A bright eyed and handsome young man poses for his portrait in the stduio of C. J. Kratt in Athol, Massachusetts. He has neatly combed hair. Besides his mustache, he is very clean shaven. He could pass for a Gillette razor model. The gentleman is dressed for winter. Note his pocket watch chain. The reverse of the photograph has two inscribed names (see below). The top name is crossed out but looks like “J. Whitney”. The second name appears to be J. W. Holton.
A very good looking man is the subject of this portrait from the Hile studio in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. This gentleman is perfectly coiffed and ready for a photo shoot with “Gentleman’s Quarterly”. Note his pretty and sizable bow tie and the gold chain of his watch visible at the bottom of the image. I wonder if this photograph is a wedding portrait? The photographer of this image, William Hile (1838-1922) operated his studio out of his home at 114 East Pittsburgh Street. His daughter Lilli was also a photographer at the studio. William Hile was married to Lucinda Reamer Hile (1841-1918) and the couple had four children. Today’s Greensburg is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. During the cabinet card era, Greensburg was a railroad stop and a vibrant center of the local mining industry. William Hile is buried at the St. Clair Cemetery in Greensburg (view his grave marker below)
According the caption in this image, this photograph is a portrait of “Pittsburg Pete”. He is noted as being “The toughest Tramp in the Country”. The caption also notes that this photograph was taken in 1912. Preliminary research found references to a “Pittsburg Pete” in some articles about “hobos” and “tramps”. In addition, the Urbana Daily Courier (Illinois) has some articles about criminal activities of a man known as “Pittsburg Pete”. A 1914 article reports the arrest and jailing of a man with that moniker. The man is described as a “familiar street character in this city” and his crime was vagrancy. The article states that the man’s actual name was John Reed. It is unknown whether the tough looking guy in this image is the same “Pittsburg Pete” as the “street character” in Urbana. (SOLD)
This cabinet card portrait features the portrait of a well dressed older man wearing a well groomed long beard. The reverse of the photograph identifies the gentleman as being Dr. Baker. The photograph was taken at the studio of Taylor & Martin. An ad for Taylor & Martin was found in a Chicago Business Directory (1887). The ad included the information that the studio was formerly called Gentile & Company before Taylor and Martin assumed ownership. To view more photographs by this pair, click on the category “Photographer: Taylor & Martin”.
This cabinet card features a dandy gentleman holding what appears to be a riding crop in his gloved hands. Is he dressed for riding? Is that a horse shoe pin that he is wearing near the bottom of his vest? Note his pocketwatch and chain. The reverse of the photograph is inscribed by the subject. He wrote “Ever your friend, George L. Stringer”. The reverse of the cabinet card also reveals the name of the photographer. A stamp identifies the portraitist as being A. W. Adams whose studio was located on Water Street in Decorah, Iowa. Research revealed some information about George Lincoln Stringer (1862-1932). The 1880 US census indicates that he was born in Iowa but that his parents were Canadian born. In 1880, he was living in Decorah with his parents. His occupation was hard to decipher but it looked a lot like blacksmith. The 1900 census found him still living in Decorah and married (1884) to Mary Alice Kennedy. The couple had a 15 year-old son named Vernon. Once again his occupation was nearly illegible but it seemed to read “traveling salesman”. George Stringer died in 1932 and is buried in Phelps Cemetery in Decorah. The town of Decorah was settled in 1849 and in its early history had a large number of Norwegian settlers. The Norwegian influence remains there today. The Decorah Posten was the largest Norwegian newspaper in the United States until it shut down in 1972. The town was named after Waukon Decorah, a Winnebago tribal leader, who was a US ally in the Black Hawk War of 1832. The photographer of this cabinet card, Asa W. Adams (1842-1915) operated a photo studio in Decorah between 1863 and 1884. Before moving to Decorah, Adams ran a a studio in McGregor, Iowa (1863). Early during his operations in Decorah he had a partnership with S. R. Shear in the Adams & Shear Gallery. In 1866 he married Emma J. Fuller and the couple had four children. Adams sold his studio to O. E. Borlaug. He next conducted his photography business in Waterloo, Iowa (1884-after 1900). Adams died in 1915 and is buried in Decorah.
This photograph features a handsome young man sporting a thin mustache. The gentleman is well dressed and handsome. The photographer of this image is Wilbur Wright. He operated a photography studio in San Jose California. To learn more about Wright and to view more of his photographs, click on the category “Photographer: Wright”.
Henry Kleilie sits for his portrait at Hoefle’s Studio in Brooklyn, New York. He doesn’t seem to be having a very good day judging by the prominent scowl seen on his face. He is well dressed and is sitting on a wicker chair. Research yielded no information about Mr. Kleilie and it is possible that I am not deciphering his name correctly from the handwriting on the reverse of the photograph. It is also possible that that the inscriber misspelled the subject’s name. I have provided a scan of the inscription which can be seen above. The Photographic Times (1904) reported the death of Mr. G. Hoefle, the photographer of this cabinet card. Hoefle died in late 1903 of “paralysis of the heart” at sixty years of age.
Two well dressed young men wearing derby hats are captured in this portrait by the Howes studio in Turner’s Falls, Massachusetts. The Historic Northampton Museum web site has an article about the photographer of this cabinet card as well as a collection of his studio photographs. Actually, the site focuses on the Howes brothers, Alvah (1853-1919), George (1861-1925), and Walter (1865-1945).The Howes brothers were all photographers and began their career as traveling photographers. They photographed people in front of their houses, in their schools, and in their work places. The brothers tours included trips within Massachusetts, and to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Vermont. By 1888 Alvah had opened a portrait studio in Turner’s Falls which operated until 1904 and produced the above cabinet card. McFarland and Newman (1981) wrote a book about the lives and works of the Howes siblings. The book is titled “New England Reflections 1882-1907: Photography by the Howes Brothers”.
The balding and bespectacled gentleman posing for this cabinet card portrait appears to be a studious man. He is holding a photographic album and and there are books and another album on the table beside him. Hiram C. Moore was the proprietor of the Photo Parlor that produced this photograph. Moore’s studio was located in Springfield, Massachusetts. An advertisement for his studio appeared in the fourth volume of Good Housekeeping (1886). At one time Hiram was partners with his brother Chauncey L. Moore in a Springfield studio. To view photographs by Chauncy Moore, click on the category Photographer: Moore (Chauncey).
If you doubt that these two gentlemen are really the infamous outlaws, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, then you are correct. This is not a portrait of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but these guys do give the appearance of a pair of scoundrels. In reality, this photograph features Joseph C. White and a friend, as someone so kindly informed us in pencilled writing beneath the subjects image. The photographer is J. A. Morris of Rockmart, Georgia. Research yielded no information about either Joseph C. White or J. A. Morris. Both names are common and preliminary research for biographical information was unproductive.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 