New York City 1900

Cabinet Cards Cabinet Cards in Historical Contextin Historical Context

Daguerreotype

1840-1864

Tintype

1856-1900

Ambrotype

1855-1865

is book is focused here

Shot by Pro Shot by Amateur

Cabinet Cards (USA)

1866-1900

Carte De Visite

1860-1890

Eastman Kodak Brownie

1900-

A Pro in cabinet card era meant a person who knew how to operate the large box camera, not necessarily a skilled person with formal compositional training. Some studios had both sets of skills, some did not.

Cabinet Card photos, known as albumen prints, were typically mounted on card stock, 4 1/4” x 6 1/2”.

Popular from the mid 1860s to the turn of the century, Cabinet Card photographs, provide a window into what is sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Photographic Portraiture in America.

These photographs played an important role in documenting what familes, adults, children, dogs and cats looked like during that three decade period before the turn of the century. In Cabinet Card photography, both the camera and the paper, were evolving technologies, moving the world towards the mass availability of photography as a form of knowledge and information sharing. Cabinet Cards were superseded by advancing photography technology and the demands of an increasingly mobile American society. It was the last era of photography before the camera became small and mobile enough to move outside, changing the world forever. The cabinet card images in this book represent a 34 year moment, frozen in time, for us to reflect upon, appreciate and enjoy.

Before the Camera Moved Outside

Large stationary camera on tripod

Professional photographer Photo studio Boy+dog formal pose Faux scenery

CABINET CARD ERA

1866-1900

Among the most noticable characteristics of these cabinet card photographs is that they were all taken indoors in constructed settings, with faux painted backdrops, sometimes depicted as outdoors. Camera technology evolved over the thirty year+ cabinet card era but remained rather large and not easily mobile. In those days you went to where the camera was. ousands of small photo studios existed accross the country as photography became more popular and accessable.

Kodak Box Brownie introduced in 1900

Amateur photographer

Boy+dog candid shots Outdoors

MOBILE CAMERA ERA

1900-today

At the turn of the century Kodak introduced the hand-held brownie box camera. It was revolutionary in that the camera, smaller and mobile, began going to where the action was. In that moment photography and the world changed forever. In many ways we are still in that moment. First introduced in 1900 the Kodak box camera, primative by today’s standards, sold at that time for $1.00 (approx $30. today).

How to Look

In the Cabinet Card era, you went where the camera was to have your picture taken. When you look at a cabinet card many layers of evolution and creativity are present.

Some photographers were masters of composition, while some were not.

Creative studio backdrops depicted outdoor, indoor or hybrid sceneries. ree dimensional props often added depth to the image.

Note-worthy is the evolution of boys clothing. At that time, boys often wore knee pants until the age of sixteen. is helps us identify the age group of these boys.

Note-worthy is the evolution of dog breeds. Many are still with us. In that era, the camera aperture had to remain open for several seconds. Often moving dogs were blurred.

A feature of cabinet cards, made from early negatives was the ability to reproduce the image. In theory and practice more than one image could exist although rarely seen in Boys with Dogs. Many in this book would be one-off survivors.

Photographing a dog alone was an extraordinary act of love as it was a considerable expense.

Cost of Cabinet Cards

In those days the cost of a studio portrait sitting was incorported into the production costs of the cabinet cards. While prices varied accross the country and became less expensive as the era progressed with an average cost being in the range of $2-$3 per dozen. at would be approximately $35-$52 today. Duplicates would have been passed among family members. Negatives were most often stored by the photography studio for future reproduction. Within the genre of boys with dogs, why so few duplicates are found today remains somewhat of a mystery.