Photo box mystery: 'Massive' collection of family snaps found in sewing machine case

A community recycling centre is looking for the owners of decades worth of family photos, left in an old sewing machine box.

A couple of weeks ago, a woman dropped a sewing machine case off at the Waiōrea Community Recycling Centre in Western Springs in Auckland.

Staff member Christine Wang told Checkpoint that workers opened the case to unexpectedly find a huge trove of family photos.

"It was something we'd never expect to find in a sewing machine box."

She said the range of photos was "massive, starting from the early 1900s to the early 2000s".

The images included wedding and baby photos from throughout the decades.

Wang said the old sewing machine case also contained an envelope with an address on it.

"There is also clothing patterns in there as well as some film that is yet to be developed."

A couple dressed in army uniforms featured in many of the photos, as well as a "wide range of family members which could be [extended] family members".

Staff had posted the photos on social media and found names on some of the photos, which had led members of the community to find some leads, she said.

"We found the surname McDonald."

A lot of people came through the recycling centre on their way to Auckland Zoo or MOTAT, she said.

"The sewing machine arrived during a time were everything was on so we didn't have time to open it in front of the customer," she said.

"We held on to them hoping they'd realise their mistake and come back and reclaim the photos but that didn't happen unfortunately."

Anyone with more information should get in touch with the centre over social media, she said.