Figure 1.-- This 1896 cabinent card shows the three Mayer children. The are Carrie Al, Florence, and Adolph Mayer. They look to be about 6-12 years old, perhaps 13 years old. We are a little unsure about Adolph's age. The girls wear white dresses with lacy collars. Adolph wears a fancy striped Fauntleroy blouse which has a large ruffled collar and front placket. He also has a floppy bow. This was an optional item. The cabinet card used the term 'Paris Finish' We have no idea what that meant.

The albumen process was primarily used for studio portraits. The process was too expensive and complicated for the general public. The negatives used to produce albumen prints did not have to be exposed in studios, but this is is where the vast majority were exposed. There were two reasons for this. First, was economics of the industry. People wanted portrits of themselves and family and were prepared tp pay for it. Now other portraits might be sold, but it was studio photography where the money was. And photographs could not until the late-1890s be ctually printed in newspapers, magazines, and books. Second, the cameras were still a bulky piece of equioment. Taking studio portraits was relatively easy. Taking cameras outdoors even to nearby city scenes was complicated and got more complicated the further one went from the studio. You needed a waggon dull of equipment, plates, and chemicals. Almost all of the albumen prints we have found are mounted cards, either CDVs or cabinet cards. The vast majority of these mounted photograpf were standard sizes. The CDVs were about 2 3/8" x 4 1/4 inches and did not change over time. The classic cabinet cards were about 6.5 x 4.25 inches. There was a larger size, but they were not very common. Around the turn-of-century we begin to see all kinds of new styled cabinet cards in different sizes than the classic cards.

Unmounted Photographs

While the vast majority of albumen prints were mounted, mostly CDVs abd cabinet cards, there were unmounted prints. Not very many, but there were some. The prints were mostly mounted on card stocks because the albumen print itself was very fragile. Pasting on card stock essentially was a way of protecting it. We begin to see unmounted albumen prints in the 1850s before the CDV became popular. The earliest American albumen print we have found so far dates to 1857, but there were earlier ones. Bu this time there were more photographic studios in America than in all of Europe. They were mostly doing Dags before 1855 and then began doing Ambros. They do not seem to have shown much interest in the albumen process. We have found so few examples in buiding HBC that we believe vrhat they justb were no very common. The earlies example is unmounted photographs. It did not take long for the convention of mounting the prints to become standard. Otherwise the fragil prints would not last very long. And as a result we have found very few unmounted prints.

CDVs

The albumen process and the carte de visite (CDV) was developed in France (1850s). Andr� Adolphe Eug�ne Disd�ri patented the CDV (1854) although Louis Dodero seems to hve developed it. Disd�ri had also invented a method of taking eight separate negatives on a single plate, which reduced production costs. Albumen prints had a number of advantages over the well-established Daguerreotype, but for some reason was not an immediate success. And we do not see Americans adopting the CDV. This changed very rapidly when Disd�ri published Emperor Napoleon III's photos in a CDV pormat. This was an immediaste success in France where the Emperor was a popular figure. And suddenly we begin to see CDVs in other countries as well. It was not that the Emperor was popular outside France, but the possibilities of the CDV became apprent because oif developments in France. The process was at the time called 'cardomania'. The albumen print and negative process in the form of the CDV crossed the Atlantic. And quickly began replacing the Dag and Ambro. At the time the United States already had a larger photographic industry than Europe. When the Civil War broke out (1861), we still see mostly cased Dags and Ambros. The conversion process was very rapid. By the end of the War (1865) we see modstly CDVs. CDVs were made the same size as a visiting card and were used as visiting cards. Unlike Dags and Ambros, they were not only inexpensive, but as a negative was created, mulktiple copies coukd be orderd to shgare with family and friends. And they could be added to scrap books. People not only wanted portraits of themselves and family, but of famous pdrsons. Albums were developed for CDVs which is another reaon why the size is so standard. These albums along became a fixture in Victorian parlors. hile the CDV was a popular format in Europe througout the late-19th century, the popularity was a much shorter period in America. The larger cabinet card, also using albumen prints, appeared (1866). It rapidly replaced the CDV in America. The CDV dis not disappear, but the cabinedt card became the standard format. We continue to see cabinet cards in the early-20th century, albeit with changed mount atyles. American CDVs after thge turn-of-the-century are rare.

Cabinet Cards

Cabinet vards also used the akbumen oriocess. Albumen CDVs appeared in France during the late-1850s, but did not appear in large numbers until the end iof the decade. We begin to see them in America during the early-60s. They were the principal photographic portrait during the 60s continued to be made throughout the rest of the 19th century, at least in Europe. The pattern in America is different. The first cabinet card appeared in America (1866) and rapidly began to replace the CDV. As cabinet cards also used the albumen process, it was very easy for studios to also offer cabint cards, it was just a matter of a different size. While we still see quite a number of CDVs in the early-70s, the great bulk of the portaits taken in America during the 1870s-1890s were cabinet cards. CDVs continued to be very common in Europe, but much less so in America. And the formats and mount styles during this period were very similar. Like CDVs the sizes were standard, in part because albums were made to store and display them. And thgey were taken in very large numbers, much larger than in Europe. Unlike Europe, we almost never see the term cabinet card or cabinet portrait used on these American cards. The American cabinet cars are generally easy to identify because along with the name of the studio, the city and state is almost always indicated with a few exceptions. Dating the images is more complicated. The family sometines wrote the date and names on the back, but in most cases the portraits are not dated. The style of clothing, portrait setting, and mount styles can all help date the images. For reasons we do not fully understand, aboyt the turn-of-the 20th century we see radical changes in the mounts and formats used for these cards. We see mny new sizes and mount styles. Cabinet cards continued to be popular in the 9800s, but we begin to se other firnmsts, postcard back prints and studio portraits offered in paper frames. As result by the 1910s we see far fewer cabinet cards.

Created: 1:05 AM 8/9/2019
Last updated: 1:05 AM 8/9/2019