Celebrity Hairstyles: Nothing New Except a New Lecture

I have a new lecture based on the Fashionable Folks book. It's a humorous look at celebrity hairstyles of today and their historical/hysterical look-a-likes. It's a hoot. Even my teenage daughter thinks it's funny. It's a perfect after lunch/dinner treat. I'll be presenting it for the first time at the Annual Dinner for the Italian Genealogical Society of America on November 15. Hope you can join us.

Queries and Answers: Caring for Fragile Books

Joyce asked, "I have a very old genealogy book that is falling apart. How can I preserve it? Someone suggested laminating the pages." Gosh...lamination is one of the deadliest sins of preserving items. It literally destroys materials. The combination of poor quality plastic, heat and adhesive speed deterioration. As for caring for a crumbling book, library suppliers sell an acid and lignin free enclosures like these sold by Hollinger Corp. Your local library will have product catalogs that contain other types of protective enclosures. Just make sure you buy something acid and lignin free.

Missing Pictures: Rebecca Mayo, Revolutionary War Widow

Sometimes the hunt for a photograph is so frustrating! One of the more than 6,000 Revolutionary War widows collecting a pension was Rebecca Mayo of Newbern, Pulaski County, Virginia. She married Stephen Mayo in 1834 when she was just a young woman and Mayo was 77. The Boston Daily Globe ran a story about her on July 6, 1904 (page 6), "Mrs. Mayo of Virginia is a Revolutionary Widow." There were only two widows left at that point, Rebecca Mayo and Esther Damon. Damon's photo and story appear in my book, The Last Muster (Kent State University Press, June 2010). In the Globe article were two pictures. On of Rebecca and the other of her house. Both of these pictures have proved elusive. I can't find them. I'm hoping that someone will see this story and send me a lead. Here's the search so far: The Boston Globe archive at the Boston Public Library doesn't own the pictures. It's likely that this story and the images were picked up from another news source. The Pulaski County Public Library searched their collections, but didn't own them either. The Wilderness Road Regional Museum in Newbern, Virginia couldn't help me. I also tried the Virginia Room at the Roanake Public Library and the Library of Virginia in Richmond. With more than 6,000 widows that could have posed for a photograph, I was trying major sources first before diving into a search for living family members. If you know of another source for these images email me at mtaylor@taylorandstrong.com. It's really annoying to be able to see her face in a newspaper article, but not be able to find the original photograph. Unfortunately, the newsprint isn't good enough quality for book publication.

1835 Photograph on Display

I've repeatedly written that photography begins in 1839 with Louis Mande Daguerre's shiny metal photograph called the daguerreotype and William Fox Talbot's paper images. However, that isn't one hundred percent true. These two men produced commercially successful processes, but before that there were men who experimented with chemicals, light and materials to produce images. The Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs Gallery at 962 Park Ave., in New York has a new show. Silver Anniversary: 25 Photographs, 1835-1914 features one of the earliest paper photographs, "Tripod in the Cloisters of Lacock Abbey" by Talbot. It's a very delicate image and usually is in storage. If you'd like to see it visit the Kraus Gallery before November 20th. Along with the news I usually feature in this space, I'll introduce some of the earliest photographic inventions and inventors. Stay tuned!

Weekend at the Museum: Halloween Fun

Here's a double-treat for Halloween weekend. First have you viewed the Halloween Costume Clues in my new video on Vimeo. It'll make you relive your own trick or treat memories. One year I went as a Crayola crayon in a handmade costume. It was a big hit at the neighborhood party, but it had one small problem. I couldn't sit down in it! For our museum visit this week, check out the Castle Halloween Museum. It's run by none other than the Halloween Queen. Located in Benwood, West Virginia this museum features 250 years of Halloween history and more than 35,000 artifacts. Take the online tour. It's spooky fun. If you really love Halloween you might want to subscribe to the Trick or Treat Trader, their newsletter.

Queries and Answers: Ambrotypes

Here's another question from an attendee at one of my workshops. "If a daguerreotype is named for Louis Daguerre, then what's the origin of the term ambrotype?" Good question. I have to admit it caught me off-guard. An ambrotype is an image on glass backed with a dark material or varnish. It's named for J. Ambrose Cutting who promoted the process.

Lost Pictures: Conservation Adoption

There is a lot to like about this idea. A Dulwich Picture Gallery exhibit that focuses on the paintings in their collection in need of conservation. They want you to adopt a painting and help preserve it. The program is called Adopt an Old Master and the exhibit is in honor of the 100th adoption. I'm not aware of programs like this in the United States, but what a great idea.

Association of Personal Historians: 2009 Conference

Good company. Good food. Lots of networking. What's not to like about the members of the Association of Personal Historians. This was a fantastic group of folks. As soon as the conference chair asked me to speak about a year ago, I started receiving emails from their members. I felt an immediate affinity with the group. Their members are involved with saving personal and family stories. They do it through audio, video and print. I do the same thing only with a picture focus. I record stories about images, create videos and publish books. There was a lot of common ground. I gave the keynote address. Since this year's event took place in Valley Forge, I was able to talk about my multi-year search for photographs relating to the Revolutionary War generation. I started with a simple question, "How do you tell the story of a generation?" I didn't have to add, "when everyone is dead." The group had a lot of questions! You'll start seeing them in the Queries and Answers column that runs in this space on Fridays. Thank you to APH! After my presentation two folks told me about more images to include in The Last Muster. I'm not sure if it's too late to add them in, but if it is....I've got a good start to a second volume.

Weekend at the Museum: Hiking from Home

I can say with almost complete certainty that I'll probably never hike a trail in South America. Thankfully, I can take visual tour without leaving the country. Whew! A new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Highway of An Empire: The Great Inca Road features more than 50 photos taken over the 25,000 roads and trails built by this empire. It opened on October 17th. Count me in on this trip!

Queries and Answers:What's the Worst Photo Album?

Whenever I present my lecture on Preserving Family Photographs I'm asked the same question, "What the worst type of photo album?" The answer is magnetic photo albums. They aren't really magnetic, but the glue strips or dots on the acid paper pages acts like one. Your photos STICK to the page and you have trouble removing them. Over time the glue will stain your images. While I don't advise taking apart family photo albums, when confronted with a magnetic one it's a different story. Purchase a new album with acid and lignin free pages and non-pvc polyester overlay then carefully remove all your images from that nasty magnetic one and recreate the order of the images on new pages. I know..the next question is "How do I remove them?" You can gently slide a piece of dental floss between the image and the page or you can purchase a microspatuala from a library supplier and try using that to remove the images. Just be careful. It is possible to tear a photo with the floss or the spatula. Make me a promise. No more magnetic photo albums, no matter how cheap they are on sale. Stick with the good stuff. Look for acid and lignin free models with polyester overlays. They will last.

Lost Pictures: Another DaVinci?

Imagine searching for three decades for a lost image. That's what Dr. Maurizio Seracini has done. He's looking for a lost Leonardo DaVinci mural possibly hidden inside a wall at the Florence (Italy) city hall. In 1975 a researcher spotted a clue, now Seracini is using some really cool scientific gadgetry to find the painting. He's firing neurons through the wall to see if he can find the mural. Saracini and his team are looking for a DaVinci mural, "The Battle of Anghiari" that's triple the size of the "Last Supper." Is it behind a painting by Varsari? Did Vasari construct a brick wall in front of the DaVinci masterpiece? There is a fascinating article by John Tierney in the New York Times about the scientific hunt for this lost piece of art.

What Children's Book Influenced Your Life?

That's the question editor Anita Silvey asked me one day. I was able to answer very quickly--A Wrinkle in Time. I read that book so many times I wore out my copy. Meg, Charles Wallace and the crew kept me entertained again and again. Meg was my role model--tall, smart and awkward. She also knew how to ask questions. Now Anita's new book, Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book is out. She asked more than 100 leaders from the arts, sciences, politics, business and ME to talk about a children's book they loved. My response is on page 97! Life is sometimes a big circle. Anita was my editor on Through the Eyes of Your Ancestors, my guide to family history for kids. It was my first real book and that title launched me on this career. One of the things Anita believes is that if a child reads (or is read too) 1,000 books, it'll make them a life-long reader. So, I want to know. What children's book influenced your life? Join the discussion on my Facebook page or add your comment to this posting. Spread the word. This is a question worth discussing in book groups.

Weekend at the Museum: Sacramento History Online

I've always loved museums and libraries. That's why on every research or lecture trip I try to squeeze in a visit to those in the area. The web makes it possible to preview these places before I even leave home. Now I find that their websites contain material unique to the web, not always on display when you're there in person. The best ones are collaborative. Take for instance, The Sacramento History Online project. The California State Library's California History Room, The California State Railroad Museum Library, the Center for Sacramento History and the Sacramento Public Library's Sacramento Room have joined together to offer an online resource that explores agriculture and transportation in the Sacramento area in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They are digitizing over 2,000 items and putting them on the website. There is a nice search engine so you can look for images, but before jumping to that feature explore the tabs. The film one actually takes you to two online movies. How fun! I enjoyed the three short features on Victory Gardens. Enjoy!

Queries and Answers: Ambrotype Marks

Merry wrote in with a question about marks on an ambrotype: I'm doing some photo detective work of my own--if I have a cased, sealed ambrotype with a stamped mat (E.R. Perkins), can I assume that the photographer was probably the person stamped on the mat? That might help me narrow down where the picture was taken, right? Congratulations on researching your photos! If you have a cased image such as an ambrotype with a stamped mat you're right to assume that identifies the photographer. An excellent resource on photographers in the daguerreotype era is John Craig's Daguerreian Register. There is an Elijah R. Perkins listed who worked as an ambrotypist from 1856 to 1860 in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He was in Salem, Massachusetts in 1859. Hope this is a match!

Retouched Photos in the Family Album

This week Time Magazine ran an article on the top ten doctored pictures including the famous Matthew Brady image of the Civil War generals. Matthew Brady may have been the most proficient but he certainly wasn't the only nineteenth century photographer changing the appearance of an image. Take this family group from the late 1890s. I posted a short video online on Vimeo a few months ago. The woman in the back stands out. She's been added in. Can you spot a retouched picture in your family album? Look for obvious signs like the border surrounding this woman. Watch for individuals that are the wrong proportion. Notice how she's larger than the rest of the group. Photographer's trained studio assistants to remove blemishes, beard stubble and in general make their clients look better than reality.

