Time to share old photos again
Get out your old photo albums and start digitizing (you should do this anyway) because I'm starting another "antique images" thread.
This time I'm inspired by an album I found tucked away and don't remember seeing before--although I must have seen it when I was a child. Many of the pictures are from the 1920's. They're all small (1.5" x 2.5" is typical) and badly degraded. Working on them is slow and intense, and after getting three ocular migraines in two days I realized I had to back off and do this a little at a time.
Anyway, here's my mom. I think her mother probably made her outfit.
Here's my dad with his sister's friend Louise. They weren't dating, but they seem to be enjoying posing for the picture. :-)
A few years later, my dad (center) with co-workers in lower Manhattan:
His sister with her newborn daughter.
And my mother at 16 (this would be 1930) with her cousin and his Indian:
Comments (31)
9 years agoRelated Discussions
That time of year again, dragged home another old snowblower
Comments (6)My old Ariens never clogged or misbehaved. Mainly, I sold it because the controls were awkward and dangerous, and the 40-year-old engine was getting tired. All Toros used the drum auger until fairly recently. This model was current from about 1992 to 1999, I think. It's a really nice lightweight snowblower, but it's a little small for me. The electric Toro works pretty well. I don't have much use for it, but it's a prototype/dealer sample so I figure probably fun to keep around. The Deere is an actual Deere-built machine. The gearbox is a cast iron monster, larger than I'm used to seeing. Powdercoated, too. While the inner workings of the Deere are heavy duty, the frame and housing are pretty flimsy. Several broken welds. Most of the rust on the Simplicity is in the bucket or underneath. The wheels and augers are rusted onto their respective axles. I have the feeling it'll take a lot of PB Blaster and torch heat to get them off. Looked it over a little more today, looks like the engine was shortblocked in 1992....See MoreI'll Share Mine, If You'll Share Yours...again Sat June 19th
Comments (14)I found about 20 of these guys in the yard yesterday. I am sure they are not good for some reason or another. However, the landscaper will be told not to run over them with the lawn mower....See MoreAn old photo to share, plus . . .
Comments (45)I want to thank everyone for sharing. These photos are gorgeous and fascinating. Introducing my MIL, Mildred, who is turning 99 this Wednesday. Here she is on her wedding day in 1945. To celebrate her milestone birthday, DH and I are traveling to celebrate with her tomorrow. As a surprise, one of her nieces and her other son and his wife will join us. (Heck, my arrival may be a surprise. Last week she forgot my daughter was visiting. Luckily, it was a Friday- MIL stays home to do her hair on Friday.) We will take her out for dinner and then have birthday cake at her place. She asked my husband to bring pink champagne. I created a label with this picture to put around the bottle. She is very excited and proud of her age. She lives independently, takes several buses to the old neighborhood for lunch and bingo at the senior center 4 days a week. Looking forward to a lovely day....See MoreTime to share some more old photos.
Comments (21)I'm enjoying all these wonderful pictures! Thanks so much for sharing. Jim, what's a lech well? Your mom looks like a fun person. Murraysmom, cute kids! Were you the only girl? I was an only child. Always wished for siblings. Still do! Jem, it's great that you know so much about your family history. That's a rare photo to have. I'm so spoiled when it comes to old photographs. Two of my grandparents were opera singers, so I have their publicity stills from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Plus my dad (their son) was an avid amateur photographer who loved to photograph people. Many of my friends and relatives appreciate to this day the pictures he took back at a time when not many people had cameras, at least not good ones. My mom was his favorite model, but he also documented every bit of my childhood. I have thousands of prints, slides, and negatives. Here I am on vacation in Quebec. The little boy spoke only French, and wouldn't share his crayons unless I asked for each color in French. I learned quickly. ;-) In the "play date" thread I talked about growing up in an apartment building with my two best friends, Pat and Carolyn. Here they are. Here's one of my mom before she and my dad were married. And after. One of my mom's sisters And my grandmother on stage (in a dark wig)....See More
9 years agoRaven, that is my fear! To lose my photos to tornado, flood or fire. I've been digitizing too, and keep them on my computer and an external hard drive. I have "bug out" bag, and when we have to bug out for tornadoes, that's in the bag!
This photo is of my hubbys Great-grandmother and her 2 children. (His grandfather)
His great Aunt gave it to me. She had scads of old family photos. She had 1 son & 1 grandson, and none of them gave 2 hoots about the photos or family history. The photos and genealogy info was supposed to come to me, but who knows what happened to it. They didn't even let us know she'd passed. :-(
I'm very grateful to have this one.
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Raven, that's such a shame! It's good that you had some important ones saved on your phone.
Ali, thank you!
Pudgeder, I use Photoshop Elements. I also have an excellent Canon scanner that can handle various sizes of negatives in addition to slides and prints. I'm surprised I haven't worn it out; my dad left so many wonderful pictures taken with good cameras--and he took good care of his negatives. My scanner isn't manufactured anymore (apparently not enough people care about different sizes of negatives), and I've been tempted to buy one of those still on the market to keep as a spare if mine goes.
I can see why you treasure your photo. Here's another version. I left the semi-circle on the mother's blouse because I thought it might belong there.
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoAlisande, what a treasure trove of photos you have there! In today's world I doubt that family photos will survive very well. Never printed, but lost to old hard drives and discarded phones.
This would be my husbands Grandmother. It would had to have been taken in the 1890's
And not nearly so old, but this is my first grade class picture, That would have been 1947, so pretty old at that. Can yo imagine one teacher (no aides) being responsible for that many 6 year olds today. Interesting to note...there were 3 sets of twins in the class.
