The photographic tax stamp was applied between the years of 1864-1866 as a means to recover costs incurred during the American Civil War. The first income tax in America was also a means of paying for the war, however this photographic tax was specific to the luxury of photographs, ambrotypes, daguerrotypes and any other …
This CdV from the 1860s is identified as Catherine Shull. I picked this one up because I found her dress bodice to be really unusual. It almost looks as though she is wearing a black corset on the outside of her dress. Since I know that would never happen, my next guess is that …
This photograph shows a handsome gentleman photographed by Major Moulthrop, a famous photographer in New Haven, CT. Moulthrop was known as one of the first photographers in the area, and at his death was lamented as one of the oldest and longest in the photographic arts. The Photographic Times and American Photographer published an …
Being inquisitive may have brought you here, wondering “who were they?” of some old photos in your collection. Well today, we can answer the question of this photo, to some extent. Someone helpfully identified the subject as Damares Day or Dom Day Shimplon or Shimflor or…something. Thinking the name Damares is fairly unusual, I searched …
This is the final image from the Red Velvet album, and depicts a woman in early middle age. She looks a bit tired, but cleaned herself up for the sitting. It is unusual that she is quite over weight. While people certainly had the ability to become obese in the 19th century, it wasn’t as …
Who Were They? 