Fashionable Friday - 1860's (Victorian Era) Woman with Lace Shaw

I love the simplicity and elegance of this photo.  This Wilmington, Del. woman is wearing a cream belted hoop-skirt dress.  It is covered by a lovely black lace shawl and she is holding a straw hat.  It is hard to see, but she has a simple ribbon adorning her hair and has a snood covering the bun at her nape.

This young woman sat for the photographer, Wm. H. Curry between 1863- 1865.  Curry was located at No. 309 Market Street, Wilmington, Del.

Fashionable Friday - Early 1860's (Victorian) Young Athol Depot, Massachusetts Woman

I tend to favor certain photographs and at the top of this list my favorites are Civil War Era photos.  I'm not sure why, maybe because of the beautiful clothing of the times or because so many photos exist of this early time of photographic history.  The young woman in this photo is very typical of the early 1860's; seated in a chair, wearing a military style dress, wearing a snood in her hair and leaning on a table staring off somewhere with a wistful expression.

The detail on her dress is lovely.  I love the white buttons down the front of the bodice as well as the bow tie at the neck and the trim on the shoulder and the sleeves.   She is also wearing small ear-bobs and a ring on her left-hand pointer finger.

As I often lament she is not identified.  So sad.

The photographer is D. Smith of 43 Main Street, Athol Depot, Mass.  I think I have a couple more photos made by this photographer so will perhaps try to look further into his history and post those at a later date.

I had never heard of Athol Depot so a quick Google search gave me this interesting information:  Originally called Pequoaig, the area was first settled by five families in September 1735.  When the township was settled in 1762, the name was changed to Athol.  John Murray, one of the proprietors of the land, chose the name because the hills reminded him of his ancestral home of Blair Atholl, Scotland.  Athol means "pleasant place."

Fashionable Friday - Stylish Civil War Era (Victorian) Woman from Buffalo, NY

This very stylish young woman from Buffalo, NY posed for this CDV photo from 1864 - 1866 for photographer W. M. Knight.  I am able to date the photo by the Federal Tax Stamp on the back.  She is identified as Ida F. Good.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find any further information on her.

Her dress is very beautiful, most likely silk with chevron trim on the sleeves and a beautiful colored plaid necktie.  She is also wearing ear-bobs and bracelets.  

The photographer was Willard M. Knight located in Buffalo from 1855 to 1879.  He had several addresses including 238 Main, 194 Main, 246, 256, and 258 Main as well as 308 Main.

Fashionable Friday - 1860's (Victorian) Woman in Gingham Skirt

I love the interesting side pose by this attractive young Chicago woman who is identified on the back as Millie Loudwick.  She looks quite lovely with a somewhat distant look on her face.  She must be thinking about taking a walk with her beau wearing her flowered, white hat which is on the sofa and carrying her parasol.  I was excited to see her name on the back, but alas was unable to find any trace of her in Ancestry.com.

I've decided that this was most likely taken in the late 1860's due to a number of factors including thickness of the card paper, measurements of the CDV, the two stripes of the border and it most likely had square corners which I believe were cut to put in an album at one time.  

The photographer is listed as Shaw's Mammoth Photograph Rooms located at 186 South Clark St. in Chicago.  A quick search did not turn up any results, but I like the slogan on the bottom of the card, "Pictures Taken In Cloudy Weather at these Photograph Rooms, Superior to those taken elsewhere in town on a fair day."

Fashionable Friday -1860's Civil War Era (Victorian) Philadelphia Woman in Checkered Hoop Dress

This 1860's CDV of an unidentified Philadelphia, PA woman in a checkered, hoop dress is simple, but interesting. I'm not an expert at deciphering fabrics, but this dress has a very striking checkered fabric with dark waistband. There is also a dark piece of matching trim running down the length of the pagoda sleeves. In addition, she has the typical 1860's small white collar.  Her hair is worn in the style of the times; parted in the middle and pulled back in a bun and note her decorative headdress. This young woman was quite lovely and demure in her pose.

It is very hard to tell from the scan, but it appears the photographer lightly tinted her cheeks.  This photograph appears to have been taken between 1862 to early 1864.  The back of the photo is almost more interesting than the front.  The photographer is listed as "Rehn & Sons' New & commodious Ground floor Galleries.  510 Arch Street Philadelphia. 

 I found a number of similar time frame photos on Google by Rehn & Sons, but little information on the photographer.  I found this information on Ancestry.com in the 1864 Philadelphia City Directory, but due to the large amount of Rehns in Philadelphia was not able to pin down the exact name of which was the father and/or the sons.

