Hermann Krempe This photo album came to me from the German ebay. It tells the story of the families Krempe & Schröder & Weber over the course of more than 60 years! And it holds some wonderful clues, so I put on my detective hat and this is what I could find out. Parents Hermann … Continue reading Hermann Krempe: Hamburg, Tönning, Kiel

Update: Has been RETURNED! Happiness is in the little things. Like throwing a stone into water, causing it to splash, probably made this little boy giggle with joy. The slightly faded photograph was gifted to me by a fellow photo collector with a comment that this photo came to him from the United States. The … Continue reading Erle Amariah Smith, Jr.

This lovely photo was gifted to me by a photo collector from Canada. I could not have asked for a neater handwriting on the back. It says: "Mary J. Beiler, Waterman, Ill., 1907". The photo was taken in Aurora, Illinois. It didn't take me long to come across a very well-researched family tree of the … Continue reading Mary J. Beiler from Waterman, Ill.

These 5 photos came from the same seller on German ebay. At first I thought it's the same woman in all photos, but at closer look I realised that although they looked similar, those were not photos of one lady. The dedications on the back of some of the photos confirmed it - these are … Continue reading Sisters Valeska and Elfriede Wahlländer

This RPPC was among a lot of around 100 photos I purchased on German ebay. It stood out for me, first of all, because of the unusual design of the taller lady's skirt. Judging from the ladies' fashion, the photo dates to the 1910s. Secondly, it was written in English which I don’t get often. … Continue reading Sisters Katie and Tillie Frauen

Update: Blanche's photo is going home to her family in the US! "With love and best wishes, Blanche Rippetoe" This photo was found in Germany, but it looks like an American RPPC written in English. The dedication on it, handwritten in ink, has almost faded, but it's still readable enough to identify the sitter as … Continue reading Miss Eleanor Blanche Rippetoe

This found photo first gave me hope - I had a name (Heinz Krevert), location (Giessen in Germany) and birthdate (March 5th, 1909). The back of the photo says: "To my dearest Maria on my 31st birthday on March 5th, 1940 (in Giessen)." My hope soon turned into chills: this young man had fallen in … Continue reading Heinrich Krevert

A real family treasure came into my possession through ebay - not just one family photo album, but four of the same family! One of the decisive clues I found in one of the photo albums was a marriage notification of Georg Hackner and Marion née Bechtold from Altmannstein, Germany, from July 1921. Georg Hackner … Continue reading The Hackner sisters

UPDATED: The photo album has been returned to the family! It is time to open a new photo album! It came to me from German ebay and I've been sitting on this well-labelled album for a while, every now and then trying my luck with more research on the names mentioned in it. Meet Otto … Continue reading The Schaible family

Someone has scribbled the name Carl Julius Norkus on the back of this photograph of a brick mason. I did my quick search on my usual genealogy platforms but couldn't be sure if I had found the right person since I didn't have any idea of a location. But then a Google search came back … Continue reading Carl Julius Norkus, the brick mason