This vintage postcard features a little boy (possibly girl) dressed in cute winter clothing and holding a toy in his right hand. The toy may be a ring. The reverse of the postcard has an inscription indicating that the photograph was taken in 1926 in Mannheim, Germany. In addition, the name of the child may also be included in the inscription. The child’s name is not clearly legible to me, but appears to be “Hilde Marz”.The postcard was produced with scalloped edges. (SOLD)
This vintage real photo postcard features two children posing as a bride and groom. The bride looks beautiful in her wedding dress and the groom is adorable in his tuxedo and top hat. Obviously, this is not a real wedding photo. However, it is likely an example of a Tom Thumb Wedding portrait. “Tom Thumb Weddings” were inspired by the marriage of little people, Charles Stratton and Lavinia Warren. The couple were both working as attractions for P. T. Barnum, of circus fame. Stratton was known as General Tom Thumb. The pair were married in 1863 and the wedding was a lavish affair. People were fascinated by the couple’s wedding and reception. The event was called “The Greatest Little Wedding” and people became so obsessed that they began to create their own “miniature weddings”. At these weddings, the bride, groom, and bridal party were composed of young children. These weddings were run like plays and often money raised at these events were used for charitable purposes. This postcard photograph may be from one of these Tom Thumb weddings but I can not be certain.The previous owner of this postcard, a postcard maven, described this postcard as being from Germany and as being published around 1909. I can not substantiate that “Tom Thumb Weddings” took place in Germany. To view other “Tom Thumb Wedding” photographs, click on the category “Tom Thumb Wedding Portraits”. (SOLD)
This beautiful cabinet card portrait features an attractive couple posing at Emil Buhler’s studio in Mannheim, Germany. The couple are well dressed and give the appearance of being in the “upper class”. The gentleman looks proud and intense. Note his wonderful mustache and eye glasses. The lovely woman is wearing a charm bracelet, ring, and collar pin. She is also displaying a terrific smile and the photographer did an excellent job of capturing the woman’s intimate feelings toward her husband. Look at her body language and see if you agree with my assessment concerning her love for her husband. The photographer, Mr Buhler, is cited in “The Photographic Times (1888)” as a manufacturer of fine quality photographic paper.
This item is a cartes de visite (cdv) featuring a cute long haired little girl sitting on a chair and posing at the Erna studio in Berlin, Germany. She has bows in her hair and is holding a toy in her lap. She is wearing a beautiful lace dress. Take note of the chairs nicely carved arm rests. This cdv is in excellent condition. An embossment on the bottom right of the image indicates that the photograph was taken in 1911.
Two adorable little girls and their sweet little brother pose for their portrait at an unknown German photographic studio. They are beautifully dressed and each child is holding a basket of flowers. This image likely dates back to the 1920’s.
This vintage postcard features a very beautiful woman dressed for tennis and holding a tennis racquet. Her tennis clothing may appear to be a bit impractical for the demands of a tennis match, but this is the attire that women actually wore at the time this postcard was published. The postcard is postmarked 1923 and was mailed from Portugal. The card was published by PFB (Paul Finkenrath) of Berlin, Germany. It is part of a series. (no. 3075/4). The Paul Finkenroth company made quality photo postcards and the company was heavily oriented toward export. They were known to be responsive to printing postcards that they’re customers desired over time. They were quite profitable but closed in 1911 when protective tariffs interfered with their business. The company was established by Paul Finkenrath and Paul Grasnick in 1897. The partnership lasted about a year and then Grasnick left to start his own lithography studio. (See comments below concerning information about the publishing house that produced this postcard). SOLD
This vintage real photo postcard features a scantily clad sexy young woman wearing a “come hither” expression. There is little doubt that this postcard portrait was meant to be sexually inviting. This image supports the principle that “sex sells”. Sex sold products in the early 1900’s just as it does today. This postcard is of German origin. It was published by “NPG” (Neue Photographische Gesellschaft). The company was a leading bromide photo printing company for many years. The stamp box of this particular postcard has an interesting story. “NBC” (Neue Bromsilber Convention) was price cartel established in 1909 that continued until the 1930’s. The purpose of the cartel was to ensure that the minimum price charged for postcards was kept at a sufficiently profitable level. A number of postcard publishing companies joined the cartel in an effort to stave off the effect of competition on the pricing of postcards. (SOLD)
Mabel May Yong (1883-1945) was an Australian born actress and dancer. She appeared in German films. The IMDB reports that she had 21 film appearances between 1920 and 1925. In some of the early films she was billed as Mabel May. She portrayed the exotic, sexy, scantily clad Mata Hari or Salome type. She is often considered the German equivalent of Theda Bara. She had the lead in a vampire film “What the Skull Tells” (1921). Interestingly, she appeared in a film called “Women Who Commit Adultery ( 1922). Mabel May Yong was quite prolific in regard to her numerous film appearance in the early 1920’s. However, her success was short lived. Perhaps a cabinet card gallery visitor can explain what happened to Miss Yong personally and professionally after her early success. This rare vintage real photo postcard was published in Munich, Germany by Percy Hein. (SOLD)
A lovely couple poses for their portrait at the Stuting and Sohn studio in Barmen, Germany. The man and woman are well dressed. The man is holding reading material on his lap. One of the more remarkable aspects of this image is the gentleman’s interesting mustache. The mustache is bushy and curls wonderfully at each end. The photographer, Stuting, is cited in two photographic journals published in 1890 (American Journal of Photography, The Photographic News). Stuting’s studio was located in Barmen, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen is also known as the birthplace of socialist theorist Friedrich Engels. Finding a photographer in Barmen at the turn of the century must not have been much of a problem. The Cabinet Card Gallery has a number of carte de visite photographs originating from studios in Barmen. Printed on the lower right hand corner of the reverse of this cdv is the number “1907”. This likely represents the date that this photograph was taken despite the fact that most photographers stopped producing carte de visite photographs by that date.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 