My Nan and Grandpa

And me. I'm in here somewhere in this one-room school.

Really great photos. Treasures.

Two from 1929. My DH's paternal grandmother was a teacher in a coal camp. Aunt (her daughter) said her mother got fired from this job because she danced the Charleston on her desk after dismissing school for the year.

My paternal grandparents in the 1890s. They were opera singers.

My grandfather's on the right; my grandmother's on the floor. :-)

My dad was an avid photographer, and I'm grateful to have many pictures of my mom. She died when I was 9.

And these were family friends, not relatives, but I think it's amusing how different people dressed for the beach in the 1940s.

My paternal great grandparents who immigrated from Ireland. I wish I knew when and where the photo was taken. They moved around PA following work in the coal mines. Judging from their age I'm guessing this was taken when they lived in Sugar Notch, PA. I found this in my grandmother's photo album after she passed away.

I just love all these photos. Thank you so much to everyone who posted.

My dad, England 1940

My MIL, Canada 1935

This was me... I swear I look like a hamster with cheeks full of seeds!

Four of my Dad's siblings are in this 1904 picture. I have no idea who is who. It was a one rom school house next door to where the family lived. Enlarge the pic and look at all those sober faces. How on earth did this teacher manage these 66 kids?

I think I have posted this before... me posing on 'the family cannon', 1942

My Dad's high school graduating class in 1926. He is the first one on the left, middle row.

Paternal grandparents. They were 19 and 16. Their wedding day

I love looking at all your pictures! Has everyone who posted scanned all their old photos onto the computer? What a big job.

nicole___

I made an attempt to lighten the photo of your Grandmother's passport photo....we can now see a bit of detail....a very distinguished lady..... :))

I love them all. I have a better sense now of why we do this. I'm enjoying sharing your history... I feel more connected to my mom now

My Mom and Dad, circa early 1920's.

Rusty

What a handsome couple, Rusty! I enjoy seeing what people wore, how they styled their hair, their surroundings, "way back when". Your folks would fit in today at any dressed up occasion, more than many pictures from a hundred years ago. Interesting.

My Aunt Mary Lois in the Navy during WWII.

DW being studious, c1957.

My Grandparents' wedding day. c.1915

These are all wonderful! Answering Sjerin's question, years ago I invested in a large scanner that handled prints as well as slides and negatives in various sizes, and embarked upon the massive project of digitizing his photographs. A big job indeed, but a labor of love.

Michele, where were your paternal grandparents from? So young--and so many children! I envy those who come from big families (Lars!). And with such blonde parents (my dad had blonde curls like your dad), I will assume you're a blonde. :-)

Rusty, your parents could have stepped out of a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The elegance of the 1920s!

My family is from Bretagne. It’s in NW France. They all came from the same general area. My parents had to learn French in school. My father had very dark wavy hair as an adult. His mom had beautiful red hair. None of her 13 children had it. None of the numerous grandchildren. Two great-granddaughters do. Now with the birth of my own grandson, two GG grandsons are redheads.

I was blond as a child. It darkened in time, especially with my first pregnancy. I have three children.

lgmd, why is it, whenever I look at class photos like yours, I swear I recognize some of the kids!

my maternal grandparents at their 50th wedding anniversary. i would have been around 10 years old so this was 60ish years ago.

that's me sitting on the floor in the front row, far left.

These are wonderful photos. Enjoying them very much - esp. the stories to go with!

This is me on Christmas day, 1962, my younger sister is in the playpen. It's an old Polaroid, which is why it's so scratchy...

My maternal grandparents, 1917; I believe this is their wedding photo. They were from deep in Appalachian KY.

My dad and uncle lived at an orphan home from the ages of 11 and 9 respectively. These are the boys in their cottage with the house mother. The facility is now a residential behavior treatment center, and some of the cottages are still in use (although this one was torn down recently to make room for something else).

carol, I received a springy horse for Christmas, too! The first picture is of me sitting on my dad’s lap learning about sharing my presents with my older sister. (Please excuse the exhibitionist doll on the floor)

vvv

This picture is of my sister saying “mission accomplished.”

My dad was a very patient man.

vvvv

My Father (lower left) and bomber crew, South Pacific, 1944.

