Vintage Photos: Get Them Labeled Now
The Christmas before my father died I insisted the three of us sit down together and label all the old photos that filled the drawers of the end tables in the seldom-used living room. What started as a chore about which my parents grumbled turned into an afternoon of laughter and story telling that remains a happy memory for me. I love old photos and it breaks my heart when the story behind the image is lost forever.
Sometimes at night when I can’t sleep I poke around on EBay, often looking at World War II photos that have outlived their original owners and become lost and homeless fragments of an age rapidly retreating from known memory. Look at this wrecked jeep. What happened? Is the damage battle-related or did a youthful G.I. go for a joy ride?
Or this group of sailors. Young, cocky, showing off their bare chests. The Ebay description plainly said, “There is no writing on the backside.” Did they live? Did they die? Is there anyone today who would know their faces? I find it both maddening and compelling.
I suppose a part of me always thinks I’ll find a snapshot of my Dad, taken by some buddy in North Africa or Italy, now sitting on EBay waiting for me to rescue and love. It’s a romantic notion. The odds are long even for someone like me who has bet on her fair share of gray horses at 20 to 1. But I do it anyway.
The message in this post? If you know a World War II veteran, spend an afternoon with that person and get those photos labeled. Learn the stories. Our days with “the boys” are numbered and once they are gone the photos will fall silent, most likely forever.
[tag]WWII, EBay, photos, vintage[/tags]
September 10th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Hello, I have several old photos from WWII and was wondering if you knew anyone that might be interested in them…..There are several in the group of our airbase under the Eiffel Tower. My father was a Army Airforce photographer and had several pictures of the holocost however those pictures have disappeared over the years however he still have several other pictures that are not like what is seen ordinarily
thank you
Gail Atwell
September 10th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Gail, you might consider donating them to The Institute on World War II and the Human Experience at Florida State University. You can find their page on donations at this address:
http://www.fsu.edu/~ww2/donations.htm
Rana
October 2nd, 2007 at 2:11 pm
[...] Your Photos Prepared for a Disaster? by Rana Williamson I’ve written before about the neccesity of labeling vintage photos. Not surprisingly then when I saw this headline in my RSS reader, I clicked over to read the [...]
September 18th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I have a ton of photos like that do you know where I can find out how much they are worth, some of the photos have letters in the photo signed by hitler, they are in very good condition considering how old they are, please contact me if you have any info on the price of pics like that.
Thanks
Christina