Here we have a nice family portrait with a wiggly baby sitting on Mother’s lap and Father standing. This CdV is from the 1860s, though I am having some difficulty giving this a more firm year. First the card itself. The corners are square, indicating pre-1870. There wasn’t a photographer’s mark on the back, indicating …
Here we have another early 1860s vintage CdV. The distinguishing characteristics are the simple card with no photographer’s information, the absence of borders around the photograph, and the simple furnishings. After the Daguerreian era but before the flush of CdV popularity, the furnishings offered by a photographer were quite simple, often consisting of a chair …
This 1860s vintage CdV has some distinguishing characteristics of early CdV portraiture. The image itself is small and masked in an oval shape in the center of the print. Second, there is no photographer information, the card is hand cut and flimsy, and the corners are square. These all point to the early 1860s. More …
On a recent cruise through the Down Home Antiques shop in Orange, CA, I came across some wonderful Civil War era CdVs. Because of their worn condition, some of them were pretty inexpensive (for California) so I happily took them home. First is a man I think of as a distinguished ancestor of…someone. He …
For my final photograph from the Mearns Family Album, I have saved one of my favorites for the last. This photo was made probably in the 1870s, based on the lack of ornamentation on the cabinet card. I have often said that the older set hold onto their favorite fashions and this is a good …
Who Were They? 