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These are great! I have an Epson Perfection V3330 Photo flatbed scanner that also does the negatives and slides. I really need to get things scanned in. When my DB and DSIL cleaned out my parents house they had 3 totes. One for each of us. Mom had lots of duplicates, so it was " one for you, one for you, one for me!" And anyone they didn't recognize went into my tote. It's so heavy that I can barely push the tote across the floor. No way can I lift it. I have been going through old cd's with photos on them this morning. These are all family, I think. I know back row standing left to right is my aunt Phyllis, my grandma Ollie, and grandma's Aunt Tean. The rest I have no clue who might be. I would expect that this was taken at a family reunion, most likely.I have also found an app for my phone, PhotoScan, that works great for those photos that you can't remove from an album. Not good for the old poloroid photos that are fading though. My Epson scanner will do an auto fix for those that looks good. I'll post a couple I just did with the PhotoScan app. The photo of the 2 couples has not been edited at all, but taken with PhotoScan.
This is my great uncle and aunt unedited scanned with Photo Scan
Standing is Great?Aunt Bess, Uncle Bob (dad's brother) Uncle John (grandma's brother) Grandpa, Aunt Mary (Uncle John's wife), unknown, but might be Aunt Bess's daughter. Seated is Grandma and unknown. This is a poloroid that I edited as much as I could with my photo program on the win 10.
I think these are cousins, but I can't tell. This is a poloroid photo, and even in my editing program that came with Win 10, I can't do anything to fix it. It is in one of the old magnetic photo albums, and I can't take it out to use my good scanner.
Maybe these will give everyone an idea as to what the PhotoScan does, in addition to what might be able to be done with them after using it. - 9 years ago
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Tami, if I have a group photo I give it a title and then list the names in a Word document I have for that purpose. There may be a better way to do it, but I don't know what it is. I hadn't heard of PhotoScan; is it an Apple product?
Yes, your poor Polaroid picture is quite the mess. It almost looks like there was a double exposure going on. Plus early Polaroid prints weren't exactly made to last. I did a few adjustments in PSE. The cousins are a bit easier to see, but that's about it.
Gaz, your husband's grandmother was lovely. Where was she from? And which one are you in the picture?
At first I thought the teacher looks a little old to be handling all those children. But then I remembered women looked a lot older then. She could have been only in her forties. I was two years behind you. :-)
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9 years agoI love "old" pictures. So many things to look at in them. I was recently sent this picture of my Grandfather from 1912
My Mom when she was 13My Great Grandfather's Hat Works in Denton UK - my Grandfather and his Uncles are in the picture. This pic was enlarged from a postcard
My wee Scottish Grandmother
My Grandfather standing and his brother
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- 9 years agoMy Grandma Rose when she was 16, at her brother's bakery where she worked for a while.
My great great grandmother, who my great grandfather brought over from Denmark.
My mother was a model before I was born; she is the one standing.
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Jacob Starkey BROWN & his Children. At this date, Jacob's wife had passed away.
My grandmother is the young woman standing. The date of this photo is circa 1884 in Richland Co., Illinois. Grandmother had wanted to be a school teacher, but Jacob said, "No. I need you to prepare noon meals for my crew.". He was operating a portable saw mill.
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoMy mother at the Calgary Stampede with her reserve grand champion steer circa 1948. She was 14 in this photo and the only girl who raised and showed cattle competitively in the Calgary area during that time.
9 years agoMy daughter's great-grandparents, with her great-uncle. Taken about 1917. Manuela had come from Mexico to Texas in about 1895 I believe. Henry's ancestor had come from England with Cornwallis (yes that Cornwallis) to what is now Canada, then that branch made its way to New York, then the Carolinas, thence to Louisiana, and ended up in Texas.
My great-grandfather. I was able to have a Russian-speaking acquaintance translate the printing which told me this was taken in Siauliai, Lithuania I believe in about 1895.
My mother and aunt in about 1937 with a new car! Both in high school then.I've just gotten a new computer and it seems a bunch of photos didn't transfer. I'll have to work on that, plus on getting them more organized.
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Me too, Rhizo! Thanks so much to everyone who posted your wonderful photos. I love that the families came from all over. These pictures are treasures.
Two of my grandparents were opera singers. Here's my Scottish grandmother, Alice Campbell. She was born in Connecticut, but her parents emigrated from Scotland. The clown on the right is my Jewish grandfather. I don't know if they were married at this point, but he became better known. Very handsome, he caused ladies to swoon in the aisles. Why don't ladies swoon anymore? :-)
My great-uncle Isidore, a well-known composer and pianist (I can still hear him play online, recorded in 1905!) is at top left. The soprano Marguerite Starrell is on the right in the second row. I don't know the others, but look at those hats! The lady at the top looks rather stern, but she is the most hatted of all.
And here's a WWII wedding of family friends. What color is the Matron of Honor's dress? Dark blue, perhaps?
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This is my favorite right now. My mom, on the left, born in 1921, and her 2 of her sisters. Probably taken sometime in the 1930's .
9 years agoI'm another who really enjoys the old photos. And, I really need to do something about preserving my collection. My late husband and I have been the 'family historians' on both his and my side of the family, I have photos that date back into the 1800's.
This is my maternal Grandmother, circa late 1890's, I think. She passed away in the 1920's, before I was born.
And here is my paternal Grandmother, circa late 1800's, not sure of exact date of her death, probably between 1900 & 1905 or so.
And here are my paternal grandparents with a baby girl that passed away at a very young age. I believe this picture was taken before my Dad was born in 1900. I had never heard anything about this child, until I came across this photo a few years ago. And of course, it was too late to ask my Dad about it.
Rusty
9 years agoThis is my mother, older brother and I either late 1951 or early 1952.
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I was looking through my pictures on one of my tablets and came across this old picture. It is my mom and me, my sisters and a niece. Long time ago lol terrible quality.
Ali