Why do people buy antique pictures of total strangers? I noticed that they are on sale at the local antique?

Question

stores and some sold on ebay? Just curious?

Answer 1

Corporate decorators buy them for places like Cracker Barrel (the restaurant chain) and Bed&Breakfasts and other theme places.  It always freaks me out on the rare occasions I eat at Cracker Barrel thinking that I may have ancestors looking down at a family eating catfish nuggets wondering "who the h**l are these people, how did I get here, and why don't they offer me a piece of that fish?  And that waitress thinks she has problems- try riding in the rain for 5 days during the Tullahoma campaign with Yankees shooting at you and no food and covered in lice, or try giving birth to 14 kids the old fashioned way like Matilda here when you had to cook on a wood burning stove in 104 degree heat outside and you still have to gut and pluck the chickens while nursing the twins, and then come whine to me about having to pull a double shift next Tuesday!", but then I've probably read HARRY POTTER (with its sentient photos) too often.

Answer 2

actually I believe there is a group who buys those for Genealogists who are looking for their ancestors. Some have names on the back and some do not. I would love to have the time to see some in my home town antique store since I might find relatives. But others just love the look of the old photos. That adds touch to the frame. There are collectors for everything out there.

Answer 3

Many people buy the old photos for craft making.  

If I run into an old photo with a name, try to find the family.

Occasionally, I have been successful.

Answer 4

Well, some people use them to decorate their homes, shops, or restaurants, to give the place an old-timey atmosphere.  Some folks collect antique photos of subjects that interest them (military and wedding photos, for example, are highly collectible).  And some people are just intrigued by the people in the photos, staring up at them from across the years. It's kind of fun to ponder who that person was, and what their life was like.

But actually, most of those photos remain "homeless" in the antique shops because, as you said, not many people want pictures of total strangers.  However, if you knew that the lady in the picture was your great-great-grandmother, you'd probably buy it up in a snap, right?  We all want pictures of our own relatives!

That's why it's so important to make sure that YOUR old family photos are identified.  Because that's how these priceless family treasures wind up in antique shops in the first place.  An older relative dies, and their photo album is sold in an estate sale, because nobody else in the family knows who the people were.  It's really heartbreaking to see those old photos lost from their families.  Because somewhere out there, there's someone who would give anything to have them, if only they could be identified.

So next time you visit your grandparents or older relatives, take some time to go through their old photos with them, and make sure there are names written on the back of each photo.  That will help ensure that your ancestors stay where they belong... with your family.

Haha - simple question, long answer!

Answer 5

They are a good guide to social and local history, fashion etc.