Dating old photographs

I’ve been working on a side project to organize a bunch of old negatives. One of the problems in this is that there was no date recorded on either the film or, surprisingly, the negative envelopes. In rare cases, you’ll find an insert with a special deal on processing that “Expires 6/81”, which gives you at least a terminal date to work with.

In other cases, items in the photographs themselves can provide clues. Here, a family friend holds a Christmas gift in his hands — I think this was either for his son, or for myself:

The internet cheerfully returns a quite comprehensive site about G.I. Joe merchandise, which confirms this toy was sold in 1985.

In another reel, all I could find to go on was this edge of a New Yorker cover, lying on the music stand of our piano:

I had a hunch that the year might be 1988, based on pictures in the same reel from my sister’s 4th Grade holiday pageant. Here’s a list of all New Yorker covers during 1988, with the cover we’re looking for right here.

(On a side note, ordering a reprint of that cover art will set you back a cool $125 in the smallest size.)