ANCESTOR PHOTOGRAPHS
Jayne Shrimpton
Early snapshot albums often had pre-cut apertures and the photographic prints were rather small. Sometimes names, places or dates were written close to the picture, as in this album from 1909
Some family historians are lucky to have inherited not only old photographs, but also original 19th- or early 20th-century photograph albums compiled by past generations. Here we examine the evolution of photograph albums, with tips for dating surviving albums from different eras and understanding their contents.