The Backs of Pictures

Something I’ve always liked is the writing on the backs of old photos. The handwriting in the times of my granparents, great grandparents, and even my parents was just so different than it is now. While the writing of my time (being a kid in the 80’s) tended to lean toward the bubble and i’s dotted with hearts, a’s drawn with and without their ascenders, and experimental e’s, these folks learned with a messy speedball ink pen, and they write in a very interesting more crunched style. This style has almost entirely faded from today’s ballpoint oriented writing. The writing is determined and careful, or rushed and almost illegible. Looking at the back of an old photo gives one a window into the personality of the writer, and the character of their times. The names are always so interesting, so old fashioned. Who was the photographer, who is captioning, what memories are they trying to preserve for future generations?

*the top is from the back of a photo of my grandmother’s neighbor when she was a child. From the caption it appears to be 1993, but no, this is a “2″ I think. the second is a photo of my great grandmother and great grandfather, probably written by him.