Online resources can help you piece together clues from different eras

Cabinet cards and carte des visites CDV are often confused. Like the CDV, the cabinet card was also an albumen print on thin paper and mounted on thicker paper. The primary difference is the size.

Type of Photograph

The cabinet card reached its peak popularity in the s but was used into the early s. Have you ever remembered when a photograph was taken of you based on your hairstyle or on the clothes you wore?

REACTING TO MY GIRLFRIEND'S OLD PHOTOS!

Narrowing the date range a photograph was taken will narrow down the potential candidates the people can be. The photograph below the cabinet card from above dates to the early s. This photograph of Mary Elizabeth Scott below was taken in the early — mids. Notice the center part with the bangs. Her hair is pulled into a bun in the back. The bodice of her dress along with the narrow sleeve is also indicative of this time period.

Know What You Already Know

She wears a typical hairstyle of the day with a middle part and the hair styled over the ears. Her full skirt and the fuller sleeves were common in the fashions of Civil War women. Where do you find examples of hairstyles and fashions from different time periods? What type of photograph is it?


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Research the hair and clothing fashions you find. With this information, you will be able to estimate the date your photograph was taken and begin to narrow down who could possibly be in the photograph.

How to Date Old Photos - Daguerreotype, Cabinet Card, Tintype - Geneal

Lisa believes researching your genealogy does not have to be overwhelming. All you need is a solid plan, a genealogy toolbox, and the knowledge to use those tools.

Passionate about genealogy research and helping others find resources and tools to confidently research their genealogy, Lisa can be found at LisaLisson. This is a great article. I only wish I had images as old as Daguerrotypes in my family collection. They must have been handed down to the wrong descendents not me if there were any at all. Hi please help me know the year in which this photo of our grandmother has been taken.

It has been taken somewhere in Ghana, west Africa. Thank you so much. This is such a great article on dating old photos. I have one more suggestion — I have been successful in dating some of my cabinet cards by cross referencing the photographer in the city directory of the time period, noting what years that photographer appeared at the particular address printed on the card. Thought you might like to see the earliest in my collection, a carte de visite taken in , my great-great grandmother, Katherine Sheets Faust, age 17 luckily for me on this one, her name and age had been written on the back.

Your email address will not be published. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Consulting experts such as Maureen Taylor , whose website includes a blog and provides teleseminars, are also a good resource. In my photo, both men are wearing loose-fitting jackets with wide lapels. The elder man is wearing a collarless shirt — too bad, because it's easier to date men's collars and neckties.

The younger man is not wearing a necktie, but his shirt has a pointed, flat collar.


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  • How to Date Old Photographs by the Costume;
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The jackets seem to indicate a photo taken in the s, but I'm still not certain. This is the time to turn to common sense. I knew from my earlier research that all three of my great-grandfather's brothers eventually wound up farming in Kansas, after stops in Washington, D. The tintype was taken in front of a painted background — hardly unusual for tintypes, but more likely found in St.

Louis than a small town in Kansas that wasn't organized until In the early s, Michael would have been in his twenties and Peter in his teens and both were living in St. Timothy would have been too young to be either brother. Therefore the photo is more than likely Michael and Peter, perhaps taken before Peter left for Kansas to live with relatives, leaving Michael behind.

Dating and Identifying Your Old Family Photographs

Sometimes a good guess is as close as you'll get to the answers. There were several photo techniques used in the mid- and lates, some of the most common include:. Daguerreotypes This first successful photo process is attributed to Louis Daguerre. The image is on a silver clad copper sheet which was then sealed inside a wooden case or a frame under glass to protect it. The name might come from the fact that tin shears were used to cut the iron plate.

How to Date Your Old Photos

Cabinet Cards The larger version of the carte-de-visite, these images were mounted on heavy card stock to keep the photos from curling. These photographs were frequently displayed in cabinets or bookcases, hence the name. You are leaving AARP. Please return to AARP. Manage your email preferences and tell us which topics interest you so that we can prioritize the information you receive.

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Javascript is not enabled. Courtesy of Tracee Hamilton This photo of the King brothers is a tintype probably taken circa Type of photograph To learn more about my mystery photo, I checked examples of photos in the collections of Andrew J. Fashionable clues I now turn to fashion to see if what these men are wearing can help me narrow the date range of the photo.

A daguerreotype produces a mirror image and can appear and disappear, depending upon the angle at which you view it. Also, if there is any object with writing in the photo it will appear reversed. Photo was often displayed in an ornate, hinged box. Introduced in and popular until about But tintype photo studios were still around into the early s as a novelty. Tintypes will attract a small magnet, but this method of identification isn't foolproof as some ambrotypes have a metal backing behind the glass plate.

Early tintypes were put under glass, but later were placed in cardboard sleeves. Post-Civil War period, beginning in and enjoyed a peak of popularity from to Cabinet cards are rarely found after The thickness of the card stock, the color of its borders and whether it has rounded corners s to or square corners after can often help determine the date of a photograph.