Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
This carte-de-visite came to me from Massachusetts, but it didn't originate there. The title of the post is taken from a handwritten note on the back. Update: Readers all agree that the location referred to was most likely the village of Leeds in Kent: The British Hop Association has the following information on its website: The... Continue Reading →
This carte-de-visite came to me from England (Northamptonshire), but it has nothing written on it to identify the sitter or photographer. The photo (print) was cut into an oval shape and glued onto a paper mount with an oval frame design already printed on it. Such cartes were generally made after someone had died, as... Continue Reading →
I found this carte-de-visite for sale in Massachusetts, which is the state with the second-highest number of Portuguese Americans (after California). Who was this elegant young woman, posing confidently at an instrument a century and a half ago? And what kind of instrument was it, exactly? It looks too narrow to be a piano, yet... Continue Reading →
When I saw this carte-de-visite for sale on eBay in England, I assumed the sitter must have been a member of the Salvation Army (Leger des Heils in Dutch). The shape of her brooch resembles some of the shield pins worn by members of that organization, but the lettering doesn't look like anything I've seen... Continue Reading →
The woman in this carte-de-visite portrait isn't identified anywhere on the photo. When I bought it last year, I never expected to learn her identity. Three weeks ago, while browsing the website of Britain's Royal Collection Trust, I noticed a woman who looked very familiar. The first thing that drew my attention was her shawl,... Continue Reading →
This carte-de-visite may be the only photo from South America in my collection. The family isn't named, but a stamp on the back identifies the studio. It looks like Compania Fotografica, Rivadavia 420, Buenos Aires: Avenida Rivadavia is a major thoroughfare, and 420 is in the heart of the downtown area, surrounded by museums and... Continue Reading →
The man above is Henry Lenthall (1819-1897), a photographer who operated a studio at 222 Regent Street, London, where the photo was printed. The studio had been established in 1856 by pioneering daguerreotypist William Edward Kilburn (1818-1891), when Kilburn moved there from his original (smaller) studio at 234 Regent Street. In 1862 Kilburn retired from... Continue Reading →
When I saw the carte-de-visite above, I wondered if it was a real scene or an elaborate joke. Could they really have sailed on ice? It turns out they could have! The sport is called ice yachting, and that's all I know about it. The guys to the left of the boat are skating and... Continue Reading →
One hundred and fifty-four years ago this week, seven friends sat for a portrait at Nathaniel L. Merrill's Photographic Gallery in Springfield, Vermont. They look young enough to be in high school, or perhaps recent graduates. The carte-de-visite photo has a revenue stamp on the back, affixed and cancelled by the photographer on December 22,... Continue Reading →
This carte-de-visite is part of a series called "Costumes de Suisse," published around 1869 by French photographer Adolphe Braun (1812-1877). Braun's studio was in Alsace, France, in the village of Dornach, near the borders with Germany and Switzerland. Each photo in the series presents a young woman in a traditional costume from a particular Swiss... Continue Reading →
Update, November 8, 2018: Thanks to the research efforts of my brilliant readers, I'm able to update this post with information about the group above. The following quotes in italics are from a web page, Friends War Victims Relief Committee in the Franco-Prussian War, on the site quakersintheworld.org: The first official Friends War Victims Relief... Continue Reading →
They must be two sets of twins. The back of this CDV doesn't tell us anything about them, but it does identify the photographer, C. W. Gill. I didn't find anything about Gill online. The Hubbard Block was built on Public Square by Volney Stow Hubbard in 1868, which is about when this photo was... Continue Reading →
Tokens of Companionship 
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