Wedding Wednesday - 1890's Milwaukee, WI Couple (Victorian Era)

This attractive young couple are identified on the back as Max and Lizzie.  They posed for photographer Wollensak of Milwaukee in the 1890's for their wedding photo.  The bride is quite lovely and trim in her white dress. and her dress has just the right amount of frills, but is still elegant.

Wollensak was William Wollensak who had studios at 450 and 500 National Avenue.  He was born in Germany 17 Jun 1851 and died in Milwaukee 3 Jan 1922.  He is buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee (FindAGrave).

Mystery Monday - Unknown Civil War Era Couple in Trenton, NJ (Victorian Era)

This couple sat for photographer Moses in Trenton, NJ between 1864 - 66 as evidenced by the revenue stamp on the back of the photograph.  As is so often seen they are unidentified and it is left to the viewer to imagine who they might be and what life they may have lived.  They are sharply dressed; the wife in a military style dress, the husband in a common suit for the times.

The photographer is Morris Moses, born in England 16 Jul 1826.  Married in Trenton in 1855 to Ellen Wisey.  Listed in Trenton censuses between 1850 - 1880 listed as a photographer.  He died on 11 Dec 1891 and is buried in Riverview Cemetery (FindAGrave).

Tintype Tuesday - 1860's Woman With Three Young Children (Victorian Era)

This 1860's tintype is of a mother and her three children.  She is sitting with two daughters who look to be about a year apart in age and one son who couldn't sit still for the photo as apparent by the blur.  Her sweet-faced daughters are wearing identical dresses with white lace collars and the son is wearing black pants and white shirt with a lacy collar as well.  Mom is wearing a typical serviceable dress for the time frame.  She looks to be a very proud mother.

Fashionable Friday - 1864 - 65 New York City Woman by Famed Photographer Bogardus

This young woman sat for her photograph between 1864 - 1865 for famed photographer Abraham Bogardus of New York City.  An early pioneer of photography, Bogardus went to New York in 1837 to learn Daguerreotypy  from G.  W. Prosch.  Within a short time of opening his own studio he was giving up to eighty sitting or more a week.  Eventually the paper photograph replaced the Daguerreotype and Bogardus moved his gallery to Broadway and Franklin to meet the demand.  The popularity of the Carte-de-Visite (CDV) was such that he kept three skylights busy and delivered hundreds of CDV's per day.

This young woman is seated for her photo and is wearing a military style dress.  I love the trim on her bodice, forearms and epaulats.  We know the date of the sitting by the revenue stamp on the back of the photo.  She is unidentified.

For more information on Abraham Bogardus please check out this website:  Alphonsegallery

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - 1880's (Victorian Era) Vermont Woman in Feathers & Fur

This fabulous photograph was taken sometime in the 1880's of young woman in Bellows Falls,VT.  I am always curious when I see these old photos of subjects wearing their winter coats.  I wonder why they chose to be photographed this way instead of in a lovely dress or suit. In this particular case, she is wearing what appears to be a two-toned fur coat with matching fur hand muff.  The fur scarf has dangling balls which I have never seen before.  Her hat has several things going on as well with the bill jutting out at a jaunty angle, white, wispy feathers and a satin bow at the top.  I also see some thin white things - not sure what they are - sticking out of the top of the hat.  

I think she is quite proud of her ensemble, but alas, she is not identified on the back of the cabinet card.

The photographer is Blake, Frederick Joseph Blake of Bellows Falls, VT.  He practiced his profession in that area between 1880 to the early 1920's.  He was born 3 Dec 1853 to Seth and Martha Jane Blake.  He died in Bellows Falls on 1 Feb 1923. 

Eyes are the Window to the Soul (Victorian Era Women)

It has often been said the the "eyes are the window to the soul."  There is some confusion as to the original speaker of this quote, Shakespeare being in the running to be the author.    Something broght this quote to my mind and I decided to share a few of my favorite "soulful eyed" ladies of the past.

