Your Mourning Pictures

Two weeks ago I wrote about mourning traditions and clothing and asked for e pictures of women wearing mourning clothes. This week, I’m featuring the two I received as well as one from my work collection of images.

Toni Mann sent in this very interesting photo. It’s a 20th century snapshot. It blurs when I enlarge it, but I think the women in the far background are wearing clothing from the early 1900s. The woman to the left of the headstone wears late 1890s mourning clothes. Perhaps her husband is buried there. Toni thinks it was taken in the Chicago area. Anyone recognize the headstone?

Charman Davis emailed this photo of the Hulse Family August 1907 reunion. The woman on the left lost her husband the previous month. Everyone wears light-colored summer clothes except for the widow.

I bought this photo several years ago. It dates from the late 1890s and depicts a woman in mourning standing by a burial. It’s a new grave, based on the fresh flowers piled on it. It’s intriguing that a widow would hire a photographer to take her picture in this setting.

You’ll find advice for creating, sharing and saving your family’s photographs in the Family Photo Essentials CD, from the editors of Family Tree Magazine and Memory Makers magazine.