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This is the original photo as it looked after I scanned it years ago. This would have been at my great grandmother, Mae Gould's home in Detroit, Michigan |
What are the dates on these two calendars?
For many years I have had this photo of my Dad, Harry Norman Gould and his grandma, Mae Eve Thorp Gould, holding calendars.
I have tried to see the month and year on these calendars, but been unable to clear them up enough to do so. I used my Photo Shop Elements as well as My Heritage photo enhancement, but the month and year were still not clear.
Then today, it suddenly dawned on me. Why don’t I use the calendar feature in my Legacy program and try to match the calendar configurations with those in the photo?
My suspicion has always been that these calendars had something to do with 1924, which was the year my great grandfather, William V. Gould (1859-1924) died. He was the husband of the woman in the photo. My Dad would have been 11-12 yrs old at the time, depending on the dates. Based on other photos I have of him, this picture would be about that same time.
Lo and behold, I went to the Legacy calendar feature and
started going through 1924, month by month and seeing which one matched either
of the calendars. I use the Legacy calendar feature very often, probably at least once a week. It is quite useful in my research.
FINALLY, I located it – DECEMBER 1924. Then I looked at JANUARY 1925 and it matches the other calendar perfectly.
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December 1924 on the left and January 1925 on the right - they match up perfectly with the images in the photo |
So,
there it is. My great grandmother, Mae
is holding the December 1924 calendar and my Dad is holding the January 1925
calendar. Now that I've figured it out, you can zoom in and see the word at the top of my Dad's calendar looks like January. Perhaps they were saying goodbye to 1924, a sad year for the family, and welcoming the new year? Another thought. My Dad's 12th birthday would have been December 31, 1924. Were they commemorating that?
Happy dance here.
TIP – Never give up on solving photo mysteries. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve gone back to a photo I’ve looked at over and over again, and finally figured out who was in it. Or, in this case, what the dates were in the image.
Do you have mystery photos? I’d love to see them.
And, Happy Birthday to my Dad who was born 110 years ago tomorrow.
Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
Great detective work! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much :)
DeleteThat was a genius idea! Congratulations on finding the dates.
ReplyDeleteThanks - it was a happy dance kinda day.
DeleteWhat a clever way to determine the dates. Not sure I would have thought of that, even though I too use Legacy. I so enjoy your blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cecily. I was wondering why I hadn't thought of it years ago. I guess these ideas come to us when they are supposed to. I hope the idea can help others.
DeleteGood sleuthing! I love resolving mysteries in old photographs!
ReplyDeleteMe too Dawn. I always feel such excitement and a sense of accomplishment when I solve a photo mystery. Thanks for stopping by.
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