I’m trying to make a guess about an undated photo of my grandmother. The cars in the background look like late 40s, but her skirt is just below her knee. What range of years is that likely to be?
You might narrow it down better with her hair style. Can you show us the photo?
Here’s the picture in question.
Hemlines go up and down all the time, so they’re NOT a good way to date a photo or a particular style of dress. (Just below the knee could be anywhere from 1920s to 1960s, and beyond!)
Judging by the hairstyle and the clothes, I’d say late 1940s.
There’s nothing in her hair or clothes that mark her as definitely being from any one time in the past eighty years. The cars look like they are from the late 1940’s or early 1950’s.
I’d put the cars in the 40s, and not the late 40’s, either…but they aren’t necessarily brand new cars at the time of the photo, so it could be a little later than the model year of the automobiles.
As a car guy and a guy that used to work in a sign shop that did old-school neon, I like the background of this photo a lot.
You know how old your grandmother is I assume. She doesn’t look too young. I’d guess at least 30, and possibly up to 50. The cars would fit late 40’s and early 50’s. Where do those time frames over lap?
Do you know where the picture was taken? I can’t quite read the signs, one seems to say ‘Friendly Store’, one is partially obscured but it looks like ‘Book’ or ‘Bank’, and the round one on the left might be a Ford logo. If you know the location, you might be able to find some history on the businesses, even narrow down the street location.
I’d just say circa 1950.
Here’s a picture of a 1941 Ford Tudor – looks an awful lot like the car on the left. Notice the split windshield, shape of the running boards, bumper, fenders, etc. The '40 models looked pretty much the same – in fact, I think the car in your image IS a '40, based on the headlights.
Now, all this really does it place it after the car was made, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it wasn’t too much later.
I don’t see any cars from the 1950s in that picture; in fact, I think I see at least one from the late 1930s. I can’t tell for certain if the man crossing the street is in uniform or not. All in all, I’d say early to mid 1940s.
I figured at least late 40’s because the cars didn’t look new, and I didn’t think they looked like they were from the 30’s. I figured in the early 40’s you’d still see some pre-40’s cars. But after looking at in blown up, they could be 30’s models. There only one car you can see the front of, and the nose is cut off. It could be Ford from the late 30’s to the early 40’s.
So I’ll back my guess back, and call it circa 1945 now.
I would be interested in knowing where the picture was taken too. It looks like there are streetcar rails running down the middle of the street toward where the man is walking. Based on the cars on the street I would say that it can be no later than 1950, I would say mid-40s, possibly circa WW2.
I can’t see anything that would indicate she is anywhere near that old. The photograph is taken in full, summertime, noon sun. That is about the most unflattering light that it’s posible to use. Yet there isn’t even a hint of lines or wrinkles on her face anywhere. Everything about her posture and stride indicates perfect health.
The only possible hint of aging maybe a slight fold in the corner of the mouth. But most people develop that in their late teens.
I think perhaps that you are letting the fact that she is wearing “old lady” fashions lead you to overestimate her age, But of course they weren’t old lady fashions when the photo was taken.
The signs are much clearer than that. There is a baptist Book Store, a “Freindly Stores” and yep, that sure looks like a a Ford dealership sign.
You’re getting a much clearer image than I am. I thought I saw a lot of lines and weather on her face, and loose skin at the wrists and neck. But if you can read the signs you’re getting a better picture than I am. Unfortunately the Ford logo goes back to the 20s, but with the location, there may be a timeline associated with it, and with the Baptist book store. And a 50 year old woman could be in fine health. But I was thinking 30’s more likely anyway. I did think the shoes were a sign of youth though, but maybe they were popular with middle age women in that era.
People keep their cars for a good decade, but a dress with those shoulder pads has a half life of about two years. My guess: 1948.
The photo is on East Broad Street in downtown Texarkana, Ark. In the background can be seen the Ford sign of Dreyer Motor Co., the Baptist Book Store, and Texarkana Tent & Awning’s Luggage sign. Twin City Transit’s streetcar lines quit in 1935, and it seems odd that they wouldn’t have pulled up the track in a wartime scrap drive. The street runs ENE from this point, so it’s probably around 3 pm. The woman in question would have been 41 in summer 1948.
Not only do most people not drive brand new cars, but most people don’t wear this year’s cutting-edge hair style and clothing. So we can only get a ballpark date at best.
At the end of the War, I’d guess that most cars you’d see on the road were still from the 30s, or even earlier. It probably took a few years for the auto industry to resume making cars, and for the public to be able to afford them. So that would put it at 1947-8. Other clues would be the hair style (mid-40s) and the padded shoulders (early 40s).
So all in all, my best guess would be 1948.
I was going to be clever and looked up the time frame in which that version of the Ford logo was used, but it turns out Ford signs looked like that from 1927-1957, and you’ve already narrowed it down much closer than that.
If I had to guess, I would say the cars just off her left shoulder are a '49 Chevy and a '48 Buick.
I give another vote to dating the style of her clothing to the 1940’s, not later than 1947 when the New Look came in, judging from the silhouette of broad, square shoulders with shoulderpads and a straight or slightly a-line skirt.
Definitely mid-to-late 1940s.