This cabinet card photograph features an actress in an exotic Japanese costume. The photographer is S. Weitzmann whose studio was located in Vienna, Austria. Writing on the reverse of the image dates the photograph as being produced in 1907 and advertising on the reverse states that the studio won medals in exhibitions in Paris, London, and Grand Prix in 1906. The woman in this image is wearing gloves and an interesting hat. She is also holding a fan. Weitzmann is mentioned in Hitler’s Silent Partners: Swiss Banks, Nazi Gold, And The Pursuit Of Justice (2011). The book states that Weitzmann was the foremost portrait photographer in Vienna and worked for the Austrian Royal Court before its demise in 1918. To view other photographs by Weitzmann,click on the category “Photographer: Weitzmann”.
ACTRESS IN VIENNA DRESSED IN EXOTIC JAPANESE COSTUME
MADAME BUTTERFLY IN KLAGENFURT, AUSTRIA
This image features an attractive actress playing Madame Butterfly in a 1909 production. The preceding information comes from an inscription on the reverse of the photograph. The photographer is Hans Wanderer and his studio was located in Klagenfurt, Austria. Madam Butterfly is an opera by Giacomo Puccini. The story was originally written by James Long (1898). David Belasco dramatized the story for theater. The operatic version of Madame Butterfly premiered in Milan, Italy in 1904.
AGNES EVANS: THEATRE ACTRESS DRESSED IN QUITE RISQUE FASHION
Agnes Evans poses for this cabinet card (top) photographed by Newsboy of New York. Agnes Evans was a theatre actress who performed in the Broadway production of the Pit (1904). The actress is wearing a very revealing risque dress. Further research by myself or assistance from visitors to this site will hopefully further illuminate her life and career. Newsboy was a brand of plug tobacco and Newsboy photographs were given away as a premium by tobacconists and drug stores who sold the tobacco. The images were produced by the National Tobacco Works of New York. They were likely produced and issued in the early 1890’s. The bottom image features Miss Evans in another Newsboy cabinet card (number 8 in a series). She is wearing a risque costume that includes fingerless gloves.
EVA McGINLEY: CHARACTER CHANGE ARTIST
This composite cabinet card features Eva McGinley and is subtitled indicating that she was a “character change artist”. The central portrait on the card shows a prim and proper lady but the image is surrounded by other images displaying Miss McGinley’s versatility and talent to play disparate character roles. Eva McGinley was not a major actress which is apparent by the dearth of information readily available in my preliminary research. However, two newspaper articles were found pertaining to Miss McGinley. The New York Dramatic Mirror (1900) reported that “Eva McGinley’s voice failed her at Greenfield, Iowa last week” and she and her husband Bob went to Omaha to recuperate. A second article appeared in the New York National Police Gazette (1900) which proclaimed that Miss McGinley and her husband were enjoying themselves in Lakeview, Iowa and that she had shot and killed the largest pelican ever killed on Wall Lake. Imagining Miss Mcginley hunting pelicans with a rifle is distasteful to me but it certainly indicates that she really was quite a “character”. The photographer of this image is unidentified.
LULU GLASER: ROCKET ASCENT FROM UNDERSTUDY TO STAGE STAR
CABINET CARD 1 (SOLD)
CABINET CARD 2 & 3
CABINET CARD 4
CABINET CARD 5
CABINET CARD 6
CABINET CARD 7
CABINET CARD 8
These cabinet cards features Lulu Glaser (1874-1958), a Pennsylvania born actress and singer. She came to Broadway with no previous professional experience when she was hired to play in the chorus of “The Lion Tamer (1891)”. She was also given the role of understudy to the Prima Donna. After the star fell ill, Lulu Glaser took over the role and began a meteoric rise to stardom. For the next twenty plus years, Glaser played many roles in such productions as “The Merry Monarch” (1892), “Erminie” (1893), “The Little Corporal” (1898), and “Miss Dolly Dollars” (1895). She achieved her greatest success in “Dolly Varden” (1902). Lulu Glaser was a beautiful woman and this portrait confirms that assessment.
In Cabinet Card 1 Glaser is holding a fan and her expression could be described as coy. She is adorned with a great deal of jewelry including multiple rings, a hair pin and a pin on the midsection of her dress. The photographer of this image, as well as the next four images, is Morrison, of Chicago, Illinois. The photographs have a copyright date of 1894. Morrison was a well known celebrity photographer and his studio was housed in the Haymarket Theatre. To view other photographs by Morrison, click on this site’s category “Photographer: Morrison”.
