Vanessa WoodFiguring out the date of an old photograph can be pretty tricky. Hairstyles, clothing and furniture that change with fashion can help date a photo. Because fonts come into and out of style, they are another tool for establishing when a photograph was made.
What Is Branding on Old Photographs?
Branding is the photographer’s name (or studio name) and sometimes the location of the photographer. Coca-Cola’s unique flowing script font logo that has endured for more than 100 years is perhaps the most recognizable branding in the world. Photograph branding on cabinet and carte de visite photographs–photographs printed on card stock–increased in use during the last half of the nineteenth century. Photograph branding did not carry the same longevity as the Coca-Cola name. Some photographers changed their branding as often as they ordered paper supplies and the style of the writing may have depended upon what fonts were available to the printer.
Figure 1, 2, and 3: Photograph Card Stock, Huddleston, New Castle, Indiana1
fig. 1
fig. 2
fig. 3
Which Font Family Was Used?
The font family (the style of letters and numbers) used as the photographer’s branding can tell us a bit about when the photograph may have been produced. A starting point is the identification of the font family. Take a photo of the printed words or take a computer screenshot, and upload that image to the WhatTheFont tool on MyFonts.com (see Figures 1-3). WhatTheFont works best with clear, high-resolution images, and historical fonts may not always be identified accurately by the tool. The results may suggest a font name if the font family is still in use. There may be no similar font–that may indicate this is indeed an old font. Identifying the font family is a starting point, though you’ll need to consider the fonts available to printers (especially in rural areas), antiquated typefaces, and the photographer’s personal choices for their card stock printing.
Identifying the Era of An Old Font
Back in the age of manual printing font families were called typefaces because they were little pieces of lead type that had to be placed by hand on the printing press. Styles of typefaces came in and out of fashion just like the fonts of today (Comic Sans font today is frowned upon by graphic designers). Because typefaces hit their peak use in different eras, today they can evoke that era.
Where can you see typeface in use during an era? Some sources are as follows,
- Books that show design features of specific eras. I have found books on Art Nouveau and Art Deco to be helpful in distinguishing eras.
- Illustrated books in Archive.org and GoogleBooks have examples of typefaces (see Figure 4). These websites also provide the option to search by year, so examples can be found from specific periods.
- Newspapers have the most creative use of typefaces in their ads (see Figure 5). Newspaper websites also provide the option to search by year.
- Compare with other photographs in your collection or online samples. Where do you find these samples online? Try eBay, Ancestry.com, and FindAGrave.com, but remember these photographs are for your personal use and not for the taking. [read more… Do You Take Photographs from eBay for The Sake of Genealogy?]
Establishing a Control Group of Photograph Samples
Comparing branding on photographs with other known photographs can help to establish a photograph’s age. Where do I find these samples for comparison?
- Look at photographs you have in your collection. If you have other photographs created by the same photographer there may be some that have been dated on the front or back. Or they may contain subject matter that lends itself to specific dating (like a wedding photograph, or a presidential campaign banner in the background, etc.).
- Do a Google search for the photographer’s name and location. Are there identified and dated photographs with the same branding as your photograph?
- Again, eBay is a good source for locating other photographs made by the same photographer. You may even find a photograph that the seller has been able to date and identify!
Using the font to date a photo is another tool to identify when a photograph was made. Combining fonts with clothing, furniture, backgrounds, etc. will add another point to establish a date for a photograph.
Figure 4: Sample of 1880s Fonts2
Figure 5: Example of 1894 Typefaces3
FEATURED IMAGE: Godey’s Lady’s Book (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: privately published, March 1856), 298; GoogleBooks (https://www.google.com/books/edition/Godey_s_Lady_s_Book/cx8jAQAAMAAJ : accessed 16 June 2025).
- Photograph on Huddleston, New Castle, Indiana (subject obscured by author), ca. 1900, author’s collection.
- J.G. Low, Illustrated Catalogue of Art Tiles Made by J.G. & J.F. Low (Chelsea, Massachusetts: privately published, 1881-1884), title page.
- “A New Idea,” Advertisement, Evening World Herald (Omaha, Nebraska), 24 July 1894, page 8, columns 5-6; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/859239899/ : accessed 16 June 2025).
