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Our photo expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Tony Mullord sent us his photo and asked:
‘Attached is a photo believed to be of my mother (born 1905) with her mother, on the right, and a friend, my aunt, with her mother. I would say that that the girls are about nine or 10 years old: could you please confirm whether the costumes bear this out?’
Click to enlarge
Jayne says:
‘This is a lovely studio photograph dating from the early 20th century, its hazy painted backdrop suggesting a wooded landscape in the distance a popular artistic style during the late-Edwardian and WWI eras. The four females are fashionably dressed in clothing suited to their ages, their outfits all slightly different. Adult garments and accessories are easier to date closely than children’s styles and the ladies’ appearance here indicates that the photograph was taken between 1912 and 1915.
This timeframe fits in well with your mother’s 1905 birth date and so there is no reason at all to doubt your identification of the people in this scene. I agree that your mother looks to be aged around nine or 10 here, so most likely the photograph dates to 1914 or 1915. Her friend, who I presume from your description you called ‘aunty’, could be a year or so younger or perhaps she is just shorter in height. There seems to be a good likeness between mother and daughter in each case.
The most fashionably-dressed lady here is your grandmother, standing back right. Her tunic-style overdress caught around the waist with a sash and worn over a blouse and longer underskirt was an elegant arrangement in vogue during the early-mid 1910s, the V-shaped neckline and pronounced collar most typical of the years around 1913-15. Ornamental buttons were popular throughout the decade and her hat is one of several styles worn at the time.
The girls both wear smart coat-dresses, the low-belted version on the left and the broad-collared style with decorative trimmings on the right both fashionable during our period. They also wear formal outdoor accessories of hats and neat white gloves, their hair secured with the large white bows characteristic of the later Edwardian years and 1910s.
Most interesting perhaps is the seated lady (‘aunty’), who wears plainer black garments and a black hat, which contrast strikingly with the stylish pastel outfits worn by the others. In view of her sombre appearance, I suspect that she could be in mourning and wonder whether she had recently lost a child or, more likely perhaps, her husband. If so, perhaps he had died in one of the early military campaigns of WWI. Either way, all-female photographs are typical of the war years, when fathers and older sons were often absent and so this photograph is a great visual record of its time as well as a precious family heirloom.’
Jayne Shrimpton
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
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Please note: This post has originated from a news feed from an external website.
Family Tree Forum neither endorses nor is responsible for the views of the author or any other content.
Tony Mullord sent us his photo and asked:
‘Attached is a photo believed to be of my mother (born 1905) with her mother, on the right, and a friend, my aunt, with her mother. I would say that that the girls are about nine or 10 years old: could you please confirm whether the costumes bear this out?’
Click to enlargeJayne says:
‘This is a lovely studio photograph dating from the early 20th century, its hazy painted backdrop suggesting a wooded landscape in the distance a popular artistic style during the late-Edwardian and WWI eras. The four females are fashionably dressed in clothing suited to their ages, their outfits all slightly different. Adult garments and accessories are easier to date closely than children’s styles and the ladies’ appearance here indicates that the photograph was taken between 1912 and 1915.
This timeframe fits in well with your mother’s 1905 birth date and so there is no reason at all to doubt your identification of the people in this scene. I agree that your mother looks to be aged around nine or 10 here, so most likely the photograph dates to 1914 or 1915. Her friend, who I presume from your description you called ‘aunty’, could be a year or so younger or perhaps she is just shorter in height. There seems to be a good likeness between mother and daughter in each case.
The most fashionably-dressed lady here is your grandmother, standing back right. Her tunic-style overdress caught around the waist with a sash and worn over a blouse and longer underskirt was an elegant arrangement in vogue during the early-mid 1910s, the V-shaped neckline and pronounced collar most typical of the years around 1913-15. Ornamental buttons were popular throughout the decade and her hat is one of several styles worn at the time.
The girls both wear smart coat-dresses, the low-belted version on the left and the broad-collared style with decorative trimmings on the right both fashionable during our period. They also wear formal outdoor accessories of hats and neat white gloves, their hair secured with the large white bows characteristic of the later Edwardian years and 1910s.
Most interesting perhaps is the seated lady (‘aunty’), who wears plainer black garments and a black hat, which contrast strikingly with the stylish pastel outfits worn by the others. In view of her sombre appearance, I suspect that she could be in mourning and wonder whether she had recently lost a child or, more likely perhaps, her husband. If so, perhaps he had died in one of the early military campaigns of WWI. Either way, all-female photographs are typical of the war years, when fathers and older sons were often absent and so this photograph is a great visual record of its time as well as a precious family heirloom.’
Jayne ShrimptonIf you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
More...
Please note: This post has originated from a news feed from an external website.
Family Tree Forum neither endorses nor is responsible for the views of the author or any other content.