Last night my mother-in-law, Helen, left me a funny voicemail. A distant relative had reached out to her about a bunch of old pictures of the family. He felt he had held on to them for long enough and wanted to get rid of them. Helen, feeling her age and assuming no one would want them, was planning to tell him to throw them away. Noooooo! Not good! Don’t throw away the old pictures!!
My father taught me the value of old pictures and I’m rather attached to them. It’s probably because these days physical images are rapidly fading into memory. Digital pictures have taken over. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except people don’t always back up their digital pictures with physical copies. I guess pictures take up less space “in the cloud” than on the bookshelf, after all. Old paper pictures fade, discolor, and get damaged. (That’s the real reason they sometimes end up looking so spooky.) Digital copies, on the other hand, are preserved forever, right? Well, maybe. If you don’t run out of cyber storage space. Or lose that hard drive. Oh, and what if the power goes out?
How to Take Care of Old Pictures
My official stance on old family pictures is to save both. Preserving physical photos and also backing them up digitally (or vise versa) will ensure that there’s a copy of the picture, no matter the circumstance. But, I realize there might be thousands of images. And thousands of images can be overwhelming. Here are some tips when dealing with old family pictures:
1. Be very careful when handling original pictures, especially those from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
These pictures were taken using lengthy and antiquated techniques that have not been used for a very long time. If you damage a picture from this time period, it’s gone. Try to only touch the edges of old pictures when you handle them. The oils from the skin on your fingers can discolor the old photo paper. Wear gloves if you need to – you know, just like in the movies when the old snooty guy puts on his white gloves to examine the million-dollar painting. Don’t be afraid to be snooty!
2. Store original pictures in a dark, dry place.
There are a couple of ways to do this. One is to enclose your pictures in photo albums. You can use the old-style photo album if you want with black paper. Or, scrapbook supplies work great to make an album. Just make sure the paper is acid-free and stay away from using glue and tape directly on the images. Of course, if they’re already in old photo albums do your best to preserve these.
Another solution is to use photo storage boxes. In this case, old photos should be stored lying flat, as they will curl and crack if stored on their sides. And NEVER leave old photos out in the light. This will cause them to fade.
3. If you want to hang your old family photos on the wall, print black and white copies on modern photo paper and display those instead.
Store the originals. “But Janet, you don’t understand. My photo is a large family heirloom portrait in a beautiful, antique frame.” Ok, you’re right. That would be hard to copy. Instead, hang this type of picture in a dark corner of your house where the light won’t shine on it and fade it. Better yet, have it preservation framed. Inquire at your local custom framing shop about the requirements for preserving old family portraits.
4. Lighting is key when digitizing old photos.
When taking digital pictures of old photos, the digital version turns out the best if you place the picture in an area with lots of natural or soft light from all sides and don’t use a flash. Adequate lighting will eliminate shadows on your copies and give you a clear image. Using a flash can give you a washed out spot in the middle of a picture, blotting out important details. You’d like to see everyone’s face, right?
5. Lighting is key when digitizing glossy pictures, too.
If you are using a cellphone to copy pictures that have glossy finishes, angle the phone slightly when you take the picture. This will help prevent the outline of your phone from showing up in the reflection on the finish of the picture, which is really, really annoying! Like with old photos, it’s best to take photos of glossy images in an area surrounded by soft lighting.
I’ve Digitized My Photos. Now What?
Once you have made copies of your old family pictures, go ahead and share them! Pictures were made to be viewed. Send copies to your relatives. Go ahead and post them on Ancestry, Family Search, and any other place you have a copy of your family tree.
Some people are hesitant to make their old pictures public for all to see. But consider this – there is no copyright on your ancestors and the more willing you are to share your old photos, the more likely they are to survive the test of time.
But, Wait! What Happened to Helen’s Old Family Photos?
Anyway, back to my story about Helen and her relative’s old photos. When I saw the digital copies of the photos in question, I just about had a panic attack at the thought of them being tossed in the trash. They were all old tintypes and black and white portraits from the 1880s! (For those of you who aren’t nerds, these are a special find and not always well preserved.) I was not having it! I put together an email to send to the relative directly. Introducing myself, I expressed an interest in the pictures and even offered to pay for postage. Then I held my breath, crossed my fingers that I was in time, and clicked send.
Fortunately, I was in time! The relative replied and, with help from Helen, is sending the pictures, happy that they’ll be preserved. Whew! What a relief!
For some context, I’ve shared a few very old family photos in this article, from both my side and my husband’s side. If someone had not decided to rescue these photos, I wouldn’t be able to share them with you here. So, if you ever hear your relatives threaten to throw out old family photos, please, rescue them! Don’t let your family pictures disappear in the landfill. Preserve the physical pictures and share the digital copies. Your family, whether close or distant, will be very grateful that you did.
Interested in more family research tips? We’re full of them!
Image Credits:
Header image by congerdesign from Pixabay
Records of Robert Lorenz
Records of Gerald and Ruth Dilley
