Photo Detective: Maple Sugaring Photo Premium
No childhood in New England is complete without a sampling of maple sugar candy sold in the shape of maple leaves. While it resembles the syrup poured on pancakes and waffles, the candy is even sweeter and a New England tradition. This week, Joanne Gonsalves submitted a picture of what...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Farm Photo Premium
Janet Reese doesn't know who the older couple in front of this house is, but she's hoping someone will recognize them. She found the picture in her grandmother's possessions, but knows it didn't belong to her grandmother's family for a simple reason—they took care of their images. This portrait...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Auto Photos Premium
If your family owned an automobile in the late 19th to early 20th century, then you might have a picture of relatives sitting in it. Americans' obsession with cars grew rapidly. In 1900, there were only 10,000 automobiles in the United States; that number grew to half a million...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Digital Photo Preservation Premium
This week, instead of identifying one of the many photographs submitted to this column, I thought I'd write about learning how to prevent losing your valuable digital images. Yes, I am supposed to know better, but it takes time to learn how to use all the tools at our disposal...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Photos Taken Abroad Premium
Get tips and resources for researching foreign photos.
Read MorePhoto Detective: Reminisce Over Reunion Photos Premium
Reunions are the perfect opportunity start collaborating on your family history.
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Photo Detective: Family Resemblances Premium
How do you identify a family photograph if you don't even know what side of the family the image belongs to? The answer is to look for physical features that distinguish one side from the other. In Rita Werner's case, the striking resemblance between two women in her photograph collection...
Read MorePhoto Detective: The Story Behind the Picture Premium
"Was a formal wedding unusual for the 19th century?" Cora McDonnell asks about this wedding photograph of her grandfather's brother and his wife. In this case, the story surrounding the photograph is as fascinating as the image itself. Cora's grandfather, Otto Frederick Richter, born March 16, 1864, immigrated...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Mixed Bag Premium
Analyzing some of the pictures submitted for this column is a bit like making coffee—the percolated kind. I loved these pictures the first time I saw them, but the answers took time (and some extra information from their owners) to "perc." Playing the Game Lucia Perry's family...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Determining the Occasion Premium
What's pictured in a photo doesn't always tell the whole story.
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