problem. 3

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This Old House

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Build your family story with photos of ancestral abodes. | By Maureen A. Taylor

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t’s a slice of Americana in almost every family photo album: A picture of the old folks standing in front of their home. Such portraits—whether they display pride in achieving the American dream or betray the photographic need for outdoor lighting—were all the rage, particularly in the late 19th century. But nostalgic feelings aside, what can you learn from a photograph that reduces your great-aunt to the size of an ant? Plenty: Dwell on the right clues, and a homestead portrait forms a sturdy foundation for your family research.

No place like it

Look for hints to the home’s location in signs, nearby buildings and weather conditions. The deep snow and the ice dams on the roof suggest—but don’t guarantee— this house is in the northern United States. If this were your photo, you’d study your genealogical records for relatives who lived in locales with snowy winters. Clothing probably won’t help date buildings in a photo, but it does give a time frame for the image. Use a photographer’s loupe or scan the photo at a high resolution and zoom in on the subjects’ outfits. Here, the woman on the left sports a long coat, scarf and feathered hat; the other woman poses in a shawl-collared fur coat and puffy toque hat. From 1900 to about 1905, women wore winter hats trimmed with large feathers and even fake birds, just like these ladies. 68 Family Tree Magazine August 2006

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Exterior design

Even a novice house historian can decipher a dwelling’s architectural style—and thus, the time period—based on key features such as the roof, windows, doors, porches and trim. Compare them to illustrations in A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia and Lee McAlester (Knopf, $24.95) or Identifying American Architecture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms, 16001945 by John J.G. Blumenson (W.W. Norton & Co., $15.95). For example, the trim along this roof edge is characteristic of Gothic Revival design, popular from 1840 to 1880 (with most structures dating before 1870). Andrew Jackson Downing’s 1850 pattern book The Architecture of Country Houses (Dover Publications, $16.95) contributed to Gothic Revival’s popularity in rural areas.

Home rooms

In an interior shot, fireplace mantels, floors and built-in furniture reveal when a house was built. Compare them to drawings in The Elements of Style: An Encyclopedia

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of Domestic Architectural Detail edited by Stephen Calloway (Firefly Books, $75), which shows hundreds of exterior and interior details—everything from kitchen stoves to bathroom fixtures—for American and English homes. Home décor is like clothing: It can help you date a photo, but not necessarily a house. You’ll find photos of wellappointed rooms in The Tasteful Interlude: American Interiors Through the Camera’s Eye, 1860-1917, 2nd edition, by William Seale (AltaMira Press, $36.80). Notice an interesting piece of furniture tucked in the corner? Look for a similar one in Identifying American Furniture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms Colonial to Contemporary by Milo M. Naeve (W.W. Norton & Co., $15.95).

Sign of the times

A sign on this home’s porch railing names someone who probably worked or lived here. If you can spot a house number or street sign in your ancestral home photo, or you know who lived there, check local

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classifieds

Books & Publications

Home Work 1 Roof positive. Lacework trim identifies this house as Gothic Revival. 2 Sign language. This placard could bear a resident’s name. 3 House of fashion. Clothing dates the photo, not the building.

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4 Snow day. Weather can indicate where a picture was taken. Courtesy of Maureen A. Taylor

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5 Land, ho. Search land and tax records for more house details. 6 Good neighbor. Look for architectural clues on any nextdoor buildings, too.

