A handsome and well dressed gentleman sits for his photographic portrait at the studio of McKeown in Anderson, Indiana. His hairstyle can be described as complicated and requiring a high degree of maintenance.
HANDSOME MAN WITH COMPLICATED HAIR STYLE IN ANDERSON, INDIANA
BIZARRE FACIAL HAIR IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
The gentleman photographed for this cabinet card wears his beard in a most unusual style. His place in the Cabinet Card Gallery’s category of “Beards (Only the Best)” is well deserved. The photographer of this portrait is Alexander C. Brownell of Providence, Rhode Island. Brownell’s death notice appeared in a 1916 photographic magazine. The article stated that Brownell died in New York City of “hardening of the arteries” but that his health had been less than robust for the previous 30 years due to his accidentally poisoning himself thirty years earlier while experimenting with chemicals to be used for zinc etchings.
MELVILLE ELIJAH STONE: NOTED CHICAGO JOURNALIST
This cabinet card is a portrait of Melville Elijah Stone (1848-1929). Stone was a reporter when in 1876 he founded Chicago’s first penny paper, “The Chicago Daily News”. In 1881 he established the “Chicago Morning News” which became the “Chicago Record”. In 1893, while employed with a bank, he was named General Manager of the “Associated Press” which under his stewardship became a major news agency. Stone retired in 1921. The photographer who produced this portrait was W. J. Root, a celebrated Chicago photographer.
LITERARY MAN STANDING NEXT TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN HAYWARD, WISCONSIN
Ok. So, he’s not exactly standing next to Abraham Lincoln but he is standing next to Abe’s picture on the binding of a very well known book of the time. The title of the volume is “Giants of The Republic”. The book was written by a “Corps of Competent Biographers” and covers the “lives, deeds and personal traits of eminent men and women” in American history. Some of the subjects profiled are Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Charles Sumner, William Sherman, Robert Fulton, John Jacob Astor, and Edgar Alan Poe. The well dressed gentleman in this cabinet card photograph must have thought that the book had historic potential or at the least, was worth remembering. It is unusual to see someone posing with a specific book title (unless its the bible). The book in this photograph is clearly meant to play a prominent role in the photograph. The photographer of this cabinet card is G. H. McElroy of Hayward, Wisconsin.
HEFTY MAN DRESSED FOR WINTER ON BROADWAY IN NEW YORK CITY
This nicely dressed portly gentleman is posing for his portrait at the studio of Golder & Robinson in New York City. He appears as if he just walked in off the street and didn’t take the time to remove his overcoat and fur hat. His pocket watch and a couple of rings are visible.To view other photos by this studio click on the category “Golder & Robinson”.
MOUTHLESS MAN IN SPICELAND, INDIANA (MAN WITH FORMIDABLE BEARD)
This Cabinet Card is an image of a gentleman with a very interesting beard. I wonder what the psychological implications are of a man who keeps his mouth completely hidden by facial hair. The mans eyes however, are very communicative. The photographer is Huddleston whose studio was in Spiceland, Indiana. Cephus M. Huddleston (1832- ?) was born in Indiana but little biographacial data was uncovered in recent reseach. The town of Spiceland was settled in the 1820’s by Quaker pioneers from Virginia and the Carolinas. The town was named after the spice bush which was prevalent there. In the 1890’s there were a number of factories including those that manufactured furniture, glass and glue. The town was the location of Friends Academy (1870-1921) and the Spiceland Sanitarium and Mineral Springs (1893-1913).
BUSHY MUSTACHE IN EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN
This cabinet card is an addition to the “Mustache (Only the Best) category in the Cabinet Card Gallery. The gentleman in this photograph is wearing a long and bushy mustache and dress clothing for his portrait at the studio of Bonell, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Bonell was a photographer in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin from 1875 until 1890. To view more photographs by Bonell, click on the category “Photographer: Bonell”.
ALBERT STROUT WEARS A STRING TIE
An inscription on the reverse of this cabinet card indicates that the man sitting for this portrait is Albert Strout. The photograph was recently purchased from an estate in Porter, Maine. Research discloses that there is an Albert Strout (1847-1925) buried in Cedar Crest Cemetery in Otisfield, Maine. Albert Strout was married to Ida M. Spurr Strout and records suggest that he may have been a carpenter. It is very possible that the biographical information discovered is accurate but it certainly may be incorrect. Albert Strout is a not an extremely rare name and the photographer who produced this image (Smith) does not list the location of his studio on the cabinet card. Perhaps this photograph followed Strout’s ancestors to Maine but originated in another part of the country. Note that Albert Strout is wearing a pin on his lapel and a string tie.
COOL LONG HAIRED MAN IN FARIBAULT, MINNESOTA (WILLIE NELSON TYPE)
This Cabinet Card photograph is an image of a very interesting looking man. His long hair and beard makes him look like Willie Nelson. This gentleman is from Faribault, Minnesota; or perhaps he was from elsewhere and just “on the road again”. The photographic studio was Peavey and Peterson of Faribault, Minnesota. Louis Peavey (c1832-1902) was a photographer active in Decorah, McGregor, and Ossion, Iowa (1864-1870). He opened a studio in Faribault, Minnesota in 1870 and partnered with Christian Peterson in about 1878 until near the end of the 1890’s.
GROOMED BEARD IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
A distinguished serious gentleman sits for his cabinet card portrait at one of the studios of photographer B. Etter. Etter had photographic studio locations in New Hampshire. He had a businesses in Great Falls and in Rochester.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 