PORTRAIT OF BEAUTIFUL ACTRESS EVANGELINE IRVING (BY CELEBRITY PHOTOGRAPHER WILLIAM McKENZIE MORRISON OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS)

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The previous owner of this photograph, reported the subject to be theatrical actress Evangeline Irving. Visual comparison to other portraits of Evangeline Irving support this identification. Evangeline Irving was an theater actress and the sister of a more successful theater actress named Isabel Irving.  See Isabel’s portrait by searching for it in the Cabinet Card Gallery. This photograph was produced by William McKenzie Morrison, the Chicago, Illinois, based celebrity photographer. View other Morrison photographs by clicking on category “Photographer: Morrison”.  The New York Times (1895) reported that Evangeline substituted for Isabel in a matinee performance of “The Case of Rebellious Susan”. Isabel was suffering from hoarseness. A number of  New York Times (1895, 1896) articles describes a banking fiasco that Evangeline Irving was able to resolve. Her mother had gone to the Lincoln Safe Deposit Company to get twenty thousand dollars worth of bonds out of her box. When she could not find the bonds in the box, she ran out of the vault screaming that she had been robbed. She went home  ill, and took to bed. She complained around town and soon her Senator contacted the bank demanding she be compensated with a check replacing her loss. The situation caused many people to run to their banks to see if their safety deposit box holdings had disappeared. Mrs. Irving caused a mini run on the city banks.  It took awhile for Mrs. Irving’s daughters to get involved because both of the women were performing out west. Isabel was playing roles with the Lyceum Company and Evangeline was part of  Stuart Robson’s Company. Soon, Evangeline came to the bank and after opening the safe deposit box found the bonds tied up in a bundle in the box. An apology was issued to the bank and made public.

Published in: on December 18, 2012 at 12:01 am  Comments (1)  
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RISQUE PORTRAIT OF BURLESQUE ACTRESS KATE EVERLEIGH BY WARREN’S PORTRAITS IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

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This cabinet card captures the beauty of actress Kate Everleigh. The image is risque for the cabinet card era. Preliminary research reveals no personal details of the life of Miss Everleigh. However, there are many articles citing her theatrical appearances.  In fact, her portrait appears on the front page of  “The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News” in both 1885 and 1886 editions. She is also referenced in the book “A History of the New York Stage” (1903) for appearing in Reese and Farnie’s burlesque production of  “Oxygen” and Lydia Thompson’s Company’s production of “Bluebird”. Everleigh also appeared in the original London cast of  “Erminie” (1885). The magazine “The Theatre” (1885) cites her appearances in “Nemesis” and “Family Ties”. Miss Everleigh also performed in the United States. She is mentioned as a performer in a burlesque show in San Francisco called “The Mother, The Maiden, and The Musicianer” (1880). This is a high quality photograph and not surprisingly, comes from a well respected studio in Boston, Massachusetts. The studio is Warren’s Portraits and it was located at 465 Washington Street. The photographer was George K. Warren. Warren’s Studios photographed many celebrities and notable people in Boston. To view other photographs by Warren, click on the category “Photographer: Warren”.

Published in: on December 9, 2012 at 12:01 am  Comments (1)  
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PORTRAIT OF ACTRESS BLANCH WARD IN NEW YORK CITY (RISQUE)

This cabinet card features a costumed young woman named Blanch Ward. This photograph shows “a lot of leg” and is rather risque for its era. Blanch Ward is likely either an actress, dancer, or singer, or some combination of the three. Research revealed no information about Miss Ward and it is likely she was not a major theatrical performer. The photographer of this image is Alfred S. Campbell of New York City. He is known for being a photographer who had a specialty in photographing theater stars. To view other photographs by Campbell and to learn more about his life, click on the category “Photographer: Campbell”.

Published in: on December 7, 2012 at 12:01 am  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN IN MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT (POSSIBLY AN ACTRESS)

The pretty woman in this cabinet card photograph has the appearance of an actress. She has struck a provocative pose in this photograph and is very photogenic. She looks like she rolled out of bed and forgot to get dressed before coming to the A. Pritchard Photographic Art Studio to have her portrait taken.  She also looks like she is wearing her bed clothes, but that is not likely the case. Perhaps she is wearing a costume from a stage production she was appearing in. The reverse of the photograph has the name “Lillian” written on it. Trying to use the first name to assist in identifying this young lady was fruitless. I can’t resist the following insight. The Cabinet Card Gallery has few  images that have been significantly damaged over time. A previous owner of this image cut corners to fit this photograph into a frame. I am beginning to accept what many other collectors already believe,  that damaged photographs have a place in cabinet card collections.The images of damaged cards, even significantly damaged cards, can be quite beautiful as well as interesting. They are as much a window of  history as the most pristine cards. I wonder if the visitors to this gallery agree with me about the value of many damaged cards? Enough of my editorializing! Its time to return to the cabinet card seen above. The photographer of this image, A..Pritchard, operated his studio in Meriden, Connecticut. The Meriden Morning Record  (1921) has an article announcing that Alfred Pritchard had opened a new studio in Meriden. The article states that he had been in Meriden for 15 years but had left the area in 1901. He had moved to New York City where he was “connected with Colonel Marceau” in operating a Fifth Avenue photography business. Later he was “connected” with Roger Sherman’s studio in New Haven, Connecticut. This cabinet card image was produced during Pritchard’s first stint in Meriden.

