Figure 1.--Cabinet cards were primarily studio portraits of induividuals are family members. Such was the hunger for images in the 19th century that studios began selling portaits of leaders and other famous people. This launched a whole new industry. With companies selling images of animals, monuments, geographic features, ethnic images, buildings, cities, art work,and just about anything of interest. And we see staged images just for entertainment. And among the wide range of these entertainment were cards featuring children. We see even nore of this in the stereoview cards that became so popular. This 1879 cabinet card is one of a series of photos and poems from 'The Juvenile Gallery' by George Kirchner & Co. of New York. This is #5 of the series titled 'Is it a Bite?' and it features two boys fishing. On the back is a poem titled 'The Little Anglers.' It is also interesting because it shows what boys wore under suit jackets. Most portraits at the time were of boys wearing buttoned-up suits giving no clues as to the shiers worn underneath.

Cabinet cards were primarily done as personal or family portraits. Most were done in studios, but we gradually begin to see some outdoor caninet cards toward the end of the century. Portraits are what most people think about when the subject of cabinet cards come up. There was, however, another type. There were cabinet cards made just to make visual images into the home. At the time actual visual images were very rare. And for most of the century the only published illustrations were lithographic engravings. The technology for printing actual photographs did not become commercially feasible until the turn-of-the 20th century. The hunger for images resulted in people buying photographs of leaders and other popular figures. This included boith CDVs and cabinet cards. In fact, the CDV first became popular when a portrait of Napoleon III sparked huge interest in Britain. This began a whole new industry. With companies selling images of animsls, monumnt, geographic features, ethnic imsges, buildings, cities, and just about sbnything of interest. And we see staged images just for entertainment. And among the wide range of these entertainment were cards featuring children. We see even nore of this in the stereoview cards that became so popular.

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Created: 12:03 AM 1/24/2019
Last updated: 612:03 AM 1/24/2019