J. F. Barton documents the resolution of the conflict between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Mrs. Irma Hatfield and Miss Henrietta McCoy met at the Barton studio to resolve the decades old dispute that decimated their families. Sorry! I couldn’t resist making up a story to accompany this cabinet card portrait. The image begs for explanation, but unfortunately, the reason for the pictured handshake is lost in history. The ladies are wearing plain dresses but nice hats. Both women are wearing fingerless gloves. The woman on the right is wearing a belt that may have been the prototype of the automobile seat belts of today. J. F. Barton is humorously mentioned in the Denison Review (1902) as a first class photographer who is “kept busy printing smiles” on his customers.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 