Category Archives: Cabinet Cards

August 30, 2015

Hm…woman or not?

By C.E. Ryan
Woman or Victorian Crossdresser? Cabinet card. Private Collection.

Woman or Victorian Crossdresser? Cabinet card. Private Collection.

So once in a while I’ll spot a Victorian woman I find suspiciously looking like a man. Not a very flattering thought if indeed this woman in bustle dress was her own gender. She has some thick brows and a masculine jawline. The idea intrigues me.

I don’t see a crossdresser posing with family in this way either, and these don’t look related enough to be siblings…but maybe I’m wrong. Never say never…but this may not be her family either. The gent with the shaved head above her does look like her some. A possibility could be these are stage actors and the man is dressed as a woman for a role. A bit far fetched but…

To note the mustached gent standing up looks so very Victorian!

You be the judge.

You be the judge.

And look at her tousled hair (or wig). And the crazy looking hat…By the style of dress I’d say this was taken in the 1880’s.

Photographer: Beach. Bryan O.

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August 27, 2015

The Art Deco Cabinet Card

By C.E. Ryan

1930s cabinet card.

1920s-30s cabinet card of gentleman after the rain. Private Collection.

I love stumbling upon photographs like this. This cabinet card was made around a couple of decades after they ceased being produced. Perhaps it was a novelty photograph, or some photographers still offered them to whomever wished to have a “retro” portrait of themselves. There is no photographer info, unfortunately, but instead we have “cabinet portrait” surrounded by a gorgeous mirrored art deco design.

And the fact that this portrait was taken outside in a yard right after a rain. Those photographs always have a special glow to them.

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August 22, 2015

Axel in the Bowler Hat

By C.E. Ryan
axel-f-hall

Axel F. Hall of Minneapolis. Private Collection.

Handsome Axel F. Hall chose to have one glove on, the other off for the picture. His collar is extremely high. He reminds me of the bowler hatted gentleman often portrayed by the painter Magritte.

Axel was born in 1871 in Sweden. He immigrated to the United States and settled in Minneapolis where he married a Swiss lady named Anna M. Hall who was 12 years his junior. With her he had three children, Fred W. Hall in 1906, Mabel A. Hall in 1909 and Edgar E. Hall in 1910. On the 1910 census Axel was living with his wife, children and a ‘boarder’, Minnie Christen, 15. Minnie was related to his wife (her sister maybe) with both parents born in Switzerland but herself born in Minnesota. At the time Minneapolis’ population was about 23% foreign born.

On the 1940 census, Axel was 70 and still living with his wife. His children had moved out but his mother-in-law lived with them. Anna B. Christen was 13 years his senior.

Axel F. Hall. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

Axel F. Hall. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

Photographer: A. H. Opsahl. Minneapolis. MN.

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August 15, 2015

Mr. Handsome of Rochester N.Y

By C.E. Ryan
Rochester Victorian young man. Cabinet Card. Private Collection.

Rochester Victorian young man. Cabinet Card. Private Collection.

What was going on in his head when he decided to pose like this? His long front hair’s curled atop instead of slicked back like his contemporaries, not only that but his tie is going sideways too. Cuckoo bird! Did he try to be different? His hair reminds me of Mr. Burghy of the Civil War era. We’ll forgive him. He’s still a cutie!

Miller. Rochester N.Y. Handsome young man with curl. Cabinet Card. Private Collection.

Miller. Rochester N.Y. Handsome young man with curl.

Photographer: Miller. 146 State Street. Rochester. N.Y.

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August 12, 2015

Five boys, no girl

By C.E. Ryan

Five boys, no girl. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

Five boys, no girl. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

The mother looks like one tough woman. You’d have to be to raise this bunch! She looks proud and severe, holding a bible in her hands. Oh no, you did not dare disobey mother in this family.

I’m sure she would have liked to have a daughter too, but that wasn’t part of God’s plan now, was it?

The father looks mellow in comparison. I’m not sure what he’s holding in his hand. It looks like the back of a cabinet card.

The brothers don’t look far apart from each other. I like how the photographer arranged this family by height, taking the photo horizontally with a white backdrop and the parents in the middle.

Photographer: Clinkenbeard. Palace Photo Car. Blank back.

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