Albums of photographs: disposal?

[Finley 1]

TOO many photos are chucked..  please dont..

they need to be given to some local heritage group 

or to one of the many roots chatters that live and breath old photos and placing them in the correct hands where possible..

if they have names then yes   let Roots chatters see if they can find the homes...

pleaseeeee   if you want to get rid.. I for one will have them  and pay for postage etc.... if you want to earn money place each one individually on certain auction site they will sell...

check them all out. 

xin

[aghadowey]

If you do decide to get rid of them- either to other family members or selling them- scan all the photos (both sides) so that you will have a record of them for future reference. I have old bone-handled knives with a wide, flat, thin blade will extract most photos easily from old albums and also makes it easier to return them to where they originally came from.

We've several albums with mostly un-named pictures and over the years I've slowly been able to identify many of them. Studio location (and dates operating) certainly help along with dating the pictures.

One branch of mother-in-law's family were in Londonderry City, Dundalk, Waterford and possibly Enniskillen so when I managed to track down a descendant interested in family history I made photocopies of all the pictures (pre-scanners, etc.), numbered them and sent them to him. Back came the results mostly identifying the relatives and a few unsure but "we have that one too" so we at least have a general identification.

[ainslie]

I am taking in all you say and can see the majority want me to keep the albums.  I am grateful for all advice and will work through each of the albums for clues.
The following is from the first I have looked at so far, with only one name found on the c de vs I have been able to extract, and a single date: 1861.

ALBUM 1

Photographers’ details on reverse of c de v:

H. Sampson / 10 London Street, Southport
H. Sampson / 10 & 11 London Street, Southport *

Photographice du Grand Hotel / NAVAR[Y?] /35 Boulevert des Capucines

Crown over shield with GWG / G W Griffin / St Helens *

 Photographed from life by / Mayall / 224 Regent Street / London

Photographed by / A Brothers /14 St Ann Square / Manchester *

John Jamblin / photographic artist / 17Park End Street / Oxford

R. Knott / chemist & photographer / Blackburn Road / Little Bolton *

*All Lancashire

The originator of the album, my ancestor, was born in Wigan in 1839 and was still there in 1861.
A

[Treetotal]

Thank you for more comments.  With all your encouragement I have had a closer look at one of the albums, which has the name of my gt-grandfather stamped near the front.
The photos are all cartes de visite and most are tightly sprung into slots, with no access from the edge of the pages.
A few are loose enough to be coaxed out and show, so far, one name which is not from any part of my family tree, with the year 1861.  I have found that the man’s wife and daughter lived at Bolton in 1861, not far from Wigan, Lancs where the album’s owner lived.
Most photos have the photographer’s details on the reverse.  I am listing them and will be asking for help with dates. Is this the right place for the query?
A

Put them on the photo restoration and dating board for dating and also for comparison if you there the same  people at different ages.
I collect CDVs and cabinet cards and have 8 Victorian photo albums. Extracting them is in itself a skill which I have taken time to master, so don't give up, you never know what the backs will reveal. I put my thumb and forefinger either side of the photo page and ease it up and down and back and forth, then slide the photo down.
Look forward to seeing them on the board.
Carol

[Sloe Gin]

The photos are all cartes de visite

Then it's quite likely that many if not most of them are not your relatives.  CDVs were a fad, and people collected them.  They would have them printed, much like visiting cards, and exchange them with friends and connections.  CDVs of celebrities (actors, royalty etc) were also collected. 

[Treetotal]

The photos are all cartes de visite

Then it's quite likely that many if not most of them are not your relatives.  CDVs were a fad, and people collected them.  They would have them printed, much like visiting cards, and exchange them with friends and connections.  CDVs of celebrities (actors, royalty etc) were also collected.

I disagree, whilst it is true that friends swapped photos as they were frequently collected, the album would have  been bought originally to hold family photos as the albums were not cheap, and the gaps would be filled with those that were collected.

Carol

[Ruskie]

Carol, and others,

Wouldn’t the value of and beauty in albums lie partly in their completeness? I understand that the photos need to be carefully examined to look for clues as to the identity of the sitters, but not at the risk of damaging the album or the pictures?

I sometimes see empty albums in antiques and collectables fairs and they usually look a bit sad, with little interest in them.

Ainslie, as I thought might be the case, it looks like you might have a few takers if you want to get rid of the albums.

[Claire64]

I inherited a vast collection of old photos from my grandma, who never threw anything away.  Over the past few months I have had great fun posting one a day on our local Facebook Bygones forum.  I have had a huge success in getting names, and even being able to work out that some of the people on the photos were family members I had never seen photos of before.
Thinking outside the box - people on the forum might not know who some of the people in the photo were, but they recognised at least one of them, maybe the bride or groom or bridesmaid, and from this I have been able to work out who else was on the photo.  A lot of them proved to be close friends and neighbours...I used the census for this, and found that perhaps they lived next door to my family.  Or I went back a generation or two and found a family name jump out at me. 
It's been fascinating and addictive!  And I have donated some of the photos to others who had a family connection to those on the photos.  Our local history soc would take them, perhaps yours would too if you don't want them?

[Guy Etchells]

A quick scroll through Ebay offerings (victorian-photo-album) shows prices between £4 and £500, there is a market for such things but as others have said I would keep them in the family.
Cheers
Guy