Fashionable Friday - Lovely Young 1880's (Victorian Era) Michigan Woman in White

This beautiful young woman posed for E. Gillis about 1888 - 1891 in Lawton, Mich.  She is dressed in a white dress, most likely off-white or cream and I believe the dress may have a bustle so the 1880's date would work.  Her dress is high necked with tight fitted bodice and has matching ribbons down the front of the skirt.  The sleeves are of great interest to me as I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite like them - notice the odd loops near her wrist which appear to be holding flowers and then the sleeves extend down to the hands into mitts.  She is holding what appears to be a white puffy fan or perhaps a purse?

This cabinet card has a thick gilt border  with a beautiful scallop design on the edges.  I was unable to find any information on the photographer, E. Gillis.

Fashionable Friday - Early 1860' s (Victorian Era) New York City Woman (Pregnant?)

This lovely New York City woman was photographed by famed photographer Bogardus about 1863 - 64.  She is wearing what appears to be a light, cotton print dress with short sleeves so my guess would be that this photograph (CDV) was most likely taken in warmer months.  She is also wearing a dark colored, light and lacy shawl-type covering.  Something about this photo strongly suggests to me that she is pregnant.

Bogardus was Abraham Bogardus (1822 - 1908) was an American Daguerreotypist and photographer who is reported to have made some 200,000 daguerreotypes during his career.  He was born in Dutchess County, NY and went to New York City in 1837.  In 1846 he learned the art of Daguerreotypy from G.W. Prosch and after only two weeks instruction opened his own studio at 363 Broadway becoming very successful at his craft. He was so successful he opened several locations.  With the popularity of the Carte-de-Visite he was said to have produced up to 100 dozens of CDV's per day.

In 1869 Bogardus was elected the first president of the national Photographic Association, a postiion he held for seven years.  His contemporaries were Jeremiah Gurney, Matthew Brady, Lawrence, Insley, Hass, Harrison and Hill, the brothers Meade, Lewis, and Bogert.  After a long and successful career he retired in 1884.

I previously posted another of his photographs and you can see it here:

http://forgottenfacesandlongagoplaces.blogspot.com/2012/09/fashionable-friday-1860s-woman-freelove.html

Fashionable Friday - A Civil War Era Boston Belle

This unsmiling Boston woman posed for this CDV next to a fake column wearing a beautiful hoop-skirted dress.  The dress appears to be made perhaps of silk taffeta and the five rows of trim at the bottom of the skirt are absolutely striking.  The belt at her waist also appears to be made of the same material as the trim on the skirt.  The full sleeves are a work of art as well with the lovely detailing.  Look at the under-sleeves which are very also unique   The one on her left appears to have polka-dots; I'm not sure what  exactly those are supposed to be.  Also she is wearing a removable collar, possibly lace.

The unidentified woman was probably wearing her best dress when she posed for photographer "Tyler" of Boston.  This CDV was most likely made between 1864 - 1869.  I was not able to find any information about Tyler.

I  could look at beautiful dresses like this from that era all day; I'm just glad I did not have to wear them!

Fashionable Friday - 1860's (Victorian Era) Woman Wearing Hooded Cloak & Fur Muff

I suspect this lovely young woman was considered quite fashionable when she posed for this Carte de Visite (CDV) in the 1860's (most likely between 1864 - 69) for photographer A. W. Tice of Ellensville, NY.  She is wearing a full-length hooded  cloak over a hoop skirt which was perhaps made of silk taffeta.  Covering her hands is a fur muff.  There appears to be some sort of hair covering or adornment over her hair in the back.  

The photographer's full name was Alfred Wurtz Tice who appears to have lived and worked in the Ellensville are for quite a number of years.  He wasborn 19 Oct 1829 in New York to John & Huldah Tice. In 1854 he married Irene Miller.  Several Ellensville City Directories between 1861 and 1871 report him as "A. Wurts Tice, photographer, Canal opp Liberty sq., h Canal."  In 1900 Tice was still living in the area according to the Ulster County census at age 70 with his wife June (2nd wife?).  He still listed his occupation as photographer.  Tice died 5 Feb 1909 and is buried in the Fantinekill Cemetery in Ellensville, NY according to Find-A-Grave.

