This cabinet card portrait features a religious man and a poster board with a religious message. By all appearances, it seems that he is fervent preacher of his religious beliefs. He was photographed by the Cooper & Sanders studio in London, Ontario, Canada. The gentleman has a bushy beard. On the reverse of this image is a note that indicate the photograph was taken in 1905. In addition, the name “Bertha” or possibly “Butha” is written on the back of the cabinet card. Cooper & Sanders were in business in London, Ontario between 1896 and 1909. To view other photographs by Cooper and to learn more about him, click on the category “Photographer: Cooper”.
A RELIGIOUS MAN ASKS “DOST THOU BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD?”
EIGHT TEENAGERS POSE FOR A GROUP PHOTO IN DYSON, OHIO
Six young woman and two young men pose for a group photo at the studio of W.D. Archer in Dyson, Ohio. It is possible that this image is a graduation picture. The young man sitting on the floor is holding a piece of paper in his hands. Perhaps the paper is relevant to the reason these eight teenagers are gathered for this group photograph.
TWO COUPLES AND A SMALL DOG IN WAASASSA, FINLAND
Signe Liljequist photographed these two couples and a small dog in his studio in Waasassa, Finland. It is very possible that the older pair are the parents of the two younger adults. The younger and older man share what appears to be a family resemblance. The four subjects in this photograph are nicely dressed and the younger man has an admirable mustache. To view other great mustaches, click on the category “Mustaches (Only the Best)”. The town of Waasassa has held a number of other names over history. Presently, the town is called Vaasa. To view other Finnish photographs, click on the category “Finland”.
ANNA SARAH KUGLER MD: AN ACCOMPLISHED AND ADMIRABLE CITIZEN OF THE WORLD
It is not the quality of the image that makes this photograph special. This is a unique photograph because of the identity of the subject. Meet Dr. Anna S. Kugler. Anna Sarah Kugler (1856-1930) provided 47 years of service ministering to the spiritual and physical health of the people of southern India. She was the second female missionary and the first female medical missionary sent by the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the United States. She was born in Ardmore, Pennsylvania in 1856. In 1879 she graduated from Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia. She did her internship at Norristown State Asylum in 1880. Two years later, after receiving a cleric’s invitation to come work in India to help resolve the major health issues faced by poor Indian women, Kugler decided to take on the challenge. She sailed for India in 1883 and was disappointed that her appointment as a missionary was directed at teaching, not providing medical care. She hoped to change the church’s mind on that matter. During her first year in India she found time to see over 400 patients and still take care of her teaching responsibilities of the Muslim harem women. In 1884 she became the director of the Hindu Girls School, a post she kept for three years. Finally, in 1885, she was appointed a medical missionary. In 1893 she opened a hospital and dispensary in Guntur, India. Over time she established specialized pediatric, maternity, and surgical units in the hospital. After Kugler’s death, the hospital was named after her. Have you heard this quote? “Well behaved women seldom make history”. Women who went to medical school in the 1870’s were likely not considered well behaved because they were entering into a man’s profession. Going to India and working with the poor was also probably seen as outside the realm of being a woman. Thank goodness Dr Anna S Kugler ignored gender boundaries because she accomplished great things and certainly “made history”. This photograph was produced by the Phillips studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To view other photographs by Mr. Phillips, click on the category “Photographer: Phillips”. Phillip’s subjects among his images in the Cabinet Card Gallery include theater great, Ethel Barrymore. At the time of this photograph, Phillips operated his studio at 1206 Chestnut Street. A biographer called Henry C. Phillips (1843-1911) “A pillar of photography in Philadelphia”. He began working as a photographer while still in his teens. He opened his first studio on Chestnut Street in 1862. He partnered with Samuel Broadbent between 1868 and 1874. (To view other photographs by Broadbent, click on the category “Photographer: Broadbent). After that partnership and another brief one, he opened his 1206 Chestnut studio and it operated for 36 years under Henry and than his two sons, Howard and Ryland. Henry Phillips was a portrait artist and on the side, he was a celebrity photographer. He did not like to use painted backdrops in his portraits. He preferred to photograph faces and figures against neutral or blank backgrounds. Photographs from the studio that utilized painted backgrounds were usually the work of Ryland.
