A young woman uniformed member of the Salvation Army, poses for her portrait at the J. T. Baikie studio in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. Note her “S” collar pin. This cabinet card photo was taken sometime between 180 and 1899. This cabinet card is in fair condition (see scans). (SOLD)
This vintage photograph features three women wearing pretty kimonos and flowers in their hair. Judging by their smiles, they seem to be having a good time as they pose for their portrait at the Butler Studio in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. There was a time when wearing this Japanese style clothing was quite popular in parts of the United States and Canada. This is apparent because it is not uncommon to find cabinet card era photographs with Western subjects wearing kimonos. In fact, you can view other photographs of Western women dressed in kimonos in the Cabinet Card Gallery’s collection. Place the word “kimono” in this blog’s search box to see other photos exemplifying this impact of Japanese fashion on American/Canadian fashion around the early twentieth century. The photographer of this image is J. S. Butler who operated as a photographer in Chatham from 1874 until 1902. A number of his photographs can be found in the collection of the Chatham-Kent Municipal Museum. A photo of Mr. Butler can be seen below.
J. S. BUTLER
All of us experience coincidences; events that seem to be very unlikely occurrences. The carte de visite portrait above played a role in one of my latest unlikely experiences. I left my home in New York to attend a wedding in Montana. Before I left, I entered a Canadian cabinet card into the Cabinet Card Gallery. While in Montana, I visited several antique stores searching for vintage photographs. I only found one image to purchase, and you can see it above. The day after I returned to New York) I entered my newest image to the blog, I was surprised to notice that the photographer of this carte de visite image is the same photographer of the cabinet card that I entered right before leaving for my trip. Amazingly, the images were both photographs taken by Edwin Poole. The cabinet card image was taken in St. Catharines, Ontario while this CDV image was taken in Chatham, Ontario. To learn more about Mr. Poole, view the description of the image entered in the gallery directly before this one. I am truly amazed by this coincidence although I take little meaning from it besides “strange things happen”.
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