This Cabinet Card is a portrait of Mrs. Brena Fantleroy who resided on P Street in Washington D.C. She appears to be wearing a mourning dress as well as a very serious expression. Note her veil, jewelry and small purse. The photographer is F. T. Castle of Washington D.C.
AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN IN MOURNING DRESS IN WASHINGTON D.C.
YOUNG WOMAN WITH THE LONGEST HAIR IN DETROIT
This cabinet card, photographed by Holcombe and Metzen of Detroit, Michigan; is an image of a young woman with lots of hair. I have seen other cabinet card portraits of woman with hair to spare and I am not sure how to interpret the meaning of this era’s hair fashion statement. If anyone has knowledge of this phenomenon; please leave a comment. Photographers Holcombe and Metzen are given mention in the Detroit Yearbook of 1890.
BEHIND THE LACE CURTAIN: TWO BEAUTIFULLY DRESSED WOMEN IN COMANCHE, TEXAS
This unusually posed Cabinet Card was photographed by Wright, in Comanche, Texas. Two beautifully dressed woman wearing long white dresses, pose behind a frilly lace curtain. The dresses are embellished with lace, flowers, and possibly fur or feathers. The woman on the right is holding a fan and wearing a cape. Who would have thought that these Comanche, Texas women could make such a beautiful fashion statement. Comanche, Texas is located in Central Texas and is the site of the saloon where gunfighter John Wesley Hardin killed a deputy in 1874. The Comanche Chief, the local newspaper, wrote in 1880 that James L Wright was the best photographic artist in Texas outside of some photographers in Galveston and Dallas. This claim sounds like a compliment with reservations.
MRS FRED RATHBUN AND STATUE IN TORONTO, CANADA
This Cabinet card was photographed by Hunter & Co. of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The subject of the photograph is Mrs Fred Rathbun and she is fashionably dressed as she poses by a table topped by a book and a statue. The Rathbun name is a prominent name in Toronto, though no additional identifying information is currently available. Visitors to this site should feel free to leave any information they may have about the woman in this photograph.
PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN IN INDIA BY THOMAS A RUST
This cabinet card comes from the studio of Thomas A. Rust who was a well known photographer in India. The Cabinet Card Gallery has another portrait by Rust which can be viewed by clicking on the “Photographer: Thomas A. Rust” category found below. This photograph is a very clear image of a fashionable woman posing with a woven basket on her lap. The basket is holding flowers. To learn more about photographer Thomas A. Rust, click on his name below.
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN POSES IN HER MOURNING ATTIRE IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
A beautiful woman poses for her portrait for a photographer in the studio of Klauber in Louisville, Kentucky. The woman’s name is J. T. Lane. She is wearing a black mourning dress with elaborate beading and ribbons. She is wearing an interesting black hat and black gloves. Ms Lane is holding a hankie and a book. The photograph comes from a collection of photographs which belonged to a Charleston, South Carolina family. The same collection featured a number of photographs of a woman named Effe May Blanchard who married prominent Charlestonian Julian Hazelhurst Walter. A portrait and description of the life of the attractive Ms Blanchard-Walter can be found by clicking on the tag found below this entry. The relationship between J. T. Lane and Ms Blanchard-Walter is unknown. The photographer of this portrait, Edward Klauber was considered by many to be one of the best photographers of his time. He was a native of Bohemia who came to the United States at age eighteen. His large and elegant studio was compared to the studio of Matthew Brady in New York City. The studio was lavishly furnished. Stage personalities like Mary Anderson enjoyed having portraits done by Klauber when they were in Louisville performing at the Macauley theatre. Klauber’s studio closed in 1913 and he died in 1918.
BEAUTIFUL BELLE IN CHARLESTON: EFFE MAY BLANCHARD-WALTER
This Cabinet card is a portrait of a beautiful woman named Effe May Blanachard-Walter. Effe was from Newark, New Jersey where her father, Noah Farwell Blanchard ran a successful leather business. His company made knapsacks, haversacks and other leather goods for the Union Army during the civil war. In 1879 he became the President of a start-up company that became Prudential Life Insurance Company. He also was a religious man who served as President of the Board of Trustee at Trinity Church in Newark, New Jersey. Effe married Julian Hazelhurst Walter in about 1896. Interestingly, a book on the history of Newark, New Jersey, spells her name as Affie rather than Effe. Another source reveals that Julian H Walter (1870 – ?) was born in New Jersey but at age 2 he and his family returned to their native South Carolina. As a young adult he worked in his fathers cotton business and then at age 26 moved to New York where be became a prominent businessman. He worked in the seed business founding the firm Stumpp and Walter Company. Now, back to the Cabinet Card. This photograph captures Effe in a beautiful white dress with much lace and puffed sleeves. The photographer is Leidloff of Charleston, South Carolina. Herman Leidloff came to the United States from Berlin, Germany in 1872. After living in New York, Boston and Baltimore he came to Charleston in the late 1870’s and by 1881 had begun operating his photographic studio.
WOMAN WITH MOVIE STAR LOOKS IN NEW YORK CITY (UNFORTUNATELY MOVIES WEREN’T INVENTED YET!)
This Cabinet Card captures the image of a very attractive young woman posing in a staged outdoor setting. She is quite stylish and poised. The photographer was Henry D. Schoerry of New York City. Schoerry was born in Germany in 1854 and emigrated to America in 1870. He began working as a photographer in the 1880’s.
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY PIONEER PHOTOGRAPHER IN DENVER, COLORADO
This Cabinet Card is a portrait of a very beautiful young woman photographed by Alfred Edward Rinehart in Denver, Colorado. She is wearing a necklace and earrings and her hair style is meticulously done and the style appears unusual for photographed women of this time period. Perhaps she is an actress or was part of Denver’s high society. Rinehart’s studio was located on one of Denver’s oldest and most historic blocks (Larimer Street). Rinehart was a pioneer photographer who came to Denver from Lafayette, Indiana in 1874. He was the city’s leading photographer during the mining boom and photographed many of the early Denver pioneers. His subjects included Kit Carson and Mountain Man Jim Baker. Rinehart died at age 63 in 1915.
PORTRAIT OF YOUNG WOMAN IN INDIA
This Cabinet card is a portrait of a young woman, in fine fashion, posing for photographer Thomas A. Rust in India. She is holding something in her hands but the object is unclear. Research reveals that Thomas Alfred Rust was one of the most well known early photographers in India. One source states he was active in Allahabad and Mussoorie between 1900s and 1920’s. Another reference states he was active in India and Asia between 1880 and circa 1889. It would be fascinating to know why this woman was in India and what she was experiencing at the time of this photograph.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 