Canada—National Archives and Library research. All provinces. Prompt reply. BA (History). David Agar, 1712A Lamoureux Drive, Orleans, Ontario, K1E 2N2. [email protected]

Help Wanted city directories for the address, residents’ occupations, and neighbors’ names. Some directories indicate whether residents own or rent (bds means boards); the former should send you to the county clerk in search of a deed (see page 60) and property tax records. Learn more about researching houses in Discovering the History of Your House and Your Neighborhood by Betsy J. Green (Santa Monica Press, $14.95). If you don’t own a picture of the family homestead, contact the local historical society—its collections may include photos of the street where your ancestors lived. Track down the neighbors’ descendants, who may have images showing part of your grandparents’ residence. Then use photographic clues to take apart the house, and you’ll be on the way to constructing your family history. 3 Submit your photo to contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor for expert analysis in her biweekly online Identifying Family Photographs column. See

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Translations Expert Italian & Latin Translation for Genealogists. Juliet Viola Kniffen, M.A., 1908 Grant Street, Berkeley, CA 94703; [email protected]; www.julietviola.com. Translator of old German Script Free estimates. Gordon Hartig, P.O. Box 931, Westford, MA 01886. (978) 692-5781 German Genealogy Translations Free Estimates—Old Script Expert, Native German, Trained Translator— B.A., M.A. Jutta Epperly, 1545 N. Brunswick, Wichita, KS 67212 [email protected] www.familytreemagazine.com 69

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Motor Trends Get more genealogical mileage from your old family photos with this lesson in automotive detailing. | By Maureen A. Taylor

T

hey say your choice of automobile reveals something about you: Jeep owners are adventurous; a minivan shows you’re practical. But if you have an old family photo featuring a car, such as this shot of the Millar family of Minneapolis, you’ll extrapolate even more than personality traits. By studying the bumpers, headlamps and chassis, you can learn details such as when and where your ancestors purchased their car and their economic status. And yes, you’ll find out a little something about the man behind the wheel (or perhaps a progressive woman; our mothers and grandmothers rarely drove in the early 1900s).

Sentimental journey

Humans invented the first “car,” a steampowered wheeled platform, in the late 18th century. Gasoline and electric autos didn’t appear until 100 years later; Karl Benz (who helped found the company that became Mercedes-Benz) patented a vehicle in 1886. It took awhile for these new contraptions to pick up speed—not many people could afford them and availability was limited. In 1900, fewer than 10,000 Americans traveled the roads in “horseless carriages.” But by 1920, 8 million people owned cars. More than 240 US automakers existed in 1910, offering models largely unknown 64 Family Tree Magazine July 2007

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today. (See a list of manufacturers at .) Many

went out of business or merged into the companies we know, but your ancestor’s car may have been produced close to home. Use city directories to learn the names of nearby auto manufacturers. For instance, according to business listings in a 1913 Minneapolis city directory, the Millars could have chosen from more than 50 local automobile manufacturers and dealers. If you don’t know when your photo was taken—and therefore, which year’s directory to check—use clothing to establish a date. (It’s dicey to base dates on cars, since families kept them for years.) For help, see the August 2004 Family Tree Magazine and a book such as Dressed for the Photographer by Joan L. Severa (Kent State University Press, $60).

By design

Let automotive design pave the way to a date range for your ancestors’ set of wheels, which will help you narrow the make and model. The first autos resembled fancy upholstered wagons (usually windshieldless) with a center tiller or a wheel, but by 1910, cars had longer bodies and back seats. Occupants wore long coats, hats and

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goggles to protect themselves from dust and bugs. By the 1930s, the boxy shape was replaced by sleek lines such as those on the 1933 Duesenberg (see one at ). Vehicles of the 1950s are distinc-

tive, with long bodies and fins. Examine key features of the car in your picture: fenders, steering wheel or tiller, wheels, windshield and headlights. Compare them to cars in guides such as The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars edited by G.N. Georgano (E.P. Dutton & Co., out of print) or The Ultimate Auto Album by Tad Burness (Krause Publications, $16.95). Look up later-model autos in Burness’ American Car Spotter’s Bible, 1940-1980 (Krause Publications, $29.99). Also visit the Museum of Automobile History Web site and run a Google

search on a make. The Millars’ car, with a square seating area, removable windshield and lanternlike headlamps, dates from about 1913. It shares many features of 1912 Chalmers and Lion touring cars, including the size and shape of the wheels, seats and windshield, and the placement of the steering wheel on the car’s right. The fold-down top could be used in inclement weather.

