Who Were They?

Lost and forgotten photos from the past

Finally, a maroon card

Mrs Marvel

5 comments

February 19, 2011

I apologize for the long absence, friends. My family was afflicted with flu during the past week which took me away from this site. But, here I am, back to bring you a maroon cabinet card. After observing in my last post that I hadn’t seen a maroon cabinet card, I found that the next photo to be posted would be on a maroon card. Next time I want something, I’ll simply point out that I don’t have it and it should just appear, right? Right.

The lovely deep reddish color of the card is more evident on the back of the cabinet card and highlighted by the golden imprinting of the back mark. The more elaborate the back, the later in the period, or so the experts say. The dark cards were popular from 1885-1895, and the elaborately stamped back mark indicates 1890-1900. The bodice of her dress is within the late 1880s styles, so I am going to split the difference here and date this to 1890.

So here we have the top right image of the third open page of the Dobb Long Book. This lady looks very much like the woman from our first impression photo, but I’m having difficulty matching the man to our previous couples photo. The previous gentleman had a lovely mustache, you see and this fellow does not. The location is also different. The previous young couple was photographed in Chicago, while this couple was photographed in Fremont, Nebraska.

I did several searches on the photographer F. E. Dwight, but am confounded by the fact that there is a Dwight, NB.

Couldn’t be any cuter!

Mrs Marvel

1 comment

February 14, 2011

This child is probably a boy. The part in the hair is slightly to the side of center, and the dress is not so frilly as many girl’s dresses from the 1880s or so. He has a bit of baby fat still evident in his face, so I’m guessing the age of about 2-3, still within the range of wearing diapers as well. The cabinet card is the lower left of the third open page of the Dobb Long Book. This is the third dark green cabinet card in the album, supposedly much more rare than maroon and black cards, but I’ve yet to see a maroon one and now have four green. Go figure.

The photographer was Rothschild Company, located at State Street & Van Buren St in Chicago. This was probably within the A.M. Rothschild Department Store, the original building having been completed in 1881. At the time, it was a retail center of Chicago, with numerous mercantiles and dry goods stores lining the street. Later, in 1912, a new building was completed at the same location. A.M. Rothschild was eventually bought out by their neighbor, Marshall Fields in 1923. Various retailers occupied the space over the years, including Sears & Roebuck, but it now houses the downtown campus of De Paul University.

Given the color of the card and the opening date of the department store, I’m dating this to about 1885.

Just down the street, really

Mrs Marvel

5 comments

February 11, 2011

Just down the street from the Hartley Studios in Chicago we find the Ahlborn Berlin Studio at 333 W. Madison Street, Chicago, who claim that babies’ pictures are a specialty! These children are adorable, there is no question! The child on the left is undoubtedly a girl. I think the child on the right might also be a girl, but with no hair to really help me, this could in fact be an older boy. BUT, boys were generally breached by age 4 – 5 at the very latest – and this child looks around age 3-4, has a soft and almost feminine face, and the dress is more girl than boy to me. Maybe this is a girl and she just got hold of her mother’s sewing scissors to give herself a haircut?

William (Willheim?) Ahlborn was in business along Madison Street from 1881 to 1897, but at the 333 location from 1886-1895. Based on the more decorated backing of the card, I’ll date this to 1890-1895.

Interesting hair adornment

Mrs Marvel

10 comments

February 10, 2011

This photo from the Dobb Long Book is from the lower right side of the second open page. It is next to the photograph of the mother and sweet baby we featured yesterday, and under the photo of the handsome couple. This completes the second open page. You cannot help but notice the elaborate beadwork on this dress, as well as the lovely tissue collar with probably hand tatted lace edging. The big sleeves are indicative of the 1890s as the look during that decade was the predecessor to the 1980s shoulder pads we all probably wore at one time or another! She also has an interesting hair adornment sticking up from the back of her head. It looks like a small version of the pieneta we looked at a few months ago. To me, it looks like a handle.

The photographer, J. B. Dedrick, is a little difficult to track down. Perhaps Iggy would like to try his hand. There are a lot of modern photographers with combinations of the initials, last name, and New Era Studios.

Like mother, like baby

Mrs Marvel

2 comments

February 9, 2011

For some reason this baby looks just like its mother to me. I can’t tell the gender of the baby because there just wasn’t enough hair for Mother to style it into a center or side part to give us a clue. Baby’s dress is lovely. By the long sleeves I’m going to guess the child was born in the winter or spring months and is about three months old by the time of this photograph. I love the chubby little fingers spread out on the left hand.

Mother has a velvet bodice and some sort of contrasting fabric skirt. She also has a bit of lace on her collar, which is in keeping with the style of 1880 onward. The photographer was Hartley again, who’s work we saw previously here. Without seeing much more of the dress it is difficult to date the photo to a more precise time frame. I’ll venture to say mid 1880s.

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