Fashionable Friday - Rose Pierce, 1890's (Edwardian Era) Doctor's Wife

This lovely young is identified on the back of this cabinet card as Rose, Rollin Pierce's wife.  The lovely Rose obviously posed for this cabinet card in sometime in the 1890's as evidenced by her dress and the photographers imprint at the bottom.  I suspect this photo to have been taken around 1894 - 1895.  Rose was married to Dr. Rollin Pierce (see photo below).  I thought it would be easy to identify Dr. and Mrs. Pierce, but I had no luck finding them on Ancestry.com or on Google.  I tried using variations of Rollin Pierce's name but struck out.  Such a shame, they are surely someone's ancestors.

Rose is wearing the very typical large puffy sleeves seen in the 1890's and the teeth-like cut of the bodice is somewhat unusual.  Her collar sits high on her neck adorned with one button and she is wearing a string of beads above that.  Her photograph was taken by photographer Stigleman & Son located at 826 Main St., Richmond, IND.  Interestingly enough, Stigleman is actually "Rolland" Stigleman who had a studio in Richmond until he sold it in 1898.  He took over the business from his father George after the business was destroyed by fire.  I posted a photo taken by George Stigleman previously and I believe these photos were bought together in a large group so it is possible they may be related.

Rose's husband, Dr. Rollin Pierce looks quite fashionable himself in this photograph which was probably taken around 1896 give or take a year.  He is wearing a dark colored three piece suit with white high-collared shirt and white bow-tie.  He was a very handsome young man.  The photographer was Wright and Holloway, 510 1/2 Wabash Ave., Terre Haute, IND.

Fashionable Friday - Five Stylin' 1860's Guys

I always show photographs of lovely women on Fashionable Friday so today thought I'd change things up a bit and post pictures of some fashionable and debonair gentlemen from the 1860's.

This first gentleman with the dark suit, vest and long waistcoat was probably taken in the early 1860's.  He is holding his hat in his hand and he looks quite serious.  The back of the photo is blank and no photographer or location was listed.

Unknown man, 1860's

This next young man, sporting impressive mutton chops, had a bust pose taken so all we can see is part of his jacket, his white shirt, a little bit of his vest and his tie. On the back in pencil is written "S. B. Culver Sandy Hill, N.Y."  This is most likely Stephen Berry Culver born July 1841 in Sandy Hill, New York and died in 1902.  The photo was taken by W. Nims, Photographer, East Street, Fort Edward, N.Y.  The mutton chops suggest an early 1860's date, but I am leaning to perhaps a later 1860's date.

S. B. Culver 1860's Sandy Hill, NY

 

Young man number three is wearing a light colored suit, also a long waistcoat and is posing with his hand on a chair.  He looks quite young, probably early twenties.  This CDV photo was most likely taken between 1864-1869.  The photographer was O. A. Taft's Gallery, Opposite Post Office, Middlebury, VT.

Unk, 1860's NY man

 

Next we have Uncle Sidney Morse as evidenced one the back who posed for photographer C. H. Clark in Union Village, N. Y. probably between 1864 - 69.  I found a number of subjects in the New York area with this name.  I'm not sure what a good estimate would be for this particular Sidney's birthday.  How old do you think he looks here?  Thirty-five?  Forty?  Older than that?  I don't believe that he is as old as he appears at first glance.  His suit is very stylish and the vest appears to be made of a satin-like material.

Sidney Morse, NY 1860's

 

Last, but not least, is a young gentleman who it appears has the initials, "J. N.T."  Not much help there!  This picture is actually dated March 9th, 1870, but I thought it would be a good way to end out the 1860 decade.  The hair on his head and face are very clean-cut as was more common in the late 1860's and early 1870's.  He is sitting on a velvet fringed chair with his elbow on a small table which is holding a book.  His pants are a little unusual; I believe I have seen them before, they almost look like uniform pants.  This CDV like some of this others was trimmed at the corners to fit into a photo album.  The photographer was A. Corden located at the Cor. Fourth and River Sts., Troy, N.Y.

Unknown man documented Mar 9, 1870

 

Fashionable Friday - Turn of the Century New York City Woman with Purse

This lovely young woman with the Gibson Girl hair was posed by the photographer standing next to a chair holding a purse.  The hand on the chair held a couple of roses and on the seat of the chair are more roses and what appears to be some type of rolled up document.  She is wore a dark dress with a white lace collar, large buttons down the bodice, a tightly cinched waist and the loose sleeves billow down to tight cuffs at the wrist. She was indeed a vision of loveliness and femininity.  The photographer was Speiss (William) who had a studio at 54 Second Ave. Cor 3rd St. New York between 1895 and 1900 according to langdonroad.com. 

