A handsome groom and his pretty bride pose for their wedding photograph at the Bonell studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The bride is wearing a long veil and is adorned by many flowers and a necklace. The groom is wearing a corsage on his jacket and appears unhappy and angry on his wedding day. He looks as if he thinks his new wife spent too much money on the dress and the photographer. To view other photographs by Bonell and to learn more about him, click on category “Photographer: Bonell”.
A BRIDE WHO SAID “YES TO THE DRESS” POSING WITH HER GROOM IN EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN
MAN WITH NOTABLE BEARD IN NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
This photograph merits inclusion in the cabinet card gallery on the basis of the subjects stylish beard. He is quite clean cut except in the very center of his face. This beard also is a “mouth hider”. Mealtime must be quite a messy affair for this gentleman. To view other photographs of men with interesting beards, click on the category “Beards (Only the Best). The photographer of this image is F. A. Bowman of New Haven, Connecticut. Frank Augustus Bowman (1847-1911) is included on a list compiled of the two hundred plus most prolific photographers of the Carte de Visite era. His name appears as a photographer in New Haven’s business directories between 1869 and 1900. The 1880 US census reported that Bowman (age 33) lived in New Haven with his wife Mary Fowler Bowman (age 32), his daughter Bessie (age 2), and a servant. The family also had a boarder, Jennie Ferris (age 27) who worked with Bowman in his studio.
PORTRAIT OF A VERY PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN IN BATH
This cabinet card features a very pretty young woman in Bath, Maine. If you were expecting to see a pretty young woman in a bathtub, sorry for your disappointment or surprise. The young woman in this image may actually be a teenager. If so, she sure is displaying a lot of poise for a girl that age. She has an expression that makes it appear that she is oblivious of being photographed and is intensely staring at something in the distance. She is wearing a lace shawl with a pin. The subject of this image is unidentified. The photographer is J. C. Higgins of Bath, Maine. Higgins was an active photographer in Bath in the 1880’s and 1890’s. He was an excellent photographer. One of his photographs (Man in a Bottle) was displayed in New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (MOMA). Another one of his photographs can be seen on the website of the Maine Historical Society. Higgin’s son, Charles R. Higgins was also quite a prominent photographer. He apprenticed to his father and later took over the studio. He became known for his hand colored photography work which was in a style similar to Wallace Nutting. Many of his images were depictions of nature and New England scenery.
MAN WEARING A TURBAN IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION MEMBER)
This cabinet card photograph features a middle aged man dressed in a fraternal robe and turban. It is unknown what fraternal organization his costume represents. To view a collection of other fraternal member photographs, click on the category, “Fraternal Group Members”. The gentleman in this photograph has a bold and thick mustache. To see other interesting mustaches, click on the category “Mustaches (Only the Best)”. The photographer of this portrait produced an exquisite image. The subject is well posed and the photograph has great clarity. The image was produced by the Hastings studio in Boston, Massachusetts. The studio had a branch in Newport, Rhode Island. George H. Hastings was born in Massachusetts in 1850. He operated a studio (Ritz & Hastings) with Ernest Ferdinand Ritz from sometime in the 1860’s until the 1880’s. He had his own studio from the 1880’s through sometime in the 1890’s. The 1880 US census finds Hastings living with his brother and mother and working as a photographic artist.
MAMIE SLOAN WEARS AN ELABORATE DRESS IN MT. PLEASANT, IOWA
This photograph is a portrait of a pretty young lady in a fancy dress. She is wearing a dress with a high collar and has her hair up. The reverse of this photograph indicates that the woman’s name is Mamie Sloan and penned under her name was New Boston, Illinois and the date “June 1897”. The reverse of the photograph also has a photographer’s stamp but it is not entirely legible. The stamp reveals that the studio was located in Mount Pleasant, Iowa and that the studio was named “White & ?”. Research was unsuccessful at uncovering more information about the photographers or about Mamie Sloan. There were too many women who shared that name who lived in the New Boston area around the time that this photograph was taken. New Boston and Mount Pleasant are 66 miles apart, and it is likely that Mamie Sloan resided in New Boston although photographed in Mount Pleasant.
