PORTRAIT OF A TALL AND THIN YOUNG LADY : TIGHTLY CORSETED

The young woman in this cabinet card portrait is tall, thin, and wearing a dark dress. She is very well dressed. The woman is tightly corseted, which is typical for the era of this photograph. She is holding a folded fan. This photograph was taken in Florence, Massachusetts at a gallery operated by Ferdinand William Schadee (1840-1901). Schadee was born in Bavaria, Germany. I found no record of when he arrived in the United States. In 1869, he married Eliza A Schadee and the couple eventually had at least three children. Schadee was a Mason. A publication entitled “The History of Florence, Mass.” (1895) reveals that Schadee established his gallery there in 1885. Prior to that time, he ran a studio in Northampton, Mass. That studio was operated under the name of “Hardie & Schadee”. The 1880 US Census lists Schadee as a photographer as does a number of editions of the Northampton and Easthampton directory. He was listed in the directory up to 1901, indicating that he was working as a photographer until his passing. (SOLD)

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Published in: on July 12, 2020 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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FOREVER PLAID: CABINET CARD PORTRAIT OF A NEW ENGLAND GENTLEMAN

This cabinet card features a handsome middle aged man wearing a plaid vest and jacket. He has a longish but styled beard and he has piercing eyes. This gentleman was photographed by the Dunklee & Bau studio. The photographers operated studios in Northampton and Greenfield (Massachusetts as well as in Brattleboro, Vermont. Note the reverse of this cabinet card; it is quite ornate. The reverse of the photograph advertises that the photographers had won an award at a  1890 exhibition. Therefore we know that this photograph was taken during 1890 or later. Charles Dunklee was born in Rockingham, Vermont in 1842. He served four years in Company I of the 4th Vermont Infantry during the civil war. He entered the war as a private and mustered out as a private. He was the Vice President of his regiments veteran group according to an 1887 news article. In 1865 he married May C. Billings and they were married 54 years until her death. Dunklee’s 90th birthday was marked in the Lewiston Daily Sun (1932). This cabinet card was produced by Dunklee while in partnership with Charles Bau. The Bulletin of Photography (1914) notes that Bau sold his studio in Brattleboro, Vermont in order to return to Greenfield to open a new photographic gallery. To see other images by Dunklee and Bau, click on the category “Photographer: Dunklee”.   SOLD

Published in: on February 23, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Comments (2)  
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ADORABLE YOUNG BOY WEARING A SNOW SUIT IN NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVVANIA

CAPA

This vintage photograph features an adorable young boy wearing a wooly snow suit with matching leggings. He is also wearing a naval officer’s hat that has an eagle emblem. The photographer is the E. Stern studio in Northampton, Pennsylvania.

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Published in: on October 21, 2014 at 9:17 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A WOMAN WEARING A VERY UNUSUAL COLORFUL PATTERNED DRESS IN NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS

nice dress

This interesting cabinet card features a woman wearing a very unusual dress. The dress’s pattern can be described as psychedelic. Some would call the pattern paisley. One wonders if the woman’s dress really looked this way or if an artist colored the photograph while knocking off a bottle of whiskey. Another theory is that the subject woke up the morning of her appointment at the photographer and realized she had nothing to wear. In an act of desperation, she wore the living room drapes. Before I conjecture further, I want to call for assistance from the cabinet card gallery’s research department. Perhaps one of the several fashion savvy cabinet card gallery visitors can share their informed opinion about this woman’s attire. I shouldn’t call her “this woman” because I know her name. An inscription on the reverse of the photograph reveals that her name is Sarah Goodwin and that the cabinet card photo was taken in 1892. The 1880 US census finds a Sarah Goodwin living in Ware, Massachusetts. This is a town 24 miles away from Knowlton Brothers studio in Northampton. At the time of this photograph, Miss Goodwin was twenty nine years-old and working in a cotton mill. She was the third of five children born to Steven and Mary Goodwin. Sarah was born in 1863 in England, which was also the birthplace of her parents.

Published in: on July 23, 2014 at 11:45 am  Comments (13)  
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SPORTSWOMEN OR SPORTSMEN IN PLAINVILLE, CONNECTICUT (TENNIS)

TENNIS GIRLS_0002Two women pose for their portrait at the studio belonging to W. Allderige in Plainville, Connecticut. One of the ladies is holding a tennis racquet but she is holding it in a way that may indicate that she was not a tennis player. Since she is not displaying a proper grip of the racquet, the tennis racquet may just be a prop in the photographers studio. The previous owner of this photograph contended that the two women in this image are actually cross dressing men. Perhaps the former owner was just trying to increase the sales value of the photograph. I would be interested in hearing the opinion of  some of the visitors to the cabinet card gallery on this matter. Research discovered some information about photographer William Allderige. He was born in Birmingham, England in 1854. He worked as a shipping clerk for a carrying company and then as a cashier and bookkeeper for a railway company. In 1856 he immigrated to the United States and settled briefly in Northampton, Massachusetts. He then moved to New York City where he studied photography and when proficient, he returned to Northampton and became a traveling photographer. His next business move was to open photography studios in Connecticut. In 1859 he opened a studio in Plainville which he operated for over forty years. He ran a studio in New Britain from 1870 through 1877 which his son took over and operated until 1898. In 1886 he started a studio in Farmington. Allderige was very busy conducting business but he still found time to marry Sarah Dawson in 1848.

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Published in: on April 23, 2014 at 1:14 pm  Comments (2)  
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