Figure 1.--Most German cabinet cards had the name of the studio as was the common practice in America. We see a few cabinet cards using card stock that had the English term 'Cabinet Card' rather than the name of the studio. (American studuis never used mounts which used the term.) We are not sure if this was meant to convey an American or English influence. Here is a 1893 example. We suspect this card stock was used by the less well established studios, but we are not entirely sure. It does indicate that the photograoh was of European origins. Germany was just one of the countries where we see the term used.

Cabinet cards do not seem to have been as popular in Germany as they were in America. This is a major difference in the photographic record. In America, cabinet cards largely replaced the CDV format in the 1870s. This did not occur in German and many other European countries. We are not sure why this dichotomy developed. Most studio portraits were CDVs until the very late-1890s. Cabinet cards, however, did increase in popularity. It was less common to have cabinet card albumens. The cabinet cards as the name suggests were propped up on cabinets and other pieces of furniture. Some were included in scrapbooks. As in America, the cabinet cards generally had the name of the studio and location on the front and or the back of the card. This provides useful information on where the portraits were taken and the style of the card stock can help date the portrait as well. Interestingly we see a few cabinet cards with no studio identified, but rather "Cabinet Portrait" using the English spelling. Only a small minority of German cabinet cards used this style of card stock. We are not sure, however, if the influence was America or British. We see this in other European countries as well, generally smaller, less well developed countries. English was probably chosen to add a kind of international cachet. We suspect this was used by less well established studios. We see large numbers of cabinet cards in the 1900s, but only in that single decade. 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.

The Cards

The Cabinet Card was essentially a larger version of the carte de visite (CDV) which was developed in France (lte-1859s). It retained the photographer's imprint at the bottom of the card and often dusplayed similar styles of decorative artwork on the card back.

Popularity

Cabinent cards do not seem to have been as popular in Germany as they were in America. This is a major difference in the photographic record. In America, cabinet cards largely replaced the CDV format in the 1870s. This did not occur in German and many other European countries. We are not sure why this dichotomy developed. Most studio portraits were CDVs until the very late-1890s. Cabinet cards, however, did increase in popularity.

Display

It was less common to have cabinet card albums. The cabinet cards as the name suggests were propped up on cabinets and other pieces of furniture. As they were larger than CDVs they displayed better ikn this way. Some were included in scrapbooks.

Format

German cabinet cards are generally easy to identify because they include the name of the city which is normally easy to identify as German, although some German towns are now in Poland and other countries. Curiously, despite the number of German immigrants, there are relatively few American towns and cities with German names.

Terminology

Just as the French term CDV was commonly used, Germans commonly used the English-language term "Cabinet Portrait". A German reader tells us, "Today's in Germany, Cabinet would be written Kabinett but in 19th century some spelling rules were different. For example, the C was more in use. So Kabinett would have been written with C." I'm not entirely sure if this meant that the cabinet card format was commonly seen as of foreign origins. A German reader tells us that the word "portrait" became commonly used in German and could mean both a CDV or a cabinet card.

Card Stock

The card stock was generally somewhat thivker than thst used for CDVs. As in America, the cabinet cards generally had the name of the studio and location on the front and or the back of the card. This provides useful information on where the portraits were taken and the style of the card stock can help date the portrait as well. Interestingly we see a few cabinet cards with no studio identified, but rather "Cabinet Portrait" using the English spelling. A German reader tells us, "It might not be a German spelling, but it was used on German cards. We also see it on CDVs and after the turn of the century." Only a small minority of German cabinet cards used this style of card stock. We are not sure, however, if the influence was America or British. We see this in other European countries as well, generally smaller, less well developed countries. English was probably chosen to add a kind of international cachet. We suspect this was used by less well established studios.

Chronology

We have just begun to work on the chrnology of German cabinet cards. Cabinet cards appeared in America about 1866. We are not sure when they first appeared in Germany. We suspect about the same time, but we are not 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 domibant 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 (figure 1). We also see large numbers of cabinet cards in the 1900s. 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. 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 prints. 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. This is the latest cabinet card we have found in any country.

Created: 3:06 PM 10/31/2010
Last updated: 4:29 AM 5/9/2015