A collection of photographs connected to Sandwich, Illinois, whose locations, people, or stories have not yet been fully identified.
This is the image that started this project. Do you know who this is? Someone asked that question over 100 years ago…and here we are. Still wondering.
Every now and then a photograph turns up that asks more questions than it answers.
Who was this person?
Where was it taken?
What became of them?
Why was their picture saved for all these years?
Victorian Home and Touring Car (c. 1908)
- Postmarked August 1908.
- Mailed from Sandwich.
- Large Victorian residence with corner tower.
- Early automobile with several passengers.
- Location unknown.
Questions
- What house is this?
- Who are the people?
- Is the automobile owned by the family or a visitor?
The photographs below were taken by Sandwich photographers and mailed from Sandwich homes. In many cases, the photographer’s name survives. The studio survives. Sometimes even the date survives.
But the identity of the person(s) in the photograph has been lost.
These images have been gathered here so they won’t disappear again.
Some were taken by well known Sandwich photographers such as Charlie E. Orr, W. T. Williams, W. H. Hendricks, and others who operated studios in town during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Others are real photo postcards that were mailed to friends and relatives, carrying both a picture and a handwritten message.
In one remarkable example from 1908, the sender wrote asking the recipient if she knew who the woman in the photograph was.
More than a century later, we’re asking the same question.
A hundred years ago somebody knew exactly who those children were. Today, we don’t.
If you recognize a face, a family name, a location, or a story connected to any of these photographs, we’d love to hear from you. Let’s put the pieces together again.
History is often built from official records, newspaper articles, and public documents.
Sometimes it’s built from a photograph tucked away in a drawer.