The sixth photograph of Glaser is by celebrity photographer, Falk, of New York City, New York. This photograph is copyrighted 1893. The seventh photograph, also by Falk, captures Glaser in costume for an unknown titled play. She is holding a whip and not looking particularly friendly. The image looks like it would be appropriate accompanying an ad on one of the controversial sections of Craig’s List. The photograph is dated 1892. To see other photographs by Falk, click on the category “Photographer: Falk”.
Photograph number eight captures Lu Lu Glaser in the same costume she is wearing in photograph number five. The eighth photo was published by Newsboy as a premium used to accompany the sale of their tobacco products. The image is number 118 of a series of celebrity photographs. To view other Newsboy photographs, click on the cabinet card gallery category “Photographer: Newsboy”.
BLANCH WALSH: STAGE ACTRESS IN PROVOCATIVE POSE (PUBLISHED BY NEWSBOY)
This cabinet card photograph of actress, Blanch Walsh, was published by Newsboy and was given as a premium to buyers of the company’s tobacco products. The photograph was number 12 of a series of celebrity photographic portraits. This particular photograph is particularly provocative and risque. Miss Walsh is exhibiting a great deal of exposed skin. Her pose and expression add to the subliminal sexuality. Miss Walsh is costumed as if to portray a gypsy. Note her jewelry. She is wearing a chain around her neck and multiple bracelets on her left arm. To view other theatrical images by Newsboy, click on category “Photographer: Newsboy”. Blanch Walsh (1873-1915) was a highly regarded American stage actress. She also appeared in one film, “Resurrection” (1912). She was born in New York City and educated in the public schools. Her father was T. P. Fatty Walsh, a Tammany politician and prison warden (The Tombs). Her stage debut was in 1888. She worked in the Charles Frohman Company as well as the William Gillette Company. She looked like a younger version of stage star Fanny Davenport. When Miss Davenport was ill for some time before dying in 1898, Blanch Walsh was given a number of her emotional roles. To view photographs of Miss Davenport, write Fanny Davenport in cabinet card gallery’s search box. Walsh’s most sensational role was as Maslova in Tolstoy’s “Resurrection” (1903). She also received much acclaim for her performance in “The Woman in the Case” (1905). The New York Times printed an article about Walsh upon her post surgical death. She was viewed as a major actress who likely would have risen to greater heights in the theater world if her life had not been cut short by her unfortunate early demise.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT OF STAGE ACTRESS BELLA MOORE IN COLUMBUS, OHIO
This cabinet card portrait features singer, dancer, actress Bella Moore. She is wearing lace and a nice cap and smile.During her stage career she was also known as Mrs Fred Vokes (to learn more about the Vokes family, use the search box to search for Fred’s sister, actress “Rosina Vokes”). An ad placed in Harry Miner’s American Directory for the Season 1884-1885 (1884), contains rave reviews of Miss Moore from Cincinnati and Louisville newspapers. The ad also advertised a play named “A Mountain Pink”. Miss Moore was starring in the play which was appearing in Cincinnati. This cabinet card was photographed by the studio of Baker & Potter in Columbus, Ohio. Baker may be one of the principals of the Baker Art Gallery. To view other photographs by Baker, click on the category “Photographer: Baker Art Gallery”. The reverse of this cabinet card advertises that copies of the photograph could be obtained for 25 cents by mail.
MINNIE PALMER: SUCCESSFUL THEATRE ACTRESS NEARLY MURDERED BY HER POSSESSIVE HUSBAND
These cabinet cards feature a portrait of theatre actress, Minnie Palmer (1860-1936). Palmer was born in Philadelphia and spent her early childhood in a convent. At age eight, her family moved with her to Vienna where she was taught music and German. She then went to Paris where she learned dancing and French. At age eleven, in 1876, she went to Baltimore, Maryland, and made her first stage appearance. She then acted in Booth Theatre’s production of “Dan’l Druce”. This appearance was followed by roles in “Engaged“, “The Cricket on the Hearth” and other plays. She was very successful in “Two Orphans” and in the 1879-80 theatre season she had great notice in “The Boarding School” and “My Sweetheart“. Palmer also was successful at having aspects her personal life detailed in the newspaper. The New York Times (1890) reported her “narrow escape from death” when she was assaulted by her husband who brandished a huge carving knife. She received minor injuries to her face and her hand. Her husband, John Rogers, was also her manager. Rogers was angry because his wife had ignored his edict that she stay away from her mother. Apparently, upon her return from attending a horse show with her parents, Rogers attacked her. Rogers was a very possessive man; he had already written many insulting and abusive letters to Palmer’s friends in an effort to keep them away from her. Palmer was certainly not media shy. She gave the Times reporter a very detailed story about the violent incident and problems in her marriage which they were happy to print. The photographer of the top cabinet card is Sarony. The second cabinet card is a portrait by celebrity photographer, Mora. Both photographers were located in New York City. To see other photographs of these talented celebrity photographers, click on Cabinet Card Gallery’s category “Photographer: Sarony” and “Photographer: Mora”. The third cabinet card is by Sarony and it does a great job of capturing Minnie Palmer’s exceptional beauty. The fourth cabinet card, also by Sarony, is a close-up portrait of Miss Palmer wearing a feathered hat. Once again, Minnie Palmer is quite photogenic. She has sparkling beautiful eyes and a wonderful smile.