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Looking Under the Hood 1 Style notes. Clothing helps date the photo, but not necessarily the car.

courtesy of Ma ureen A. Taylor

2 Your deal. Auto-related business listings in city directories help you guess a make and model. 3 Lights on. Compare the car’s features with automotive reference books to pinpoint a model and manufacture date. 4 License to drive. Look for a license plate, which can give a year, place and owner’s initials.

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Easy street

Once you’ve guessed a make and model, read about the car’s price in one of the aforementioned references. In 1912, most cars cost between $2,000 to $3,000. Ford Model Ts went for about $850. They were sold without tires, fenders, tops, windshields and lights—all special-order accessories. By the 1920s, assembly line production had helped drive the price down around $300. The Chalmers sold for $1,800, with the top and windshield adding $100. According to the Inflation Calculator , a $2,000 car in 1912 is the equivalent of $41,000 in 2006. A family had to be pretty comfortable to afford that ride. By 1918, all states had adopted license and registration laws. If you can see a license plate in your photo, it might tell you a year, place and, early on, the owner’s initials. State government Web pages, such as (for Massachusetts), often have license plate histories and photos. 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor solves readers’ photo mysteries in the online Identifying Family Photographs column .

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GenealogyInSaltLake.com www.familytreemagazine.com 65

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A Group Effort G

ena Graddy thinks these two portraits depict the same branch of her family. The photographs came from her great-aunt Grover Taylor, the young woman with the braid in the front row of the top portrait. Unfortunately, Taylor didn’t caption her pictures, so it’s unclear if the subjects of these images match up. To find out, Graddy must rely on photographic clues and genealogical details. You can follow the same process to solve your own group-portrait predicaments. Of course, the best photo identifications come from the people in your pictures— though you won’t always have access to them. Identifications passed down through oral tradition, but not recorded, tend to be fuzzy; people forget or mix up facts as they tell and retell the details. In this case, Taylor told relatives that both photos depict her siblings, but she didn’t attach names to their faces. When trying to identify children in photographs, it helps to know your relatives’ life dates, since you usually can estimate the subjects’ ages. For instance, the oldest girl in the top photo appears to be in her early 20s, and the youngest looks about 10. Graddy knows that the eldest Taylor girl was Elizabeth. The oldest sibling in the top picture is the woman in the front row next to Grover. This could be Elizabeth—but there’s a problem with that conclusion. Elizabeth was born in 1862, and her youngest sibling was born in 1885. That 23-year age difference doesn’t add up in this picture. If the youngest girl (in the upper-left corner) is 10, then Elizabeth would have to be 33, which doesn’t seem likely. Perhaps the photographer captured a mix of siblings and cousins, not just brothers and sisters. It’s also possible that the oldest girl in this photo is another sister. 78 Family Tree Magazine April 2005

To establish a time frame for an image, you must look for details such as a photographer’s imprint and clothing clues. Neither of Graddy’s pictures gives the photographer’s name, so dating them depends on style analysis. According to Children’s Fashions 1860-1912: 1,065 Costume Designs from “La Mode Illustrée” edited by JoAnne Olian (Dover Publications, $14.95), ruffled yokes, such as those on the girls’ handmade dresses in the top photo, first came into style in the early 1890s. The large wide-brimmed hats in the bottom image suggest a date around 1905. So who’s who? Looking for physical similarities between the two groups helped Graddy find Do the subjects of these group photos match up? A thorough at least one match. The young investigation will reveal whether the children in the top picture are man on the far left in the top pic- the adults in the bottom image. ture has distinctive facial features that help him stand out in the back row of the was taken. Genealogical data will provide bottom photo (he’s second from the left). names and life dates to help with the identiAlthough Graddy can’t name the man yet, at fication process. As long as she repeats the least she’s identified him in both pictures. matching game using other identified phoNext, Graddy compared the faces in these tos, Graddy should be able to name the rest images with those in identified photographs. of the individuals. This resulted in two possible identifications in Solving a group-photo mystery takes each picture. To confirm her suspicions, time, but it’s worth the extra effort. Once Graddy will contact relatives for additional you’ve identified all the subjects, you can use images of these people. the picture as a Rosetta stone to unpuzzle With the photographs taken about 10 other pictures. 3 years apart, it appears that the children in the top picture are the adults in the bottom Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor helps photo. Graddy knows that several of the solve readers’ picture puzzles in her biweekly photoTaylor siblings died of tuberculosis starting identification column at < www.familytreemagazine. in 1901, not long before the second photo com / photos / current.htm >.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF GENA GRADDY

