Some are just ever so Goreyesque:
This one is likely a photograph of a parlor enlargement, originally probably a tintype:
Parlor enlargements were done by specialized artists, and almost always were memorials for family members who had died.
There are millions of new-baby pictures, most secure in anonymity, but this one is labelled 'Sadie Brown' on the back:
Sometimes the Fates grant us entrée into a while life, in this case via a box of snapshots and portraits covering about 30 years. Here are two to get us started: Joe Wilner needs a page all his own This one looks like a character from Deadwood: On the back it says "Mr. Winance who I was engage to." Clearly a lucky escape... I don't know whether it's better to take this seriously or privilege its frivolity: I didn't know the name of the process for blue prints until MrWaterslide denominated them as cyanotypes, but the knees are pretty eloquent:
Joe Wilner in about 1935
Joe Wilner in about 1960
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