This cabinet card features a lovely portrait of a well dressed family of four. Note the father’s neckwear. Is he wearing a bow tie or is it an ascot-like accessory. As per usual for this era, the father is sitting and the mother is standing. I wonder if the reason for this popular pose is that husbands tended to be taller than their wives and that taller people added undesirable empty space at the top of images. This photograph was taken at the studio of Eppert & Son. The business was located in Terre Haute, Indiana. Charles Eppert was born in Indiana in 1836. He was one of eleven children. At the age of 21, Charles was working in a grist mill. Sometime around 1859, he moved to Terre Haute. He learned photography there and established his studio in 1860 at 111 Wabash Street. In 1862, Charles married Mary C. Badgely (1840-1931). The couple had two children. Mary joined Charles in the photography business which is illustrated by the 1870 US census which lists both Charles and Mary as photographers. The 1880 census indicates that the couple’s son, George, went to work as an apprentice in the family studio.. Sometime in the 1880’s, George joined his father to form Eppert and Son, the studio that produced this cabinet card photograph. The 1920 census reveals that Charles, despite being in his eighties, was still working as a photographer. He died in 1923. In researching Charles, I found a web site (Indiana Album) that featured a beautiful photograph of an eclipse that Charles had taken. This family portrait cabinet card has excellent clarity and is in excellent condition (see scans). SOLD
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 
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