Take time to identify family portraits, and you’ll reap unlimited rewards. | By Maureen A. Taylor

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The Paper Trail G

eorge Pek already can name the woman in this paper print, which he bought 21 years ago. According to the caption, she’s Judith Simpson, aged 74 when she had her picture taken in 1848. Although he’s identified the subject, Pek wants to know what type of photograph he owns and where it was taken. I love a good photo mystery, and this picture was a real stumper. It offers a rare look at an early photographic method. I haven’t been able to answer all of Pek’s (or my own) questions about the portrait, but here’s a start.

Salt of the earth Around the time that Louis Daguerre developed his images on metal in 1839, an English inventor, William Fox Talbot, found a way to produce paper prints. His creations, which he called “photogenic drawings,” laid the foundation for modern photography. Paper prints didn’t gain popularity in the United States until the 1850s, when card photographs—essentially, images mounted on heavy cardstock or cardboard—debuted. But the English, French and Canadians purchased “salted” paper prints well before that time. These images were rare stateside. Salted prints, which date from 1840 to about 1860, consisted of a sheet of rag-based paper (think of fine writing paper), sodium chloride (table salt) and silver nitrate. Those made from paper negatives were known as calotypes. Historians refer to prints made from glass negatives simply as salted paper prints. To learn more about these photographs, see James M. Reilly’s The Albumen & Salted Paper Book: The History and Practice of Photographic Printing, 1840-1895 (Light Impressions, out of print), which you can read for free on the Web at < albumen. stanford.edu/library/monographs/reilly>. 78 Family Tree Magazine June 2005

Four years ago, Pek purchased an 1851 indenture from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, that had been printed by “Henry Rowsell, Printer, Bookseller, and Stationer” of Toronto and contained a watermark of three fleur-delis on top of a crown. To his surprise, this watermark matched the one on the photograph of Simpson. I checked with the staff at Library and Archives Canada , who told me that Rowsell worked from 1834 to 1880. It’s probably just a coincidence that both the indenture and the portrait bear the same mark. The photographer must have used the good-quality paper Rowsell sold. This picture is likely a salted paper print, not a calotype, for two reasons. Calotypes are not as sharp and detailed as this portrait. And a photo archivist at Library and Archives Canada didn’t know of any Canadian calotypes dating from the 1840s.

What, this old thing? While sorting out the various clues in this picture, I kept returning to Simpson’s clothing. Her appearance reminded me of characters in Charles Dickens novels, not the women I usually see in early daguerreotypes. In the 1840s, women typically wore dresses with tight sleeves and bodices, but this woman’s dress has full sleeves and looks more like 1890s styles. The handwriting and date seemed authentic, so dating her costume was a dilemma. Rather than focusing on the dress, I attempted to date her day cap—the indoor bonnet she’s wearing. I referred to Susan Langley’s Vintage Hats and Bonnets, 1770-1970 (Collector Books, $24.95), but couldn’t find any 1840s styles that even remotely resembled Simpson’s day cap. When I turned to the

COURTESY OF GEORGE PEK

A rare photograph leads researchers back to the 1840s. | By Maureen A. Taylor

What photographic method was used to create this 1848 portrait of Judith Simpson? A study of early paper prints revealed the likely answer.

color 1830s fashion plates, however, I saw several dresses with full sleeves and dropped shoulders. Simpson must have been wearing her decade-old best dress.

