This cabinet card features a young smiling woman lying on a fainting couch. This image is quite risque for its time. The style and folds of the woman’s dress, her exposed feet, her smile and her body language all contribute to the provocativeness of this image. Fainting couches were popular in the 19th century and used predominately by woman. They are couches with a back that is traditionally raised at one end. There are two major theories as to why these type of couches became popular. The first theory was that some women wore their corsets so tight, that they restricted blood flow; causing fainting. This theory has pretty much been debunked. A second theory was that the couch was popular because many women of that time suffered from “female hysteria”. This medical condition caused symptoms that included faintness, nervousness, and insomnia. The illness was treated by “pelvic massage”. The couch was a great setting for hysterical woman to receive the treatment from visiting physicians and midwives. This female psychiatric illness sounds very much like an anxiety attack, and Xanax and Ativan seem to have replaced “pelvic massage” on a fainting couch. The photographer of this cabinet card was J. B. Wilson of Chicago, Illinois. To view other photographs by Wilson, click on the category “Photographer: Wilson (JB)”. The subject of this photograph may have been an actress.
PROVOCATIVE WOMAN ON A FAINTING COUCH IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
RISQUE PORTRAIT OF AN ALLURING WOMAN IN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK BY JOSE MORA (ACTRESS JEFFREYS-LEWIS?)
This cabinet card features an alluring woman lying on a divan in a very provocative pose. Note the leopard skin on the divan. This woman is likely an actress. She appears to be dressed like she is part of a harem. Rather than an actress, she may be a member of a circus act. The photographer is the famous celebrity photographer, Jose Mora. This image is risque for the time that it was made. To view other photographs by Mora, click on the category “Photographer: Mora”. ADDENDUM: An informed visitor to the cabinet card gallery has identified the subject of this cabinet card as being actress Jeffreys-Lewis. See the comment below to learn the interesting details.
PORTRAIT OF AN UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS
This pretty woman sat for this cabinet card portrait in the New York City studio of celebrity photographer, B. J. Falk. The photograph is a bit risque for its time. The young woman is showing her bare arms and her shoulder is also exposed. To increase the sexual tension in this photograph, the actress is projecting a “come hither look”. To view other photographs by Falk, click on the category “Photographer: Falk”.
HIGHLY RATED FRENCH PROSTITUTE, ALICE MAROT ON A WINDOW SILL IN PARIS, FRANCE
This cabinet card captures Alice Marot sitting on a window sill in Benque’s photographic studio in Paris, France. Alice Marot was a high class prostitute. She appeared in “The Pretty Women of Paris”, a privately printed guide to Paris’s best courtesans and prostitutes. The guide provided names, addresses, qualities, and faults for each women. According to the directory, Marot could be found a 4 Rue de Marigan. The guide describes Marot as a “sprightly fair, little whore” who had been quite lucky to rise above a checkered career on the provincial stages. When she came to Paris, she utilized the Palais Royal Theatre to enlarge the circle of her lovers. She was considered by other members of “the army of cupid” to be a threat because she had a propensity to “tumble on her back” at all hours of the day and night. Benque’s studio was located at 33, Rue Boissy D’Anglas. M. M. Benque was a well known celebrity photographer.
BEAUTIFUL AND FLAMBOYANT GERMAN WOMAN: BOUDOIR CARD PHOTOGRAPH
A very pretty and flamboyantly dressed woman poses for her photograph at the studio of E. Bieber. Bieber had two locations in Germany; Berlin and Hamburg. Emilie Bieber was a female German photographer who ran her Hamburg studio from 1852 through 1872 when she was joined by her nephew, Leonard Berlin-Bieber. Emilie Bieber died in 1884. The beautiful woman in this image is dressed to the hilt. Her dress and hat are covered with flowers and feathers. Perhaps she is an actress which judging by her expression, pose, and dress; is a likely possibility. This photograph is not a standard sized cabinet card but instead is known as a Boudoir Card. The card is 8 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches. To view other photographs by the Bieber studio, click on the category “Photgrapher: Bieber”.
