Aunt Ella was a real person, but not one of my relatives. I found her photo at an antique show. On the back of this photo I found a caption two different captions. Ella signed it, "Compliments of Ella, March 29, 1873." In a different handwriting and ink was an additional comment, "Aunt Ella's wedding dress. Heavy brown corded silk."
As a former photo curator, I wondered, "How could someone discard such a precious family photo?" It was Ella's wedding gift to her family. I collect abandoned family pictures such as this one. Most are ordinary family portraits but some are very unusual. This blog provides a new home for these images.
Maureen Taylor is known as The Photo Detective for her work solving photo mysteries. The Wall Street Journal called her "the nation's foremost historical photo detective."