The name on the back of the photograph might not be of the individuals pictured on the reverse side. It could be the person to whom the photograph was to be given. My great-grandmother had several photographs of her son’s wedding that took place in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1950s. Every one of them had “Mom” written on the back. Some of them had “Mom U,” apparently indicated “Mother Ufkes.” A few of them did not. “Mom Ufkes” was in a few of the photographs, but not many.

Since I had several of these pictures, the intent was easy to discern. But what if I had only had one of these pictures my great-grandmother had of her son’s wedding? I would have had no comparison and would have been less certain what the “Mom” reference referred to.

Don’t always assume that name on the back of a picture is the person pictured on the other side.

Get your own copy of our book:Genealogy Tip of the Day

Categories:

Tags:

No responses yet

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get the Genealogy Tip of the Day Book
Archives