This first young woman is unidentified and she sat for photographer T. M. Sausman of Norristown, Pa in the late 1870's.  She has such a wistful look on her face, I wonder what she was thinking about.

 

Subject number two, another lovely young woman, also probably dated late 1870's  was from Iowa City, Iowa.  She too is unidentified and the photographer was James of that city.  

 

The third photograph is of a woman a little older, possibly fortyish?  This is one of my favorites, she appears to have such character to her face, not to mention good bones.  Also unidentified, she sat for photographers Brown & Gillis of Galesburg, Mich.  most likely late 1870's.

 

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."

Tintype Tuesday - Late 1860's/Early 1870's (Victorian) Young Woman with Flowers in Her Hair

Today's Tintype Tuesday is a lovely young, unidentified young  woman wearing a belted, gingham dress with flowered headband.  This tintype photograph was most likely taken in the late 1860's to early 1870's, but since there is no photographer's mark or identification of the subject it is not possible to positively narrow down the date or location.

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.

Tintype Tuesday - 1870's (Victorian)Teenage Girl with Long, Curly Hair

Today's tintype features a teenage girl from most likely the 1870's.  Unfortunately as is seen with most tintypes, this subject is unidentified and there is no photographer or year associated.  Her hair is worn long, braided back from the face and adorned with a large bow and some type of beading embellishment in the center part.  

The very busy neck and bust adornments are all characteristics of 1870 women's fashions.  Note the unusual bow scarf, frilly neck and long rope chain with pendant. Her dress has an unusual dark, quilted piece down the front that beautifully offsets the lighter colors of the rest of the dress and accessories.

1870's Teenage Girl

This tintype is badly scratched all over especially across her face, but using the "retouch" function of my basic photo program I was able to bring back to life her promising young beauty.  Note that the photographer has tinted her cheeks pink.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Feathery Hat on Columbus, O. Woman 1880's (Victorian)

This very stylish young woman had her photograph taken by photographer Pfeifer in Columbus, O. in the late 1880's.  I am putting the date around 1888.  She is wearing a fashionable bustled dress with beautiful pearl-like trim.  One tiny drop earring is showing and a hoop bracelet appears on her right wrist.  She is also wearing a large corsage with white flowers to offset the darker color of the dress.  I wish I knew what color is was; possibly gray or brown?  Her hat is stunning of course with the large feathery plumes and I see a dark satin bow on the right side.

1888 Columbus, Ohio Woman

It's hard to tell from this scan, but this cabinet card has gold-gilt beveled edges which was one of my clues in dating the photograph.  The photographer was John A. Pfeifer of Columbus who had a photography business in Columbus for many years. I found him listed in the city directory up until 1887 at the address on the card.  In the 1889 directory he had moved his business to a different address. He was born about 1858 in Ohio to German immigrant parents. I also found him listed in the 1920 census living in a boarding house, a widower and still working as a photographer.

Fashionable Friday - 1860's Brooklyn, New York Woman in Military Style Dress (Victorian)

This attractive young 1860’s woman is quite stylish in her military style dress. The military style dress was very popular in the Civil War era up to the early 1870’s and is recognizable by the geometric patterns on the sleeve and waist.  Although not seen in the photograph I would bet the hem of the skirt has similar patterns.  There are many things to discuss in this CDV.

First, in dating this CDV the thickness of the card tells me it was made between 1862 – 1869.  Usually when no border is present you can assume the date to be between 1862-1863, however; on inspection of the back, the revenue stamp gives us much information.  The stamp, which in itself dates the photo between 1864 and 1866, is also initialed by the photographer, E. M. Douglass, and he has added “Jan 6” which must mean Jan 1866.

The subject is identified as “Carrie Vanderveer Little.  I was very successful identifying her on Ancestry.com.  She was born as Caroline Vanderveer 31 August 1945 in Somerset, New Jersey to Philip Vanderveer and Aletta VanNest.  On 10 October 1867 she married Garret Quick Little in Somerset County, New Jersey and they had seven children. The Littles moved to Iowa sometime in the 1870’s and Carrie died there in 1915. Click here to see a photo of her later in life. According to her obituary she was a much loved woman. The photographer was E. M. Douglass of 324 Fulton St. Brooklyn, NY.

