# The oldest photograph of a relative that you own? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248 "2003-12-16T03:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Opengrave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Opengrave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opengrave)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/21 "2003-12-16T14:48:46Z")
My great grandmother was born in 1900 and I have a photo of her whole family when she was about 3 or so. It has her brothers and sisters, parents, and grand-parents. She was thoughtful enough to give all of my aunts and uncles a copy before she died. The cool part was she carefully labled the back of each one so we know the exact names and relationships of everyone in the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/22 "2003-12-16T15:01:11Z")
OK, let’s see… I have a daugerreotype of my 3x-great grandparents, and my 2x-great grandmother as an infant, from 1862. It’s kinda creepy to see how my 3x-great grandmother, an Irish immigrant, looks like my mom when she’s mad. That’s probably the oldest, although I have photographs of other 3x-great grandparents from other branches of the family. Including an inadvertent one - a photo from my Swedish great-grandfather’s living room in Sudbury, MA has a photo on the wall; I’ve managed to get a fairly decent enlargement of it in Photoshop, enough to surmise that it’s probably a photo of _his_ grandfather, who almost certainly raised great-granddad into adulthood as he was orphaned by the time he was 10. God, I am _such_ a genealogy nerd! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/23 "2003-12-16T16:34:31Z")
Another tintype owner. (Actually my mother recently inherited them, and I’ve scanned them. Giving CDs of them to her sibs for Xmas.) There are 2 albums owned by my great-grandmother. Unfortunately, most pics are undated and not a lot of people/place ids. (Get your pics out **now** and start labelling them!) But some are clearly from the 1870s and several must be older. 1900 is a recent photo in my book. Ah, sepia. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/24 "2003-12-16T16:51:54Z")
I’m always a little sad when I see old photographs for sale in antique stores. There are probably many, many people who would just love to know what dear Great Aunt Lula looked like, but they’ll never know that her picture is on sale for $10 at the flea market down the street. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/25 "2003-12-16T17:34:54Z")
I have a copy (my one uncle has the original) of my great-great-grandfather. It was taken shortly after the Civil War when he was in his early twenties, and he is posed with his gun from the war. Based on the buttons on his coat, my family thinks the photo was printed as a mirror image, and that he was thus probably left-handed, which may explain my left-handedness. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/26 "2003-12-16T19:23:59Z")
I have a couple of 1850-60ish tin-types and several American Civil War era photos. Including one of my great-great-grandfather’s father-in-law. And a photo that was labelled “Pa general Tilson Davis” which caused much confusion until we sorted out that it was “Pa’s general” and the general’s name was Davis Tillson. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/27 "2003-12-16T19:46:30Z")
Harketh! I found some of them [here.](http://www.geocities.com/sepia_solace/restoration.html) But none of the really old ones (I’m afraid to handle the tin-types for scanning.) I forgot there were some online. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/28 "2003-12-17T02:50:11Z")
I have a picture of my great-great grandfather that had to have been taken around 1890(?) or so. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/29 "2003-12-17T03:59:54Z")
I’m not sure how old they are, but we’ve got some tintypes and a handful of ambrotypes. Unfortunately, no one knows who the people are anymore. On an only very vaguely related note, we’ve also got a couple of pictures of Charles Lindbergh. I’ve always thought that was cool. ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/30 "2003-12-17T09:09:53Z")
The middle picture [here](http://www.livejournal.com/users/genelamp/1797.html) is my great great grandfather, born about 1874, so this picture is I guess from the 1890s. It’s on some pretty heavy cardstock, for what it’s worth. Is there a guide somewhere to dating photographs based on internal evidence? (Clothing styles, paper stock, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/31 "2003-12-17T17:33:45Z")
