This cabinet card features a portrait of a pretty and fashionable young woman. This fashionista is wearing a dark dress with lace, earrings, collar pin, rings, and flowers in her hair and pinned to her lapel. Note her pocket watch. This cabinet card photograph was taken at the W. H. Brewer studio. The studio was located in Shenandoah, Iowa. William Henry Brewer was born in Indiana in 1838. He lived at home with his father until he was 25 years-old (1862) when he married Mary Ann Proctor. In 1869, he and his wife went west to Tarkio, Iowa and tried their hand at farming. Farming did not work out very well, and he moved to Red Oak where he sold groceries, with moderate success, for three years. In 1874, he established a photography rail car in Shenandoah and intended to do business there as well as in neighboring communities that he visited along the rail. Business was excellent in Shenandoah, so attaching his studio to a train was not necessary. He then opened a modern photography studio store front which grew over time. Brewer’s business made him one of the more financially successful citizens of Shenandoah. SOLD
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 