‘WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS”: TEAM PHOTO OF WOMENS BASKETBALL TEAM IN RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY (1926)

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The ten girls featured in this vintage photograph are members of a girls basketball team. The basketball is marked indicating that this is a team photo from 1926. Writing on the reverse of the photograph informs us that this team was the “Interclass Basketball Champions of 1926 (Freshman). In addition, all of the players in the image are named on the back of the photo. “Top Row: Eleanor Einerson, Betty Stillwell, Helen (Boby) Moser, Vivian Grey, Yvonne Muser”. Team members in the bottom row are “Mary Webb, Helen Hendrickson, Sarah Temple (Captain), Betty Hukill, Martha Arrigoni”. Kudos to the internet because I was able to use these names to find the location of where these girls went to school and played basketball.  Research revealed that these girls resided in the area of Ridgewood, New Jersey. All of the girls were born in, or around, 1912. This post-cabinet card era photograph measures about 4 1/2″ x 2 3/4″.

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Published in: on July 21, 2016 at 5:25 pm  Leave a Comment  
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RUBEN PLUMMER AND HIS TOYS: ADORABLE TWO YEAR OLD IN MEDINA, NEW YORK

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Meet Ruben Plummer, and adorable two and a half year-old boy. This portrait of young Ruben was taken by A. J. Richards of Medina, New York. The child is smiling at the photographer as he poses net to some of his toys. Note the building blocks and the toy cat. Preliminary research reveals that “Ruben” is a misspelling and that the child’s name was actually Reuben. He is listed in the 1910 US Census. He was two years old (born 1907) at the time and lived in Yates, New York, with his parents and baby sister (Geraldine). His parents were Leon (age 24) and Myrtle (age 23). His father worked as a salesman in the medicine industry. Unfortunately, little Reuben had a short life. He died on August 30th, 1920, at age twelve. I could not find his cause of death. He is buried in Lynhaven Cemetery in Lyndonville, New York. The photographer of this image is Adelbert Richards (1864-1949). I located his obituary which appeared in the Medina Daily Journal. The article reports that he was a photographer in Medina for 60 years. He entered the business in 1887 by working for photographer George Hedley. He must have been a fast learner because that same year he purchased the studio of C. A. Stacey and operated it for six decades.

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Published in: on July 20, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL WITH ATTITUDE POSES WITH HER BEAUTIFUL DOLL (GERMAN CARTE DE VISITE)

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This carte de visite portrait is truly special. The photograph features an impeccably dressed beautiful little girl posing alongside her beautiful porcelain doll. This charming child looks at the camera with confidence. The photograph actually captures her magnetism and spunk. The photographer of this image is Hermann Tietz and the studio was located in Berlin, Germany. Preliminary research indicates that Hermann Tietz is actually “Waarenhaus Hermann Tietz” which is a department store. Apparently, the department store had an in-store photography studio. Hermann Tietz was a German merchant. He was of the Jewish faith and born in 1837 near Posen and died in Berlin in 1907. Tietz invented the concept of a department store chain.  The first store opened in Gera, Germany in 1882. It was opened by his nephew Oskar Tietz. After successfully opening stores in small towns including Erfurt, Rostock and Wismar; Tietz opened a large branch store in Berlin (1911). Stores followed in Leipzger (1900), Alexanderlatz (1904), and Hamburg (1912). By the time 1927 arrived, the Tietz chain included ten stores and 13,000 employees. Nazi Germany seized the department store chain, along with other Jewish owned businesses.  The government found new owners to replace the Tietz family who fled the country in 1938. The store took on the name “Hertie Department Stores” because it was a less Jewish sounding name. It actually was an abbreviated version of Hermann Tietz’s name. The department store existed until 1909 when it closed due to bankruptcy.

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Published in: on July 19, 2016 at 4:27 pm  Comments (1)  
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PORTRAIT OF A HANDSOME MAN FROM BUTTE CITY, MONTANA TERRITORY

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This cabinet card portrait features a well dressed handsome gentleman photographed by the Elliott studio in Butte City, Montana Territory. The subject has a terrific thick mustache. This photograph was taken before 1889, the year Montana became a state. Butte began as a collection of mining camps in the early 1870’s. Gold, silver and copper were mined there. Copper was the major mineral that contributed to the city’s growth. It is likely that the subject of this cabinet card was involved in the mining industry. Research reveals that John A. Elliott and George E. Elliott were photographers in Butte. John is listed as a photographer in a number of Butte business directories (1890,1900,1909). George is reported as a photographer in both the 1890 and 1891 directories. The worked together at their studio which was located at 122 North Main Street.    SOLD

Published in: on July 17, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MOTHER AND HER THREE CHILDREN

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This cabinet card provides a portrait of a lovely young mother and her three small children. Some viewers may disagree and opine that the photograph an image of four siblings. The oldest child in this photograph is holding a hat by his side and his mother is holding a fan. Not the little girl’s hair band. The family in this image is unidentified and the location of the studio that produced the cabinet card is unknown. I would hypothesize that the studio was European. It appears that the photographer’s or the studio’s name was “Melanie” which is a name of French origin.

