“Little girl taking a photo with a box camera” by simpleinsomnia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Family photos were sometimes layered into boxes or mounted in albums as heavy as the Fall/Winter Sears & Roebuck catalog.

We would pour over the pages, looking for something relevant to the present day. Or a glimpse of our grandparents from their courting days. Even baby brother sleeping in a woven bassinet.

Mid-century colorized photos were typically done for portraits only, since they cost more and took longer to produce. These timeless images were hand tinted by everyday “artists” who were hired to performed their work in photography studios.

 “Vintage Picture of Two Children, A Cute Boy giving a Shoe Shine to a Beautiful Little Blonde Girl” by Beverly & Pack is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

One thing was for sure: those old family photographs passed down to us were both cornerstones and touchstones of life.

And they’re still important treasures we keep passing along to the next generations, held in worn but beloved books and boxes.