Coffee Talk: Dating Photographs Through Clothing

"Some people are married to their jobs, I date costumes," said Elizabeth "Ellie" Carlson as she began her lecture "Dating Photographs Through Clothing" at Des Plaines Historical Society (DPHS) on Thursday afternoon.  The lecture was the September installment of the society's monthly "Coffee Talk" series.

Close to 30 Des Plaines residents attended the lecture, bringing with them dozens of old photographs to be analyzed by Carlson to determine when they were taken.  Carlson is a costume historian and curator of costumes at the Winnetka Historical Society. She gained her professional training at the National Association of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. She was a curator at the DPHS from 1993 to 1997.

Most residents brought in typical pictures of grandparents and great-grandparents, although Milton Langer did bring a rather sultry photo of his former wife, circa 1957, that he had taken himself. "I used to take a lot of pictures back then but some of them aren't appropriate," he said with a laugh.

Carlson used sketches of period clothing and books such as Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion 1840-1900 by Joan Severa and An Illustrated History of Hairstyles 1830-1930 by Marian I. Doyle to aid in the lecture. She provided numerous tips in preserving and dating photos, which can be viewed here.

Carlson said women's clothing is usually used to determine the period a photograph was taken because "the last innovation in men's fashion was when they stopped wearing tights."

"Dating Photographs Through Clothing" is one of many lectures Carlson gives across the U.S., including "Speaking of Unmentionables: The Rise and Fall of Ladies Underwear," which is only open to ladies. Sorry men. However, you can hear the lecture and view her speaking schedule on her website.

Carlson began presenting "Dating Photographs Through Clothing" when, as a longtime curator, she saw a need for it, noticing that many people, and not just genealogists, were bringing in old photographs of ancestors looking for answers.

"We all know it's important to know genealogy for medical history, but it's important to know what people looked like from a spiritual standpoint too because it helps to see the movie of the past in our heads," she said. "We're so clinical these day, we lose track of the emotions of our ancestors."

Carlson told a story about an out-of-town woman who came into the DPHS while she was a curator a few years ago to research her family, who came from Des Plaines. She knew the woman's grandfather's name and that he was a firefighter, and that the visitor was hoping for any information she could dug up. Carlson happened to find a photograph of him -- the first photo the woman had ever seen of her grandfather.

"There are ways to capture and hold DNA," said Carlson. "But we don't pay near as much attention to how great-grandpa combed his hair or tied his tie and that's important too."

Because more than half of the audience brought in multiple photographs to examine, the hour-long presentation quickly flew by and Carlson extended it for 30 minutes.  Susan Golland, programs manager at DPHS, was pleased with the turnout and is hoping for extra funding to hold an evening session of the lecture this year so that more people can attend.

"Coffee Talk: Cowboy Legends" is up next on Oct. 14. Attendees will hear a lecture on cowboy legends and learn about Western films and sound effects.