This three panel vintage photograph features a young African American man. He appears to be in his late teens and is nicely dressed in a suit and tie. Note his derby hat. Subject and photographer are not identified. The image was purchased in Austin, Texas and was part of a group of photographs described as the “San Antonio Collection”. The reverse of the photograph has residue that indicates it once resided in a scrap book or photo album. SOLD
This cabinet card portrait features a poised little girl posing behind a chair. She appears to be wearing a costume and is standing on a prop to gain some extra height. She appears to be an actress and an inscription on the reverse of the photograph supports that hypotheses. The inscription states “Little May Sabrini as Eva” and lists the girl’s age as 7 years old. The Stewart & Lokke (Oscar) studio produced this photograph and The Directory of Early Michigan Photographers lists the pair as conducting their photography business in Escanaba in 1890. The town of Escanaba was involved in some pretty interesting protective business practices focused on helping local photographers. The Bulletin of Photography (1913) reports on an interesting law passed by the city council in Escanaba. The politicians decided to charge itinerant photographers for coming to town and conducting business. Traveling photographers who took pictures in the town’s street were charged 1 dollar for their first days work and fifty cents each day thereafter. Photographers who used tents or temporary quarters were charged two dollars for the first day and a dollar for each successive day. If a traveling photographer used flash photography, a fee of five dollars for the first day and two dollars for each day thereafter was required. Any photographer that did not comply with the law would be subject to at least a hundred dollar fine or up to sixty days in the county jail. I wonder what it cost the local photographers to encourage city council to pass such an unfair trade law to discourage visits from itinerant photographers.
This vintage real photo postcard features a portrait of an adorable little boy. The darling child is sitting with his ankles crossed on a wooden chair. The chair has a silver comb on one arm. He is wearing knickers, button boots, and a ribbon tie. This photograph was taken by an unidentified studio photographer. The AZO stamp box on the reverse of the postcard indicates that it was published sometime between 1904 and 1918. Writing on the verso reveals that the photograph was taken on boy’s third birthday and that this postcard was given to “Uncle Eddie and Aunt Alice”.
This vintage real photo postcard features a well dressed African American man. He is wearing a ring and a nice hat. He is looking directly at the photographer. The reverse of the postcard has an inscription which includes his name as well as his wife’s name. The gentleman’s name is John Anderson and he inscribed the card to his wife, Inez Anderson. He humorously wrote that she knew that he was the “pretty man” in the photo. The postcard has an AZO stamp box which indicates that it was produced between 1904 and 1918. The lower portion of the postcard has eight tack holes which indicates that the postcard may have traveled a bit and been tacked to a number of walls. There is also residue evidence that the postcard once resided in a photo album. SOLD
This intriguing cabinet card portrait features a finely dressed beautiful young woman. She is absolutely charming. I wish I knew her story. She appears to be ethnic, perhaps Hispanic. She looks like royalty but what is she doing in Garrettsville, Ohio. Her dress is very unusual and special. I believe she is wearing a cape. Her hair treatment is very pretty. The photographer of this image is Crosby Marell French (1850-1932). He operated a studio in Garrettsville. Langdon Road, an online photographer directory, reports that he was in business in the 1880’s and 1890’s. French’s name is included in the 1870 directory of Hiram College. The school was located in Hiram, Ohio and a former student and teacher there, became President of the United States (James Garfield, elected 1880). In 1874, French married his wife Hannah (1852-1932). A photograph of Hannah can be seen below. The photograph was taken by her husband. French’s name appeared regularly in photographic journals including The Photographic Times (1883), The Photographic Times and American Photographer (1884), and Photographic Mosaics (1884). He wrote an article entitled “The Attractive Properties of Photograph” which appeared in Photographic Mosaics. French is listed in US census data. In 1870 he worked as a clerk in a store. In 1880, The US census indicates that French lived in Garrettsville with his wife Hannah and worked as a photographer. In 1900, he was living with his wife in Binghamton, New York and still pursuing his career as a photographer. The same information appeared in the 1910 and 1920 census. By 1920, French was joined in his studio by his daughter Alice E. French. The 1930 US census revealed that C. M. French had retired. A photograph of Crosby French can be found below. The photo was taken by the Holcomb and French studio. (SOLD)
