Photos Make it Real!

by TCGS Member, Connie Estep

It’s hard to imagine a time without photographs. On March 9^th Rick Reil (rhymes with smile) beguiled the audience of the TriCity Genealogical Society for an hour in the world of photographs, using humorous examples and stories. He stressed the need to label our photos with people’s names, dates, and places now while we can remember this information, recommending we use a #2 pencil, not a pen.

1853 Ambrotype of Sally Slate's 
grandfather

Photographs are a relatively recent invention and went through quite a few distinctive formats. Knowing some of this history can provide date ranges for photographs in the early formats. TCGS member Sally Slate attended the meeting bringing several examples. She is extremely knowledgeable about these formats. This photo of two boys in a gold framed oval, an ambrotype, shows her grandfather, Charles Warren Spaulding (age 10) and his brother in 1853. Check out the Photo Tree website link below for other examples.

Sally Slate showing Margaret
Dunn her daguerreotype locket 

Other things Rick used to help date photos include women’s clothing fashion (men’s didn’t change as much) and items in the photos. Vehicles especially are helpful but other things can also offer clues. Rick provided a handout with details on these clues including types of women’s fashions that covered the 1850s to the 1920s. His handout also described six different formats of photographs through the 1920s. A copy of his handout is available at the TCGS Meetings & Events website. The Richland Family History Center has several books on dating photos, including a very good one on fashions from 1850 through 1920s. See Resources below for details.

Rick Reil helping Art
Kelly with picture dating

At the conclusion of his talk Rick looked at undated photos brought by audience members. There was quite a line of people for this but he spoke with everyone individually, telling them the approximate date and pointing out the date clues in the photos, referring them to his handout.

Resources:

• PhotoTree.com article titled Identifying 19th Century Photography Types at http://www.phototree.com/identify.htm
• Wonderful World of Ladies Fashions 1850-1920s; edited by Joseph J. Shroeder, Jr., c. 1971 This is a terrific book with illustrations from period clothing catalogs and fashion magazines. Richland Family History Center catalog # BK57.609; other photo dating books are shelved with this one.
• Meetings and Events calendar at the TriCity Genealogical Society website at http://www.tricitygenealogicalsociety.org