It was the first speechless moment I’d had in a long time – and I’m rarely lost for words…
My father had a huge trunk full of loose photos that had belonged to my grandmother, Lisa, who immigrated to the US from Norway in her 50’s, to marry my grandfather. Very few of these photos were labeled, and I had sat up late for several consecutive nights going through them, and scanning the many extremely small photos that must have been quite popular back then. I had to scan and enlarge them just to get a good look at the faces and places, all of which still went unrecognized. About halfway through what was seeming like a very un-fruitful job, I picked up this tiny little photo, scanned it, and to my amazement, recognized the names on the stones as being my grandfather’s parents in Norway. I knew little about them besides their names at that point. Seeing this very tangible proof of their existence brought them to life immediately for me. I would love to have yet another speechless moment, paying my respects in person, if someday possible.
Small but precious photos. What wonderful find! Look how old they were, too! How did you enlarge the photos? I'd like to know because I have some small ones I want to post. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteNancy from My Ancestors and Me at http://nancysfamilyhistoryblog.blogspot.com
Hi Nancy, I had to scan them at 300 dpi or higher, some of them as high as 600 dpi. I'd never seen such tiny little photos. Not sure what the purpose of such little pictures would be, unless people just plain had a lot better eyesight back then than I do now! :)
ReplyDeleteOr maybe there was a cost involved? Maybe smaller photos were less expensive than larger photos? Were they about 2" x 3", or even smaller than that?
ReplyDeleteThey were smaller than that - maybe 1 x 2". With these pictures being from overseas, perhaps that had something to do with it?
ReplyDeleteI have a couple lines of my family who came from Norway. Congratulations on this find! I have Larsen's in my tree, but these names don't match...yet anyway. I looked around a bit on your blog and noticed you have family from Bergen. My ggrandmother was from Bergen. I will keep an eye open, you never know maybe there will be a connection one day!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful find! I too have ancestors from Norway. My 2nd great grandfather immigrated to the United States and ended up fighting in the Civil War.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Jana! Where did your ancestors settle?
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