One area you missed is Facebook. I run a group that returns memorabilia to family members (close or not so close) free of charge. If someone has already accepted the photo, we do have a digital backup on the site. I know several groups on Facebook do the same thing. We have given back over 1900 individual items.
While looking through a box of taxes and papers that my grandpa had saved from his job, at the bottom was a very old postcard photo from the 20's of his cousin when she was a baby. So far that is the strangest place I have found a photo.
Antique stores often have a good selection of old photos. Many are not labeled, but a good number are labeled. Check the stores in the area where the ancestor lived. Sometimes they can be found at any location. I've even seen labeled photos at Cracker Barrel.
Thanks for the passport idea! My mom’s family had a 200 anniversary at Pea River Presbyterian Church in Clio, Alabama. The parent church has a history book which includes a complete list of people buried at this church cemetery to the time of 2005 or so. The parent church still has their book from 1776 until their book was published. In 2026 I plan to go and give a copy of the Pea River Presbyterian church to the Mt. Carmel Presbyterian church.
I was asked to help clear out a relative’s belongings when they died. As I was going through their book collection I noticed something nestled between the pages of one of them. There were several family photos hidden there!
One other resource that I would add is trade journals and company magazines. There are a bunch of older trade journals and magazines archived on Google Books. They sometimes included biographical sketches of prominent people in the trade, often with photographs. Similarly, if an employer was big enough, they may have had a company magazine. Many of the railroad and streetcar companies in the U.S. had company magazines that would have pages dedicated to the people who worked there; the Key System magazine, for example, had a section where they would show photos and descriptions of their employees who were enlisted for service in World War II.
Very interesting my family are all from England, I just wish more genealogists from there would do you tube advice like you do. Thanks for your advice.
I think it depends on a state's privacy laws and whether the records have been digitized. I was recently trying to find my uncle's prison records, from the 1960s, here in Texas, but haven't found them. Although prison records in Texas are available on Ancestry for the late 1800s-1940s.
One area you missed is Facebook. I run a group that returns memorabilia to family members (close or not so close) free of charge. If someone has already accepted the photo, we do have a digital backup on the site. I know several groups on Facebook do the same thing. We have given back over 1900 individual items.
What is your Facebook groups name?
I have found pictures I had never seen of ancestors on Find a Grave that distant family have added to an individual page.
I actually found a picture of my grandpa on Ebay!
I was scrolling through one day and was floored! 😮
While looking through a box of taxes and papers that my grandpa had saved from his job, at the bottom was a very old postcard photo from the 20's of his cousin when she was a baby. So far that is the strangest place I have found a photo.
Antique stores often have a good selection of old photos. Many are not labeled, but a good number are labeled. Check the stores in the area where the ancestor lived. Sometimes they can be found at any location. I've even seen labeled photos at Cracker Barrel.
Thanks for the passport idea! My mom’s family had a 200 anniversary at Pea River Presbyterian Church in Clio, Alabama. The parent church has a history book which includes a complete list of people buried at this church cemetery to the time of 2005 or so. The parent church still has their book from 1776 until their book was published. In 2026 I plan to go and give a copy of the Pea River Presbyterian church to the Mt. Carmel Presbyterian church.
Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church, North Carolina.
I was asked to help clear out a relative’s belongings when they died. As I was going through their book collection I noticed something nestled between the pages of one of them. There were several family photos hidden there!
Multiple pictures at an antique store!
One other resource that I would add is trade journals and company magazines. There are a bunch of older trade journals and magazines archived on Google Books. They sometimes included biographical sketches of prominent people in the trade, often with photographs. Similarly, if an employer was big enough, they may have had a company magazine. Many of the railroad and streetcar companies in the U.S. had company magazines that would have pages dedicated to the people who worked there; the Key System magazine, for example, had a section where they would show photos and descriptions of their employees who were enlisted for service in World War II.
I found photos in a trade journal for Polish Business Men in Buffalo, NY. It was in Polish. Also a brief bio was attached.
Very interesting my family are all from England, I just wish more genealogists from there would do you tube advice like you do. Thanks for your advice.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
new sub, very helpful, thankyou x
Funerals are when the relatives bring out the old photos!
How do you find tin type photos? Our family albums have been missing since 1985. My other inquiry how do you find them in Eastern European countries?
How many photos of one person should I put up on Ancestry or family search? I have hundreds of my mom and dad.
Other than Ancestry, where can we find mug shots and prison records?
I think it depends on a state's privacy laws and whether the records have been digitized. I was recently trying to find my uncle's prison records, from the 1960s, here in Texas, but haven't found them. Although prison records in Texas are available on Ancestry for the late 1800s-1940s.
@kathrynludrick4821 ok. Thank you!