Category Archives: Cabinet Cards

October 28, 2015

A Fine Victorian Profile

By C.E. Ryan
Profile. Cabinet card. Private collection.

1870-80s profile portrait of young man. Cabinet card. Private collection.

The top left of the card is a bit damaged, but nothing to detract from this anonymous sitter. He’s wearing his hair cropped short which gives him a more contemporary look. Really, he could blend in at a posh wedding today, and to think this portrait is only 130 plus years old, making this fine gentleman about a century and a half years old.

I first came across this one on tumblr, shared it on this tumblr account and by chance acquired it since. So yes, if you come from tumblr you already saw this one from me, but this is a new scan. :)

short-cropped-hair-profile-athertons-2

Photographer: Atherton’s. The back is blank.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Cabinet Cards, Gentlemen

October 20, 2015

A Fashionable Edwardian boy

By C.E. Ryan
Well dressed Edwardian boy. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

1890s-1900s well dressed Edwardian boy. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

This little boy was extremely well dressed with his wool overcoat and cap with the double-breasted gingham suit. Every single piece of his outfit looks new. With the lack of backdrop and the picture looking so crisp, it feels modern made too.

He’s wearing his gloves instead of holding them. His parents must have loved how this portrait came out. While the photograph was decently preserved, the card itself is less so. It is dark green, clipped at the bottom, and has no photographer info or name.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Boys, Cabinet Cards

October 3, 2015

Four 1880s Brattleboro cadets 

By C.E. Ryan

1880s cadet buddies. Caleb L. and John C. Howe. Brattleboro. Cabinet Card. Private Collection.

These four teens from Brattleboro, Vermont were most likely cadets, maybe in a marching band?

Photographer Caleb Howe chose to take this picture horizontally, preferring to catch the boys in close-up. One of them is smiling and the others seem comfortable in front of the camera.

The card has yellowed with the passing of time.

Back of card.

Caleb Howe & Son. Back of card.

Photographer: Caleb Lysander Howe & Son (John C. Howe). Brattleboro. Vermont.

Caleb Lysander Howe (1811-1895) was a highly respected photographer in his home state of Vermont. He began his craft on the road in the late 1840s. During the Civil War he photographed a great number of soldiers who queued at his studio door for a chance to get their portrait taken. He also photographed Union General John W. Phelps on a card with the similar backing.

Howe’s son joined him in the business in the early 1880s. Since his initials appear on that cabinet card as well as the one I have I believe these were made a couple of decades after the war, by the end of the general’s life who passed in 1885.

Caleb Howe was also a singer and musician. There is a page dedicated to his life that is worth a look. There you can see the John W Phelps card.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Cabinet Cards, Military, Teens

September 16, 2015

Carl E. Brown of Fitchburg, MA

By C.E. Ryan

Carl E. Brown. Moulton. Fitchburg. Mass. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

Carl E. Brown. Moulton. Fitchburg. Mass. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

I got this one thinking the boy had a scar on the right cheek. When I received it there was nothing…It must have been something on the seller’s scan. It’s one of those things that happen… :)

No matter, it’s still a great portrait.

I found Carl E. Brown on a 1920 census. He was born in Illinois circa 1879 and lived in Lunenburg, MA, a tiny little town right next to tiny little town Fitchburg where this picture was taken. Fitchburg and Lunenburg are about 40 miles west from Boston. He went on to marry a lady named Georgia M. from Vermont. With her he had two children, Thelma born in 1902 and Carl E. born in 1904.

This picture was taken when Carl was around twelve or thirteen in the early 1890s.

And finally, I get a cabinet card with an elaborate design on the back with lovely flower patterns and a camera vignette.

C.J. Moulton. Artistic Photography. Fitchburg, Mass.

C.J. Moulton. Artistic Photography. Fitchburg, Mass.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Boys, Cabinet Cards

September 1, 2015

Victorian teen Mc Bracken of Waterloo, Wisconsin

By C.E. Ryan

Close-up of cabinet card portrait. Private Collection.

Close-up of cabinet card portrait. Private Collection.

Photogenic teen Mc Bracken with the dark eyes is wearing a mix of patterns with a moon tie stack to bring it all together over the overlapping collar. I give this card a broad window from the 1880s to early 1900s.

The card’s also a rarer shade of pink with dark pink lettering on the front. The back is plain except for the sitter’s written last name.

Pink cabinet card. Private Collection.

W.H Drake cabinet card. Private Collection.

Photographer: W.H. Drake. Waterloo, Wisconsin.

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Cabinet Cards, Teens