This vintage photograph features a young mother reading a book to her child. The youngster is sitting on her lap and holding the book. A second book lies on the chair, in reserve, behind the mother. The photograph was taken by the Koehne & Bretzman studio in Chicago, Illinois. William L. Koehne (1869-1965) was a prominent portrait photographer in the windy city. One source reports that he was a photographer for the Chicago Tribune. Charles F. Bretzman was born in Germany in 1866 and emigrated to the United States at age 19. He settled in New York and found a photo studio job. He came to Chicago in 1894 and worked there six years until he moved to Indianapolis where he opened his own studio and worked as a staff photographer for three newspapers. Bretzman appears in the Indianapolis, Indiana city directory as a photographer in 1902. In 1911 he was at the first Indianapolis 500 auto race shooting the action. He was the first official photographer for the Indy. The Indiana Historical Society displays some of his racing photographs online. His son, Charles Noble Bretzman joined him in the business in around 1925. Charles Bretzman’s portrait can be seen below. (SOLD)
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 
So sweet