Posted 10 years ago
kygirlinnola
(3 items)
My mother received a large mirror from my great aunt's house when she passed away. When she was attempting to move the mirror recently, the mirror fell away from the frame, revealing this large print on paper photograph attached to a canvas back. It is at least 20 inches by 15 inches. What type of nurse's uniform is this? Can a round-about date be determined? My great aunt lived in Whitley County, Kentucky her whole life and died in her mid-90s in the mid-90s. Thanks!
An amazing find, love it!
That is amazing, I just love these kind of finds......
Old photographs were often used as the backing in frames and mirrors. As a photo restorator for nearly two decades (before and during the transition to computer digital photo restoration) I encountered this a lot when framed photos were brought to me.
The best story I have is of an elderly lady who came in one day with a lovely old framed photo under dome (bubble) glass that she wanted copied and additional B&W sepia-toned hand-coloured archival prints made from. I always made it a policy to remove the photos from the frame with the client present so that if any damage was encountered I couldn't be blamed for it later (!).
On the inside of the backing cardboard was a hand-coloured photo of a very distinguished-looking middle-aged gentleman. I was engaged in the moment enjoying the discovery when the woman suddenly broke down in tears and inconsolable sobbing. It turns out the photo was of her (now dead) father -- who disliked having his picture taken -- and the only previous image thought to have existed was a tattered old wallet-sized photo that was worn and damaged almost beyond recognition.
The newly discovered photo was in near perfect condition having been protected for nearly a century inside the frame. The kicker to the story is that the framed photo the woman was bringing to me was of her mother, and it's most likely that the photo of her father was taken at the same time -- so suddenly the family had a posthumous matching set of portraits that they never knew existed. It was a most emotional thing to accidentally be a part of.
I wouldn't be surprised if the photo you have is some relative as well. I recommend that anyone with old original-framed photos of their relatives to have a look inside -- more often than not you'll find some hidden treasure... even if it's only someone's pencil-written comment on the back of the photo (which nearly every old photo I encountered had).
What a big size for a photo from this era! Isn't it unusual? I love your find!!!
Kydur, thanks for the touching story :-)
Kyra, the closest "standard" size to the photo in the mirror would be 16" x 20" and you're right that it's not as common as the smaller sizes but certainly not all that unusual either; especially amongst the wealthy who had larger houses = larger rooms = larger frames to fill the walls. I encountered a good number of this size as a photo restorer, but 5"x7" and 8"x10" were the most common. Oval 11"x14" were quite popular as well.
Thanks Kydur for info!