Fashionable Friday - 1860s New Bedford, MA Woman - Military Style Dress

Unknown New Bedford, MA woman ca 1864-69

This week's Fashionable Friday features a young Civil War era woman from New Bedford, Massachusetts  wearing a military style hoop dress.    I believe the military style is my favorite of the 1860 dresses.  I love the strong contrast of the trim and buttons against the fabric, in this case the dark trim against probably white or off-white silk. The detail on her sleeves is unique as well and she also has the lacy undersleeves.  Additionally she is sporting a flat bow at her neckline.

The photographer was M. Smith of No. 134 1/2 Union St. in New Bedford.  This was actually Morris Smith who was reported to have been active at this address as a daguerreian between 1849 - 1860 and remained active in New Bedford as a photographer until the 1880's according to Craig Cameras.

Fashionable Friday - 1860s New York City Woman

This lovely young woman had her photograph taken by renowned photographer Fernando Dessaur in the  early to mid 1860's.  She is wearing the very common 1860's hooped skirt and very tight cinched waist.  I particularly like the button detail on her upper sleeves.  She also has the typical hairstyle of the period; parted in the middle and pulled back to the nape and secured in a snood.  Click here to see a similar dress of the era along with a Petersen's Magazine plate.

Fernando Dessaur had a photography studio at 145 Eighth  Avenue in New York City from 1850 to 1870 according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission of Manhattan.  I don't believe the earlier date is correct as his birth date is reported to be around 1840 - 1842 on Ancestry.com.  He was born in Amsterdam, Holland to Morris and Cecilia Dessaur.   According to census records the family immigrated to the US around 1860. 

Trow's NYC Directory 1872, Google eBooks

About 1870 Dessaur relocated his business to 551 Eighth Avenue in New York.  In the 1900 census of Manhattan, New York he was married to Delia with one daughter Fern aged 13.    However, according to the New York Times he also had a son named Fernando who was born about 1886 who created a bit of a scandal in 1909 when he kidnapped his daughter from his estranged wife Delia May Klock Dessaur.

Fashionable Friday - 1890's Trio of Ladies from Bradford, Ohio

For this week's Fashionable Friday I am featuring this cabinet card of three women from Bradford, Ohio, who posed for photographer,  W. H. F. Heath, sometime in the 1890's.  I knew this right off the bat by looking the sleeves of their dresses, in fact, I would guess early 1890's.   I would go so far as to guess this is a mother and two grown daughters. What drew me to this photograph in the first place was the clashing of all the patterns in the picture.  Even though somewhat faded, you can see that the carpet has a busy pattern and the mother and one daughter to her right have on dresses with very busy patterns.  In today's world, a good photographer would warn you ahead of time against this very thing. These dresses and their busy patterns may have been quite the rage at the time, although I have my doubts, and leave me with the difficulty of knowing where to look first.  Also, note the one woman has on dark-colored gloves that match the bodice of her polka-dot dress; the older woman has on finger-mitts.

The photographer, W. H. F. Heath (William), was born in May of 1846 in Ohio to Austin and Eliza Heath, the oldest child in a large farming family. Never married, sometime between 1870 and 1880 he left the family farm in Shelby County, OH to pursue a career in photography.  In the 1900, Adams, Darke County, OH census he is found living with his younger brother John, also a photographer.  In the book Ohio Photographers 1839 - 1900 by Diane VanSkiver Gagel found on Google eBooks, he is listed working as a photographer 1881-82 and 1895-96. Heath evidently suffered no shortage of ego as the back of his cabinet card states, "From the Well Known Photo Gallery of W. H. F. Heath."  However, note that the word, "Gallery" is misspelled as "Glalery."  I'm assuming since he used them, he must have ordered and been stuck with a large order of these incorrect cards and used them anyway.  

Fashionable Friday -"Easy on the Eyes" 1890's Richmond, IN Gent

My Fashionable Friday posts tend to feature women in lovely, voluminous dresses with intricate designs and eye-catching accessories. Today I decided to change it up a little bit by throwing in this extremely good-looking young gentleman from Richmond, IN.  I purchased this cabinet card with the same group of photos I discussed in a recent post so perhaps he is related, but unfortunately he is unidentified.  He appears to be somewhat prosperous and is wearing from what we can see a fashionable suit with overcoat. Although a bit faded and having a few spots, this picture is still amazing as you can even see the white-on-white design on his tie.  I estimate this photograph to have been taken between 1890 - 1894.

