On the topic of digitizing old photos...then what

[clucaswvu04]

The thread about digitizing old photos, got me thinking of my current struggle now. I digitized a lot of old photos from my grandma and some from my mom. The ones from my mom were somewhat easier to organize - she recalled at least general dates of things (like it was sometime in the span of 3-5 years and such). I have a lot from my grandma that were handed down to her - they live in an old trunk in her basement...which is why I wanted so badly to digitize them before they faded/were ruined. How do you organize old photos like this? We have some from the 1800s but no one is certain of who exactly is in the photo or even the decade.

I started by making folders for chunks of time - then would move that photo to where the guess it would fit. Eventually I would love to be able to share them digitally with family, but need some loose organization first. I did print 2 books with the photos from Costco and sent my mom to take a family reunion - hoping family could add comments/names/dates with the pictures but haven't gotten those back

 

[craftytam]

Wow! Photos from the 1800s would be awesome to have! I think my earliest are 1905.
I'm kind of in the same boat you are. I have an album from one of my Grandma's aunts that I have scanned. I don't know who most of the people are, and I don't have dates on some. Most of these I have fun scrapping, but they're not ones that anyone in my family has an interest in.
I also have all of my Grandparent's photos/negatives that I am scanning. I have general folders right now. I add dates (years) where I can. Like you, my mom is helping with general dates and people.

 

[kristalund]

What a great project to be working on.
Last summer I organized photos into photo storage box by date but haven't digitized them.
I scanned a few of my Grandma and Hubby's fam but the project is incomplete and honestly hasn't been a priority although I know how important it is.