Lost Pictures: Looking for 1887 Wedding Picture

I love this column. Brian Nichols wrote for help. He's looking for an 1887 wedding picture. Here's his story: My great-grandfather was a traveling cigar salesman from St. Louis. On December 7, 1887 my great-grandmother, Adelia, left her family's farm in Wisconsin and eloped to Canton, South Dakota Territories with great-grandpa Frank A. Nichols. Two years later, Frank left Adelia and their son, then disapeared from family history. Adelia kept Frank's last name and the wedding certificate but removed their pictures, which presumably have been destroyed. We're hoping to find the plates or copies of those pictures. The family knows of no other existing photos and dear great-grandma never spoke about her husband again..other than to tell their son that Frank died in St. Louis a few years after he left them. (we managed to find Frank's death certificate and discovered that he died from injuries received during what was later named "the Great Cylone of St Louis and East St. Louis"). When looking for missing photos I start by Googling the name, just in case. You never know what's going to turn up. Then I go to DeadFred.com and AncientFaces.com. A more time intensive search involves contacting historical societies in the area in which the person lived and if all else fails try reverse genealogy. That's when you research the family forward in time rather than backwards. You're looking for living descendants. In this case, Brian would look for living collateral descendants of Frank A. Nichols, i.e. his siblings. Do you have a "lost photo?" I'd love to share your story and help you find it.

Revolutionary Perspectives: Association of Personal Historians

I'm off to Valley Forge Pennsylvania on October 21 and 22 to be the keynote speaker at the Association of Personal Historians Conference. It's so exciting to be able to present "The Last Muster: Images of the Revolutionary War Generation" at the event. Eight years of research and writing and the book is almost finished! Kent State University Press is the publisher. It's due out in June of 2010. At APH I'll discuss how this project developed. I'll also be talking with the group about family history and kids in my interactive lecture, "Is my pet frog part of the family?" Hope to see you there!

Weekend at the Museum: Armchair Travel into the Past

I'm one of those tourists that isn't content to just view the scenery, I want to see what the area looked like years ago too. This means I have a small collection of nineteenth century travel guides for my favorite places. I'm always on the look-out for historic travel guides or a museum exhibit that let me glimpse into the past. Rome is on my list of must visit places, but I haven't been yet. I'll be prepared for that historical road trip though. A new exhibitArtdaily.org - The First Art Newspaper on the Net at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts displays 100 nineteenth century photographs of Rome. How fun!

Queries and Answers: Postcard Help

Bridget wrote with following question: I have a photo of my grandfather when he was between the ages of 5 and 11 in Dublin, Ireland. It is a postcard type, however, I was more curious about his clothing. How do I narrow down the time frame using his clothing? Apparently I have been doing this all wrong and I hit road block after road block. Dear Bridget, Before focusing on your grandfather's clothing, turn over your postcard and look at the stamp box. Photographic postcards were first introduced in 1900. That little stamp box is full of clues. The design changes over time and can help you date the image. There is a handy little reference tool on the Playle's Online Auction website. You can compare the design on the back of your postcard to the one's in this database. As for your doing it wrong, dating clothing is full of little details. Dating those outfits worn by kids is even harder. There are very few changes in boy's clothing between the ages of 5 and 11. Boys wore full length trousers beginning around age 12 but before that age, it's usually short pants. Instead of focusing on the clothes think about how old your grandfather looks in the picture. 5 year old's can still look very toddler-like with round faces, while by age 11 they look older. Good luck with your image and keep trying!

Lost Pictures: New York Gathering of Last Men of the Revolution

Searching GenealogyBank's database of newspaper, I came across a notice for a reunion of Revolutionary War veterans in the New-Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette for August 28, 1845. In that month, George Washington Park Custis, adopted son (and grandson) of President George Washington visited New York City. There was a reception at the house of Alderman Peters attended by "the friends and companions in arms of the great Washington." At that time, photography was still a relatively novel invention, but it's quite possible that some of the attendees sat for a daguerreotype portrait before their death. The following individuals were at the reunion. Their ages at the time (if known) are in parentheses. Not all were veterans. Some were well-known in New York while others were children of veterans. Major Popham (93) John Battin (93) of New York City Major General Van Buren of Staten Island Judge Miller Judge Lynch Thomas Lyell, Rector of Christ Church William Mandeville George B. Thorp Elisha Whittlesey of Ohio James M. Crane of Virginia Samuel L. Waldo Dr. John W. Francis Isaac T. Hopper Homer Curtis of Mount Vernon, Ohio Jacob Hays Dr. James E. Maney Thomas Morris (born in 1771) Teunis Quick (born in 1767) A.S. Norwood (born 1770) Philip Schuyler Gilbert Smith (born 1772) Sylvanus Miller James Black of Newark, New Jersey W. Vermilye Joseph Weeks Cornelius Bogert R. Cheseborough John W. Mulligan Daniel B. Tallmadge J.M. Matthews A.L. Underhill J.D. Beers Judge Ogden Edwards Geroge F. Hopkins George Coggill These are the only individuals named in the article, but according to the report about two hundred men who had served in the American Revolution came to pay respects to Custis. I've already checked online databases and historical societies collections. If you know of any images of these men, please contact me at photodetective@gmail.com. Thank you for your help!

Ten apps for taking photos and editing images on the iPhone

If you're like me you tote around a lot of stuff when you go on a trip including a cell phone and a camera. An iPhone is high on my want list of new technology because it combines those two items and has tools to edit images. I love the apps especially these Ten apps for taking photos and editing images on the iPhone

Weekend at the Museum: Click! Photography Changes Everything

Two years ago I was asked to contribute to this Smithsonian Photo Initiativehttp://click.si.edu/Story.aspx?story=226. I was asked to find a photograph in the Smithsonian's collection and write about it. I selected this image of Dorothy Catherine Draper. It's actually a copy of the daguerreotype of her. The original has deteriorated. I love this photo! It shows a young Draper in 1830s clothing. Her brother Daniel took in June of 1839. If you want contribute to Click!, you can. It's now open to visitors. Do you have a story to share?

Queries and Answers: Look Alikes

Andrea wrote: Between my second cousin and I, we have about a dozen photos of two sisters that are two years apart in age, b. Dec 1865 and Feb 1868. We have a few that we are certain are a one or the other but all of these are after the women are 40 years old. It is the ones in their twenties and younger that we are having trouble with. Any suggestions in how to distinguish two women that look very much alike? Absolutely! Facial features to compare are eyes, noses, mouths and especially ears. A person's ears are unique. Look for all the minor details in a physical characteristic such as size and shape. It's usually the simplest things that differentiate between people that look alike such as the tilt of a nose or and fullness of a person's lips. The new iPhoto software and Picasa (a free download from Google.com) offer facial recognition software. Before jumping to conclusions make sure that all the other evidence in an image adds up to the same identification.

Digital Face-Lift Anyone?

Two months ago, I posted a video on my Vimeo channel that showed a nineteenth century altered photo. Look closely. The woman in the background was added in. That's a simple change when you think about what can be done to photos today. Digital editing makes it possible to more than add someone in. You can look years younger or thinner with just a few mouse-clicks. Don't believe me? I'm amazed at the extent of digitally altered photos used in magazines. Looking at the World with a Merciless Eye: Saying No to the Digitally Altered Photo gives us a peek into the process. British and French lawmakers are trying to stop it saying photo editing gives readers an altered reality. You think? Here are two of the examples mentioned in the article: A British tabloid gave the 59 year old Twiggy youthful skin for an Olay cosmetics ad A 2003 issue of the British GQ magazine made actress Kate Winslet look much thinner. These lawmakers want magazines to fess up. Tell the truth when it comes to altering images by posting a disclaimer. Others want photos rated 1-4 on a photo editing scale. 4 means that the person had "digital cosmetic surgery."

Artdaily.org - The First Art Newspaper on the Net

Here's another story about history hidden beneath the soil. Artdaily.org - The First Art Newspaper on the Net Shared via AddThis

Weekend at the Museum: Portraits of the West

If you live anywhere near Washington, D.C. take a trip to the National Portrait Gallery to see their new portrait photography show, Faces of the Frontier. There are images of famous explorers and writers but there are also some folks you never heard of before. A personal favorite is Matilda Coxe Stevenson (1849-1915), a mineralogist. You can read her story and see a picture taken probably about the time of her wedding in 1872. Another woman who worked on the frontier was Alice Fletcher (1838-1923), an anthropologist. There is a lovely late 1860s tintype of her on display. The exhibit is also online.

Queries and Answers: Photocopy Woes

Will wrote with two questions: Some 15 years ago, someone in the family lost the lone original of a cherished family photo from 1880. We have the photocopy in black and white. First, could this be turned back into a negative (albeit an inferior one) and reprinted using antique sepia techniques from similar family photo's taken at the same time in the same 1880's studio? Well, that really depends on the quality of the photocopy. If it's clear enough you could scan it and try to enhance it using photo editing software or you could hire someone to try to improve the quality. I've scanned high quality color photocopies with a good result, but if your black and white copy is muddy you'll have to start by fixing the contrast in the image. And second, if it could be done, are there any photographers around who actually know how to recreate such rich dark red sepia print tones? ...and can you direct me to one or two? Photo editing software can recreate the sepia tone colors. If you want to hire someone to make those changes try searching for "photo restoration" and the name of your town in an online search engine.

Through the lens of time - The Boston Globe

Through the lens of time - The Boston Globe

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Web News: Live Roots

I've had several chances to stop by the Live Roots booth at national conferences, but haven't really tried the site until today. Fascinating! I searched my name to see what would turn up and found a partial bibliography of my books and articles as well as a link to my website. That was fun and useful. Live Roots launched in October 2008 and is more than a search engine. There are original sources on the site. Searching is free. If any of your hits cost money, you'll see a dollar sign next to the link. I have a feeling that I'll be spending more time on the site. Like many genealogists, I have a lot of brick walls in my family tree and can use all the help I can find to solve them. This new research tool might just connect me with the information I need.

Queries and Answers: Misidentified Online Image

Clydette sent me a question with a online component. Someone in her family has posted a picture on a website, but it's identified incorrectly. She needs to convince her relative that the caption is wrong. If I were in a similar situation, I'd start by compiling evidence including photographs of the person mentioned in the caption and other pictures of the individual misidentified. That's a good first step, but if no photos exist building your case can be more difficult. Try answering the following questions: Were both individuals the same age? Were they living in the same location? Let's hope there is a photographer's imprint on the image. What are they wearing? Where was the incorrectly identified picture taken? Is there anyone still living who knew the person? If her relative sticks to her story, then Clydette might want to start a blog. Her first posting could debunk the caption.

