Figure 1.--This silver gelatin cabinet card was dated 1941 on the verso. The boys clothes look appropriate for the period. The mount, however, lppks like ones we see in the early-1900s. The photograph is a postcard-back portrait pased on the cabinet card mount. Note the serated images of the print. The studio was Flechtner in Aplerbeck. The card measures 16.5 x 10.5 cm.

We have just begun to work on the chronology of German cabinet cards. Cabinet cards appeared in America about 1866. We are not sure when they first appeared in Germany. We suspect it was about the same time, but we are not yet sure. We are not sure about the approximate date because most of our German archive fron the 1860s and 70s is CDVs. For some reason the CDV remained popular in Germany and most other European countries. The cabinet card quickly became the dominant format in America, but this did not occur in Europe. We are not sure just why this difference developed. We see some German cabinet cards in the 1870s and 80s,but CDVs seem more common. We see many more German cabinet cards from the 1890s. The 19th century cards were all the same standard size we see in America. This meant 6 ½ x 4 ½ inches (16.5 x 11.4 cm). The standard size was largely because the cards were often displayed in albums with slots so they needed to be standardized to fit into the slots. The 1893 card on the previous page is a good example. We also see large numbers of cabinet cards in the 1900s. As in America, we see major changes in cabinet card mounts around the turn of the 20th century. We are have just begun to asess these changes in mount styles. After the turn of the 20th century sizes became more varied. We note both smaller (Often more narrow) and lrger sizes. Those two decades seem the period that the format was most popular. The cabinet card format declined sharply in popularity during the 1910s when we begin to see silver-nitrate portraits in other formats such as post cards and portraits with paper frames. Cabinet cards were primarily done as alnumen prints, but in Germany we see some silver nitrate prints. We still see some cabinet portaits in the 1920s and 30s, but done with silver nitrate prints. The cabinet and CDV formts were traditionally done with albumen prunts. When silver nitrate printing developed we generally see these to formats disappearing. In Germany, however, we see a few cabinet cards done with silver nitrate prints. The last German cabinet card portrait we have found done with a silver nitrate print is dated 1941 (figure 1). This is the latest cabinet card we have found in any country.

The 19th Century

We have just begun to work on the chronology of German cabinet cards. Cabinet cards appeared in America about 1866. We are not sure when they first appeared in Germany. We suspect it was about the same time, but we are not yet sure. We are not sure about the approximate date because most of our German archive fron the 1860s and 70s is CDVs. For some reason the CDV remained popular in Germany and most other European countries. The cabinet card quickly became the dominant format in America, but this did not occur in Europe. We are not sure just why this difference developed. We see some German cabinet cards in the 1870s and 80s,but CDVs seem more common. We see many more German cabinet cards from the 1890s. This may reflect actual prevalence, but we are till assesing this. This is not easy to asses s so fewcaninet cards are dated. But s we expand our website we are gettig a better fix on this. The 19th century cards were all the same standard size we see in America. This meant 6 ½ x 4 ½ inches (16.5 x 11.4 cm). The standard size was largely because the cards were often displayed in albums with slots so they needed to be standardized to fit into the slots. The 1893 card on the previous page is a good example.

The 20th Century

We continue to see large numbers of German cabinet cards in the early-20th century. Many of the German cabinet cards we have found are from the 1900s. Grey mounts seem especially popular. We see thm done with both white or silver print and dark print. We also ee these in the 1890s. As in America, we see major changes in cabinet card mounts around the turn of the 20th century. We are have just begun to asess these changes in mount styles. After the turn of the 20th century sizes became more varied. Wesee some more narrow mounts than in th 1890s. This is a sty;e we only see after the turn-of-the century. We note both smaller (Often more narrow) and lrger sizes. Those two decades seem the period that the format was most popular. The cabinet card format declined sharply in popularity during the 1910s, esprcially after the start of World War I. We also begin to see silver-nitrate portraits in other formats such as post cards and portraits with paper frames. Cabinet cards were primarily done as alnumen prints, but in Germany we see some silver nitrate prints. We still see some cabinet portaits in the 1920s and 30s, but done with silver nitrate prints. The cabinet and CDV formts were traditionally done with albumen prunts. When silver nitrate printing developed we generally see these to formats disappearing. In Germany, however, we see a few cabinet cards done with silver nitrate prints. The last German cabinet card portrait we have found done with a silver nitrate print is dated 1941 (figure 1). This is the latest cabinet card we have found in any country.

Created: 7:41 AM 6/21/2012
Last updated: 4:45 AM 5/9/2015