This week’s Sepia Saturday topic is a “Group Portrait of an Unknown Family”.
Among Mr Cassmob’s inheritance from his father is a batch of photographs with no known connection to his family. Many of them were taken in Denmark in the 19th century, a country where his family has no known links. On the other hand, one of these photos is annotated on the reverse with Cass Album 1. Why? Are they relevant to his family history after all? Did his father simply buy them from a stall when his parents were living for a year in Scotland?
I wanted to find a family photo but in the end I settled for two couples and an infant.
Do you have any thoughts on the why or where? It’s a mystery to me!
Family history across the seas 
I am curious why the same display would have two different couples alongside the one child?
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Sorry Zimnoch, that’s me being in a rush – I just scanned them all together.
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If these are not family, they are still wonderful examples of sophistication and great fashion of the period. But did someone put that child’s shoes on the wrong feet? (I have read that shoes once were made without a left and right design, but these seem to have a left and right.)
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Very observant Wendy, that hadn’t struck me. However I’ve now noticed the women are wearing the same cape with trim so I think this was a “dress up” kind of photographer….you know, go in wearing your own less glamorous clothes and be photographed looking like a different social class. Strange.
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Lauritz Olsen.s studio was at Østergade 13 13, He has photos on the Danish State Archive flickr stream which date him there at 1864-1873, He was one of several photographers who took photos of prostitutes for the police when prostitution was being regulated back then. Østergade is now one of the streets in the Strøget, the car free zone in Copenhageb that makes up their main shopping area. I can’t help you on the identity of your unknows however.
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Interesting information Bob. The baby looks truly shocked to have shoes on the wrong feet.
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Indeed Kristin…perhaps it was the first time the baby had worn shoes..or it was just the flash 🙂
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This just occurred to me, too: at last year’s Unlock the Past seminar I listened to a talk on dating photos and they used to hold people still (because of the longer exposure) with various types of frames. Perhaps the shoes were part of a frame for a baby hence the back-the-front feet.
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What great background information Bob! If it wasn’t for the sticker on the back I’d expect these photos were just randomly collected ones but…..
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I do love the look on the baby’s face – priceless!
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Indeed Kathy, perhaps Kristin is right and it was having the shoes on the wrong feet, or even being made to wear shoes. He/she might still have been in socks.
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Hi Pauleen – well I’m just stabbing in the dark here…did some family members go on a holiday/honeymoon to Denmark?…was a family member in business and traded with someone in Denmark? I know that due to religious persecution some people in England ended up going to live on the continent but it tended to be Holland. Denmark??? Why would I go to Denmark? Because Copenhagen is wonderful? Because I wanted a Danish open sandwich? But back to more important stuff – the shoes…Wendy I too was a bit stumped about the shoes on my boy’s feet – I think it looks like he’s got the right on the left and vice versa…I think it was just how they were made back then.
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Thanks Alex…laughed at the open sandwich 😉 If it had been among my family’s stuff I’d have had a theory to offer because one set of my lot were sailors and went across to Scandinavia regularly. But no, it’s himself’s lot. I still favour a random collection but who knows, perhaps I’m missing a vital clue. I made a comment about the shoes on Kristin’s comment which only just occurred to me, especially given the time frame Bob has provided.
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There is more than one mystery there. I found it interesting that the couple are wearing the same clothes–something I didn’t notice until it was pointed out. The baby reminds me of the ones that “talk” in commercials.
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Thanks Postcardy….yes that baby does have something of a mad-eyed look I reckon -a bit like the one my cat gets when he’s about to run amok!
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The comments here are as enjoyable as your post Pauleen. I’m glad that we have so many perceptive Sepians. I’d never spot those things.
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Too true Little Nell, the Sepians have excelled themselves with observations, information and advice. It’s amazing what we can “squeeze” from a photo or two, isn’t it?!
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Those are OLD! Too funny about settling for “two couples and an infant”. I can’t help you out, but I enjoyed your post.
Kathy M.
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They are Kathy -about the 1870s I think. I think they are total strangers -at least I hope they are -it would be so frustrating if they were family and I didn’t know it. Pauleen
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Can’t give you a lick of insight, but I enjoyed the pictures and the speculations of the Sepians.
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Thanks for visiting Kathy – I agree that the Sepians did a great job of coming up with strategies.
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I’m thinking the baby is just not so sure about the entire shoot, and left to sit alone in this big chair!
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It does look a bit freaked out doesn’t it!
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Great images, great post and great comments : this is what Sepia Saturday is all about. I suspect 100 years down the line some distant relative of mine might be thumbing through a collection of very old photographs of mine and wondering who they could be of, when, in reality, I just saw them on a market stall and thought they needed saving.
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Thanks Alan -I have the distinct feeling that’s what’s happened here. Maybe we need to sort these retrievals into separate boxes, neatly labelled as such.
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How intriguing, but it’s a lesson that we all need to bear in mind – all of us passionate old photo collectors, that is.
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I think you’re right Gluepot, we do need to clearly mark or separate those “ring-ins”.
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I don’t care what the real story is, I’m fascinated with the various stories this could lead to. There’s a drama playing out here in front of us. Old photos tell stories, we just have to imagine them.
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What a good idea Tattered and Lost, instead of being bewildered by all these photos we have the creative potential for some great short stories. I wonder what slant I’d take with these? Did they emigrate, marry, die young….
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