Three adorable young siblings pose for their portrait at the studio of Antonin Schilder in Roudnici, Czechoslovakia. The kids are wearing adorable expressions and are beautifully dressed. The child seated on the right in the image looks ready to pop out of his seat.
Newsboy published this cabinet card portrait of stage performer Adele Purvis Onri. The photograph was produced to be utilized as a premium with the sale of tobacco products. It was number 110 in a series. This somewhat risque portrait captures Miss Onri in action, but what kind of action? Research reveals that she was a burlesque performer. Her name appears in a number of sources but generally articles containing her name provide little information about her. Apparently she was not a major theater personality. The New York Times (1893) announced her appearance as part of the cast of “Lovely Meteor” at the Eden Musee. Onri makes another appearance in the N Y Times (1897) and in this article the reporter describes her appearance at Koster & Bials Theater. The writer asserts that “one of the most attractive features of the long and interesting bill was the performance of a graceful young woman called Adele Purvis-Onri who did some difficult posing on the slack wire, and intricate juggling and serpentine dancing or a revolving globe”. Reading between the lines, it is clear that Onri was performing burlesque acts of a risque nature. The New York Times (1902) notes that she appeared in vaudeville at the Twenty-third Street Theater and was a “sensational dancer”. The reverse of this cabinet card is stamped indicating it was owned by “Culver Pictures” of New York City. The Culver company charged newspapers and magazines for the use of photographs owned by Culver. To view more photographs by Newsboy, click on the category “Photographer: Newsboy”. To view more images of stage actresses, click on the category “Actresses”.
A lovely young woman wearing a stunning ruffled dress poses for her photograph at the Stuart studio in Buffalo, New York. She holds a feather covered hat on her lap. The woman is posed in a way where she is looking at the camera, but she appears to be lost in her thoughts. Research found a genealogical site that identifies the photographer as being Calvin A. Stuart (1844-1925) who was active in the Buffalo area between 1874 and sometime in the 1880’s. Stuart’s wife, Helen, also worked in the photography business.
A musician poses for his portrait at the Rocher studio in Chicago, Illinois. He is playing a large stringed instrument with a bow. I can not identify the instrument and assistance from knowledgable cabinet card gallery visitors would be appreciated. Note the fireplace and fancy chair in the background. The musician is unidentified but is likely someone professional, and not a random person using the instrument as a prop for their portrait. In fact, Henry Rocher (1826-1887) was known for being a celebrity photographer. However, most of all, he is considered the one Chicago photographer who could compete technically and artistically with the great photographers in New York City. The great celebrity photographer Sarony, may have had an advantage by possessing exceptional ability to pose his subjects. Rocher’s nephew and disciple, Max Platz, was also quite a talented and successful photographer. Rocher was known to employ a number of women as operators, including “Miss Garrity” who was a successful photographer in Louisville, Kentucky and in Chicago. To view portraits by Miss Garrity, click on the category “Photographer: Garrity”. Rocher came to the US in 1856. He arrived from Germany, where he had originally learned photography.He was one of the founders of the Photographers Association of America (1880).
This cabinet card features an African American man posing for his portrait at the Prentzel & McCollin studio in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is likely dressed in his Sunday’s best for this photograph. Cabinet card portraits of African Americans are not commonplace. To view a collection of such images, click on cabinet card gallery’s category “African Americans”. One source identifies the photographers as Frank Prentzel and Carl J. McCollin. No confirmation could be located. In fact, research found several sources mentioning a cabinet card era photographer in Philadelphia named Thomas McCollin.
This photograph captures a Riverside Fire Department member in his dress uniform. The photographer is John D. Strunk and his studio operated in Reading, Pennsylvania. To view other photographs by Strunk, click on the cabinet card gallery category “Photographer: Strunk”. To view other portraits of firemen, click on the category “Firemen and Policemen”.The fireman seen in this portrait wears a cap with an insignia stating “Riverside” and “11”. He is also wearing special fire department buttons on his jacket. He sports a handsome mustache.
J. B. Scholl, who operated a studio in Chicago, produced this cabinet card portrait of this lovely couple. To view other photographs by Scholl, and to learn more about him, click on the cabinet card gallery category “Photographer: Scholl (J B)”. The gentleman in the photograph combs his beard to the sides; a most unusual strategy.
Photographer Franz Kolbl of Vienna, Austria took this portrait of two sisters in white lace dresses and white accessories. Both children are wearing flower covered hair bands and fingerless gloves. They are clearly dressed in their Sunday best. The reverse of the photograph has a written notation indicating that the photograph was taken in 1914.
The balding and bespectacled gentleman posing for this cabinet card portrait appears to be a studious man. He is holding a photographic album and and there are books and another album on the table beside him. Hiram C. Moore was the proprietor of the Photo Parlor that produced this photograph. Moore’s studio was located in Springfield, Massachusetts. An advertisement for his studio appeared in the fourth volume of Good Housekeeping (1886). At one time Hiram was partners with his brother Chauncey L. Moore in a Springfield studio. To view photographs by Chauncy Moore, click on the category Photographer: Moore (Chauncey).
A very pretty woman poses at the Thors studio in San Francisco, California. She is quite fashionable in her attractive large buttoned coat and her hat. Note her ruffled collar and cuffs. She is wearing earrings. The reverse of the photograph is dated “November 1879”. To learn more about Louis Thors and to view more of his photographs, click on the category “Photographer: Thors”.
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