PORTRAIT OF A BRIDE AND GROOM BY A FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER IN ELROY, WISCONSIN
This cabinet card is a wedding portrait of a young unidentified couple. The bride is wearing a dark wedding dress and a long sheer veil. The groom is standing in the background behind the bench his bride is sitting on. The distance between the two removes the intimacy that we tend to see in modern day wedding portraits. The photographer of this image is Miss Carrie B. Clizbe whose studio was located in Elroy, Wisconsin. She is one of a small group of female photographers operating during the cabinet card era. Research revealed very little information about Carrie Clizbe’s career as a photographer. The 1880 US census found Carrie (age 21) living with her parents and four siblings in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. Carrie was working as a “tailoress”. Her father had an interesting occupation. He sold patents. The 1900 and 1910 census does not list her as having an occupation. While investigating, I was able to locate a cabinet card produced by the Clizbe Sisters studio in Reedsburg. It is apparent that Carrie was once partners with her sister Martha. A directory of Early Western Photographers reports that Carrie’s studio operated in Elroy circa 1895. The web site for Reedsburg provides a short biography of the man that Carrie Clizbe married on 7/4/1900. Herbert H. Webb and two partners established a department store in Reedsburg called Webb and Schweke. It was known as ‘The Big Store”. Carrie died in 1921 in the city of Chicago. She is buried in Reedsburg.
PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN IN READING, PENNSYLVANIA
A pretty young woman poses for the photographer at the studio of J. S. Fritz in Reading, Pennsylvania. To learn more about the photographer and to view more of his images, click on the category “Photographer: Fritz JS”.
MISS HOWELL: PRETTY AND CURVACEOUS STAGE ACTRESS
Miss Howell is the subject of this Newsboy cabinet card. Presumably, the busty and thin waisted Miss Howell was a stage star. This photograph is number 64 of a series of theater cabinet cards. It is unknown why someone erased the Newsboy logo from the front of the photograph. Newsboy cabinet cards were distributed as premiums accompanying tobacco products. Miss Howell is quite attractive. She is wearing long gloves and a fancy hat. An attempt to find further information about Miss Howell was unsuccessful. There was an opera singer named “Miss Howell” but it could not be confirmed that she was the appropriate age to be the woman in this photograph. Newspaper accounts reveal that Miss Dicie Howell was an American soprano who performed in many American and International cities during the 1920’s. This cabinet card was published significantly before 1900. To view other Newsboy cabinet cards, click on the category “Photographer: Newsboy”.
AREN’T YOU SOMEBODY FAMOUS? PORTRAIT OF UNIDENTIFIED MAN IN NEW YORK CITY (PHOTOGRAPHER: NAPOLEON SARONY)
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The gentleman featured in this cabinet card portrait looks like someone famous. The photographer of this image is Napoleon Sarony who photographed many celebrities living in or visiting New York City. However, Sarony also photographed many non celebrities so there is no guarentee that the subject of this photograph is someone famous. He certainly does have great facial hair. The reverese of this image is dated 1872. Printing on the reverse indicates that Sarony’s studio was located at 680 Broadway in New York City. The printing lists two names associated with the studio; Napoleon Sarony and Alfred S. Campbell. To view other photographs by Sarony, click on the category “Photographer: Sarony”. To view photographs by Campbell, click on the category “Photographer: A. S. Campbell”.
PRETTY GIRL IN LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
An adolescent girl poses for her photograph at Kelley & Company of Lincoln, Nebraska. The curly haired girl is wearing a lace collared dress and a collar brooch and rope chain necklace. H. W. Kelley’s photography studio is listed in the Lincoln business directory of 1887.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 