Published in: on November 7, 2012 at 12:01 am  Leave a Comment  
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS / SINGER POSES IN ENGLAND

A young unidentified woman poses for her portrait at Nye & Company in England. Judging by her clothing, stage presence, and stance, she is likely an actress or dancer. Researching the address of the studio resulted in a great deal of evidence that the studio was located in London. However, the name of the street is consistently listed as “Walworth Road”, not “Watworth Road”. It appears that this address was the studio of R. R. Wilson in the 1880’s, Nye in the 1890’s and H. Bown after the turn of the century. These dates are just guesstimates based on examining other cabinet cards that were produced over the years from the studio that existed at the Walworth address.

Published in: on November 6, 2012 at 12:01 am  Comments (1)  
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PORTRAIT OF STAGE ACTRESS MARY BEEBE (PHOTOGRAPH BY NAPOLEON SARONY)

This cabinet card, by celebrity photographer Napoleon Sarony, features actress Mary Beebe. She was a lesser known stage performer but did receive notice in the theater sections of major newspapers. Music and Drama (1882) reported that she had cancelled her performance with the Boston Ideal Opera Company because she had a sore throat. Life (1885) reviewed her performance in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Patience”. The article described her performance as “good, but not up to standard”. To view other photographs by Sarony, click on the Cabinet Card Gallery category “Photographer: Sarony”.

Published in: on November 4, 2012 at 12:01 am  Leave a Comment  
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A YOUNG MAN AND THREE YOUNG WOMAN IN FANCY COSTUMES (STUTTGART, GERMANY)

A young man and three young woman dressed in ethnic clothing, or theatrical costumes, pose at the H. Brandseph studio in Stuttgart, Germany. The foursome are attractive, and they appear to be teenagers. Perhaps they are stage performers. Printing on the reverse of the cabinet card reveals that Hermann Brandseph’s Stuttgart studio was located at “Marienstrasse 36”. A telephone number is listed for the studio which demonstrates that this photograph was produced toward the end of the cabinet card era. Hermann was the son of well known German photographer Georg Friedrich Brandseph (1826-1915). Georg was a lithographer, silhouetter, and painter who learned about the daguerreotype process from the celebrated photographer Karl Reutlinger who lived in Stuttgart (to view a number of Reutlinger’s photographs, click on cabinet card gallery category “Photographer: Reutlinger”).  Georg opened his own studio there in 1853. In the 1870’s the Brandseph studio was extremely successful. In fact, by 1870, the studio had 40 employees. Georg turned the studio over to his son Hermann (1857-1907) in 1884.

Published in: on November 3, 2012 at 12:01 am  Comments (2)  
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MAGGIE ARLINGTON: STAGE ACTRESS KILLED BY DUMB-WAITER

This cabinet card, features an actress with a tragic story. The New York Times (1887) reported a story about Maggie Arlington’s funeral. Arlington was a stage actress. Her funeral was held at her home at 106 East 54th Street in New York City. The article states that her home was full of flower arrangements including a large arrangement from her fiance, Eddie Godschalk. Miss Arlington died from pneumonia which was reported to be secondary from a fall. The fall occurred when she was leaning over a dumb-waiter shaft in her home and slipped and fell sixty five feet. She broke both of her legs as well as one of her arms. She also sustained major bruises. She developed pneumonia shortly thereafter. Arlington was born in 1853 in Lawrence, Massachusetts and was originally named Margaret Ryerson. She began professional acting in St. Louis in 1872. She married the nephew of a United States Navy admiral. Her husband objected to her continuing her acting career so she divorced him. She had one son who was ten years old at the time of her death. Maggie Arlington does not seem to have been a major theatrical star as research yielded little about her stage career. However, her profession and the unusual tragic cause of her death, earned her an obituary story in the New York Times. This cabinet card was photographed by celebrity photographer Napoleon Sarony. To view other photographs by Sarony, click on the category “Photographer: Sarony”.

Published in: on October 25, 2012 at 12:01 am  Comments (2)  
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HELENE HASTREITER: FAMED OPERA SINGER

This cabinet card portrait features famed opera singer Helene Hastreiter (1858-1922). She is holding a stringed instrument that I can not identify with certainty but I believe it is a lyre. Hastreiter was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She made her opera debut in Milan, Italy. She was a mezzo soprano. The photographer of this image is Reichmann & Company. To view other photographs by this studio, click on the category “Photographer: Reichmann”.

Published in: on October 15, 2012 at 12:01 am  Leave a Comment  
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CARLOTTA BRIANZA: CELEBRATED ITALIAN BALLERINA (PORTRAIT BY FALK)

This cabinet card portrait features pretty celebrated Italian ballerina, Carlotta Brianza (1867-c.1933). Note that the jewelry that is hanging from her necklace is shaped like a horse. It is also worth mention that this photograph is somewhat risque for the era. Brianza was born in Milan, Italy and was the prima ballerina at La Scala before going to Russia. She created a sensation in Luigi Manzotti’s ballet “Excelsior” as the Spirit of Light. She went to Russia in 1887 after completing a US tour. She was acclaimed for her work in “Sleeping Beauty” and “Esmerelda”. She returned to the west in 1891 when she became the prima ballerina for the Vienna Opera. She died in Paris under suspicious circumstances that suggest she committed suicide. This portrait was produced by celebrity photographer Benjamin J. Falk of New York City. To view other photographs by Falk, click on the category “Photographer: Falk”.

Published in: on October 3, 2012 at 12:01 am  Comments (1)  
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