Dating Old Photographs 18401929 You've almost certainly faced the problem: you've got an album or box of old photographs but almost all lack any identification. Family Chronicle's special publication can't help you identify the subject but it can help you with dating when the picture was taken - often within a couple of years. A number of books have already been published th... more »at describe how to date old photographs but they rely almost entirely on descriptions: Family Chronicle's book is almost all reproductions of old photographs of known date. There are over 650 pictures covering the period from the 1840s to the 1920s. By comparing your undated pictures to the examples, you will be able to compare clothing and hair fashion, the poses adopted by the subject and the background settings and establish a date within a couple of years. The book provides convincing evidence that our ancestors were at least as fashion conscious as we are today and that those fashions changed just as frequently.« less