Canadian connections I’ve spent so much time staring at this photograph I feel as if Simpson’s a member of my own family. If she truly was 74 in 1848, she was born around 1774. I searched databases at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch to learn additional details about her life, but couldn’t find any matches. Pek did locate a land record mentioning a Judith Simpson who lived in Drummond, Quebec, Canada, in 1807, and he hopes she’s the same person. Another researcher thought Simpson might have come from a Loyalist family in the United States, since many Loyalists moved to Canada during and right after the Revolutionary War. Judith Simpson likely sat for her portrait in Canada, since the paper’s Canadian. But the story of her life remains a mystery. 3 Let contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor help you solve your own old-picture puzzles—see .

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Alpha Mail Don’t overlook—or misread—the unique clues in your old photo postcards. | By Maureen A. Taylor

The dating scene The first photographic postcards appeared around 1900 and remained widely available for decades. Some photographers capitalized on this popular new format by taking pictures of excitement-generating events and notable people, then selling them as stationery. Other photo studios offered their customers the option to purchase family photographs in postcard form. Photographic postcards are actual photographs produced with film or glass plate negatives and given a postcard-style back. Sometimes they’re called “real photo” postcards—a phrase that, according to Rosamond B. Vaule’s As We Were: American Photographic Postcards, 1905-1930 (David R. Godine, $45), differentiated actual photographic postcards from mechanically reproduced cards. The book explores 25 years of 70 Family Tree Magazine October 2005

these images and includes a short list of postcard photographers working before 1930. Follow these steps to take advantage of the special clues your photo postcards hold: ■ Examine the front of the picture. Use a magnifying glass or photographer’s loupe to look for little dots of color, which mechanical printers make. Those dots mean your postcard was mass-produced and isn’t an actual photograph. You probably own an image made for resale, not a picture of a relative. ■ Read the costume clues. This little girl’s purse, hat and drop-waist 3 dress date to the 1920s. For more on using clothing to date photos, see the August 2004 Family Tree Magazine, or consult fashion references such as John Peacock’s 20th Century Fashion or Men’s Fashion (both from Thames and Hudson, $34.95). For kids’ outfits, use Children’s Fashions 1900-1950 as Pictured in Sears Catalogs edited by JoAnne Olian (Dover Publications, $14.95). ■ Study the back of the card. What does it look like—is it divided by a line? Does it have Correspondence or Address printed above the sections, as this one does? Early photo postcards have plain backs. Pay particular attention to the box where you’d place a stamp. Different boxes were standard at various times. Compare the design and wording of your postcard’s stamp box with those shown in the catalog at Playle’s Online Auctions site < www.playle. com/realphoto>. When researching this card, I found that 12 slightly different boxes bearing the letters AZO were in use. The one that matched exactly appeared on cards made from 1910 to 1930. ■ Look for a photographer’s name. This postcard doesn’t have a studio’s name and address,

2 C O U R T E S Y O F M A U R E E N A . TAY L O R

L

ong before it was easy to share pictures with just a few mouse clicks, my grandparents had their wedding portraits printed as photographic postcards. That was one of the options available to them—and to the parents of the little girl pictured here—during the first half of the 20th century. Such postcards weren’t unusual, either: Family Tree Magazine readers send me a fair number of inquiries about their own photo postcards. These images have identification clues that you won’t find in regular photos, such as “place stamp here” boxes. If someone actually mailed your postcard, the date’s probably printed in the postmark or message. Maybe the sender even noted who’s in the picture— what could be easier? But your ancestor may have hung onto the postcard for awhile before mailing it, or the writing might be illegible, so you still need to do some digging.

