I open the office door and there's a musty smell in the air... after at least 150 years the old photos emit more than just memories of a bygone age.

There's a package wrapped in a cardboard with the words "Art Treasures of the World" on it and that has the address of where my Great Aunt Louise worked—Institute of the Deaf and Dumb:
Miss Louise Fearon
637 Gottingen
Halifax N S
Inside is a treasure trove of photographs that would appear not to have been opened since the late-1950s. Although I recognise some people, for the older photographs, I don't and, sadly, there's no names on them.

However, some bare the photographer names and studios they were produced by. In the early years of photography, the studios specialised in portraits and highly fashionable ‘cartes’, small visiting card sized landscape and portrait photographs. Some look really grand so I am hoping this will help date who these people are when we match names with our family tree. Here's some of the studios that were printed on the photo postcards:

• MaGill, Belfast—research shows that a James Magill opened a studio in Belfast in 1861
  • My Dad seemed to always be the first to get things... like we were the first in our street to get a colour television, a phone, a computer (though he never got the hang of using it) so maybe that desire was inherited that they were the first to get James MaGill to photograph them
• Moffett's Art Studio, 53 Bridge Street, Portadown (active during 1901-39) also 53 Donegall Place (active from 1909-22), Belfast
  • Great Aunt Mary and the love of her life, Captain James Dick lounging on deck on one of the ships he captained
• Howard's Studios, 53 Donegall Place, Belfast (active during 1925-8)
  • Captain Dick stands proud on the deck of probably the same ship
• An Australian one... Talma and Company (1893-1932) 119 Swanston Street, Melbourne who was the first commercial photographer in Australia to use electric light
• L. C. Bellsmith of 72 & 74 Union St, Lurgan (1902-6) and and 35 High St, Belfast (1906)
• A. G. Massey of 35 High St, Belfast (1884)
• James Good Tunny & Co., 13 Maitland Street (active in that address, 1875-87)
• Frederick Karoly, Leamington Spa
• Benoit Bloch, 179 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, New York (1883-1889)
• Charles Howell, 44 North Street, Belfast (active from 1937-39)
• Herbert Allison & Son, active from 1905-39 in Scotch St, Armagh; Dundalk, Newry and Warrenpoint
• The Albert Studio operating since 1921-3 at address 305 Pender Street West, Vancouver

Of course, I could try and date the cards through Dating Wizard but I'll leave that for now :-)

Just found a photo of Miss Minnie Palmer who was a celebrated American theatre actress and playwright (1860-1936), one of the first to be accepted on the British stage. Random that it's amongst all these family photos. Somebody must have like to go to the theatre. They are selling the exact same card of her (and similar) for a couple of quid on the internet.