Figure 1.-- This is one of the many new styles of cabinet card mounts that appeared after the turn-of-the 20th century. This was a cream-colored mount with the studio name, but not the location imprinted in silver at the lower right hand corner. It was dated 1904. Notice the embossed frame.

Major changes occurred at the turn-of-the 20th century in American cabinet cards. The mounts suddenly become much more varied. We do not know why these changes occurred so comprehensively at just this time. The changes seem unconnected with any similar changes in Europe. We continue to see cabinet cards after the turn-of-the-20th centuey, but the classic style mounts disappeared after the early-1900s. We see more variety in both mounts and settings as well as the size of the cards. The mounts often has a kind if frame affect. We notice both small and larger sizes. The sizes were quite varied. Colors also changed. We no longer see the deep colors commonly seen in the 1870s-80s, but cream colors or greenish-grey colored mounts. And the studio information presentation changed. We no longer see the information printed on the back of the cards. And the information at the botoom of the front was either absent are much less apparent. In many cases the name of the studio appeared in a small letters, often inprinted, but not the location of the studio. The photo-back format appears in the 1900s, both for studios and the new snap shots. We thus see large numbers of these post-card back photographs beginning about 1903. This development is unconnected with the changes in cabinet cards and are primarily due to the development of the Kodak Brownie making family snapshots so easy to take. Virtually instantaneously this became a major photographic format. We see fewer cabinet cards in the 1900s, although it was still a popular format.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Sailor suits] [Sailor hats] [Buster Brown suits]
[Eton suits] [Rompers] [Tunics] [Smocks] [Pinafores]

Created: 2:07 AM 8/3/2013
Last updated: 2:07 AM 8/3/2013