Lost Pictures: A Picture Mystery in Reverse

At a recent conference, David E. Rencher, Chief Genealogical Officer at FamilySearch.org approached me with an interesting dilemma. He has a business receipt for a family picture, but no photograph. It’s a picture mystery in reverse. In the Abraham Rencher Papers at the Wilson Manuscript Library of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is a receipt from John Gihon’s Photographic Art Gallery at 1024 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. According to the receipt, Gihon’s client, Mr. W. C. Rencher asked to have 12 copies made of carte de visite and paid in advance. Rencher posed for the picture on July 27, 1865. David Rencher told me that William Conway Rencher is the son of Abraham Rencher, brother to Umstead Rencher who is David’s 2nd great-grandfather. With no picture in the family and no photograph in the Rencher papers, David began his search by researching the photographer. Gihon ( 1839-1878) was a well-known Philadelphia photographer and a frequent contributor to the periodical, Philadelphia Photographer from 1867 to 1878. A bibliography of material about Gihon can be found in William S. Johnson’s Nineteenth-Century Photography: An Annotated Bibliography 1839-1879 (G.K. Hall, 1990). According to Linda A. Ries and Jay W. Ruby’s book, Directory of Pennsylvania Photographers 1839-1900 (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1999), Gihon was at 1024 Chesnut St. in the following years, 1859-61 and again from 1864-68. David has Gihon’s obituary from the Philadelphia Photographer (November 1878) and even an advertisement for his business. He even knows what Gihon’s building on Chesnut Street looked like. Drawings appeared in The History of Chesnut Street, Philadelphia by Casper Souder, Jr. (King & Baird, 1860). Unfortunately, he has not been successful in locating any large collections of images by Gihon. He’s still a man without a picture. Despite all his efforts, David is unable to locate this missing picture of his ancestor. If there were 12 copies made, then it’s easy to assume that one of them remained in family hands. David is left with little choice but to continue his search for all family descendants of W. C. Rencher in the hopes that someone has the picture to go with the receipt. That would close the case!

Book News: Social Networking for Genealogists

Drew Smith's new book, Social Networking for Genealogists (GPC, $18.95) a time-saver. Instead of reading a mountain of books on FaceBook, blogging and podcasting just consult Drew's book. It's easy-to-use and well-written. I especially like the check-lists at the end of each chapter. Chapter 8 covers photo and video sharing. He writes about Flickr, Yahoo's photo sharing site and You Tube. Drew leads readers step-by-step through using these sites. For instance, you'll learn how to upload and share pictures on Flickr, one of the most popular online photo sites. Even the Library of Congress has a Flickr page. Genealogists are using social networking to connect with family and to find help with their research. It's all about building a network. Follow Drew's tips and advice and you too can join the social networking revolution.

Queries and Answers: Photo Processing Problems

Stephanie asked a simple question: After a family reunion, I took several rolls of film to Walgreens to be developed. When I went back to pick them up, they couldn't find them, even though I had a stub with the tracking number on it. I went back several days in a row and ended up writing letters to Walgreen, but never retrieved prints or negatives or anything. The lesson I learned of course was never leave film for overnight processing. What do those photo processing companies do with unidentified photos? I've tried to obtain an answer to her query by contacting Walgreens. Both times I was told by customer service that a representative would call me within two days. No call either time. I'm not giving up.

Lost Pictures: Copies in the Family

This summer my mother-in-law showed me a photograph that commemorated the 50th anniversary of her great-grandparents. She asked if I could have a look and compare it to another photo of a smaller family group. Could I match up any of the people in the two photos? I love a challenge so I said, "Of course!" I turned over the first image and asked, "Who owns the original?" "I do, " she replied. Hmmm. If this photo was taken in the late 1890s, then it wasn't possible for the image in my hands to be the original. It was a twentieth century resin coated picture with "Kodak" written on the back. It was a copy! Now she's hoping to find a relative with the actual 1890s image. My fingers are crossed. Her dilemma is unfortunately not unique. In every family photo collection are copies of much earlier images. For instance, this photo postcard image is labeled "52 years ago." The postcard dates from the early 1900s which means this tyke posed for a portrait in the mid-19th century. Unfortunately the person who wrote the caption didn't include the child's name. Look closely at this photograph. You can see the scalloped edge of the mat that covered this image. The photograph's shiny surface reflected light during the copying process. It's clear that this is a copy of a daguerreotype, but where is the original? I'm really intrigued by these "lost images." It's obvious that someone wanted to have another copy of a picture. Back before digital sharing technologies, the only way to "share" an image was to make another photographic copy. So why care about the original? Looking at an original photo lets you feel a connection with the past. There are often identification details such as a photographer's name or a caption on the back that are cut off in the copy. Tracking down the original provides you with a link to the owner - and more clues to help you solve the mystery! Take a good look at the images in your family collection. What you think is an original, may not be. If you have a story about a "lost" original, send me a note.

Picture Hanging Help

I don't know about you, but the whole process of hanging pictures on my walls makes me a little nervous. I hate making holes in the wallpaper and then finding out that I've made a mistake. A fairly new company has a series of templates to help you put the pictures in the right place. It's a complete system for creating a photo family tree wall presentation. It's an interesting concept. The website for The Picture Wall Company explains their product and how you can use it.

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles is available!

That's right. My secret project is finally available on Lulu.com. I'm really excited about this print on demand service. The book looks great including all the photos. It's being offered at a special price until September 14. Take a peek at the preview pages when you click the link. Stay posted for future projects. I have a few more in the works.

Share Your Pictures for Cash

Here's an interesting website for anyone with historically significant family photos. HistoryAlbum.com is from the folks at the Mary Evans Picture Library in England. The Mary Evans Picture Library is a image stock house, one that supplies images for reproduction. They've taken that concept and applied it to family photos. You can upload your images, create albums and even sell copies of your photographs for a fee. It's an interesting concept. If you're interested, definitely read the FAQ's which describe the resolution and size of the digital images to upload. Make sure you can upload large files though. The basic image size for reproduction is 24 MB uncompressed and 3600 pixels long. 30% of the selling price is yours but checks are issued in English pounds. I didn't see anything on the website that said you had to reside in the British Isles to post pictures. I'm not aware of any companies in this country that offer the same service. Let me know if I've missed something.

Queries and Answers: Pictures on Fabric

Claire wrote: I have only one photograph of my grandfather and it is printed on textile. It is currently being stored the same way I received it, rolled up in plastic and inserted in a cardboard tube. Oh Claire! I also have a photograph on cloth. It's my grandmother. While storing the image in plastic in a rolled tube isn't the best way to care for it, the tube is protecting it from handling damage. My grandmother's image has been folded and refolded so many times, it's showing some wear. The best course of action for both of our images is to consult a textile conservator and a photographic conservator. The American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works has a referral service. Click on the Find a Conservator link in the upper right hand corner of their website.

Looking for Pictures: Check Out Historical Society Publications

A couple of months ago I visited the Indiana Historical Society and created a short video of their Destination Indiana project. You can view it on my YouTube Channel. As I was leaving members of the staff handed me a small packet of their publications. On the cover of Connections, The Hoosier Genealogist (Fall/Winter 2008)was a group portrait of men at a furniture-making company in Spiceland, Indiana, ca. 1900. Inside there were more pictures and excerpts from manuscripts. Each issue is a great resource for individuals looking for images of their family or of papers relating to them. The same was true for Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History (Winter 2008). Each article was richly illustrated. If you're trying to locate material on your family, try both the local historical society and the state facility for the area in which they lived. If multiple generations resided in a particular location, I strongly suggest subscribing to publications for those organizations. They are a wonderful resource. Plus, your membership/subscription helps support those groups.

Queries and Answers: Storing Different Materials Together

Shirley wrote: How can I store my photos properly? It's actually easier than you might think. It's possible to follow the basic rules of archival storage in your home. Here's a few things to remember. Back in the old days, when I was a photo curator we had a basic rule. Never mix different types of materials, i.e. news clippings and photographs in the same folder. If you have news clippings of a wedding you'd like to preserve and a picture of the smiling couple, then place each item in a separate acid and lignin free folder. This way the acid from the newspaper won't stain the picture. Look for a windowless closet in your home. You're trying to find one away from water pipes, fireplaces, and exterior walls. Then place your heirloom images in acid and lignin free folders and boxes.

World Burial Index

I'm finally cleaning out all the piles in my office and adding articles to this blog! There is a relatively new website focused on burial records from around the globe. World Burial Index only launched last summer. Search their database of gravestone inscriptions and see what turns up. I typed in "Taylor" and found hits for records from England, Ghana and South Africa. Searching is free, but in order to look at the hits you need to join or sign up for a free trial. Since it's based in England, the cost of an annual membership is 22.95 English pounds not dollars. There are images of church memorials, war memorials and cemeteries. You can add your own material to the site, including family photographs.

Queries and Answers: Magnetic Nightmare

A lot of people write to me in response to articles I've written. Shirley sent me an email reminding me to talk about magnetic albums. She's right. They are one of the most common causes of fading and discoloration of whatever images are placed in them. Magnetic albums feature adhesives that hold your image in place. Unfortunately over time it's difficult to remove your pictures from those albums. It requires either a microspatula or some uncoated dental floss to gently remove the pictures from the page. If you try this technique be careful not to tear the image. The glue on these pages also discolor pictures. You'll begin to see stripes of discoloration on the front of your pictures. The combination of poor quality plastic, acidic paper and glue equals a "magnetic" nightmare for family photos.

Queries and Answers: Preserving Flowers

In addition to answering questions on old photographs, I receive inquiries on how to preserve a wide variety of items. Jennifer wrote: I have two pink roses and a carnation from my grandmother's funeral in 2006. They've been hanging upside down in my closet since then. They still have all of their color since my closet is dark and away from light. Do you have any suggestions on how I can preserve them? Jennifer's closet seems like an in-home drying box. This would never work in my closet with all the temperature and humidity changes. I searched the web for an answer and found this article on how to preserve wedding flowers. It's full of useful tips depending on how Jennifer wants to save those flowers. How to Preserve a Wedding Bouquet | eHow.com Shared via AddThis

My Dad Would Be Surprised

Last summer I researched and wrote an article on the history of wallpaper for the Daughters of the American Revolution magazine, American Spirit. The story, "Repeating Patterns: Wallpaper in Early American Homes" appeared in the November/December 2008 issue. My interest in wallpaper is a familial thing. My family had a wallpapering business back in the 1870s and each successive generation of men learned the trade. My Dad, James William Taylor, Jr. was the last in the line. He died in September 2007. While I was researching the article, an online tip led me to the library at Historic New England. I found a few interesting things in their manuscript collection, but discovered that they had a collection of artifacts and other material relating to the wall paper industry. I asked if they would be interested in my family's tools from their wallpapering business. A few emails and photographs later I got the news. Historic New England would accept our donation of my Dad's beat-up toolbox, his wallpapering tools and his custom made wooden work box. The box allowed him to carry tools and then use the large wooden box to cut and paste wallpaper before hanging. it. Unfortunately it's too large to be photographed. I'm so proud to have his belongings in a museum. He would be very surprised. He was a simple man who never visited a museum until I worked in one. His first words during that visit were, "Nice wallpaper." I still love wallpaper. He hung the paper in several rooms of my house and I feel close to him just sitting on the couch.

Who Do We Think We Are?

No that isn't a typo. A group in England took the idea behind "Who Do You Think You Are?" and created a new website that poses the question, "Who Do We Think We Are?" The site helps teachers and their students explore issues relating to Britain--citizenship, ethnic identity, migration and settlement. I found it difficult to locate material unless I used the search box at the top of the screen. Using "immigration" turned up ten links. There is a mix of material written by contributors and hits that then take you to another website. There are initially four pilot areas--Barking and Dagenham, Bradford, Bristol and Cheshire--with plans to expand. I'm having a great time trying different terms in the search box to see what turns up. It's a fascinating teaching tool. It makes me wonder, could a group create a project like this in the U.S.?

