This photograph of an unidentified, mature, well-dressed woman was taken in Philadelphia probably around 1900. Her pose is very austere and from her clothing she appears to be well off. This card is an example of the changes cabinet cards went through at the end of the 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th. The size began changing as did the material the card was made out of. This particular card measures 3 5/8" x 5 1/2" instead of the standard for cabinet cards of 4" x 6". It is gray in color and made out of materials that became popular at that time, densely pressed cardboard between two pieces of covering that is pure color¹. It is embossed with the photographer's name as well as engraved with scrolls around the inner frame.
The photographer was E. J. Davis, located at 2021 Frankford Ave, and 1608 Susquehanna Ave, Philadelphia. He sounds like he must have been fairly prosperous at his profession, but I have been unable to find out anything about him. I did find this one small ad in the January 1908 edition of Snapshots from Google² books:
1. Phototree.com
2. Google books
This is wonderful! I have a photo of my great-grandfather from this same company!
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