A couple of weeks ago, I posted the following photo of a mysterious child with a little dog from my mother’s family archives. We are fairly certain the child is a relative based on where the picture was found and information about the photographer on the back, but we have not been able to positively identify the subject.

I also submitted this photo to Black and WTF, a wonderful site dedicated to collecting photographic oddities from the black and white film era. They actually ran it on their site on April 14, and the picture has since exploded around the web, widely reblogged, reposted, liked, forwarded, copied and otherwise sent swirling through the internet pipes.

So, for the record, I want to note my family’s ownership of this image, and that I first posted it online on June 17, 2005, before reprinting here on this blog. So if you put it on your million-selling album or cover of your book about gender studies and make a mint on it, then I want a cut. Just saying. But other than that, I think it’s great to see how it’s resonated with people and been so widely shared.

Bless you, Mystery Child and Little Dog. If you spot them out there in your online ramblings, let me know!