Queries and Answers: Prints from Slides

T.J. emailed me to ask, "Where can I have prints made from slides?" It's one of those modern picture problems. Just about every family has boxes and carousel's full of slides. Now that slide projectors are difficult to find, what a family to do with all those slides?

• You can scan them yourself if you own a scanner with a slide attachment. Scan at a high resolution (at least 600 dpi) and save as tif files. That's an uncompressed format.
• You can pay someone to scan all your slides at once. ScanDigital offers a reasonable price for scanning slides and other photographic medium. There customer interface on their website is very easy to follow. What I really like about this company is the follow through. You end up with all your images on a website so you can share the link with family. Instead of having to coordinate who wants what print, they can select images from the site then order reprints through ScanDigital's printing partner, Qoop. It's an effortless process!

Trends in Gift Giving

VoiceQuilt, a company that create unique keepsake gifts personalized with a lasting collection of voice message and memories that commemorate holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and other special occasions, recently surveyed women's gift giving habits in this economy. According to Hope Flamer, Chief Executive Officer and founder of VoiceQuilt, "Instead of giving fewer gifts as one might expect, women are presenting the same quantity of gifts as in precious years, but are focusing on personal, sentimental and unique gifts rather than extravagance." For centuries women have worked together to create hand sewn quilts but imagine having a quilt talk to you about the story behind the creation. That's what VoiceQuilt is all about. "Especially during difficult times, women search for unique and sentimental gifts that strengthen ties with family and friends," said Flammer. "A group gift supports those connections while enabling women to reduce their spending." To create a voicequilt is so easy. All you do is pick a keepsake box and have folks call the toll-free number you give them. All that's left is to talk into the phone. VoiceQuilt will package the voice for you. A couple of years ago I created one for my parent's. When they opened the lid and heard all of us wishing them well they cried! It's a powerful gift. Try one today. There is a special offer available on their website.

Queries and Answers: Photo Reunions

Patience wrote: I found a stack of quite good portrait photos from the late 1800's - mostly from California but also from NY, Minnesota, Indiana. Only a very few have names of whose photo it is - but almost all of them have the name of the photography studio. What would be the best way for me to seek out family members who may have lost them? One of my favorite websites is DeadFred.com. Individuals post images on the site hoping to connect with family or to find missing family photos. Over 5,000 a week search this online archive. You can read success stories in the Dead Fred blog, Relatively Speaking. The site is easy to navigate and it's free! If you want to facilitate the reunion, then join the ranks of genealogists who research the names on these abandoned photos like they're members of their own family. It's a wonderful feeling to reunite these photo treasures with their descendants.

Queries and Answers: Scanning Surprises

On a recent trip, a client showed me black and white scans of some tintypes. Recently he emailed me to say he'd scanned the images in color. To his surprise the scanning highlighted the fact that the photographer had colored some of the details. He wrote to ask if that was possible. The answer is yes! Photographers often added color to images, including tintypes. Watch for color in eyes, cheeks, lips and jewelry. Those little details make the pictures look more realistic. I recently wrote about hand colored daguerreotypes in my Family Tree Magazine blog.

Queries and Answers: Faded Handwritten Captions

Jim wrote: "I have an 1884 photo of my gg grandfather and grandmother with 2 of their children. On the back of the photo I can see some written impressions of names possibly. The pencil marks have long since worn away. Can you suggest a process that I might highlight the pencil impressions so that I might read them? I want to be careful, because it is the only know picture of them." Without seeing the photo I can't say for sure but there are at least a couple of techniques that could work. I'd try scanning the image then converting it to black and white. By playing with the contrast/brightness and then using zoom to enlarge the impression you should be able to decipher some details. I'd also print out an enlargement of that area and then tracing it with a pencil.

Civil War Women

There is a new book on women in the Civil War and this one doesn't talk about their contributions on the home front. Anita Silvey's I'll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War(Clarion, 2008), explores how some women dressed as men and joined the war effort. It's meant for children, but it was so fascinating I couldn't put it down. I've seen occasional pictures of nineteenth century female soldiers but had no idea the practice was so widespread. This one is a must for anyone (kid or adult) who's interested in the Civil War. You can read more about the book and see Anita's speaking schedule on her website.

Queries and Answers: Foreign Photos

Mel wrote: I have a photo that I believe is European, do you analyze non-US images? Actually, I do. I receive photographs from clients that live as far away as New Zealand. Family collections in the United States are a mix of images taken here and overseas. I maintain a large collection of foreign images for comparison purposes.

Queries and Answers: Storing Photographs

Catherine wrote: I have several old paper photos that date between the late 1860s and the early 1900s. I am worried about how to store these. Is it o.k. to put these in a plastic zip-loc bag or are there other alternatives. You're right to question the use of ordinary plastic bags. They are not suitable for long-term storage of photographs. For instance, Hollinger Corporation sells a wide variety of non-pvc sleeves and storage materials for pictures. Creative Memories has a fairly new organizing system called Sort It! I've written several online articles on photographic storage and preservation. For additional information read "Four Destructive Habits" and "One Step at a Time."

Queries and Answers: Faded Document Fixes

Alex wrote: A friend of mine has her forebear's original certificate of membership in the Society of the Cincinnati signed by George Washington. Washington's signature is so faded, it is almost gone. How can his signature be restored and preserved? There are several steps you can take to enhance the signature on a document. In the March/April 2008 issue of the Digital Genealogist, I wrote an article, "Improving the Readability of Digital Documents." One of the things you can do is scan the document. I actually recommend scanning it in color as a high resolution TIFF file then converting it to black and white in a photo editing program. Using the sharpen feature combined with contrast tweaks and zooming in for delicate fixes should enable you to enhance the signature. If you would like to stabilize the writing so that it doesn't continue to fade, the best route is to hire a professional paper conservator. You can locate one in your area by contacting the American Institute for the Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works.

Ask the Photo Detective: Photocopying Pictures

In this regular installment on my blog, I'll answer questions submitted by visitors to my website. Topics include photo identification, preservation, picture history and photo sharing. Barbara asked: Does photocopying recent photographs damage the pictures? Is there an alternative for our library patrons who want to copy materials from our small collection? Photocopying exposes all types of images to intense light, heat, and chemicals. A single photocopy shouldn't cause noticeable damage. I would not advise repeat copying of any image. There is also the stress of repeatedly handling the picture for duplication. A better solution is to scan the images and create a database using a simple program like Picasa, then letting patrons select the photographs they want to print.

Photo Books--Inkubook

As a picture person I'm completely in love with those do-it-yourself photo books. I can't think of a nicer gift. There are plenty of sites that let you create personalized picture books, but there is another one I just found out about. It's called Inkubook. Like it's competitors it's a web-based program with easy-to-use layouts, and text and photo editing tools. They also offer collaboration tools that enable you to invite friends and family to contribute additional photos and text. I get goose bumps thinking about all the great family history applications for that sharing feature. Softcover books start at $13.95 and hardcovers at $24.95. A variety of sizes are available from 7 x 5 inch landscapes to 11 x 11 inch square format. All books are produced using archival quality 100 lb weight silk paper.

New Oral History Center ...at West Point

The United States Military Academy at West Point, NY is gathering tales. The motto of their new Center for Oral History is "Every soldier has a story. Here's where the story is told." This online research center is collecting the personal stories of American service men and women of all ranks beginning with those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and going back to the veterans of Vietnam. It's an educational mission. Teach today's cadets using the stories of the service men and women who preceded them. Scholars and historians are sure to benefit from this project. It's open to all users. The Center for Oral History is primarily online and features high-definition video and digital audio files. A preview of what's to come is on their website including a 12 minute video with excerpts of soldier interviews.

Video Podcast:: Jesse Tyler Sturm

The big day is here! My e-newsletter in finally ready to launch ( you can sign up on my website). In it I've linked to my new video podcast available on both YouTube and Vimeo. It's so exciting to have my own channels even if it makes my children roll their eyes. As mentioned in the piece on Civil War Veterans at Mount Vernon, Jesse Tyler Sturm's wartime memories are in print. You can buy From a "whirlpool of death...to victory" Civil War Remembrances of Jesse Tyler Sturm 14th West Virginia Infantry from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. It's a fascinating account of one soldier's experiences. Thank you to Elaine Clark for sharing her photo and family story.

Fun with Wordle

Word play is so much fun. Once you've tried Wordle you won't be able to stop. The only downside is that when you save the image it becomes public and is licensed by Wordle. Here's what I made to represent my work.

Personality in a Picture

I just love a picture with personality! This woman wears a velvet cape and a dark colored feather boa. Both would be perfect for going out in the 1890s. The hat on her head really stands out because it's suitable for sportswear. This c. 1897 accessory doesn't match the rest of her attire. Did the photographer dress her up or did she go to the studio that way. In either case, it's a lovely picture. Too bad the owner, Ann Short, doesn't know who this is. She thinks she's either a member of the Childs, Brewer, Easter, Simpson, Duncan or Wigginton family who lived in the southeastern U.S. If anyone recognizes her, send me an email at mtaylor@taylorandstrong.com. Ann would appreciate it.

A Veteran's Day Tribute

My Dad, James William Taylor, Jr., was a man of few words. When you’d ask him a direct question you’d rarely get a full answer. Towards the end of his life he spent a day mentioning 1943. I don't know why. He really didn’t want to talk about it. Like so many of his generation, Dad enlisted in the United States Army during World War II. From October 22, 1942 to February 5, 1946 he served his country as a member of Company D of the 389th Infantry regiment as a Heavy Machine Gunner. He spent 18 months in Hawaii and several more in Japan. As kids we heard about the geishas of Japan and the pineapples of Hawaii, but never anything about his military service. He died on September 21, 2007. I've inherited several photos of men in military uniform and a few of some Japanese citizens he befriended. It's an ironic twist to my work as The Photo Detective. All the pictures are unidentified. I didn't know they existed until after he died. Now I'm trying to piece together the life he didn't want to discuss. In a very personal Veteran's Day column I thought I'd feature two of the images of these men in uniform. If you know who the unidentified fellows are please email me at mtaylor@taylorandstrong.com. My Dad is in the center of this image. On the left is "Uncle Teddy" Hunt who lived in New Bedford after the war. He was no relation, just my Dad's best friend from the service. I don't know the name of the man on the right or where this was taken. Teddy Hunt died when I was just a kid. I'm not sure of his exact first name. Just another mystery to solve! These three men are unidentified. Anyone want to comment on the significance of the animal heads!

World War II Films Rediscovered

I just love a story like this. Two brothers rediscover footage shot by their grandfather during World War II. The video story appeared on the MSNBC.com website today. Here it is.

