Can you solve the mystery of these 60-year-old travel photos?

January 28, 2021 3:41 PM

CNN: stunning found-photos from Alaska. Snapshots of everyday life in Alaska-- check out the entire set of photos. Included are people going about their chores, dogs, planes, families at home, Yup'ik dancers, nuns, a parade in downtown Anchorage, and a whole bunch of wiggly kids.

The finder is seeking information about the places and people in the pictures. Commenters have identified shots in Anchorage and Bethel, but most remain a mystery. Do you think you might know someone here?

Learn more about Alaska's history: there's a whole other digital archive to check out, too.

posted by blnkfrnk (13 comments total)

It appears the Moravian Church is a Protestant denomination with a strong missionary tradition. I bet there is some information that could be found in their historical records.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 4:02 PM on January 28, 2021

Comments indeed are worth reading. The 1960 photo was fun to just guess. Hotel, rail line, cliff with buildings. Also, using locations on Google maps is cool in identified photos.
posted by clavdivs at 4:30 PM on January 28, 2021

Very cool. Hope people can sleuth these out and families can get their heirlooms.
posted by Windopaene at 4:52 PM on January 28, 2021

My dad served in the army in Alaska in the 1950s. A few years ago I came across all the 35mm slides he took while there, and had them digitized and printed up into a book. Really amazing to look through.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:07 PM on January 28, 2021 [3 favorites]

Those pictures are amazing. So many round cheeked kiddos and sled dogs! And Santa bringing presents around the hospital (?)!
posted by ChuraChura at 5:46 PM on January 28, 2021

What strikes me is how little insulation most of those homes appear to have, like that army hut near the top of the list. I get cold just looking at them.
posted by Beholder at 6:54 PM on January 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

It appears the Moravian Church...

The only reason I know the Moravian Church is that they have cool stars and if you go to Lititz, PA for Wilbur buds there's a neat little Moravian Church historical museum in the old part of town.
posted by cult_url_bias at 7:33 PM on January 28, 2021 [2 favorites]

I'm from Philadelphia, and lived in upstate PA for a few years but somehow missed Wilbur Buds. Looks like I have something to try. Sorry for the derail.
posted by evilDoug at 8:01 PM on January 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

One of the reliable cool things about Alaska is that everyone knows everyone, so putting this online is genius.
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:46 PM on January 28, 2021

I've not been to alaska specifically, but these photos are the absolute best representation I've seen of the color of the wilderness in the winter. it is colorful, but not saturated. These are beautiful
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:23 AM on January 29, 2021

These are stunning. Looking at them made time melt away for a little bit. Thanks for posting, blnkfrnk.
posted by estlin at 3:19 PM on January 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

Update: Mystery of 60-year-old Alaska tourist photos is solved
posted by dhruva at 12:25 PM on February 23, 2021 [6 favorites]

Only partly solved! They're still not certain who the photographer was.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:05 PM on February 23, 2021 [1 favorite]