Featured WWll photograph album

I bought a photograph album out of interest some time ago but it has just been sitting in a drawer and I don't really know what to do with it! There are quite a number of RAF photos taken in the middle east and some family photos from the 1930s & 40s. Whoever stuck them in did a good job as there is no way they could be removed without damaging them. They couldn't be cut out either as they are stuck on both sides of the pages! There are also quite a few London theatre programmes from 1946. The album is quite large - 14x10 inches.
I'm sure the album would be of interest to someone but I don't know if it would have any value - would Ebay be the best way to sell it?
Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

Owner appears to have been Leslie Gunn. And, of course, someone would find it of interest.

Debora

 

Very nice.

The market for WW2 photos and ephemera is very robust. Large collector base.

eBay has its flaws, for sure, but you're reaching a huge audience.

Here are some eBay sold listings for similar:

WW2 Photo Album Sold Ebay Listings ==>>

 

Agreed, emphatically!

Things like that do have an eBay market...BUT there exists much good Karma in forgoing the money and seeking those whose family are recorded in such historic detail. Certainly the RAF has a historical branch or office; an hour spent online pursuing the appropriate recipient that would have the interest, and importantly the resources, to get it out of your drawer and into the Gunn family's hands...that would be time very well spent.

Thanks for sharing, and Good Fortune in your efforts!

 

May have been no descendants in this instance but... I strongly agree that... If possible, family items should be returned to the family. Where they are invaluable.

Debora

 

neat album....

 

I've found plenty of personal items such as this...in the trash. I recently found a scrapbook/album of a Vietnam era pics, awards, patches. I looked up the guy, and it was his house that threw them away. After a quick search, I found he had recently passed away. Now I have them and I can't throw them away.

I found another WWI Purple Heart along with all of the accolades that came with it, strewn haphazardly in a bin full of misc trash and whatnot. I have these items.

A WW2 album with candid celebrity shots along with the soldier's personal photos. Same scenario...the guy died, and the family pitched it. I sold it for $200+ on eBay.

...

I personally never assume people just lost their family heirlooms and want them back. On the contrary, from my experience, this does not hold true. Your mileage may vary.

 

It'a a valid point...I'm torn about my parents' photo albums. I've looked through them many times, and enjoyed the nostalgia. At 81, with no kids of my line, and no living kin who would care a fig about them...the unfortunate soul who must clean up after me will probably only glance at them...an' into the bin they'll go. Paper is ephemeral for a reason.

 

To that point, I'd rather see them in the hands of a collector. I think it's reasonable to assume that they'd be honored and cared for.

 

Truth...no one will pay for the opportunity to trash the album!

 

I agree that sometimes the family, if they exist, for whatever reason does not want their ephemera back. I once bought a boxful of cute 1950s hand-written love notes at a "living" estate sale. The sale rep said the son, and only living heir, knew of them and did not want them. Perhaps a bad marriage or bad parenting meant they had no sentimental value to him? Who knows.
On the other hand, I do prefer to at least make a stab at finding and asking family if they want their photos back (assuming they were not purchased from the family in the first place). I bought a 1920s/30s photo album off of Craigslist for $20... with the intention of enjoying it for a while and then selling it on for a possible profit. But... the more I looked it over, the more sentimental I, myself, became about the main subject of the album... and the more I cared about its return to the family, if wanted. Some internet searching and email sending revealed that it was indeed wanted back into the fold, and I was happy to donate it to the subject's son.
(And I'm grateful that I posted so many of those photos in this forum so I can always view them HERE.)

 

One time I put a wedding gown photo lot on eBay for not a lot. It came from an estate sale; the local family didn't want them. They were proofs and they probably had the good ones. A more distant family member bought them and asked if I had anything else. Did I... sold family papers and negatives etc for about the cost of the shipping to a VERY happy camper.

So sometimes the local family has no use for it, but someone into geneaology is all over it. Bought these cards a few weeks ago. The family were the ones who sold them. I've kept them together as an archive. All were to the same person. Someone is going to want them and give them a home.

 

Oh, I remember that album. And what a wonderful post by Todd, the relative who posted there after you gave it to him.

 

I have my Uncles (never married no children) World War II pictures. They are in the original leather album but were attached to acid paper. We carefully removed them all and attached them to archival paper to prevent damage. They are a treasure to us. If you can find a family member that would be great. Good luck with your project!

 

Thanks to everyone for your input. It would be nice to reunite the album with one of the families. There is quite a lot of info in the album - the man's full name (known as Leslie but that was his middle name) & his RAF service number and also his wife's first names & maiden name plus the address she lived at before her marriage. They were married in Edinburgh in 1946 but from what I can gather moved to London soon after. I will do a bit of detective work and see if they had any children. Of course as has already been said - it may have been the family who got rid of the album in the first place! It is a wonderful piece of social history - there are loads more photos, telegrams, greetings cards, menus & theatre programmes.

 

Sometimes the grandkids did the cleaning and didn't want it, but the great-grands would be all over it. Or somebody would.