# When was this photo taken? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-this-photo-taken/700822 "2014-10-09T03:03:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-this-photo-taken/700822/21 "2014-10-10T14:11:07Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > p.s. - sepia toning was still available into the 90’s (too lazy to check) and will still be around as long as black and white chemistry is produced. Well, yes. But it wasn’t in _common_ use much after the 1920s because it was just as easy to make neutral prints. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-this-photo-taken/700822/22 "2014-10-10T17:27:01Z")
Not everything is brand new in any scene. Some of the boats, dresses, etc, might have been decades old. If you look at a photo of a parking lot, you’d date it by the newest car, not the cars that seem “typical” in the photo. So this photo would probably date from the newest object that can be found in it. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-this-photo-taken/700822/23 "2014-10-10T17:41:57Z")
Ah, [here is the answer](https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t31.0-8/10661752_10205068175487775_2092043596549060985_o.jpg)! it was there all long! What? :o ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-this-photo-taken/700822/24 "2014-10-10T20:21:47Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Not everything is brand new in any scene. Some of the boats, dresses, etc, might have been decades old. If you look at a photo of a parking lot, you’d date it by the newest car, not the cars that seem “typical” in the photo. So this photo would probably date from the newest object that can be found in it. This. I’m guessing, on the basis of the girls’ hats, skirt lengths, and jackets, early '30s. For a town’s old name to persist for a decade or so is nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Tammi\_Terrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-this-photo-taken/700822/25 "2014-10-11T19:31:57Z")
Hmm, can we roughly judge when the photo was taken by the sizes of the trees? Here’s the larger image that **Joey P** found, which (FWIW) we’re told is pre-1922 (because it was no longer Kingston after 1922), [![](https://homethoughtsfromabroad626.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/scan0280.jpg) ](https://homethoughtsfromabroad626.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/scan0280.jpg) Here’s the view in 1904, [http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=190091&d=1327682046](http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=190091&d=1327682046) And here it is in 1934, [http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Real-Photo-Postcard-The-Pier-Steam-Ferry-Dun-Laoghaire-Co-Dublin-Ireland-1934-/360638625037?pt=UK\_Collectables\_Postcards\_MJ&hash=item53f7bcb50d](http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Real-Photo-Postcard-The-Pier-Steam-Ferry-Dun-Laoghaire-Co-Dublin-Ireland-1934-/360638625037?pt=UK_Collectables_Postcards_MJ&hash=item53f7bcb50d) I’ll split the difference and guess that the photo was taken ca. 1920. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-this-photo-taken/700822/26 "2014-10-11T19:58:40Z")
Judging by the trees, its later than 1920, I’d say you would be looking around 1930. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-this-photo-taken/700822/27 "2014-10-12T00:05:23Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Judging by the trees, its later than 1920, I’d say you would be looking around 1930. Yeah, the tree looks almost identical, but there are extra jetties on the harbour (and a new light pole), so that sounds about right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-this-photo-taken/700822.md?page=1)