Haha, roxsol - that horse looks more your size than your sister's 😀

And just look at all those handsome young military men!

I love these pictures. Marilyn C, you are gorgeous and Jody was a hunk.,I can see why you fell for him, and he for you.

Heres my mother when she was about 20 and another of my great grandmother holding baby me with my older sister alongside.

Mom and Dad. She was so deliriously happy, but their marriage feel apart very soon. I was 21 months old and my brother was 3 months old when she made the decision to leave him.

That's my Dad, back in the day.

Thank you all for sharing. These are just treasures and I have so enjoyed looking at each and every one of them.

How nice see all these family photos. Thank you to all for sharing. So nice.

Nickel_kg, thank you.

Allisande, "the elegance of the 1920's", Yes, Chicago, . . . . .the roaring '20s, . . . . .Flappers, . . . . . ..Speakeasies, . . . . . . Prohibition, . . . . . .the Depression,. . . . . .WWII. They experienced it all. Which is why we ended up on a farm in Michigan. My Dad fought in WWI, in Germany, so he was basically unemployable. By 1940 there were three of us kids, and the stories they told of what it took to feed us and keep the family warm in the winter! Dad said he, (a trained architect,) decided to buy a farm and become a farmer so his family would never have to go hungry again.

And we didn’t! We may have been poor, but we always had enough to eat, and we were always warm (enough) in the winter!

Rusty

My grandfather on my mothers side. PapPap O'Rourke. He was born in 1896. This was his WWI pic. Don't know exact date, some time between 1914-1918.

My dad on the left and His dad on the right. WWII, both were in it. Taken either 1944 or 1945.

Taken in Odessa, Russia, around 1890. Little boy in front is my father, handsome man top row, is my grandfather and woman with her arm on my father is his grandmother. Almost all of the descendants bare a striking resemblances - even to this day. The family name is Pinchev.

This was taken in the late 1890s. The baby is my dad's cousin Peggy, whom I knew well and loved much later. As a child I used to watch her hook rugs from old woolen clothing, and when she died I inherited her rug hooking equipment, some of which I still use today.

I'd love to know who the woman is. She has those round, light blue eyes I've seen repeated in my family, so I think she must be a Campbell. Peggy's mother was Margaret Campbell, but this woman doesn't look like her. I don't think. And she doesn't look like Margaret's mother, but I'm not 100% certain about that either.

I love these pictures. Of course I don't know the people, but I also love seeing the clothes and background.

Katlan, I have a photo of my great uncle in his WWI uniform. Remember when someone posted that Heritage site where you could animate people in old photos? I tried it with my grt.Uncle's, and it was fascinating! He was one handsome devil. The animation was amazing, almost startling.

Happy to say I found out who the woman is in the portrait with the baby. Not surprisingly, it's Margaret, the baby Peggy's mother. I found a picture of her at a much younger age, and it was clearly the same woman. Same eyes, ears, lips, and that very pronounced dent between the upper lip and the nose. I looked up the name of it this morning, but now I can't remember. :-)

Philtrum, I believe...

Carol, you believe right! :-)

It turns out this picture, which I always thought was my great-aunt Margaret, is actually her sister, my great-aunt Anna. The third sister was my paternal grandmother (the singer). They were the daughters of Scottish immigrants. Here's Anna. My dad had her eyes--and so does my middle grandson!

Wow, what an amazing thread!!! I could look at old pictures all day and never get bored. These are all fantastic!

I have a few to add that I’ve collected:

This is the family in 1966 before my youngest sister was born. My father had just returned from tour in Vietnam and we were celebrating. I’m the one saluting to the camera.

My Great Grandfather in front of the house my grandfather was born in. It’s in Maghera, Ireland.

My Maternal Grandmother along with my Mom, 7.5 months old. New York in 1932

I know what you mean about old photographs.

I have a shoebox filled with anonymous old photos - some that seem to go back to the 20s, none newer than the 1950s. I bought them many years ago at a flea market. They're fascinating, even though I have no idea who the people are. I always thought I would use them for art projects, but I could never bring myself to cut them up or alter them. I just like looking at them.