Figure 1.--This cabinent card was made at the Lindenmuth studio in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is undated, but we would guess it was taken in the late 1880s or early 90s. The cabinent card first appeared for portraits in 1866 and became very popular in the 1870s. It was the standard portrait format in the 1880s and 90s.

Quite a number of processes and portrait types have been used in America. The popularity of these different tupes can be hellpful in dating the images. Almost all of the ohotographs made in America during the 1840s were Dags. The Daguerreotype was an instant success and studios rapidly appeared in major cities and evetually towns. Everyone who couldafford it wanted a Dauguerrotype made, but they were expensive. Most were preserved in cases. Strangely we have found very few of these cased Dags in Europe. Portraits made in the early 1850s were Daguerrotypes. As many Dags arevnot dated, it is very difficult to differentiate between the Dags made in the 1840s and 50s. During the decade new photographic processes were developed. The ambrotype and tintype (ferrotype) were especially important. We see a variety of portrait types in the early 1860s. Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes were made in the earky 1860s. The 1860s was a particularly important decade, in essence the beginning of modern photography. Negative-based photography began in the 1860s. The first format was the CDV. It immediately proved very popular because they were easier to save and copies could be made. They were also cheaper and a clearer image than a Dag and the other formats. The decline in orice means that we have many more images from the 1860s than earlier decades. As a result, most of the images fromn the 60s are CDVs. Cabinent cards appeared in 1866. We note both CDVs and cabinent cards in the early 1870s, but cabinent cards grew in popularity throughout the decade. The cabinent card in the 1880s and 90s dominated American studio photography. We also begon to see some snapshots in the 90s. Major changes took place in photography during 1900. The major shift resulted from the Kodak Brownie which was released in 1900. The simple to opperate Brownie was an instant success. As a result, for the first time in the history of photography, we see large numbers of snapshots. This greatly increased the number of available images compared to earlier decades. It also changes the character and nature of the imges. We seen unposed images around the home and in other locations like parks rather than just stiff, foirmal studio portraits. There are also many studio portraits. The portraits, however, are quite different. The cabinent cards become much less common. We see portraits with large paper frames surronding sometimes small portraits. We also befin to see phoyographs prirard stock.

The 1830s

The first Daguerreotype was made in France (1839). As far as I know there were no Dags made in America during 1839. The process was, however, notb all that complicated and we soon see photogtaphic studios opening in America. It is difficult to follow this in detail because so few Dags are dated.

The 1840s

Almost all of the ohotographs made in America during the 1840s were Dags. The Daguerreotype was an instant success and studios rapidly appeared in major cities and evebtually towns. Everyone who couldafford it wanted a Dauguerrotype made, but they were expensive. Most were preserved in cases. Strangely we have found very few of these cased Dags in Europe. HBC has archived many portraits that we believe to be 1840s Dags.

The 1850s

Portraits made in the early 1850s were Daguerrotypes. As many Dags arevnot dated, it is very difficult to differentiate between the Dags made in the 1840s and 50s. During the decade new photographic processes were developed. The ambrotype and tintype (ferrotype) were especially important. HBC has arvived many of what we believe to be 1850s portraits. Several different formats were used.

The 1860s

We see a variety of portrait types in the early 1860s. Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes were made in the earky 1860s. The 1860s was a particularly important decade, in essence the beginning of modern photography. Negative-based photography began in the 1860s. The first format was the CDV. It immediately proved very popular because they were easier to save and copies could be made. They were also cheaper and a clearer image than a Dag and the other formats. The decline in orice means that we have many more images from the 1860s than earlier decades. As a result, most of the images fromn the 60s are CDVs. The cabinent card began to be used for portraits in 1866. It had been used earlier, but mostly for views or landscapes. CDVs continued to be the most popular throughout the 60s as it took a while for the public to adapt. I think studios at first charged more for cabinent cards. The dimensions of the standard American cabinet card were 6 � x 4 � inches (16.5 x 11.4 cm). A thicker card stock was used than for the CDVs. The earliest cards were made of Bristol Board. Most of the 1860s portraits that HBC has have found were CDVs.

The 1870s

We note both CDVs and cabinent cards in the early 1870s, but cabinent cards grew in popularity throughout the decade. After 1870, Britol board is rarely used. The card stock was mostly press board (cardboard) or cardboard (paper made from pressed layers of paper like a sandwich) cards throughout the 1880's and 1890s as technology for manufacturing cardboard advanced.

The 1880s

The cabinent card by the 1880s dominated American studio photography. While CDVs were still common in Europe, they were rarely made in the United States by the 1880s. Very few CDVs were being made by the 80s. A variety of other large card styles with various names and dimensions began to be offered by professional studios during the 1880s and 90s. Most of the American 1880s portraits HBC has have found were cabinent cards

The 1890s

The cabinent card continued to be very popular in the 1890s. We begin to see some snapshots. The snapshot was an unmounted paper print. They were used to make scrapbooks which became very popular. Mounted cabinents cards were so stiff that they did not work well in scapbooks. Snapshots were limited because photographt was still fairly complicated. Most of the 1890s portraits HBC has have found were cabinent cards.

The 1900s

Major changes took place in photography during 1900. The major shift resulted from the Kodak Brownie which was released in 1900. The simple to opperate Brownie was an instant success. As a result, for the first time in the history of photography, we see large numbers of snapshots. This greatly increased the number of available images compared to earlier decades. It also changes the character and nature of the imges. We seen unposed images around the home and in other locations like parks rather than just stiff, foirmal studio portraits. There are also many studio portraits. The portraits, however, are quite different. The cabinent cards become much less common. We see portraits with large paper frames surronding sometimes small portraits. The frames were often embossed. Grey or green card stock was commonly used. There were still quite a number of cabinent cards in the early 1900s, but very rapidly declined in popularity, although the format persisted longer in Europe. The 1900s portraits HBC has have found are both snapshots and formal portraits. We note an unusual phenomenon, almost uniue to the 1900s decade. Thatis whatb look to be studio prtraits taken outside thev studio. We wonfer if studios di not send photigraohers door to take portraits. We also begin to see photographs with postcard backs, a format that wouls continie into the 1930s. We see noth studio portrats and snapshots done with postcard backs, although only some were mailed as postcards.

The 1910s

We still see cabinent cards in the 1910s, but the popularity of this format was declining. Snapshots continue to grow in poularity. Studio portraits are still common. Both snapshots and sudio prints were done as postcards. But portraits done with paper frames appeared. A factore here is that the image size could be larger. A popular size for portraits became 8x10 inches.

The 1920s

We see studio portrait tastes in America changing in the 1920s. The prosperity of the 1920s mean that many parenys had studio portraits taken. There were several different options. The popularity of post-card back portraits and snap shots began to decline, especialy with tudio portraits. We still see some cabinet cards, not as many as before and they were becoming increasingly decorative. We no longer see snapshots being done as cabinent cards, some we see in the 1900s decade when amantuer photographers might take their snaps to studios. Studio portraits in the 1920s were often done with paper frames. They were different styles of the studio paper frames. We see frames with jagged edges. Brown was a popular color forgthese jagged edge paper frames. We also notice frames that are self standing and others that fold up into envelope style enclosures. We even see a few tin-types being taken, primarily at carnivals. Studio portraits no longer dominated photography as so many amateur snapshots were being taken.

The 1930s

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Created: 2:38 AM 11/30/2007
Last updated: 5:30 AM 8/10/2024