At Home Photo Studio

A couple of weeks ago, I gave an Ancestry.com webinar on Saving Family Treasures and mentioned a ready-made photo studio. An attendee wrote to tell me that she saw this studio in a box advertised in a recent Brookstone catalog for $99. In case you're interested I also found it on the store's website. This is a great tool for photographing small artifacts at home. If you're handy, you can make one of these studios yourself. The directions are online at DIY Photography. The instructions seem fairly simple and there are photographs to help you see how the set-up works.

Photos and Global Warming

This is not a political statement, but I'd like you to take a look at some gorgeous photos taken by Bradford Washburn in 1937 and then compare them to images taken recently of the same areas. David Arnold and Gabriela Romanow have brought together these photographs in an online exhibit about global warming. It doesn't matter how you feel about the climate change issue, just take a peak at Doubleexposure.net. The pictures are beautiful!

Here's the Living Statue!

Turns out the image wasn't in my collection after all! The owner has given permission for me to publish it here. It's a wonderful tableau of a mother and two children dressed in white and covered in white makeup. Enjoy! Thanks to Larry Depetrillo for letting me use it. Philip H. Rose had a studio in Providence, Rhode Island from 1886 to 1910. I wrote a short biographical sketch of him for an as yet unpublished work on Rhode Island photographers.

Living Statues are Nothing New

While I sat at the car dealership waiting for my car to be repaired I saw Martha Stewart's Halloween Show. It was a fantastic assortment of holiday crafts, food and costumes. The show featured Martha as Medusa with living statues in the background. The comedian Serge Dulac was on. It was wonderful to see his collection called the Imaginum. But the moment I saw it I thought, oh no, I've seen something like it before. Somewhere in my collection of images is a portrait of a woman wearing white clothes and makeup looking like a statue. It dates from the 1880s. I'm going to dig around and see if I can find it. It's missing in my digital archive, so I'm wondering where it is. When I find it..Well you be the judge. It's an example of how history repeats itself. Happy Halloween!

Piecing Together a Photographer's Collection in El Paso

There is a great story on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal.  "This Detective Story in Old El Paso is Written in Photos" by Stephanie Simon tells how a librarian named Claudia Rivers is trying to identify the 50,000 unidentified portraits in photographs taken by the Casasola photography studio.  It's a great story that won't be online for long.  There is an accompanying video but I couldn 't get the link to work. 

Sign Up for a Free Webinar!

Next Wednesday night I'm the featured speaker on an Ancestry.com sponsored webinar on preserving family treasures. I hope you'll join me for this event. It's FREE. Register following the link and you'll receive a confirmation of your registration. See you then!

What's New Is Old and Old is New? Women and the Presidency

Hilary Clinton, Geraldine Ferraro, Sarah Palin, and Victoria Woodhull. Woodhull?? You might not know that way back in 1872, The Equal Rights Party nominated her for President on May 10, 1872. That's about half a century before women were awarded the right to vote. According to a Wikepedia article on Woodhull, former slave Frederick Douglass was the choice for Vice-President, but he never acknowledged the nod. Born in 1838, Woodhull was an outspoken advocate of sex education, free love, short skirts, and women's rights. For six years (1870-1876) she co-published with her sister Tennessee Claflin, Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly. You can read an archive of the papers online. The two sisters were the first female stockbrokers on Wall Street and amassed a fortune. Victoria Woodhull's name never appeared on the presidential ballot and she didn't receive any electoral votes, but it appears that she did receive a few popular votes. In 1876 Woodhull moved to England where she died on June 9, 1927. The thrice married Woodhull retired from public life around 1901.

Today Show Video

I'm back from New York. What a whirlwind visit it was! Here are the two segments from the Today Show of Friday August 29th.

TODAY Show News and a Big Reveal

Well, it's been an amazing week! On Monday, Today show co-host Meredith Vieira said a big thank you for the research I did on her family. Each day of this week, the co-hosts explored their roots. Today, the show touched on how folks can pursue their own roots search. The producers asked me to the guest for that segment! If you missed my briefly explaining how you can use Ancestry.com, Footnote.com, FamilySearch.com and DeadFred.com don't worry, you should be able to see it this afternoon on the web. The genealogy features were so popular that the TODAY show asked for emails from viewers and had me stay for a second segment in the third hour. How fun! At the end of the first segment I told my big secret...I'm working on a Photo Detective project with the History Channel. It's a dream come true! It will air later this year on History.com. Watch that site and this blog for further details.

Today Show Segment on the Web

Just in case you missed it yesterday (like I did), the segment on Meredith Vieira's family history is now on the Today Show website. The roots series will run all week focusing on the family story of each of the hosts. I think the producers did a great job with this segment.

Today Show News

This morning my phone rang and a friend said, "Are you the Maureen Taylor just mentioned on the Today Show?" Uh, yes I replied. I'd missed it! Earlier this year a producer from the Today Show contacted me to ask if I was the genealogist that researched Meredith Vieira's family tree for a segment on the View. Yes, indeed. So for several weeks this spring and summer I shared what I knew about the co-host's family and did a little more digging. I created a family tree for the producer using Ancestry.com so that I could post what I knew and other researchers overseas could add more detail. The end result, a big thank you on the Today Show. Thank you Meredith and Angela!

Finally! A Synth

This morning I got up early to see if I could finally make a synth from that panoramic view of the Azores. Success! The only problem is that it only used two of the five photos (or so it appears). I've been fiddling with it, but at least I have a first draft. I can't link to it, but you can search the synths in the upper right hand corner search box on the main page. I called it, Azores (DUH!). The scene became 3D. Click on the buttons in the leaf in the upper right hand corner to manipulate the image. This was easy AND fun. Now what else can I synth?

No Synth Yet!

How disappointing! I've been trying for HOURS to upload my synth photo to Photosynth.com, but no luck. It looked like the first try this morning was going to work, but then it froze. Each successive attempt brought a new message to be patient. This thing has caught on and caught the company by surprise.

Newsday Thursday: Make a Panoramic View

Thank you David Pogue! If you don't know who David is then you're not keeping up with photo news. I'm a big fan of his column, State of the Art, in the New York Times. Today he talks about a new way to make a panoramic photo and it's free. It's called Photosynth.com and it's from Microsoft. You have to use a Windows PC and either Internet Explorer or Firefox 3 to use it. I'm very intrigued with the possibilities of stepping back into time using old photos that show a scene in sections. Photosynth is similar to the stitching feature in photo editing programs. Several years ago my husband visited the Azores and took a series of images then "stitched" them together to create a panorama. If you want to see a larger version it's posted as the Photo of the Month in my SmugMug gallery. To create a "stitched" photo you need to take incremental shots of a scene then use that feature to pull all the pictures together. This particular view is actually five photos. Using these same five pictures I'm trying to create a Photosynth that I can share on their site. All Photosynth's are public. It was simple to set up an account using my email address and to create a short non-identifying profile. It was even easy to upload my pictures. However...I've been waiting close to an hour for the image to finish publishing. It's possible the site is overwhelmed with users. I'll try again later and if it works I'll let you know.

New Sharing Feature

Summer is almost over and I'm just about ready to share all the changes I'm making to this blog. It will look the same but I'm hoping to add new content on a regular basis. One of the tools I'm adding is a "Share this" widget that will allow readers to add my posts to sites like FaceBook. I'm not an HTML genius so I hope this works. Bear with me a little longer.

Facebook as a Networking Tool

A little more than month ago, I signed up for Face Book. Even if you don't have a profile on the site, you've probably heard about it. I'm amazed at the number of folks I've met (virtually, of course) via my profile. I use it to organize my genealogical life. Here's what I do with it (and I'm still a newbie).

• Add applications such as We're Related and Family Tree. My favorite photo editing tool, Picnik is also an application.
• Make pages for my business. Sign up to be a fan of the Photo Detective by clicking on my page.
• Put all the blogs I read in one place on my profile.
• Broadcast my heritage.
• Keep in touch with friends and find out what they are doing.

I'm just figuring out everything I can do with Face Book. I haven't even had time to add my family history and photos yet. Try it and see!

Visit Rhode Island History

While reading a story on my Google news feed, an ad appeared in the lower right hand corner. It's a gorgeous representation of why you should visit my birth state of Rhode Island. This creative piece looks like a curiosity cabinet. Check it out. It's so much fun, I kept clicking on all the pieces. Roll over them to read the tidbits.

Nineteenth Century Waifs

The images are haunting. Children in rags looking bedraggled from living on the streets. Irishman Dr. Thomas Barnardo saw the poverty and neglect in these children's faces and did something about it. He opened his first home for these children in 1870 and by 1905, it's estimated he rescued 60,000 kids. His work continues with Barnardos Charity. Here's an amazing family history fact. Beginning in 1874, Barnardo took pictures of every child that his homes cared for. Over 300,000 images are in that collection. If you had a family member who lived in a Barnado's home, you can contact the photo archive to see if they have a picture of that relative. Unfortunately the archive isn't available for searching online. Now according to an article in the Picture Professional, those pictures are also available for licensing through the stock photography company TopFoto.co.uk. A stock photo house provides images to businesses for advertising and commercial interest. The proceeds from the sale of these pictures will help support Barnardo's. You can browse the collection without registering as a user of the site. Only a small percentage of this picture trove is currently being digitized.

In the News: A Photo Detection Problem

It's all over the news. How could war crime suspect and Serbian national Radovan Karadzic go unnoticed while practicing as an alternative medicine doctor? Take a close look at the two photos of him by searching his name in quotes in Google Images. All it took was a few extra pounds, long hair, a beard and glasses. It's a natural disguise. There are folks who don't believe it's really him, but you can follow that story in the news. When I saw the images of him it made me think about all the people hiding in plain sight in your boxes of family photos. A new beard and a weight gain or vice versa can easily change a person's appearance. When comparing photos pay attention to the details that don't change--ears and noses for instance.

Video Production Fun

Roots Television, that online channel of genealogy-related programming posted my new video just in time for the 4th of July. I'm crazy about people dressed as flags. You can see several examples in the video. I expanded the story of one of the pictures of a young girl dressed as an iconic American figure. Are you related to Fontanella Weller? Read more on my Photo Detective blog story about Finding Family Photos online on Family Tree Magazine.

Podcast News!

You can hear me on two new podcasts. Lisa Louise Cooke interviewed me for Family Tree Magazine about family history on a budget. Lisa's also the host of her own podcast program on Genealogy Gems. Dear Myrtle called last week and we chatted about my book on the Revolutionary War generation, life as the Photo Detective and genealogy for kids. It's always a lot of fun to talk with Myrt.

It's a Charmed Life: Reunion News

Midge Frazel, one of the women I featured in an article in the July 2008 Family Tree Magazine issue has created a short video about her chance discovery on the photo reunion website Dead Fred. If you've never used Dead Fred, Midge's video will inspire you to click through the links looking for your own photo reunion. I haven't found anyone yet, but more than a thousand folks have reconnected with family through a single family photo. Try it and see!

Pictures of the Old Homestead: Nothing New

An article in the Arizona Republic talks about a new photo trend amongst the rich--hiring a professional photographer to take a picture of their homes. I hate to disagree, but this isn't a new idea. Our ancestors having been posing in front of their houses for generations! Here's an anonymous example from my collection.

