Figure 1.--This 1887 cabinet cards was done with a maroon/bron mount. This was a popular color for the mounts in the 1870s and 80s. In this case the studio information was not included on the front, perhaps to inclide a longer print than usual. The boys in the portait were from the Utica Free Academy

While the mount size was very standard, largely because of the use in albums, the mount styles and colors varied and can be used to help date the portraits. We have addressed this issue in the general cabinet card section, but here want to focus only on American cabinet cards. Here we want to present information both by color and decade. That will eventully help to date undated cards by hecking eith the colorvshade or the chronology section. Quite a few different shades were used. Color was an innovation for the cabinet cards. These colored mounts were not very popular for CDV, although we see a few. We believe that the color trends for these cabinet-like CDV were identical ti he trends for cabinet cards. We note dark colors were popular in the 1870s and 80s. Maroon/brown shades were particularly popular in early cabinet cards (1870s-80s). The cabinet card here is a good example (figure 1). There were many other dark colors of varying popularity such as dark blue. We also notice whitish shades, but the colored mounts seem the most popular. We do not notice light colors other than white shades. The light mounts were virtually all various whitish shades such as ivory. Whitish and off-white shades dominated later (1890s). The 1896 cabinet card on the previous page is a kind of ivory shade and a good example.

Color Shades

We notice a wide range of colors used for Ameican cabinet card mounts. Quite a few different shades were used. Color was an innovation for the cabinet cards. These fall into two basic groupings, dark colors and whitish tones. We rarely see light colors. The dark colors include blue, brown, green, black, and maroon (reddish brown). The brown and maroon seem especially common. We also notice a range of whitish shdes such as ivory. Whitish colored cards seem especally popular in the 1890s. This is alittle difficult `to assess because the white shades discolo over time. Differentiting white shades is challenge and we do not think at this stage is a paticulrly useful endevor. We notice cream colored cards, which is a fairly easy white shade to identify, but these seem more common at the turn-of-the 20th century in the 1900s with the new styled mounts. Right now we think that the trends for the dark colors are basically the same, but we may be able to find more color specific terms as we expand our archive of dated cards.

Chronology

The first cabinet card appeared in America during 1866. We are not yet sure about the color trends of these 1860s card mounts. Some seem to be done like CDVs. We note dark colors were popular in the 1870s and 80s. Maroon/brown shades seem particularly popular in early cabinet cards (1870s-80s). We can not yet identify color trends between the 70s and 80s, but may be able to find some useful indicator as our archive expands. The cabinet card here is a good example (figure 1). There were many other dark colors of varying popularity such as dark blue. We also see black and green mounts. We also notice whitish shades, but the colored mounts seem the most popular. We do not notice light colors other than white shades. The light mounts were virtually all various whitish shades such as ivory. We do not see light colors. Whitish and off-white shades dominated later (1890s). The 1896 cabinet card on the previous page is a kind of ivory shade and a good example.

CDVs

These colored mounts were not very popular for CDV, although we see a few. We believe that the color trends for these cabinet-like CDV were identical to the trends for cabinet cards.

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Created: 2:34 AM 5/19/2013
Last updated: 9:37 PM 4/26/2014