Gamle Andersson, Tvärred
Old Man Andersson, Tvärred
If not for a note scribbled on the back of this photo (probably by my dad, when sorting old photos left behind from his dad), I wouldn't have had a clue. I also found it in the envelope marked "Tvärred", though (a place name) - where most of the photos involve the brothers Anders and Evert Andersson (who have appeared in other recent Sepia posts on this blog). So I suppose I might have made a bold guess anyway, that this was probably their father.
"Sometimes all you need is a name. You can be sorting through a pile of old family photographs, desperately trying to work out if the subject is your Great Uncle Joe or Cousin Mabel's young nephew, when you suddenly find a name pencilled on the reverse of the photograph..."
(Alan Burnett, Sepia Saturday 781)
This photo does not have names scribbled on the back, but (even more unusual) a date: 10.08.64 (10 August 1964), which pins it down in time. And in this case, I can add the names, and even the place, myself. The man to the right is my grandfather Gustaf (at age 60); and the one behind him his brother-in-law Olle. The man to the left is Edvin Kornelius - as I remember it, usually just referred to by his last name. And the place is the small farm Källeberg, where he lived together with his sisters Annie and Ellen. (From another source, I know that the three of them inherited the place in 1937.)
Olle's wife Hildur and Edvin's sister Annie both died in 1964. I don't have the exact date of death for either of them; but I guess that this visit to Källeberg was probably after both those women died.
In my own early childhood photo album there is an earlier photo that includes them both, from the summer of 1957:
Standing: Olle & Hildur (my grandmother's sister with husband), my grandmother Sally with me (barely 2 years old) on her arm, Annie and Edvin Kornelius. Sitting: Ellen Kornelius, my mum and dad, and my grandparents' dog Zepp. (My grandfather no doubt behind the camera.)
My grandparents, Hildur & Olle, and the siblings Kornelius were all old friends; and the middle photo of the three men brought Simon & Garfunkel's song "Old Friends" to mind for me...
♫ Old friends
Memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fears ♫
Linking to Sepia Saturday 781
ReplyDeleteThese are great memories. Especially nice to see you at two. I’m so glad to know that somebody made a note on the back of some photos.
Thanks Barbara. Yes, sometimes a name or date on just one photo can be helpful to identify and approximately date other ones, too...
DeleteLucky photographs, meaning you were lucky in having a name or date to help identify the people in them.
ReplyDeleteWhen faced with a box or large envelope of old family photos, it's nice to either have a still-living family member around to help identify the people in them, or at least a name on one of the photos that can lead to finding that one identified person in some of the other photos which then gives you an idea of who the other people in those photos might be. It's the photos of family in the past with no possible identification that are frustrating. When I see these types of photos - usually professionally taken - left behind in antique shops it makes me feel sad. I've been known to buy a few and give them names! :)
Gail, my grandfather Gustaf was a keen photographer so I have lots of old photos from my grandparents. Most of them were put into albums in no particular order and with few notes, though. Others just saved in envelopes or boxes. At some point my dad started sorting some loose photos into categories in envelopes; but only a few have notes on the back. Once while his memory was still not too bad I sat down with him and went through one envelope of photos that had belonged to his aunt - many of them copies of photos also found in my grandparents' albums. I then put those photos in an album with my own notes added, which has been helpful when going through other photos later. My dad died in 2011 and I'm still "laying the puzzle", though.
DeleteCorrection (mostly for my own memory): Hildur died 25.9.1964 (found the date in some other notes). Whether she was also well enough to be present at the visit to Källeberg in August that year (middle photo) I don't know, though.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be possible to date old photos with the help of AI. But AI worries me a bit, not only because of the enormous consumption of power caused by asking a simple question. Compared to Google, the power required seems to be 50 to 90 times higher! And I am a bit worried about the position of the tree in your first picture!
ReplyDeletePeter, if you are referring to the tree in my *2nd* photo I see what you mean. (With the first one at the top, I can't see a problem.)
DeleteAs I know most of the photos I'm going through now were taken by my grandfather (or my own father) in "family and friends" context, I doubt AI would be much help. (And if it was, I think I'd find that rather spooky!)
Gratitude to whoever penned notes onto your family photos. Sometimes I can figure out who's who in my family photos if I have similar ones to compare to -- or if, like you, I know some of the subjects. But having written notes, names and dates is always extremely helpful. And how cool to see you as a toddler!
ReplyDeleteThanks Molly - and I agree. One does need at least some "clue" to be able to get started on the deciphering of old photos. Knowing who the albums and photos belonged to is a start in itself, though... :)
DeleteYour choice of music was a perfect accompaniment for these family photos. I can appreciate Peter's concern for that tree, it has a slightly menacing lean as if it might knock someone on their head. Actually trees in pictures are useful things for dating a photo. I recently used tree types, heights, and presence or absence to figure out dates of a box of photos of my old home. Photographers are sometimes creatures of habit and over time will take photos from the same position. Trees are the stage sets.
ReplyDeleteMike, I keep looking at that photo with the tree, and I'm not 100% sure that it isn't just a sort of illusion (like most of the branches in reality belonging to another tree behind that leaning trunk?) - but I'm not sure. (Alas I can't recall another photo from the same place in that garden to compare with.)
ReplyDelete