Have you ever taken a family picture using your place of residence as a backdrop? I love comments so join in a discussion.

Loopy Labels: Family Tree Magazine Blog

A couple of years ago I attended a Federation of Genealogical Society conference and met two women from Kansas City. When I was in their hometown for this year's National Genealogical Society conference one of them took me on a driving tour of their city with a stop at an Archiver's store. It was great fun! This week, the other woman emailed me a photo she thought I'd like to see. She was right! You can see the photo and my blog posting on the Family Tree Magazine website. It's a great example of labeling woes and family photos.

Lost Track of Time

There is nothing like a book project to use up endless amounts of time! It's been days since I've had time to post to this blog. I'm still working on the profiles of the Revolutionary War generation. It's taken six years to get to this point in the project and as you can expect I can't wait to be done!! If you want to read a bit about the project you can find more information on one of my websites.

Podcast!

Family Tree Magazine's website has a new feature--podcasts! Lisa Louise Cooke hosts this 30 minute segment. You can listen to me talk about family connections based on a Family Tree Magazine article I wrote.

Closet Clutter and Photographs

The other day my daughter was looking for an outfit to wear in a school play so she started digging through my closet. She pulled out a blouse and said, "How old is this?" I looked at it and thought, "It's time to clean the closet." It was practically paleolithic. Looking at that item also made me think about family photos and a common question that lecture attendees ask about ancestor's wearing older clothes. Just how fashionable were your ancestors? Well, it depends. Take a look at your own closet and think about the answer. While I try to update my wardrobe each season by adding a few pieces, other basic items have been around for a couple of years. While teens in pictures usually wear the current fashion trends, older folks tend to stick with some favorites. There are exceptions to every case. I'll go through my photo collection and see if I can find some really good examples to illustrate this point.

Face Book Fun

At the National Genealogical Society meeting in Kansas City last month, I had a chance to chat with Matt Wright of FamilyLink.com. He told me about a genealogy application on Face Book called We're Related. I have teens so I know all about Face Book (or so I thought) and was a bit skeptical of genealogy on the site. This week while editing an article for a future issue of Family Tree Magazine, I thought about social networking and family history. A quick call to Matt convinced me that I had to try Face Book for myself. O.k. Now I'm hooked (seriously!). There are a lot of genealogists with their own pages and I'm having a great time seeing online friendship groups. Haven't had time to add to We're Related yet, but I've been able to send some good karma to colleagues and send some messages. I'm convinced this is a good way to build a family history research network as well. Message boards are still useful, but Face Book and other social networking solutions seem to be the future. Oh yeah! Just sign up and watch your kids reaction when you say you're on Face Book. It was a hilarious moment at my house. Anyone want to comment? Do so in the comment field below. I've turned on the comment field for the blog. Love to hear from you!

A Tale of Historical Photo Showmanship

Colorado collector and attorney, Fred Mazzulla, died in 1981 but left behind a whopper of a photo legacy. He collected images of the Old West including photos of the women who worked in bawdyhouses and even executions. Channel 9 in Denver featured him in a story last week. It's a fascinating tale of one man's passion for collecting. My favorite quote is the last line of the piece when Mazzulla is quoted as saying in a 1972 newspaper interview, "I'm no stickler for historical accuracy. Sometimes it takes showmanship to make history interesting." Whoa!

Car Thieves with a Conscience---Photo Reunion

Three years (that's right THREE) ago a couple in South Africa had their car stolen with their family photographs inside. Last week they had their photos returned with postage due. It's a bit of an unsolved mystery that you can read about in the Johannesburg newspaper, The Times. The owners quipped about waiting three more years for their car's return. While grateful the thieves reunited them with their family photos they can't help but wonder where they've been all these years.

The IM Generation and Family Photos

Pam Houghton's, March of the Family Photos in the Christian Science Monitor online left a lasting impression on me. She talks about how one afternoon her 14 year old daughter began looking at family photos. The end result--Houghton organized all her tubs of pictures into 8 photo albums. I just hope she didn't use magnetic albums. Those nasty sticky pages do a lot of damage to photos over the years. Stick with acid free and lignin free albums. Read the labels to see if the album manufacturer specifies the materials in their produce including a mention of non-pvc plastic overlaps. Trust me. Look for the good stuff. It's out there. I've found quality albums in stationary stores and specialty scrapbook stores like Archivers. I too have teenagers. They like looking at the photographs in our family albums when they take a moment to stop all the electronic distractions. When a school project requires a family photo they know where to find them.

Wedding Bells for June

The Footnote Maven has asked for submissions for her 2nd edition of Smile for the Camera. I'm happy to comply! I know from reading her posts that FM collects pictures of women in glasses, but her request this month fits my collecting profile perfectly. She asked for images of belles and beaus and I had a hard time choosing an image from my collection of wedding photos. I have pictures (and some memorabilia)of brides and grooms from the 1860s to the mid-twentieth century. I think this orphan photo is my favorite though. Here's why:

• On the back it says, "Aunt Ella in her brown corded silk wedding dress, 1876". That's right. It's great example of how not all brides wore white. In fact, this mysterious Ella (last name unknown) picked a stylish color for wedding gowns in the 1870s.
  
• I love the bustle. There is no way that Ella could sit down in this dress. During this period photographers begin photographing women standing and leaning on rolled high back chairs with their bustles visible.
  
• Her hair piece is brunette but she has natural blonde hair. Take a close look at her hair. You'll see what I mean.
  

I like this photo so much I use it in my lectures on identifying family photos. Someday I'd like to write a book about wedding portraits....

Dead or Alive: You be the Judge

On Shades of the Departed's Web Wandering Wednesday of June 4, she posted a picture with the caption, "I Think She's Dead." Not so fast I said in my comment to the blog. She's relaxed but lacks some of the characteristics of a postmortem photo. Would her family really have dragged the body to a professional studio (note the backdrop and chair) for a lasting memorial? You be the judge!

Throw Out Your Photos! OMG

I just can't believe it. An article titled Feng Shui Your Photos in the Imperial Valley (CA) News, advises folks to scan all their pictures and discard them. The scanning message is basically sound advice, but only if the author had included a few tidbits about scanning formats and resolution. You should scan images as 600 dpi color tiff's at 100% scale at a minimum. I can't imagine readers actually throwing out their precious pictures because digital files are permanent. OMG as my teenagers would say. Then again, maybe a few folks will heed that guidance. Several years ago an attendee at one of my lectures stood up and proudly proclaimed that she'd saved all her pictures to CD and tossed all the pictorial clutter in her house. Her advice left me speechless. I don't know about you, but it's articles like the one mentioned here that gives me nightmares. Unidentified photos are enough of a challenge but there is no way to resurrect those that have gone to trash heaps.

Fraternal Symbols

Last week, the footnote maven wrote about fraternal symbols in her Shades of the Departed blog. I'm a big fan. If a family photo depicts anyone in your family in a fraternal outfit or wears a pin with an unusual logo then you'll want to read her post.

First Crime Photos

I read an eclectic mix of history, current events and art related news looking for new photo information. Today it paid off. I learned something new about the history of photography. Did you know that the first crime photos date back to the late 1880s and Jack the Ripper. According to an article in Time Magazine, police investigating the murder of Mary Ann Kelly, one of Jack's victims snapped pictures of her mutilated body. These are likely the first crime scene photos ever taken.

Fraternal Organizations: Focus on Uniforms

In last week's Family Tree Magazine Photo Detective Blog I asked readers to submit fraternal organization photos. You can see what one woman sent me in this week's posting. It's a Swedish immigrant in an outfit that identifies him as a member of a particular branch of the Odd Fellows.

Focus on the Civil War: Book Notes

One of the best books I've read this year is Drew Gilpin Faust's This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Knopf, $27.95). It's a fascinating depiction of how that war changed everyday Americans and their daily lives. You can read my review of it on Ancestry's 24/7 Family History Blog.

Call for Photos

The editors of the Moorshead Magazines are collecting images for a new book, Dating Military Photographs will feature images from the Mexican War through World War I. It'll follow the format of their popular Dating Old Photographs and More Dating Old Photographs. If you have an image you'd like to share send it to militaryphotos@moorshead.com.

• The picture doesn't have to depict an American soldier.
• Some identification information is necessary such as the unit they served with.

Kansas City! National Genealogical Society

The National Genealogical Society conference is this week. The place Kansas City home of blues music and great barbecue. As usual with this events I rarely leave the hotel. The exhibit hall is a must-see stop for me. It gives me time to catch up with clients and see colleagues. Of course I'll return home with a few books... I'm presenting one lecture. Immigrant Clues in Family Photographs will be on Saturday at 9:30 am. Hope to see you there!

Spotlight on Fraternal Organizations

There is a great photo in my Family Tree Magazine blog this week. The clue isn't what he's wearing or even his family information, the frame tells the story. I'm trying to create an online album of pictures of fraternal organization attire. If you have an image to submit send an email to the following: email@photodetective.smugmug.com and put "ambrotype" in the subject line. Don't forget to tell me about the picture and provide me with a way to contact you. Use the body of the email for that information.

Record Your Photo Recollections

Yesterday I wrote about Jonathan Coe's book and his characters use of oral history and photography. If you'd like have your life imitate the literary device in Coe's book try recording the stories associated with your family photographs. It's a lot easier than you think. Voice Quilt, a gift company offers customers a way to record memories and package them as a present. You can invite other members of your family to contribute as well. Everything you need is on the VoiceQuilt site except for your voice. It's all done using a toll-free number, an access code and your telephone. What could be simpler? There is more than one way to tell a family story.

Honor Your Mothers on Sunday: Label Your Photographs

If you're looking for a way to honor the women in your family tree start by labeling your photographs. Paper photos can easily be captioned on the back (never write on the front of a photograph) using a soft lead pencil. Those resin-coated images from the 1960s to the present require a Zig marker.

I've honored one of my maternal grandmother by writing about her photo and her life. Nana (on the left) died when I was just a tot so I never really knew her. She appears in a movie of my first birthday party and of course I'm familiar with her image. This postcard sits on my mother's bureau. Alice McDuff worked in the mills as a young woman and then raised five children. You can read more about her on the new Smithsonian photo site Click: Photography Changes Everything.

On my SmugMug site I've created a gallery of photographs of unidentified women. If you recognize anyone, give a shout.

Don't let the women in your family end up as someone else's "instant ancestor." Take a few minutes on Mother's Day and label your family photographs.

Photos as Literary Fodder

Years ago Jack Finney used photos of old New York in his book Time and Again (available from the store on my website). It's a bit of a cult classic in some circles. You can read more about it in a Wikipedia article. While Finney's book is considered an illustrated novel there are plenty of fictional works that incorporate pictures into the story line. I'm going to turn the comments section of my blog on this week so that you can send me your favorite books mention old photos. Be nice! The inspiration for this posting is a book review in the Santa Cruz Sentinel (California) for Jonathan Coe's Rain Before It Falls (Knopf). The main character tapes descriptions of 20 photos for a blind relative. I haven't read it yet, but because it features photos I'll put it on my booklist for summer reading.

