McKeesport, Pa - Egyptian Cabinet Card

The cabinet card, like the smaller carte de visite was an attempt to make a standard sized, universal format that could be given and collected in albums and frames. This rather stern looking lady, trussed up in her corset was made far more interesting by the Egyptian themed card. It's hard to read, but "Mrs. Mary and Bowers Grandma, Grandma Bowers" is written on the back. And yes, it does read "and" rather than the far more likely Ann.

Florida Oranges

A hand colored, photo composed postcard to make mid-westerners envious of Florida. Never mailed, no message, but printed on the back, "FLORIDA ARTISTIC SERIES COPYRIGHT 1909 BY LEIGH PUB. BY THE H & W.B. Drew Co., Jacksonville, Fla." The postage needed is listed as, "ONE CENT For United States and Island Possessions, Cuba, Canada, and Mexico. TWO CENTS For Foreign." I don't think the post office even makes postcard stamps anymore.

Tintype Children (and Parents)

Another companion post to my recent tintype obsession. There was a strange custom in the mid to late nineteenth century for young boys to be raised, almost exclusively by their mothers, like little girls, for the first few years of their lives, (See my post of 10-5-09, A Little Boy In Curls) and I think that the Asian looking child in the dress may be a boy. At least the haircut gives that impression. The second tintype though is all little girl. And the third, once that little boy got beyond a certain age, the feminine clothes and curled hair went, and the boy became his father's son.

Turn Me Over

It's a shame that these two photos are so faded, since it's such a unique artifact. The picture of the young lady facing the camera, tennis racket in hand, is mounted on a card. Written in pencil under the image, "Turn me over-" Turn the card over, and the other photo, back to the camera, is mounted on the same card. The date "1900" is written under the rear view.

Tintype Men

A companion piece to my last post, "Tintype Women." The professional tintypist couldn't go down to the local camera store and buy materials. He had to buy sheet iron, either lacquer or paint the metal, make his photographic emulsions from basic chemicals, and often make his own camera. Because every photographer didn't have the same level of technical skill, tintypes often have ridges where the emulsion was unevenly applied. Variation in chemical mixing meant that some tintypes were more sensitive to light than others allowing for shorter exposures. Tintypes, like many other early photographic process were a one off. Without a separate negative, it was impossible to go into the lab and make additional prints. Some photographers built cameras with multiple lenses so that they could make multiple exposures at once. Note that the second image in the group is a copy made from another tintype. It's impossible to tell, but that may be a thumb holding the original when the exposure was made. Since tintypes are flopped, a tintype copy of another tintype would be right reading. The heavily damaged image not only shows a great deal of corrosion of the metal base and missing emulsion, but a loss of the underlying black coating that makes the tintype negative appear positive. As usual, click on tintype in the labels section for more info on the history of tintypes.

Tintype Women

I've written about the history and process of the tintype in previous posts and recommend that anyone wishing to know more, click on tintype in the labels section. I will repeat that tintype was a popular, though incorrect name. Tintypes are actually made of sheet iron. Note the rust on the one image. Tintypes are actually a negative made on either a black painted, or black lacquered piece of iron, which makes them appear as a positive. An inexpensive process, they became one of the earliest forms of photography for the masses. These are all from the nineteenth century.

19th Century Prosperity

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This picture of a prosperous couple, middle or upper middle class, was taken sometime from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Perhaps a professional person, broker or business owner. Typically a couple like this would have had live-in servants, at least a cook, maid and housekeeper. In their younger days, a governess for any children. Probably horses and at least one carriage. If this image was taken in the twentieth century, possibly a car. Their house would have been large and have well maintained gardens. His suits would have been hand tailored, and she would employ a dress maker. He would most likely have been a member of a club which would bar women. Because marriages were for life, and divorce was a scandal, the man may have kept a mistress, and his wife, with no other options in life, would have accepted it as normal.