Cabinet card

Explore PCsAHoot - Dipping toes in...'s 750 photos on Flickr!

Vintage baby names for girls and boys, including top vintage names such as Olivia and Noah and unique vintage baby names, with meanings, origin, and popularity

Most of us have a cabinet card in our collection of old ancestral photos, which tells us it was most likely taken between about 1870 and 1900. But you can also further narrow down the time when the photo was taken. Learn how to identify the popular cabinet card, and how to use clues such as cardstock weight and color, and the type of border, to narrow down the time period when the photo was printed.

Established 1879. Front: farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4700033286_dcbfd01e3d_o.jpg

This oval image features a very pretty well dressed young woman. She is wearing a necklace and a locket pinned to her dress. The woman’s hair is up and topped with a bow. The photograph measu…

The back of the card is dated 1888. This quite elderly widow is dressed in fashions that are at least 30 years out of date, if not more. It was not unusual until just recently for older women to remain clung fast to the style of clothing they wore in their prime.

The Museum holds an amazing collection of cabinet cards and carte-de-visites featuring an array of Broadway entertainers, opera singers, and popular personalities (as well as some of their p…

Source: Scan of an original photograph. Set: WIL04. Date: 1890s. Photographer: Henry Hemmins, Victoria Street, Swindon. Repository: From the collection of Mr. Paul A. Williams. Used here by his very kind permission. Local Studies at Swindon Central Library. www.swindon.gov.uk/localstudies

This carte de visite portrait captures a very attractive and well dressed couple. They are also well-coiffed. The previous owner of this cdv reported that the photograph is of French origin. Howeve…

The back of this cabinet card is a veritable gem of Victorian advertising art. A winged cherub sits on a flowering bough and spills out small photographs from a cornucopia. It is also imprinted with what appear to be various prestigious awards won by the photographer, or perhaps they are royal endorsements. As I don't read Bulgarian, I can't tell. If someone could provide a translation, it would be deeply appreciated.