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but if it did, I’d use city directories to research when the studio was open. It’s also quite possible that a relative took the images in your collection with a Kodak camera. When owners of cameras sent them back to the factory for developing and reloading, they could order photo postcards or regular prints. ■ If someone mailed your card, research the recipient’s name and address. For instance, based on the message and date (partially torn off) on this postcard, I can tell it was mailed in Maynard, Mass., during the 1920s. The address—written in Italian—mentions the family name. A quick look at Maynard city directories from the era would reveal residents who have that surname. ■ Examine the stamp and postmark. Philatelic (stamp-collecting) directories, available online and in libraries, can help you determine when a stamp was issued. You’ll find more

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It’s in the Card 1 Look for dots. Under a magnifying glass, real photos look solid; reproduced images show a dot pattern. 2 Compare dates. If clothing clues

don’t match the postmark, someone probably kept the postcard awhile before mailing it. 3 Back up your evidence. The backs

of all but the earliest postcards tell the sender where to place the address, message and stamp. 4 Box it up. Research the design of the stamp box to narrow the date your card was made. 5 Read the message. You might find

a date, name, address or other useful information.

information and resources at the National Postal Museum < www.postalmuseum.si. edu > and AJ’s Encyclopedia of Stamps and Philatelic Links . For links to Web sites about stamps from overseas, see PostalHistory.org and click on Country Resources. Adding up the date evidence in this photo postcard was a snap: Based on the clothing and the date on the back, the image was photographed in the 1920s. For another postcard analysis, see my Identifying Family Photographs column on the Family Tree Magazine Web site < www.familytreemagazine. com/photos/july26-01.htm>. 3

EVERY RESOURCE YOU NEED TO ENJOY

GENEALOGY IS NOW AT YOUR FINGERTIPS!

Family Tree Magazine contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor helps solve readers’ picture puzzles in her biweekly online photo-identification column. Learn how to submit your photos for free analysis at < www. familytreemagazine.com / photos / photohelp.htm >. www. familytreemagazine. com 71

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Clueless Think your mystery photo offers no leads? Take another look—we’ll help you extract its hidden hints. | By Maureen A. Taylor

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magine trying to identify this photograph of a woman we’ll assume is Mom “posed” under a picnic blanket for a candid shot with the baby as the focus. For one, you can’t see anyone’s face but the infant’s—and don’t babies all look alike, anyway? There’s no telling whether the little one’s a boy or girl: His or her fuzzy little head means you can’t rely on the tried-and-true rule that girls wore center parts and boys combed their hair to the side. Costume clues are usually helpful, but only one sleeve and the soles of this woman’s shoes show. The man to her left is no help; he’s barely visible. And baby dresses don’t narrow dates much because the styles rarely changed and families handed down kids’ clothes. The only prop here—the magazine—is placed at an angle and is impossible to decipher. You probably have a few images that similarly lack important clues from faces, clothing and props. Don’t throw up your hands—instead, use them to wring more information out of what’s there. Even though it’s missing chunks of the story, this picture does contain evidence to help identify the subjects and establish a date range. A magnifying glass or photo­ grapher’s loupe (available from photosupply stores) will definitely come in handy as you study the following: n Professional pointers: Professional photos are much more likely than candids to feature clue-rich details such as a photo­ grapher’s imprint, props and outfits. You 70 Family Tree Magazine April 2006

Courtesy of Maureen A. Taylor

I

Undercover Agent

3 Ace up your sleeve. This woman’s

puffed, full sleeve suggests a 1900-to1910 time frame.

1 Half time. The cut-off horse and

4 Baby steps. Most infants can just

man hint at an amateur photographer.

hold up their heads at 3 months.