Caring for Photo Albums

My article, Between the Covers: Family Photo Albums is generating a lot of comments and questions this week. Between the posted comments and the emails I've received I have enough material for another column. Watch for it soon!

Photos Found in an Attic

An online article in the Chard & Ilminster News caught my eye this week. A woman found a box of photos in her attic and would like to return them to their rightful owners. If you know Sally Mayo-Smith and a Roy Perram of that area of England, send them this article. The link includes a telephone number for the paper. I found an online listing for a Sally Mayo-Smith who participated in a 2006 event for the British Horse Society, an equine charity and discovered that Roy Perram could be the American artist from New Jersey, but I'm having trouble verifying that these two individuals are the owners of the pictures. As a last resort, I'm contacting the paper to see if this helps. I'd love to facilitate this reunion!

Photo Reunion: Online Style

I love the whole reunion thing. This week the photo blog Shades of the Departed published a cute picture of a little girl wearing pearls. Well guess what? She's been reunited with her family. No one knows how the picture got lost, but it was found online. You can read more here. Several years ago I wrote about a column, "The Little Prince." Maybe he can also be reunited with his family. Any Prince relatives out there?

Faces of the Past: Australia's World War I Wall of Honor

Did an Australian member of your family die in the Battle of Frommelles during World War I? If they did and you own a photo of them consider adding their portrait to the Australian War Memorial. The Australian is trying to locate photographs of all 102,000 soldiers who died at Fromelles. It's an ambitious project.

Contest News!

I pitched a story idea to Family Tree Magazine several months ago on how families work together on their genealogical pursuits. Allison and Diane liked the idea so much they've encouraged participation by holding a contest. Here are the details from the FTM announcement: "We all know genealogy brings families together—and we’d like to recognize families who’ve embraced that collaborative spirit to make genealogical breakthroughs. Has your clan worked together to solve a family mystery? Taken a teamwork approach to writing or documenting your family history? Tell us your story! Explain who was involved, how the collaboration came about and what you achieved in 500 words or less. We’ll select several true tales of family teamwork to feature in our November issue. It’s a chance to not only trumpet your collaborative triumph to the genealogy world, but also win prizes for your feat: We’ll pick one featured family at random to receive a grand-prize package designed to facilitate further collaboration. The package includes:

• Family Reunion Organizer software from RootsMagic
• Free scanning of about 1,600 4x6 prints—or as many as you can fit in the prepaid box—from ScanMyPhotos.com
• An interactive family Web site with one year of free hosting from MyGreatBigFamily.com

All featured families will win a Family Tree Magazine State Research Guides CD" Enter by posting to the Terrific Family Tree Teamwork Contest on the Family Tree Magazine Forum.

Boys versus Girls

Every week I write a blog post for my Photo Detective space on the Family Tree Magazine website. Yesterday I tackled a family reunion disagreement regarding a picture. Was the child a boy or a girl? Read my column to find out.

Consultations at Kansas City

If you're going to Kansas City for the National Genealogical Society this May and have a mystery photo you might want to sign up for a consultation. I'll be there on Friday and Saturday. You can write to me for more details at mtaylor@taylorandstrong.com. More later!

Photo Discoveries Galore

I wrote two columns this week for my Photo Detective blog on the Family Tree Magazine website. The first featured a follow-up to a set of mysterious portraits of a young mother with two different babies. It combines history, photo history and genealogy. The second piece focuses on a story in April 17th New York Times. Photography could be as old as the 1790s! Check it out.

Rediscovering Lewis Hine

Lewis Wickes Hine was an investigative photographer who worked for the Child Labor Bureau. His photographs of children at work helped support legislation against child labor. You can view many of his images on the Library of Congress website. For the last several years Joe Manning of Massachusetts has tried to reunite those pictures with the families of the children depicted. He uses genealogical research tools to find their descendants. While some of the individuals he contacts knew their mothers or grandmothers worked as children, many didn't so Joe's discoveries are a surprise. He asked me to consult on a case last year--Cora Lee Griffin. You can read the whole story of this picture on his website Mornings on Maple Street.

Hat Attack

In the blogging world, posts jump around from blog to blog. This week, the focus is hats! The Virtual Dime Museum ran an article with an image from the 1962 knitting pattern catalog and started a thread. I actually knew older women who wore those knitted wonders in the early 1960s. The Footnote Maven joined in with a picture of three German women in hats wearing pine cone necklaces. I can't find a direct link to the article, but you can scroll down to see it. Now I've got an entry. A few months ago I put together a short video called "Solved by the Photo Detective." You can watch it on my website or on Roots Television. It's a great little CDV I picked up of a woman from Macon, France. Check it out! It's the third picture in the series.

New columns this week

On Ancestry.com's 24/7 Family History Circle you can read my column, "Our History: One Photo at a Time." I discuss both the new Smithsonian photo initiative and the Library of Congress digital image collection. Every week I write a blog posting for Family Tree Magazine's website. This week my Photo Detective piece focuses on two photos of an Oregon pioneer woman holding a baby. Join last week's discussion in the comment section about which Bigelow took the picture in the Internet challenge posed to me by the Genealogue. Happy reading!

SmugMug News

The Photo Detective is now on SmugMug.com. I'm trying to find new ways for you to contact me about your pictures. I've added two galleries so far at www.photodetective.smugmug.com

• One is called the "Photo Detective Roadshow" because it's the photographs I've seen during my lecture trips and consultations.
• The second gallery is "Photo of the Month." It'll feature items from my own collection of pictures. Photos I've bought over the years. Check out the latest one of a mom showing off the new baby to the neighbors over the fence.

If you like what you see you can enter PhotoDetective in the coupon code to receive 30% off your 1st year of membership.

New from the Smithsonian!

The Library of Congress photo collection is well-known since they partnered with Yahoo's Flickr, but maybe you didn't know that the Smithsonian museums also have a digital database of images. It's true. They do. Check it out. You can search by keyword or use one of the topics they provide. This year the Smithsonian also launched a photo initiative called Click! Photography Changes Everything. According to the site its an "ongoing project to explore how photographic images shape our lives." Over 100 experts in the field of photography are writing essays on the topic. Later this year you'll be able to add your own pictures to the site. I'll let you know when that feature is available. You can read my piece on how "Photography Changes Family History." I profile an image from the Smithsonian which may be the earliest family photograph in America and one of my own. Enjoy!

Story in Victorian Homes

The current issue of Victorian Homes features a story about me. You can't read it online, but the magazine should be available in larger bookstores. Check out the table of contents.

New from Ancestry!

Five years ago, Ancestry.com asked me to write a book on photography for genealogists. It's finally in print and should be available from online book vendors like Amazon.com on February 1st.

Capturing Memories (Your Family Story in Photographs) retails for $14.95, but Amazon has it for around ten dollars. You can order it through my Amazon store available through my websites.

I love the cover!

Picturing Rhode Island: Book Signing and Lecture Schedule

For the next several weeks I'm at several locations in Rhode Island signing copies of my new book, Picturing Rhode Island: Images of Everyday Life, 1850-2006.

• November 24, 2007: 11 am Borders at Garden City Shopping Center, Cranston, RI
• 2 pm Borders in the Providence Place Mall, Providence, RI

• December 5, 2007: 5-7 pm Other Tiger Bookstore, Westerly, RI
• December 8, 2007: 10 am - 1 pm Providence Preservation Society holiday stroll. I'll be in the Old State House, 150 Benefit St., Providence, RI

• December 8, 2007: 2-4 pm, Books in the Square, Wayland Square, Providence, RI

Video posted to Roots Television

Just in case you didn't click on the yellow "Watch and Listen" star on my homepage to hear how I've solved cases you can now view it on Roots Television. While you're on that site take a look at some of their other productions. I'll be adding to the videos on my site soon!

Upload or Email?

There are two ways to send me your mystery photos. You can email them to me directly (one per email, please) using mtaylor@taylorandstrong.com or use the upload feature on my website. If for any reason you have trouble uploading images, please send them to me using email.

Wall Street Journal News!

Have you seen the Wall Street Journal today? If not, take a look at the front page of the Weekend Journal section. Journalist Alexandra Alter spent three months alternately interviewing me, my clients and colleagues for a story on my Photo Detective business. I was able to convey to the reporter how important photo history is to every family. Each image is an opportunity to recognize the place of history in our everyday lives. If you want to see an archive of my photo identifications check out the FamilyTreeMagazine website and my Photo Detective blog. I love looking at family pictures and discovering the story behind each one by looking at clothing, photo history, family history and every little detail in the image. Take a look at the article online then watch and listen to my video. I've solved three photo cases. Sit back and enjoy the show. I used the services of Voice Quilt to record the audio and MyFamily.com's Snapgenie program for the rest.

clipped from online.wsj.com The Photo Detective The Photo Detective Does the shoebox in the attic hold family secrets? Alexandra Alter on how one expert unlocks the past. By ALEXANDRA ALTER October 12, 2007; Page W1 Maureen Taylor has dated a photograph to 1913 by studying the size and shape of a Lion touring car's headlamps. Armed with her collection of 19th-century fashion magazines, she can pinpoint the brief period when Victorian women wore their bangs in tight curls rather than swept back. Using a technique borrowed from the CIA, she identified a photo of Jesse James by examining the shape of his right ear.

Nineteenth Century Photography Unmasked!

I can't believe it! This week the long awaited Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Photography is finally in print. Several years ago (I've lost count of how many) an editor contacted me about contributing to this two volume set. I complied and then forgot about it. Ever since it arrived on my doorstep the other day I've been leafing through it looking for answers to some of my questions. It includes general entries on photographic methods and biographies of notable nineteenth century photographic figures such as Daguerre and some lesser known folks like William Mumler, the first spirit photographer. A further reading section follows longer entries. While this is a little pricey ($440.) for the average family photo historian it's a must have for larger libraries. I wrote the short piece on photographic jewelry. It provides the basic history of this type of photo presentation. If you want to delve in-depth into the topic check out Larry J. West and Patricia A. Abbott's Tokens of Affection publication on photographic jewelry. It's wonderful! At the time I wrote my article, West and Abbott were still writing their text so it isn't listed in my bibliography for the Encyclopedia.

The Sites are Ready!!

Thanks to the creative genius of Heather Devaun all three of my websites now have a new look. Susan Wenner Jackson who co-authors the blog, Working Mothers Against Guilt, wrote the copy. I added special features to each one. On Photo Detective.com you can upload a photo to receive an estimate for analysis, ask any photo related question or test your knowledge of photo history. Maureen Taylor.com now has a press room and a page on my stints as a spokesperson for products like Picasa and Genealogy.com. There is also a link to my current book project on the Revolutionary War generation. The last website is called Family History Kids. After years of presenting workshops on genealogy for kids I decided it was time to pull together some of the things I've done on the topic. Take a look at my recommended resources page for books and materials suitable for the junior genealogists in your household. Please let me know what you think! Send me an email at mtaylor@taylorandstrong.com

What's New

If you subscribe to this blog then you're wondering why the last post is so old. Well, I've been busy. I've revised my websites and created a new one called Family History Kids. You can't see them yet, but check back in a few days and all three of them should be live.

