This cabinet card portrait features a full portrait of an adorable little girl. She is smartly dressed and has a wonderful smile. An inscription on the reverse of the photograph indicates that the girl’s name is Leona (?) and she is eleven years old.This photo was taken at J. F. Green’s Studio, located in Meriden Connecticut. The touch-up artist was W. H. Barrett. SOLD
As a collector of vintage photographs, once in a while I encounter a very special photograph. This image falls into the category of “special”. The photographer did an excellent job of capturing this well dressed elegant woman and her pet dog (border collie?). The woman and dog are well posed and their expressions are fabulous. The talented photographer who produced this image is H. G. Borgfeldt and his studio was located in Meriden, Connecticut. A light inscription on the reverse of this photograph indicates that the woman in the photo is Lina B. Letacher Bartlett and the dog’s name is Zemke. Preliminary research reveals that Lina Bartlett (age 24) appears in the 1900 US census. She lived in Meriden with her husband George A. Bartlett (age 36) and her father-in-law. The pair had married in 1892. Her husband was a farmer. Lina also appeared in the 1910 US census but her demographics had changed significantly. She still lived in Meriden but she had become head of her household after getting divorced. Her occupation was listed as “farmer”. She lived with two young men. At least one of them was her cousin. It was also found that Lina was born in Germany in 1876 and arrived in the United States in 1878. The talented photographer of this image is Henry G. Borgfeldt. Meriden business directories indicated that he ran a photography studio there at least between the years of 1902 and 1909.
The pretty woman in this cabinet card photograph has the appearance of an actress. She has struck a provocative pose in this photograph and is very photogenic. She looks like she rolled out of bed and forgot to get dressed before coming to the A. Pritchard Photographic Art Studio to have her portrait taken. She also looks like she is wearing her bed clothes, but that is not likely the case. Perhaps she is wearing a costume from a stage production she was appearing in. The reverse of the photograph has the name “Lillian” written on it. Trying to use the first name to assist in identifying this young lady was fruitless. I can’t resist the following insight. The Cabinet Card Gallery has few images that have been significantly damaged over time. A previous owner of this image cut corners to fit this photograph into a frame. I am beginning to accept what many other collectors already believe, that damaged photographs have a place in cabinet card collections.The images of damaged cards, even significantly damaged cards, can be quite beautiful as well as interesting. They are as much a window of history as the most pristine cards. I wonder if the visitors to this gallery agree with me about the value of many damaged cards? Enough of my editorializing! Its time to return to the cabinet card seen above. The photographer of this image, A..Pritchard, operated his studio in Meriden, Connecticut. The Meriden Morning Record (1921) has an article announcing that Alfred Pritchard had opened a new studio in Meriden. The article states that he had been in Meriden for 15 years but had left the area in 1901. He had moved to New York City where he was “connected with Colonel Marceau” in operating a Fifth Avenue photography business. Later he was “connected” with Roger Sherman’s studio in New Haven, Connecticut. This cabinet card image was produced during Pritchard’s first stint in Meriden.
This occupational cabinet card features two men dressed in work garb. The man on the left appears to be a painter and he is equipped with his paint pail and brush. His stained overalls show that he is a veteran painter. Note the large clean brush in his shirt pocket. The gentleman on the right seems to be a carpenter. He is holding a saw and rule which he is resting on a sawhorse. He is wearing an apron and both men have caps to keep their hair clean. The photographer is Penfield and the location of the studio is Warren, Massachusetts. Daniel Edward Penfield (1842-1914) was born in Meriden, Connecticut and died in Warren, Mass.
This cabinet card is a portrait of an older bespectacled gentleman with a significant mustache. He is well dressed and is wearing a pin on his lapel. The top of the pin seems to have a figure that looks like a buffalo or bucking bull. The print on the bottom of the pin is illegible. Hopefully, a visitor to this site will be able to provide more details about the lapel pin. The photographer of this image was H. C. Voorhees of Meriden, Connecticut. Voorhees liked to write instructional articles appearing in the era’s photographic journals. Among his articles were publications in Wilson’s Photographic Magazine (1891) and Photographic Mosaics (1896). To view other interesting photographs of remarkable mustaches, click on Cabinet Card Gallery’s category of “Mustaches (Only the Best).
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