Dating an Undated Photo

There’s a clue as to when this photo may have been taken. Can you spot it?

Most of the 216 photos in the collection of glass negatives I found in the basement of a home I owned are identified and dated on the envelope in which the glass plate was stored.

The photo negative from this envelope was taken in New Hanover, PA on 8/21/1911. The photo is labeled “Ada, Me and Chickens.” The photographer John L. McDermond was taking a picture of himself and his sister Ada on her farm.

The above living room shot was unidentified. No envelope, no information. I knew it was a family portrait because, based on my research, I know who’s in it. On the left, we see the photographer’s wife, Fannie Flounders McDermond. On the far right is John L. McDermond, the photographer. At the piano is Mordecai McDermond, their son and the original owner of the house we owned in Glenside, PA where I found the negatives. I’m not 100% sure of the identity of the seated young man, but I’m reasonably certain it’s a cousin named Sam Flounders.

But when was it taken? The earliest dated photo I have is October 1905. Was the photo taken after that or before? I didn’t have a clue until I saw that there WAS a clue in the photo.

Look at the piano. There’s a piece of sheet music on it.

I could make out the words “Valley” and “Kentucky.” A Google search led me to a song called “In the Valley of Kentucky.” A search of the New York Public Library led me to several copies of this song. The cover of which seems to be the same as the piece of music above.

The song was copyrighted in 1901. The little inset photos are the headshots of some of the singers who recorded it. (Paid subscribers will get to hear a recording of it.)

Back in the early 1900s, before television and radio, a piano was a common fixture in almost every home. And on every piano was the latest piece of pop music that a member of the family would learn to play.

The McDermonds must have been recently tinkling the ivories on “In the Valley of Kentucky.” A 1901 chartbuster.

So was this photo taken in 1901? Possibly. But the stumbling block is the inset photo on the piece of music on the McDermond’s piano. It doesn’t seem to match any of the others I’ve found. Are there two people in that little photo inset?

Here are the only images I’ve found with two people in them.

Could it be this one?

I thought it could be. HOLD THE PRESSES: A lucky accident just happened. When I was downloading a YouTube video of the song for our Paid Subscribers, this image came up in the video.

It’s them. This is the version that’s on the piano!

I can tell by the bow on her head. So after searching music archives all day, trying to find the right version of the song, I stumbled upon it last minute on YouTube.

I haven’t yet found Bohannon & Corey’s version of the song. But most of the recordings I’ve come across are from 1902-1903. I’ll bet the sheet music was from around then, too, making this photo most likely from 1903. One of the earliest of John McDermond’s photos in the collection. I got lucky on this one.

Our paid subscribers can hear a 1903 recording of the song below. It’s not what they call Easy Listening.