2 Size matters. Snapshot size can

5 Who’s who. Study family charts for

reveal which camera took the shot.

people who fit your subjects’ profiles.

can tell a friend or family member likely snapped this shot by the way the man and horse are cut out of the frame. Other clues to an amateur photo include an odd camera angle or slightly blurry image. n Measurements: The picture’s dimensions, 21⁄4 inches square, may reveal the photographer. Only two cameras produced images this size during the early 20th century: the Kodak Brownie, introduced in 1900, and Ansco’s Buster Brown No. 1, first available in 1906. Kodak marketed its camera directly to children with illustrator Palmer Cox’s sprightly Brownie character. Kodak’s overwhelming success led Ansco to market a competitor using Buster Brown

and his dog Tige, comic strip characters who debuted in a 1902 New York Herald. Both models were popular for years, so they provide a starting date but not an ending one. Of course, we can’t say for sure whether a child took this picture, but since the cameras were made for youngsters, it’s quite possible the shutterbug was an older sibling. Use Scott’s Photographica Collection to learn more about your photos based on their formats. Click Index/Search, then on each camera name to see when it was introduced and what sizes of images it produced. n Parts of clothing: Look carefully and you may glimpse a slice of a shirt or dress,

2VFTUJPO



such as the woman’s right sleeve peeking from beneath the blanket’s edge. (Scanning and enlarging your photo can help you spot such minute details). According to Joan Severa in Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900 (Kent State University Press, $60), women’s dresses featuring full upper sleeves and long skirts were popular between 1900 and 1910—a time frame that agrees with the camera’s manufacture date. n Developmental milestones: This tiny infant can barely hold up its head unsupported, so he or she is probably around 3 months old. Developmental markers, such as sitting unassisted, holding a rattle, smiling and walking, can help you estimate babies’ ages. You’ll find lists of age-related feats in child-development and parenting books such as What to Expect the First Year, 2nd edition, by Heidi Murkoff, Sandee Hathaway and Arlene Eisnberg (Workman Publishing Co., $15.95). To estimate the ages of older children, look at their ankles: A girl’s skirt became gradually longer as she approached adulthood; boys wore short pants until they were teenagers. n Genealogical data: I purchased this intriguing picture, but if these were my relatives, the next step would be to examine my research for babies born from 1900 to 1910 (plus a few years on each side to be safe)—possibly with older siblings. Once I had a short list of ancestral suspects, I’d show this picture to other family members and compare it to their albums for alreadyidentified photos showing the same baby or setting. You might feel clueless when you encounter a mystery photo that seems to lack any telling evidence, but there’s no need. Research the photo’s size and closely examine the image for small details—soon you’ll declare “case closed.” 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor helps solve readers’ picture puzzles in her biweekly online photo-identification column. Learn how to submit your mystery images for free analysis at .




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Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, & Wisconsin (with more states coming soon). Arphax Publishing is releasing these in book form, county-bycounty, with 3 new books released each week, on average. - Available in both Spiral-bound and Hardbound editions -

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www.familytreemagazine.com 71

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photo d e t e c t i v e

Photo Fakes Don’t let doctored-up family pictures throw your research off track.

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| By Maureen A. Taylor hink photo-editing tips and tricks were born of the computer age? Forget that notion—the art of altering images is as old as photography itself. Well-known Civil War photographer Mathew Brady took a group portrait of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and his generals against a plain backdrop; later, he added one more general and a different background. Another enterprising photographer stuck Abraham Lincoln’s head on the bodies of notable 19th-century personalities such as John C. Calhoun, Alexander Hamilton and Martin Van Buren, and sold the reconstructed images as memorial pieces after Lincoln’s assassination. Don’t have a photograph of Aunt Edna? Perhaps disgruntled relatives edited her out of the family portrait. Dino A. Brugioni, a founder of the CIA’s National Photographic Interpretation Center and the author of Photo Fakery: The History and Techniques of Photographic Deception and Manipulation (Brassey’s, $29.95), has identified several types of photo trickery. The most common involve adding or removing a person or object from an image. A photographer could subtract a person by cutting the negative or painting over part of it with a chemical, or simply by creatively cropping the print. People also made cosmetic enhancements to their photos, such as hand-coloring the image or using pens to improve a subject’s facial features. More-intrepid photographers blended different images into photo montages. If illness or distance prevented a relative from joining a group portrait, that person might pose separately. A photographer would then combine the two negatives. Another example: old-time 74 Family Tree Magazine August 2005

