Figure 1.--While we begin to see these new style cards atvthe cend of the decade, earlier examples are very rare. At this time the earliest example we have found dates to 1896. It seems to be a portrait to commemorate the breeching of an American boy. The portrait was taken May 4, 1896. He was Caroll Ebert Kelly who lived in Duluth, Minnesota, a hub for cargo shipments in the Great Lakes. This is interesting. We would expect that an imoportant change in the style of these cabinet cards would have originated in the sylish big northeastern cities and not in a cultural backwater like Duluth.

While we begin to see these new style cards atvthe cend of the decade, earlier examples are very rare. At this time the earliest example we have found dates to 1896. It seems to be a portrait to commemorate the breeching of an American boy. The portrait was taken May 4, 1896. He was Caroll Ebert Kelly who lived in Duluth, Minnesota, a hub for cargo shipments in the Great Lakes. This is interesting. We would expect that an imoportant change in the style of these cabinet cards would have originated in the sylish big northeastern cities and not in a cultural backwater like Duluth. While thus may not have been the earlies of these new styles, our archive is large enough that we can confidently say it was close to the earliest.

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Created: 5:00 AM 6/17/2023
Last updated: 5:00 AM 6/17/2023