The photographer was W. Blanch Ward of the Chicago Art Gallery at 704 Main Street in Richmond.  I could not find any information on the photographer, he or she was listed in the Richmond City Directory in 1886 and 1888 at 704 Main Street.  The back of the photo is bare, but the photographer's mark at the bottom is quite unusual.

Fashionable Friday - Elegant Edwardian Couple, 1910's

There is something about the faces of this attractive Edwardian couple that really pulls you in as they gaze off into the distance.  The photographer posed them with the husband sitting on a wicker chair and his wife seated on the arm.   Both are wearing wedding rings, his is more prominently exposed.  The woman is wearing a Gibson Girl hairstyle and her dress is exquisite.   Her dress has a high neckline, and long sleeves with large buttons down the sides of the sleeves and on the bodice.  The bodice also has an inset of what appears to be a light-colored satin and outlined with an unusual trim that continues down to her very trim waist.

This photo itself measures about 4" x 5 1/2" and is set in a cream-colored photo card which was cut down,  most likely to fit into an album.  There is a photographer's name engraved at the bottom, but I cannot make out the name.  I believe it is "De------ Studio, but that is little help as there is no city listed.  The photo has a number of black spots, but they do not diminish the elegance of the subjects.  I am not certain, but believe the photo to be dated about 1910 - 1912.

Fashionable Friday - Civil War Era Couple - Early 1860's CDV

Unidentified 1862-63 Couple

This Cartes de Visite (CDV) of an unidentified couple is an excellent example of early 1860's clothing.  Her military-style dress with hoop skirt and pagoda sleeves was so typical of the times and is quite lovely.  I particularly like the trim on the sleeves and at the waist as well as the buttons on the bodice. According to Wikipedia, after about 1862 morning dresses featured wide pagoda sleeves worn over undersleeves  or engageantes.  High necklines with lace or tatted collars or chemisettes completed the demure daytime look.  See illustration below show similar pagoda style sleeves.

In America, the early years of the Civil War also saw increased popularity of military-influenced styles in women's clothing.  Note her hair which is parted in the middle and drawn back at her nape into a bun.  Such styling was usually maintained by the use of hair oils and pomades.  Styled hair was often confined in decorated hairnets called snoods.  These hairnets were often edged with ruchings of ribbon that adorned the crown of the head such as the one this subject appears to be wearing.

Her husband, who appears to be a bit older than is wife, is wearing a ditto suit which came into fashion in the mid-nineteenth century and would become the dominant form of Western men's dress clothing for the next century.  The suit, consisting of jacket, vest and trousers was made of the same fabric and was characterized by the loose fitting jacket which hung straight from the shoulders. The ready-to-wear suit was a fairly informal type of clothing and became very popular after the "Beau Brummell" period of men's clothing in the early 1800's sometimes called the era of dandies.

I believe this photo to have been taken approximately 1862 - 1863.

Godey's April 1861

Sources:  

Wikipedia

Fashion Enclyclopedia:  

Fashionable Friday - Girls' Dress Fashions of the 1860's

Yesterday I posted a photograph (CDV) of a very young girl dated between 1864 and 1866.  A reader made a comment about the "off the shoulder" style seeming a little mature for a young girl.  That had me thinking so I did a little digging into my existing stash of photographs and came up with a couple more from the same era of young girls in similar type dresses.  The first photo I believe to have been taken between 1862 and 1863.  The photographer was J. Good, 36 Greene St., Opposite the Post Office, Trenton, N.J.  This little angel with ringlets in her hair, perhaps five or six years old,  is wearing the same style dress and notice her fringed sleeves.  This is one of my favorite photos, I absolutely adore her.

Unidentified Girl from Trenton, NJ

 


The second girl who appears to be a bit older, perhaps ten or eleven,  is also wearing the off-the-shoulder style in a belted, gingham dress.  She also is wearing a necklace, bracelet and ring.  This photograph was taken between 1864 and 1866 as evidenced by the revenue stamp and initialed by the artist "RB."  The photographer's imprint reads "Barcalow, 76 Bowery, NY."  He was Richard Garrison Barcalow (ca 1826 - 1891), a daguerreotypist and photographer in New York as early as 1859.  I believe he had a studio in New York as late as 1889.

Unidentified Girl from NYC

 


I also found these drawings in Peterson's Magazine from 1862 showing that the off-the-shoulder style for young girls was quite popular around that time.

Petersons July 1862

Petersons Sep 1862