STAGE AND SILENT FILM ACTRESS MABEL TRUNELLE IN FORT WAYNE, INDIANA
This cabinet card features stage and film actress Mabel Trunnell (1879-1981). The reverse of the photograph is inscribed “Yours Truly, Mabel Trunnell 1898”. Therefore, this image captures Miss Trunnell at about age nineteen. Mabel Trunnell was born in Dwight, Illinois. She began her career as an actress of the stage but at age thirty-two she began to appear in films. In 1911 she appeared in “A Modern Cinderella, In the Days of Chivalry” and in “The Star Spangled Banner”. Her last film was in 1923 when she was in the movie “The Love Trap”. Her filmography on IMDb indicates that she acted in 199 different films. At the age of forty-four she returned to the stage. She was married to Herbert Prior, an early British film star. Trunnell was one of Hollywood’s first movie stars as was identified with Edison Studios. A magazine article in “The Moving Picture World” (1915) reviews one of her performance. The reviewer wrote “Mabel Trunnell becomes more attractive as the course of time silvers her hair”. An interesting sociological comment was also made by the reviewer which was in regard to the admirable strength portrayed by Trunnell’s character. The reviewer notes “most of us are tired of seeing women pictured as incurable weaklings”. The reviewer was certainly a man who was ahead of his time. This cabinet card was produced by the Barrows studio in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It appears that Miss Trunnell was photographed in a costume from one of her performances. She is dressed very much like a maid and seems a bit troubled in her pose. The photographer, Frank Rufus Barrows operated a studio in Fort Wayne between 1880 and 1900. He is considered one of the city’s most prolific photographers and had several locations while in business there. He was born in Sturgis, Michigan in 1854. He came to Fort Wayne in 1880 and partnered with Frank H. Clayton in operating a photographic studio. In about a years time he became the sole proprietor of the studio. He had many photos appear in Fort Wayne Illustrated (1897). He left Indiana for Medford, Massachusetts and operated a studio there until 1910 when he moved to Eugene, Oregon where he died in 1920.
MISS LILLIAN RAYMOND: PRETTY STAGE ACTRESS WHOSE LIFE WAS CUT SHORT BY TUBERCULOSIS
On July 17th, 1911, the New York Times printed the following obituary, reporting from Louisville, Kentucky. “Lillian Dolfinger, known to the theatrical world as Lillian Raymond, who appeared in “The Girl of the Golden West’, and several other New York productions, died today at the home of her father here from tuberculosis. She was 25 years old. Miss Raymond was to appear in one of the New York productions this Fall, but became ill”. Investigation revealed that Miss Raymond appeared on Broadway on three occassions. She appeared in “Wonderland” (1905), “About Town” (1906), and “The Girl Behind the Counter” (1907). All three shows were musicals. No other information about Miss Raymond could be found during preliminary research. The photographer of this image is C. J. Horner who described himself through his advertising as a “European Photographer. His studio was located at 11 Winter Street in Boston, Massachusetts. It is tragic that Lillian Raymond’s stage career and life was cut short by illness. We will never know to what heights this pretty young actress may have climbed in the theatrical world. The photographer of this image rose to lofty heights in his profession. Swedish born Carl Joseph Horner (1864-1926) was probably the best sports photographer of his era. He was particularly known for his baseball photographs, many of which appeared on tobacco company issued baseball cards. Among the players he photographed were Cy Young and Tris Speaker. His panoramic portrait of the 1912 “Red Sox Champions” is well known among collectors.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 