How long had I envied other people's old family photos?
Probably a very long time. 
Finally, in my forties, visiting Frostburg, Maryland, I purchased this family in a familiar pose. Not that there is any way to relate them to my personal history: I simply wanted to claim a connection to an historical past. As time went on, I purchased others.
There's penciled writing on the back I neglected to decipher in the 1970s, now cannot read at all. How many times do you write identifying information on a photo? Photo, a black and white print, what's that? some child visiting here might ask.
Later in the 1980s, I became interested in late 19th/early 20th century photography by women, of women. It was a surprise to learn there had been many women photographers back then. Taking photos was promoted to women by Kodak, could be pursued as an artistic expression without attending art school--usually closed to them. A married women might learn by helping out in her husband's studio, frequently assigned to developing prints. Often when a spouse died, she'd take over the business, have a means of supporting herself. One day I'll write more here, post some of the unknown women and men photographers I discovered in vintage shops.
Another image that drew me in was this one, two--maybe three-- generations of women in a family. Again there is nothing about them on the back. However, because the photo has been on my walls in the original wood frame, glass covered, I decided to open it. First what I found under one edge of the frame:
The negative of this photo is preserved for future orders. Duplicates can be obtained at any time at reduced rates. We make a Specialty of enlarging in Oil Colors, Crayons, or Pastel.
E.W. MOORE, Artist, (Removed.) Seventh and Washington Streets,
That was too enticing not to investigate further. Prying open the mat glued to the picture, I was surprised by what I saw--Dekun Building, Portland, OR. Surprised because I'd found the photo on the east coast, some time in the mid-1980s. Now Rachel, my daughter, lives there; I know those streets. A little Googling located Mr. Moore, the photographer, in 1895, though not the building.
Here's my own three generations of women in black and white, in our more casual time taken while we were in Portland last month. It pleases me that our children and their children will have images to pass along, not need to depend on other families' collections.
Rachel, expecting another daughter next month, also went to Frostburg State University years after that first photo entered my collection. A nice bit of synchronicity.
Nineteenth century black and white photos are wonderful in many ways. Particularly remarkable is the way they continue to look sharp as we struggle to find places that will produce good black and white prints. When we traveled in Mexico and China, prints frequently had green or sepia tones. Same usually in the U.S. where color, of course, rules.
This one was printed in Portland where we now mail film for better reproduction. The best ones are those Ron would make a few years ago. These days he still shoots black and white film; I carry color in my digital camera. The hours he spent in the darkroom have been replaced by spinning and weaving, a more amiable old guy pursuit.