When my Mom’s dad passed away in 1987, my mother “inherited” all the family photos/tintypes that he had been saving. So when my Mom passed back in June, my brothers and I split some of them between us, although I have the majority of the oldest photos. They include baby pictures of both my Mom’s mother and father (age between 1 and 2), pictures of my Mom as an infant and one family favorite of our Mom taken at the Atlantic City Steel Pier with “Pete,” the “Our Gang” dog. There were also some other, even older tintypes, possibly of my Grandad’s parents; we’re not sure who, yet, though because we haven’t been able to identify them. Some of these may be from as far back as the 1870s-1880s. I also have a portrait-type picture of my Grandmother as a young woman back in the mid-20s–she looked rather flapperish, I’ll admit, and quite pretty! That’s one that I will have preservation work done on (it’s not in good shape, unfortunately) and have copies made for my brothers. The one of our Mom with “Pete” of the “Our Gang” comedies I’ll also take preservation measures with and furnish my brothers with copies; Mom was about 2 1/2 when that was taken. ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/32 "2003-12-17T19:11:21Z")
My father has a photo of _his_father as a toddler, posing with one of his brothers and a puppy. But the coolest old photo he has is one of his mother, taken in the 1940’s. She looks to be about 17 in the picture. We compared it to a photo of me in a similar pose at the same age, and we look enough alike to be sisters. It was very cool to see – we have the same widow’s peak hairline, the same facial shape, the same eyebrows. It was even more special to me because we only found that picture when we were going through her things agter she died. ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/33 "2003-12-17T21:23:17Z")
I have a photograph of a relative from the Civil War era - he was a soldier (Union) and the picture is of him with his shirt off to show his war injury - a missing arm. It’s a fascinating picture. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/34 "2003-12-17T21:54:49Z")
That reminds me, the photo we do have of my great-great-grandfather (er, I may be missing a “great” there) in his Civil War uniform is _hilarious_. He is way too small for his rifle. Looks like he could barely carry it! 😕 … It just occured to me that I have no idea where that photo is… uh-oh! ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/35 "2003-12-17T23:55:41Z")
I have a photo of my great-great-grandfather, a Confederate veteran named Ben Henderson with his wife. It was probably taken in the 1880s – they’re both quite old. He looks as though he was quite handsome in his youth, however. I have a cherished photo of my great-grandmother, Ben Henderson’s daughter actually, where she looks just like me. Same face shape, same profile, same forehead, everything. I also have pictures of her husband, my great-grandfather, when he was young and he was another handsome fellow (evil as hell though). ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/36 "2003-12-18T01:34:59Z")
I have a charcol sketch of my greatx4 (or 5, my head hurts trying to work it out) grandfather and a photograph of his wife (who would be my greatX4/5 grandmother). There are quite a number of photos and portraits of him around that we don’t own: [here](http://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/library/archive/pics/affil/affil5.jpg) and [here](http://www.unimelb.edu.au/150/150people/hearn.html) for example. ---
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/37 "2003-12-18T03:39:46Z")
The oldest pics I have are of my grandfather in the trenches during WW1. He has 2 legs, he ended up with 1. Guess my family didn’t care much for old photos. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/38 "2003-12-18T06:03:53Z")
I’ve got a photo from 1924 showing my mom, one year old, on a little goat-drawn cart. It’s great! ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/39 "2003-12-18T07:40:15Z")
My mom has a photo of her grandmother as a small girl, in a white dress with huge floppy bow and sullenly miserable facial expression, standing at some sort of wooden-topped, metal-legged thing like a desk or table or sewing machine stand. First decade of the twentieth century. ---
**Author:** ![Ayesha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Ayesha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ayesha)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248/40 "2003-12-18T08:58:29Z")
I have a picture of my paternal great grandmother, it is about 37 years old. I also have a picture of my parents made just after they were married in one of those photo booths that are sometimes found in malls. It is about 47/48 years old. We (LIONsob and I) have a photo of one of his great, great grandparents, I believe it is about 65/70 yrears old [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-photograph-of-a-relative-that-you-own/219248.md?page=3)