ANNABELLE MOORE: STAGE AND EARLY FILM DANCER
Annabelle Moore (1878-1961) was born Annabella Whitford in Chicago, Illinois. In 1910 she married Edward James Buchan and they remained married until his death in 1958. She appeared in at least nine films beween 1894 and 1897. Film companies included Edison and Biograph. The films were dance films and included “A Mermaid Dance”, “Butterfly Dance” and “Serpentine Dance”. These films can be seen on “You Tube”. Annabelle starred as the Gibson Bathing Girl in the first of the Ziegfeld Follies (1907). She remained as part of the Ziegfeld Follies company until her marriage and retirement in 1912. The cabinet card is stamped on the reverse with the following words; “This No. 46 is the property of the American Lithographic Company” of New York.
RISQUE THEATRE ACTRESS SYLVIA GERRISH
Sylvia Gerrish (1858-1906) is the subject of this Cabinet Card published by Newsboy. The photograph of the noted comic opera actress and singer was a premium given to users of Newsboy Tobacco products. Sylvia Gerrish was a stage beauty noted in the United States as well as England. She was born in California, sang in her church choir and came to New York and pursued the theatre life. Millionaire Henry Hilton became enamored of her and sacrificed his marriage and fortune to be with her. The story of their relationship was extensively covered by the newspapers of the time. Gerrish ended up dying in poverty.
MABEL EATON: STAGE ACTRESS AT THE HAYMARKET THEATRE IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
This Cabinet Card is an image of stage actress Mabel Eaton. Eaton’s appearances on Broadway in New York City included the productions of “Diplomacy” (1892) and “Woman and Wine” (1900). She appeared in many stage productions in Chicago and New York City. She appeared in Shakespeare productions. She was married to prominent stage and film star, William Farnum (1876-1953). An 1893 edition of the New York Times reported that her hotel room (Ashland House) was robbed while she was appearing in “Diplomacy” at the Fifth Avenue Theater. Eaton also appeared in a short silent film (1914). In 1916, Eaton died in Chicago, Illinois. The photographer of this Cabinet Card is celebrity photographer Morrison, located in the Haymarket Theatre. The Haymarket Theatre opened in 1887 as a legitimate playhouse with seating for an audience of 2,475. By 1896, it became a vaudeville house and between 1916 and 1932 the theatre was one of Chicago’s best known burlesque houses. Between 1932 and 1948, the Haymarket became a second-run movie theater and it was condemned in 1949. William Morrison began his photography business in 1889 at the Haymarket. He was born in Detroit in 1857 and educated in Chicago’s public schools and at the Metropolitan Business College. The New York Times reported in 1892 that there was a fire at the Haymarket that badly damaged offices, saloons and stores in the building. The article states that Morrison’s business had the worst damage of all the businesses, while the theatre itself only suffered water damage. Morrison’s studio lost 37,000 negatives. In 1899 he moved his business to the Champlain Building.
ACCIDENTALLY RISQUE WOMAN IN MCMINNVILLE, OREGON
This Cabinet Card is an image of 18 year-old Mary Earhart. The reverse of the card has pencil writing with her identification as well as the information that she was 5 foot and 3 inches, and weighed 137 1/2 pounds. It is unusual to find these statistics on the reverse of a cabinet card.. This image is also unique because it appears that it shows the young woman’s ample bust in too much detail. Risque Cabinet Cards that emphasized a woman’s breasts or cleavage seems to have been typically reserved for women who were prostitutes or actresses; and of course many people did not believe there was a difference between the two occupations. Perhaps this image was saved rather than destroyed by Ms Earhart but kept in a private place. The photographer was Fritz of the Superior Gallery in McMinnville, Oregon.
YOLANDE WALLACE: THEATER ACTRESS WHOSE ONLY REDEEMING ACTING QUALITY WAS HER “GOOD LOOKS”
Yolande Wallace is the subject of this Cabinet Card photographed by J. H. Melrose of New York City, New York. Wallace was a stage actress and singer whose early appearances included a period with actor Henry E. Dixey. Her appearances on Broadway included “Little Christopher Columbus” (1894), “The French Maid” (1897), and “The Show Girl” (1902). In 1894 the New York Times critic panned “Little Christopher Columbus” and stated that he wished Sherlock Holmes was still alive so he could find out who could have been clapping at the shows dreadful first performance. The critic also penned that Wallace, in her role of “Guinevere”, offered only one redeeming quality and that was her “good looks”.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 