Family history · A regular column
Photo Mysteries
Nearly every family has a box of faces nobody can name. The format of the photograph itself is the first clue. These are the broad dates genealogists use; each format overlapped with the next, so treat them as a starting range, not a verdict.
| Format | How to recognize it | Usual years |
|---|---|---|
| Daguerreotype | Mirror-like silver image on metal, usually in a hinged case; the image flips from positive to negative as you tilt it. | 1839 to about 1860 |
| Ambrotype | Image on glass backed with black, usually in a case. | Mid-1850s to the 1860s |
| Tintype | Image on thin dark iron; a magnet will stick to it. | From 1856, common for decades |
| Carte de visite | Small paper print on a card about the size of a calling card. | Popular in the U.S. from about 1860 |
| Cabinet card | Larger paper print on a stiff card, often with the studio's name printed below. | About the 1870s into the early 1900s |
| Real-photo postcard | A photograph printed on postcard stock with a postcard back. | From the early 1900s |
Other clues
- The studio imprint. City directories can show the years a photographer worked at that address.
- Clothing and hair. Sleeves, collars and hairstyles changed every few years.
- Writing on the back. Even a first name and a town narrow the search.
Caring for old photographs
- Store them somewhere cool, dry and dark, not in an attic or a damp basement.
- Handle prints by their edges, with clean, dry hands.
- Label the back lightly in soft pencil.
- Make a digital copy before lending an original to anyone.
Send us your mystery
Readers may send a family photograph they own for the column. See Reader Submissions.