A young girl, buttoned up in her fur trimmed winter jacket, poses with her sled in front of a painted winter scene. She is wearing a cute cap with a tassel and is pulling her sled by a rope. The photographer of this image is S. J. Dixon. Dixon’s Electric Light Photo Gallery was located in Toronto, Canada. The studio was established in 1872. Dixon was very involved in the Photographic Association of Canada, holding a number of offices on the executive committee. He became the organization’s President in 1889. Dixon was a noted athlete and acrobat. The Photographic Times (1891) reported that he walked a three quarter-inch wire stretched across the Whirlpool Rapids at Niagara. “The cable was from 300 to 400 feet above the torrent, and stretched about 400 feet in length”. He completed the “perilous journey” in about 17 minutes. During his tight rope walk, he performed various antics, including lying at full length across the wire. Not surprisingly, Mr. Dixon insured that his feat would be recorded for posterity. J. C. Hemment, a well known instantaneous photographer, photographed Dixon during his mid-air walk. (SOLD)
This cabinet card photograph is both interesting an unusual. The photo features a well dressed couple sitting at the edge of Niagara Falls. Af first, I thought that they were actually posing at a photographers studio with a excellent photo backdrop. I have since questioned my hypotheses. The pair are sitting on short chairs atop some rocks at the edge of the Niagara River. The gentleman’s shoes appear to be in very shallow water. The appearance of the waters edge and the realism of the background, makes me think they are actually being photographed outside and at the water’s edge. The reverse of the cabinet card has an inscription revealing that the couple’s names are Joseph and Angelica (Angeline?) Baker and that the photograph was taken in either 1887 or 1888. The photographer is unidentified. (SOLD)
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 