Cabinet Cards

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joetucciarone
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Cabinet Cards

Post by joetucciarone »

The topic of cabinet cards came up in another thread. From my experience, they’re not only works of art; they can also be interesting cultural pieces as well as valuable dating tools.

This is the front and back of one of my family’s cabinet cards. The backsides of cabinet cards are usually printed with the name and location of the photographer’s studio. Studio imprints like this are fascinating by themselves, and since you can often find the years during which a studio was in business, they can be used to help date the photograph.
ferrando_1894.jpg
This is an 1894 portrait of one of my distant cousins. It was taken in Youngstown, Ohio, but he was dressed in the finery of old Italy since his parents were Italian immigrants. He’s wearing a dress, which was commonly done to boys in the 1890s. It was also practical; it was easier to reach in and change dirty underwear! He’s holding a charm bracelet with one loop around his second finger. In many of my family’s photographs from that time period, baby boys wore what appears to be a wedding band on that finger. Whether that was the sign of a legitimate child, or a symbol of parental affection, I can’t say.
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