Calgary woman trying to solve a photo album mystery

CALGARY -

It's an album containing black and white pictures dating back to 1929 and none of the people in the images are related to Isabel Ehlert. She obtained it about 30 years ago.

"It was (from) my sister-in-law's estate and I honestly don't know how she came about getting this," said Ehlert. "But it has nothing to do with her family so it was left with me thinking that it was part of my family and it's not part of my family either."

She came across the album six months ago in her basement and tried using Google to identify some of the names in it without any luck.

"Well, I'm not great on the computer to begin with," said Ehlert. "But what I did do I thought I was quite clever to be able to do that much and I'm sure that other people can do a whole lot more."

There are many shots of men in naval attire who appear to be heading off to Europe or training exercises and Ehlert says as Remembrance Day nears the photos belong with family.

"I had a brother that was in the military during the Second World War and yes it brings back a lot of memories," she said.

Marg Ascroft is a longtime friend of Ehlert's and is looking through the album to see if there are any clues that might have been missed as to who the album should go to. The photos are well laid out with information about where and when they were taken but few last names are included.

"Well, they sort of tell a story," said Ascroft. "It reminds me of any album you look at, as you go through the years you see the war years, the clothes change that kind of thing, you know the hairdos, but it was interesting that the earliest picture was 1929."

"That's a long way back."

Some of the names that are identifiable in captions under the photos are RCMP Cst. Mulcaster, RCMP Cst. Ross, Elmer Keayes at Lake Louise, Vivian Carson in Bragg Creek, Jack Minchin in 1934, Cecile Pilon in Normandeau in 1936 and Jim Frizzle in 1938.

The photos were taken at a number of locations at what looks to be family vacations and Ehlert says that wasn't something many families did back then.

"At that time that was quite adventurous," said Ehlert. "Because people didn't do a lot of traveling in the 1929 - 30 era or in the 40s actually either."

Ehlert is hopeful that by sharing the story of the album and its pictures that they can be returned to where they belong.

"(I want) to make someone happy because it is a treasure," said Ehlert. "There's a lot of history in that album that should be passed on."