Here are direct links to the sections dedicated to the time since photography was possible: 1830s | 1840s | 1850s | 1860s | 1870s | 1880s | 1890s |1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930–1945| 1945–1959 | 1960s Flickr collections by era These contributed photographs are grouped by decade, and the multitude of images will provide you with a helpful frame of reference to compare your vintage photos.100 years old | 1900-1910 | 1910-1920 | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s Period Fashions Reference Library With descriptions, antique sketches and photos, Vintage offers clues on clothing styles from the 1850s through the 1910s.
CLICK ON EACH type to see detailed characteristics.
Kwik Tip research guides give you a convenient and fact-filled tool to help you determine dates for your 19th century photographs pictures.
Here are several sites that can help you put your aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents on the right branches of your family tree.
Here are some places where you can pick up a few style cues to help you ID your own vintage family photographs!
Fashion Columbia Study Collection Columbia College in Chicago has a great collection of women’s clothing which document historic styles, revival fashions and period details of what was in vogue during the 20th century.
Victoria and Albert Museum The London’s museum’s helpful section on dating clothes and photographs uses items from the V&A’s collection to illustrate the dominant trends of the decades between 18, and is helpful even when investigating photos taken outside Great Britain.
It is important to note, however, that these dating methods aren't always accurate.
The photographer may have been using up old card stock, or the cabinet card may have been a re-printed copy made many years after the original photo was taken.
The first step in dating 19th century photographs is identifying which technology was used to create the picture.
This is straightforward detective work for most images, but very early photographs can be misleading.
For instance, the portraits at right were labeled, so I know them to be my grandmother’s two grandmothers — and the photo albums they came from suggested that the photographs were taken in the 1880s or 1890s.