I am contacting a couple of people on Ancestry.com who appear to be descendants to see if there is interest in receiving ownership of this photo.  I will keep my readers updated.

Tintype Tuesday - Seven 1890's (Victorian Era) Women Pose in Their Finest

This tintype of seven 1890's women is in poor shape, very dark, scratched and discolored.  I did what I could to make it easier to view, but after I brightened it up and removed some of the scratches I realized that either the photographer was not very good or the women were moving because there is some blur in the photo.  

These ladies are all dressed in their finest clothes and wearing hats. It is very easy to see from the style of their dress, especially the sleeves, that this is probably mid-1890's.  Tintypes began to lose favor towards the end of the nineteenth century.  They were often produced as souvenirs on boardwalks and at carnivals. I wonder who these ladies were and what was the circumstance for this shot.  We'll never know, but from the looks on their faces they weren't afraid to have fun!

Tintype Tuesday - Stylish Young 1880's (Victorian Era) Woman with Hat

I love this tintype of a stylish young 1870's woman wearing bustled dress and hat.  She is leaning on a photographer's fake stone prop and is holding a handkerchief in her hand. Her dress has the typical fitted bodice and front buttons of the time and she is wearing a dark colored boater-type hat with what appears to be feathers on the top.  I love the not so typical bangs of her hairstyle.  She is quite lovely and I can't help wondering what she was thinking.


Update:  This one has been bothering me and I am changing the timeline to 1880's!

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

Wedding Wednesday - Late 1880's (Victorian Era) Austin, Texas Newlyweds

This cabinet card, although a bit faded, is still a great photograph of a lovely bride and her groom from circa 1889 Austin, TX.  The bride is wearing a lovely white gown with fitted bodice, high neck and the shoulders have the slight puff seen in the late 1880's.  Her headdress is also quite lovely with the small white buds, I'm not sure what they are called, but I have seen them on other photographs in this time frame.  They are also on the groom's matching boutonniere. He is seated with his hand in jacket - I have never understood the significance of this pose - and the bride has her hand resting on his shoulder.

The back of the photograph has a very interesting photographer's mark, note the dragon breathing fire in the upper left hand corner.  The photographer was Harvey Roberts Marks (1821 - 1902) well-known Daguerrean and photographer, born in New York City and according to "Pioneer Photographers From The Mississippi To The Continental Divide" he had an illustrious career criss-crossing the country from San Francisco (1851) Baltimore, MD (1851 - 1853) to Mobile, AL (1855 - 1859) to Houston (1865-1867) to Austin(1870 - 1902).

In February 1851 in San Francisco he daguerreotyped the castaways of the Japanese ship Eriki-Maru while they were aboard the US revenue bark, Polk.  This was substantiated two years later by the "Illustrated News" who published three wood engravings of these sailors with the comment that the illustrations were after daguerreotypes by H. R. Marks of Baltimore.  See here for a photo of one of the castaways.

Marks won a number of awards during his career including January of 1853 from the Maryland Institute  the "highest premium for the eminent superiority of his Pictures" and seventeen prizes at the 1880 Capitol State Fair in Austin.  He also was the vice president of the national Photographic Association in 1874 and 1881 and was a life member.   He also served as a captain  in the Houston Battalion of militia infantry during the Civil War.  There are cartes de visites still existing  with his Houston imprint of uniformed Confederate officers.

He is said to have the longest career of any Austin photographer in the nineteenth century.  He was pre-deceased by his wife Emily and three children and left his estate to his long time assistant George H. Berner.

Source:  Pioneer Photographers From the Mississippi to the Continental Divide, 1839 - 1865 by Peter E. Palmquist, Thomas R. Kailbourn.  Stanford University Press, Stanford California, 2005.  Google eBooks.