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Published in: on July 16, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  

PORTRAIT OF A BELGIAN SOLDIER IN LEOPOLDSBURG, BELGIUM

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This vintage real photo postcard features a uniformed Belgian soldier. He is holding a pair of white gloves and a riding crop. Note the soldiers shiny boots and the overcoat which he has draped over his shoulders. Note that soldier is wearing spurs. He is a cavalry officer. Printing on the reverse of the postcard indicates that the photographer was the LUX studio in Leopoldsburg, Belgium. LUX was also the name of a French postcard publisher and the spelling of Leopoldsburg printed on the card is in French. Therefore, I am unsure which explanation concerning LUX is true. What I do know is that the town of Leopoldsburg is located in the Belgian Province of Limburg. This postcard dates to the 1920’s. Hopefully, a visitor to the Cabinet Card Gallery will be able to translate the message on the postcard and leave a comment informing other visitors to the blog.   SOLD

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Published in: on July 15, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Comments (7)  
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PORTRAIT OF SWISS BOXER ANDRE SIMETH (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This vintage real photo postcard features champion Swiss boxer, Andre Simeth. This postcard is part of a series (no. 26) entitled “Les Vedettes du Ring” (Stars of the Ring). In the course of his career, Simeth won 39 fights, lost 55 , and had 16 draws. He won 13 fights, and lost 16 fights by knockout. He was born in 1902 and made his debut in 1919. Simeth fought as a lightweight and at times held the Swiss lightweight title. The photographer of this portrait is Felix Bonnet who operated a studio in Paris, France. The postcard was published by Ajax.

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Published in: on July 14, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF AN ADORABLE BABY IN A CHRISTENING GOWN IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

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This cabinet card portrait features a very cute baby wearing a long gown. It is likely that this is a christening photograph. This wonderful image was taken by August Rino and it is no small accomplishment. Taking photographs of children during the cabinet card era was quite difficult. Cooperation and good poses did not come easily. Rino pursued his photography career in Chicago between 1858 and 1860. He continued has career in St. Louis between 1860 and 1875. This cabinet card is from his St. Louis studio. To see other images by this photographer, click on the category “Photographer: Rino”.  SOLD

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Published in: on July 13, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF A LOVELY YOUNG WOMAN IN BOSTON BY GEORGE K. WARREN (CARTE DE VISITE)

BOSTON LACE

An attractive young woman poses for her portrait at the Warren Studio in Boston, Massachusetts. She is well dressed and is wearing a collar pin. She stands beside a bouquet of flowers resting on top of a faux wall. The photographer of this image is William Shaw Warren. He was a talented and well known Boston area photographer.  He was also a very prolific photographer during the carte de visite era.   W. S. Warren worked as a photographer at 41 Winter from 1870-1874. The cabinet card gallery has a number of images by Warren’s studio which you can peruse by clicking on the category “Photographer: Warren (William Shaw)”.

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Published in: on July 12, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER SHOOTS FAMOUS POLITICIAN: PORTRAIT OF THEODOR TANTZEN BY CHARLES REUTLINGER (CARTE DE VISITE)

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This carte de visite image features German politician Theodor Johann Tantzen. The photographer who took this portrait of Mr. Tantzen was the celebrated photographer, Charles Reutlinger (1816-1881). Theodor Johann Tantzen (1834-1893) was from a political family in the Oldenburg State. His father was a member of parliament. Two of Theodor’s children became important political figures. His son, also named Theodor, became Prime Minister of Oldenburg. Tantzen’s grandson was philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883-1969). Theodor Tantzen grew up in Heering and at age twenty-one, he took over his fathers farm. In 1866 he was elected to the Oldenburg parliament. He remained in parliament for several terms and in fact died while still a parliament member. While in parliament he served in a number of other political roles. Now some words about the photographer. Charles Reutlinger was also part of a prominent and talented family. Charles Reutlinger was of German descent and founded the Reutlinger Photography Studio in Paris in 1850. The studio took photographs of many of the city’s rich and famous residents and visitors until 1937. The British Journal of Photography (1867) provides a wonderful description of Reutlinger’s studio. Charles’s brother Emile took over the studio in 1880 and he ran it until 1890. Emile’s son, Leopold took over in 1890 and among his accomplishments was that he developed the company’s esteemed and economically successful postcard business. The studio became known for it’s unusual art nouveau style of postcard designs. These were very notable in it’s portraits of actresses. Leopold also introduced risque/erotic postcards. He operated the business until losing an eye in an accident with a champagne cork in 1930. He died seven years later.

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Published in: on July 11, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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