C. M. French Hannah French
This vintage real photo postcard features Julia James (1890-1964), a beautiful stage actress. She sat in 76 portraits that are part of England’s National Portrait Gallery. She is considered by one theatrical writer to be among the top fifteen most beautiful actresses of the 1900’s Edwardian era. She was born in London, England and began her career as a chorus girl at the Aldwych Theatre under Seymour Hicks. She played in “Blue Belle” in 1905. She appeared in productions at the Gaiety Theatre. These plays included “The Girls of Gottenburg”, “Havana”, and “Our Miss Gibbs”. She performed in Paris in “The Arcadians” (1913). This “Rotophot” postcard was printed in Berlin, Germany. It was published by Giesen Brothers of London. It is postmarked in Cathorpe in 1907. The village is located beside the Avon River in Leicestershire, England. The postcard is part of a series (no. 0858). The photographer of this image is the fabulous celebrity photographer, Rita Martin. She is considered one of the best British photographers of her time.Her studio was in an exclusive neighborhood She was born Margareta Weir Martin in Ireland. Margareta “Rita” Martin started her career in photography in 1897 by assisting her elder sister Lallie Charles in running her studio. In 1906 Rita opened her own studio. Rita had a specialty in photographing actresses including Lily Elsie and Lily Brayton. She was also well known for her child studies which often involved children of well known actresses. Lily’s sister, Lallie Charles was more known as an excellent society photographer.
This vintage real photo postcard features a young child ready for winter. The child is wearing a long wool coat and a stocking cap and is standing on a wicker chair. This coat may have belonged to an older sibling because it clearly does not fit the child in the photograph. The coat hangs very low but the real give-away is that the coat’s sleeves hang well below the child’s hands. The unused “fashion statement” postcard has a “Cyko” stamp box indicating that it dates sometime between 1904 and the 1920’s.
The three girls featured in this vintage photograph are extremely adorable. Whoever dressed the girls for their sitting at the photographer, presumably their mother, outfitted them in very cute clothing. The photographer of this image was Chapman Brothers studio in Stanton, Michigan. Ira O. Chapman (1853-1908) and E. Frank Chapman (1858-1916) were brothers who operated as photographers in Stanton, Michigan. It is unclear which brother is the creator of this cabinet card. At one point in time, the pair conducted business in Stanton as “Chapman Brothers” studio. A portrait of a group of members of the Grand Army of the Republic that was done by the photographer brothers, appears in the Flat River Museum in Greenville, Michigan. The “Directory of Early Michigan Photographers” indicates that Isaac was in business from 1876 through 1877 operating a photo studio known as Jennings & Chapman. He remained in the photography studio trade until at least 1895. He was born in New York. For a time he was the printer and proprietor of “The Stanton Hornet” which was an independent daily newspaper. His photo business was taken over by E. Frank Chapman who conducted business in Stanton between 1896 and 1915. E Frank Chapman’s son, Vern (born in 1892) operated a photo studio in Lake Odessa, Michigan sometime around 1914.
A nicely dressed young girl is the subject of this cabinet card photograph by Chapman, of Charlotte, Michigan. The girl is wearing a ring, a link chain necklace, and earrings. The cabinet card stock is unusual because of its pea green color. This photograph came from Edwin A. Chapman’s gallery. Research reveals that he received credit for many photographs that his wife had taken at his studio. Mrs. Jennie A. Chapman (born 1839 or 1840) was a photographer in her own right. Some of her images were taken in 1888.
This carte de visite photograph features a beautiful young girl dressed in the best of fashion. Her clothing indicates that she is from a family of means. She is wearing a stunning dress, a wonderful hat, and is carrying a parasol. She is wearing jewelry (bracelet, earrings) and appears in a manner that is very adult-like. This image reminds me of current day practices by little girl beauty pageants. The contestants, like the young girl above, are portrayed as miniature adults. This cdv portrait produced by photographer Franz Kostler who operated a studio in the town of Neudek. Today, Neudek is called Nejdek and is located in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. The name “Neudek” is of German origin and it is my guess that at the time that this photograph was taken, the town was part of Germany.
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THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 