DOUBLE DATING IN BOWLING GREEN, OHIO
Two sportily dressed couples pose for their portrait at the Morrison studio in Bowling Green, Ohio. To learn more about Robert Prescott Morrison and to view more of his photographs, click on the category “Photographer: Morrison (Bowling Green). The couples are dressed as if they are about to embark on an outside adventure. The standing woman is holding a fan. The standing gentleman has something that appears to be pinned to his vest. Perhaps a visitor to the cabinet card gallery can identify the mystery object. Guesses are welcome so please feel free to leave a comment with your hypotheses.
THEATER ACTRESS: MARIE LEGAULT
French theater actress, Marie Legault, is the subject of this cabinet card photograph by internationally acclaimed celebrity photographer Charles Reutlinger. This image was produced in Reutlinger’s Paris studio in 1880. To view other Reutlinger photographs, click on the category “Photographer: Reutlinger”. Marie Francoise (Maria) Legault (1858-1905) entered the Paris Conservatory in 1872. That same year she finished second in the comedy competition. She was just fourteen years old at the time. She was awarded a stipend to continue her studies and she won the competition the following year. During her theatrical career she appeared at a number of venues including the Gymnase, the Palais-Royal, the Vaudeville, the Comedie-Francaise, and the Theatre Michel in St. Petersburg. Legault created the role of Roxane in Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1872) and of Marie Louise in L’Aiglon (1900) with Sarah Bernhard. Her obituary appears in the New York Times (1905).
PRETTY MOUNTAIN WOMAN WEARING NATIONAL ATTIRE IN UNTERACH, AUSTRIA
A pretty young woman wearing a grin and ethnic/national attire poses for her portrait in Unterach, Austria. Note the painted mountains in the background provided courtesy of photographer Arthur Floeck. An inscription on the reverse of the photograph reveals that the image was produced in 1904 in Unterach. Floeck was an official photographer of Kaiser Franz Josef. The front of this photograph indicates that Floeck had an additional studio in the Austrian town of Vocklabruck.
CUTE LITTLE GIRL IN A WICKER CHAIR IN ONEONTA, NEW YORK
The Van Woert studio in Oneonta, New York produced this wonderful portrait of an adorable wild haired little girl sitting on a wicker chair. The child’s combed back hair gives full display to her facial expression which seems to reflect a frowning disinterest. She doesn’t appear to be having a good time at Mr. Van Woert’s studio. She is wearing a white lace dress and a necklace and hair band. The cabinet card has a gilded gold border.
YOUNG COUPLE WITH GREAT AND NOT SO GREAT EYES IN BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK
A young couple pose for their portrait at the Wheeler studio in Binghamton, New York. The attractive and shapely young woman in this image has beautiful saucer sized eyes. She is wearing a necklace holding a pendant or coin. The well dressed gentleman’s eyes are less attractive. He seems to be looking at something out of the corner of his eyes. The photographer of this image is Sheldon S. Wheeler. The 1880 US census reveals that Wheeler (age 26) was born in 1854. He was married to Kate Wheeler (age 23). He was working as a photographer. The couple was living in Ostego, New York. The 1910 US census found Wheeler still working as a photographer and he and Kate had divorced. Wheeler is listed as a photographer in a number of Binghamton city directories from 1906 through 1915. The 1920 census indicates that Wheeler had married a woman named Belle and that she was seventeen years his junior. He had left the field of photography and was working in Real Estate. His Real Estate business was listed in several Binghamton directories from 1921 through 1929. Wheeler retired by the time the 1930 US census was taken and he died in 1936. He is buried in Binghamton.
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD IN CORTLAND, NEW YORK
G. E. Butler, a photographer in Cortland, New York was walking in the woods one day when he happened upon a young girl who seemed to be on a mission. He said “Hey little girl, where are you headed in such a hurry”? She replied that she was bringing her ill grandmother some chicken soup. The photographer asked the little girl her name and she said “Little Red Riding Hood”. Butler told the child that she was doing a great deed and that she should come by his photography studio with her parents and he would provide her with a free portrait. Their conversation in the forest scared off the “big bad wolf” so Little Red Riding Hood’s trip to her grandmother’s cottage was uneventful. That is enough fantasy for now. In reality, the photographer of this cabinet card photograph was George Edwin Butler. Butler succeeded George I. Pruden as the proprietor of a Cortland photography studio in 1893. Butler is cited in a New York Court of Appeals (1910) volume. He participated in a trial as a forensic photographer of the location of an accident involving an automobile and a child on a bicycle. This citation is the first mention I have found of a cabinet card era photographer being employed by a plaintiff or a defendant in a court case.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 