W.T. Barnum, Adrian Michigan cabinet card of young man with cross tie tack.
This handsome teen’s hair was a mess of waves in the front. He didn’t fight it with pomade, instead choosing to let it do its thing! He wears a distinguished white tie with a cross tie tack the focal point. A nice piece of jewelry with the chain hanging by the side. The cross itself appears to have horseshoes and bell symbols, and is this a saint in the middle? I’d like to find out what the cross represents, aside from being what I suspect is a luck charm. Could it be a military cross, a type of iron cross? It looks like the American sharpshooter one, except that one has a target in the center.
This card is of the 1870s-90s when flat and fat ties were extremely popular (and yet -random thought- I never see them in period films!). The fabric looks beautifully regal too. This portrait reminds me of this other cabinet card of the same era, with the similar type of tie and collar combination (and pose).
Update: this young man was a university student, member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. The local chapter -Alpha Mu- in Adrian, Michigan was founded in 1881, and is still active today. This cabinet card is most likely from the 1880s! It would not be impossible to find out who he was.
Thank you, Val, for your research!
Bowlers And High Collars 
August 19th, 2016 at 10:53 pm
Love the fat tie and the cross detail. Just goes to show how wonderful these photos are that that degree of magnification doesn’t degrade the image at all. Hope you find an answer to what the tie pin means!
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August 20th, 2016 at 8:14 am
Thank you, Kate! I’ll post it around to see. And yes, no pixelation here. :)
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August 20th, 2016 at 3:22 am
This was a nice find, I particularly like his tie and pin, great detail
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August 20th, 2016 at 8:12 am
Thank you, they caught the eye right away. All about the details they were.
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August 20th, 2016 at 4:39 pm
I just zoomed in on the tie pin and I think what you’re seeing as horseshoes and bells are actually the Greek letters Alpha and Omega (two of each). So maybe it’s something to do with a university fraternity?
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August 20th, 2016 at 4:49 pm
Found it! (Maybe I should say Eureka!) It’s an Alpha Tau Omega fraternity pin. There are plenty on Ebay if you look, but here’s a similar one on Pinterest. https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/318981586087536888/ (I hope that opens to the right one.)
The one in your photo looks a little simpler on the outer edges, but they do seem a little variable, probably depends on the date.
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August 20th, 2016 at 5:47 pm
Oh wow, this is it! Good research, Val, thank you so much!
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August 20th, 2016 at 5:52 pm
You’re welcome. And there’s a website for them, I think (only looked briefly). They’re still going!
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August 20th, 2016 at 6:07 pm
Haha yes, I was just on there to find out more about its history, interesting!
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August 20th, 2016 at 6:06 pm
I did a little research on the fraternity. The Adrian, Michigan chapter was founded in 1881, so this card is most likely from the 1880s, which falls perfectly within the era of this style is tie! :) Thanks again for the research!
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