A jolly looking man poses for a portrait at the studio of Isaiah West Taber (1830-1912), in San Francisco, California. The happy gentleman has a wonderful mustache and earns the right to join other men with remarkable mustaches in the Cabinet Card Gallery’s category “Mustaches (Only the Best)”. Taber was a well known daguerreotypist, ambrotypist and photographer who photographed many California notables. Taber was also a sketch artist and a dentist. He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Between 1845 and 1849, he worked on a whaling ship. He moved to California in 1850 and returned to the east, four years later. Upon his return, he opened a photography studio in Syracuse, New York. In 1864, he returned to California where he worked in the studio of Bradley and Rulofson until 1873. To view images by Bradley and Rulofson, click on the category, “Photographer: Bradley & Rulofson”. In 1871, Tabor opened his own studio and became famous for reproducing the photographs of well known California photographer, Carleton Watkins. Watkin’s business had gone bankrupt, and Taber reproduced his work without giving Watkins any credit. In 1880, Taber took a six week photographic trip to Hawaii. During part of that trip, he fulfilled his commission to photograph King Kalakaua. By 1890, Taber had expanded his operation to include studios in London and other parts of Europe. However, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, put him out of business. The natural disaster destroyed Taber’s studio, gallery and negatives.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 