Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows a boy named J. Skioch who looks to be about 5 years old. He wears a sailor-styled dress with a moderate-sized scalloped collar. There are stripes on the "V" collar and cuffs. There appears to be a back flap. Buttons go on the way doen the boddice and pleated skirt. They look ornamental. The buttons within the 'V' dronr seem to have white thread added. We are not sure about the color. The outfit looks a little similar to a kilt suit, but we think it was a dress. He wears the dressc with dark long stockings. He is pictured with the family hound dog. We suspect they had a good time together. The portrait was taken by J.S. Armstrong Photo in Fergus, Ontario. The portrait was taken June 26, 1887. The CDV mount was burgundy and done like a cabinet card mount. CDVs remained popular in Canada a little longer than the United States.

We do begin to see large number of CDVs in the 1860s. And they were still common in the 1880s. Like Britain, the CDV remained popular in Canada longer than in the United States. We note CDVs as alate as the 1870s without the photographer's name and location on the front. The SDC here ia agood example (figure 1). We still see quite a number of CDVs in the 1880s when they were going out of styke in the United States. Some of the CDVs were done like cabinet cards with colored mounts. Our assessment of Canadian CDVs is, however, just a preliminary assessment. Our archive of Canadian 19th century portraits is still very limited.

Created: 7:04 AM 10/9/2009
Last updated: 7:04 AM 10/9/2009