We Believe in Girls blog tour

Imagine my surprise when I was invited to participate in a Mattel blog tour! Turns out the corporate father of Barbie (that's right, the doll) just launched a new site for girls of all ages called We Believe in Girls. Got an opinion about what's happening to girls today, then post it in the "What do you believe" section, want to find out what Mattel is doing to empower girls check out "What's Happening." If you're wondering what this web site has to do with old family photos, take out your shoebox of pics and look for images of girls holding dolls. Barbie (love her or hate her) has been around for several generations. While every generation has their favorite doll, few have lasted as long as Barbie. As a Mom I'm grateful to Mattel for tackling a difficult issue. Parenting girls in an age of media stereotypes isn't easy. It's a lot of fun to click through the links on the site and read about what other women think, but my personal favorite is the timeline featuring Barbie meshed with historical events of the past fifty years. I know that Barbie is only middle-aged, but it would be great to see Mattel extend their timeline further into the past. Let's give girls some information about other earlier "empowered" females. The biography of the woman who invented Barbie presents a real-life role model for young girls. This woman had an idea and made it a reality. I'm not going to tell you her name. Go to the website and look it up. This summer I have a sixteen year old intern working with me so naturally I encouraged her to take a look at the site and give her teenage thoughts. Erin also really liked the idea of the timeline, but didn't care for the pony-tailed Barbie icons (I thought they were fine). She spent a long time looking at reading the posts from people who love the doll and looking at the resource section. We Believe in Girls is still in it's infancy. Once people start adding more posts and begin chatting, it's bound to gain momentum.

Anonymous Snapshots

Yesterday I visited the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts to see a photo show, Accidental Mysteries. It's an exhibit of pictures from the vernacular photo collection of John and Teenuh Foster. A vernacular photo is a photo taken for your own use such as family vacation pictures. It was a lot of fun to see everyday snapshots, interesting double-exposures and odd poses all in one place. Some of these snapshots were obviously taken by children based on the angle of the image and the subject matter. There was one mis-labeled picture. Watch for it if you get a chance to visit the museum. An image captioned four girls actually shows three girls and a boy(with a ruffled collared shirt). The show runs until January 27, 2008.

Satisfaction Magazine Interview

Last summer, reporter Lisa Goff interviewed me for an article on family history travel. This clip is only part of the story. If you've never tried planning a tour of family history sites, read on. You'd be surprised how many kids like looking at old photos then visiting the places where their ancestors lived!

clipped from www.satisfactionmag.com Heritage travelers dig for their genealogical roots “Researching your ancestors is a great way to focus your vacation,” says Maureen Taylor, a genealogy author and founder of photodetective.com, a Web site that helps people date and interpret old photographs. “The Web can only take you so far. There’s nothing to compare with walking the same streets your ancestors walked, eating in the same restaurants or holding in your hands a diary or letter they wrote.”

Watch Maureen on Hallmark Television

That's right. You heard it here first. This week I traveled to New York to tape a segment of New Morning with Timberly Whitfield. They let me talk about my two favorite topics--family photos and family history for kids!

I presented Timberly with a family history surprise, but I'm not going to give it away in this post. You'll have to watch it to see her reaction. I couldn't have done it without Ancestry.com and AncestryPress.com. Ancestry Press is the newest development from the Generations Network. It's in the beta, but it's an amazing product. Try it out.

This is a picture of me on the set. The actual air date is Monday July 30, 2007. New Morning airs from 7 to 8 am so set those alarm clocks!

May is National Photo Month

Did you know that family photography had its own month? Neither did I, but it's true. As part of the Photo Marketing Association's press release on May being National Photo Month is a push for retailers to educate their customers on long-term photo storage. That's great news. Vendors can order a power point preservation presentation as well as signage to help customers select the right materials to care for their digital images. Ask your local photo shop if they know about the promotion. Additional details are on the PMA website.

Revolutionary War News

After reading this article you can find more details on this project at www.lastmuster.blogspot.com

clipped from local.lancasteronline.com IT'S ALL RELATIVE: A Revolutionary idea in research By Kevin Shue Lancaster New Era Published: Apr 20, 2007 11:19 AM EST LANCASTER - Independence Day picnics and fireworks may seem very far off this early in the spring. Here's another concept related to the American Revolution that may be difficult to imagine: Many people who lived during that war survived into the age of photography. Maureen Taylor is exploring this revolutionary idea by searching nationwide for portraits of men and women of the American Revolution. She has launched a blog to document her groundbreaking project, www.lastmuster.blogspot.com. David Lambert, the online genealogist at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, is working with Taylor on the project. Taylor was the keynote speaker at the Lancaster Family History Conference a few weeks ago. She gave me some clues to help determine whether your old family photo depicts a Revolutionary War ancestor.

Photo Workshop in Iowa

Now that I use clipmarks.com I can blog articles of interest.

clipped from www.thehawkeye.com Just a click in time Genealogy workshop teaches area residents the importance of photo preservation. By WILLIAM SMITH wsmith@thehawkeye.com When memories fade, photographs remain behind to remind us of those long forgotten feelings. But even a box–full of paper memories can disintegrate with time. That was the lesson renowned genealogy journalist Maureen A. Taylor tried to get across at the fifth annual genealogy workshop Saturday at Burlington Public Library. "Everyone has shoe–boxes full of photographs they don't know what to do with," she said during a presentation titled "Preserving Family Photographs: 1839 to Present." "Each and every photograph has a story to tell."

Photo Got You Stumped ? It's Teleconference Time

Sharon Sergeant of Ancestral Manor offers teleconferences for genealogists. A teleconference is a lecture that you listen to over your telephone. It's so easy. You can sign up via her website. At the time of the talk dial a number and listen in. Each teleconference is interactive so you can ask questions after the speaker has completed their presentation. On March 23rd at 8 pm (EST) I'm presenting a teleconference called The Photo Detective. I'll be discussing two photo case studies and talking about two new free online tools for working with your family photographs. I hope you'll join me for an exciting evening! I'm preparing a special pdf handout for this event. It's free to participants. You'll receive your copy a few days in advance of the teleconference.

Interview on an Ephemera Blog

Marty Weil writes a blog called Ephemera: Exploring the World of Old Paper that features interviews and articles of interest to collectors and genealogists. Ephemera is generally considered "disposable" paper like product labels but the genre also includes memorabilia and photographs. This week he interviewed me!

Snapgenie Really is a Snap

I've written an article about the My Generations (formerly MyFamily.com) new product called Snapgenie. It's a simple way to add audio recording to your family photos. Try it and see what you think! Here's a sample of what it can do.

Looking for the Revolutionary War Generation

For several years, I've worked with David Lambert of the New England Historic Genealogical Society on a project. We're trying to find photographs of the Revolutionary War generation. All those men who served, their wives and their kids. It's an ambitious undertaking and we could use a little help. Thousands of these individuals lived into the age of photography (after 1839), thus our search. For more information on this endeavor look at our new blog and under Projects on my other website. If you own or know of an image let us know. You can email me at photodetective@gmail.com. Thanks for the help!

Tag! You're it.

Juliana Smith of Ancestry's 24/7 Family History Circle tapped me on the virtual shoulder this morning in a game of Internet tag. Now I'm supposed to tell you five things about myself that you probably don't know then tag five other people. 1) I love chocolate! Not just any cocoa bean confection, but dark chocolate. I went ten years without eating this snack due to food allergies. A friend told me that many dark chocolates don't contain milk. Now we're on a mission to try as many brands as possible. We even have a rating scale for taste and the percentage of cacoa. 2) If you've read my columns then you know I have kids. Two teenagers make for an interesting life. They're great people and don't think it's weird that I write night and day (as long I drive them to and fro). There was only one strange moment. My book, Through the Eyes of Your Ancestors, made their middle school reading list one summer. My daughter looked at me and said with horror, "I don't really have to read it, do I?" 3) My husband jokes about my gardening. It's survival of the fittest at my house. I've inherited my mother's black thumb. Doesn't matter if it's an outside plant or an inside one, they all die. I really do try, but nothing works. It's so bad that when a friend recently gave me a plant (why bother!) she pleaded with me not to kill it. It's looking a little brown these days so I'm thinking of calling her for help. Last time she visited I hid it. Just too embarassed.... 4) Trip planning is an acquired skill. My parent's indulged my strange habits as a kid. We rarely went anywhere, but that didn't stop me from requesting free travel brochures from every state. It kept me busy for a whole summer and all it cost my mom was fifty stamps. 5) I keep my iPod on shuffle. It's a mix of all types of music--salsa, rock, ballads, disco (yes, even that), and Motown. Since it's a random selection, there are some fun combinations. Diana Ross, followed by Los Lobos, followed by 311. Tagging is fun. Let's see if David Lambert, the Online Genealogist at the New England Historic Genealogical Society can keep up this game. There are two people I want to tag, but they don't have blogs (What are they waiting for?! ). Joe Bott of Dead Fred can respond in his newsletter and Sharon Sargeant posts right on her website, Ancestral Manor. I'd like to break the chain a bit and tag a person outside the genealogical community. I recently had coffee with a fellow writer. Susan Weiner's got a great blog about investing.

Costume Confusion

I need your help! This photo depicts a group of men dressed in costume for an event in the Waterville area of Oneida County, New York. It's obvious that some of the men wear military costume and others are dressed for the "frontier." The men on the ground look to be in either fraternal outfits or an odd assortment of Native American clothing. The three men in the back may be either in fraternal, ethnic or religious outfits. The date is probably c. 1890-1900. If you've ever seen clothing like this before please email me at photodetective@gmail.com. The person who solves it receives a signed copy of my new edition of Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs.

Desperate Genealogists

Maureen Taylor contributes expertise to DeadFred.com's new e-book The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book: Creative Ways to Outsmart Your Elusive Ancestors. (Press Release Springdale, AR - February 2006) With ancestral sleuthing being one of the most popular online activities, Dead Fred Genealogy Photo Archive and a talented team of eminent genealogists have created a one-of-a-kind collection to help family history researchers, amateurs and professionals alike, overcome some of the frustrating challenges involved with hunting elusive. For additional information or to order a copy, contact Jeannette Balleza at 479.200.3089.

Can you beat a dead horse?

Take a look at a great image of a man sitting on a dead horse on Ancestral Manor. A group of genealogists gathered together to research the image. I think it dates from the late 1870s to early 1880s based on the men's clothing and architectural details. It was taken in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Check out our details and the tagged photo thanks to Fototagger. Caption your digital images using Fototagger. It's a free download at Fototagger.com