“spirit” photographs featuring a casket with a ghostly inset of the deceased. Those images didn’t result from supernatural phenomena— a photographer simply superimposed an earlier portrait over the coffin. You may not realize whether your family photo collection contains pictures altered by your ancestors. Some cases are obvious; if the manipulator did a better job, though, you’ll need a sharp eye to spot the clues. Find the “fakes” among your photos by examining each one for the following details. See my picture above for examples. 1. An out-of-place person or object. Look carefully at the woman in the back row of this unidentified group portrait. Notice anything different about her? She’s standing at a different angle from the rest of the group and looking in another direction. 2. Odd positioning. Notice how the photographer posed the men next to the woman with a wide space between them, which would make it easy to insert another photo. It suggests the family probably planned this alteration. Your album might feature examples of a photograph both before and after changes. 3. Differences in proportion and color. This woman also stands out because her head and

shoulders are larger than everyone else’s. Her face is gray; everyone else’s is light. Examine shadows in your photos: If the light casts a shadow on a different side of one subject’s face, she may have been added to a group shot. 4. Visible seams. Here’s the most obvious evidence of a photo manipulation. Old-time photo-editing techniques didn’t allow for smooth blending of multiple images. Look around the woman’s head and shoulders, and you’ll see the rectangular outline where the two pictures meet. Also check your pictures for strange shadows or different-colored background areas—a telltale sign that someone removed a person or object. 5. Details that don’t add up. Fashion and family history clues can provide dates that help determine the truthfulness of a picture. Here, the puffed shoulders on the out-ofplace woman’s dress were popular around 1891. The other women’s outfits feature generous sleeves on the entire upper arm, which date from the mid-1890s and give us a time frame for the picture. Such disagreement of fashion details is further testimony this image was altered. Once you have an idea of a photo’s date, watch for individuals who shouldn’t be in the picture, as well as those

C O U R T E S Y O F M A U R E E N A . TAY L O R

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“In the Shadow of the Big Stack” is a hardbound community history book that contains 413 stories about Black Eagle families. Black Eagle is an ethnic community across the river from Great Falls, Montana, whose population was primarily employed at the nearby Anaconda Company Smelter. Also included are:

Trace Evidence 1 Someone doesn’t belong. This woman is standing at a different angle and looking in another direction from everyone else. 2 Subjects are spaced oddly. The wide distance between these men suggests a plan to insert an image into the finished print. 3 One person is a different size or color. Her relatively large head

and dark face show this woman was photographed in another setting with different lighting. 4 Seams are obvious. A line such

as this one is a dead giveaway that two images were combined. 5 Costume clues yield inconsistent dates. This woman’s dress dates to

about 1891; the others’ outfits are from the mid 1890’s. She may have sat for her portrait earlier than the rest of the group. who should be but aren’t. For instance, if clothing clues suggest a date long after someone in the picture died, that person probably was added later. Since this example of family photo trickery is an unidentified photograph I bought at a photo show, I can’t name the subjects or formulate a reason behind the old-fashioned photo editing. It’s possible the woman added later was a beloved daughter or daughter-inlaw who died before the family sat for a formal portrait. If you find fakes among your own pictures, genealogical information may provide an answer. Re-examine your mysterious images—if you spot inconsistencies like the ones in my photo, you might open the door to a great family story. 3 Contributing editor Maureen A. Taylor helps solve readers’ picture puzzles in her biweekly photoidentification column at < www.familytreemagazine. com / photos / current.htm >. www. familytreemagazine. com 75

E Approximately 1500 photographs which accompany the

stories and show the unusual history of Black Eagle. E Fifty reports documenting the Black Eagle Community.

Cost: $ 66.00

($60 + $6 S&H)

Send Order to: Black Eagle History Book P.O. Box 217, Black Eagle, Montana 59414

For more information: (406) 453-8818

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