A set of family photos stretching back 98 years has been discovered by a Gibsons woman, but the question remains - who are they?
Val Moller, who works at the Gibsons Thrift Store, said she was organizing some of the donations when a particular decorative piece caught her eye.
She decided to take the black and white scenic drawing of an English-style town home with her, hoping to offset her husband's numerous paintings and pictures of boats and harbours that currently adorn the walls of their living room.
Deciding to reframe the piece, Moller took it apart, only to discover 14 family photos carefully nestled in the back.
Ranging from 1914 to 1973, the photos capture the life of a family across almost six decades.
"They're somebody's family," she said. "Maybe the parents died, a lot of times people just take stuff to the second-hand store and donate it without realizing."
Moller said she wants to get the photos, which are in excellent condition, returned to their rightful family. But first she'll need help identifying them.
The mystery begins with the 98-year-old, faded black-and-white that depicts a young couple and their two children. Stern-faced and carefully assembled, the man sports a mustache and military-style jacket, the woman a shimmering two-tone dress.
From there the photos proceed through the ages. Pictures from the 1920s depict family members old and young, until mid-way through the set, a second generation takes over, beginning with two wedding photos.
The couple grows together into the 1970s when their own children begin to share their smiles with the world.
Written on the back of some of the pictures in a meticulous cursive are descriptions that appear to be in a Scandinavian language, like Danish or Norwegian, or possibly German.
What remains certain is that the photos form a valuable piece of somebody's history, and Moller wants to know who.
Readers who might recognize the photo - more will be posted in our on-line photo galleries - are encouraged to contact Coast Reporter.
"They're in awesome condition," Moller said.
