Contributions of the group Cartes de Visite

Solemn

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Sun, 03 May 2026 22:39:31 +0000

Added (late) to the Vintage Photos Theme Park monthly theme of: CDVs AND CABINET CARDS
This is a CDV, a Carte de Visite, (about 41/2 by 21/2 inches) so quite smaller than a Cabinet Card.
I think I bought this in Warrensville, New York.
The photographer was G.F. Marvin of Keeseville, New York.
Back of CDV below.

CDV Relative?

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:58:03 +0000

Deborah Lundbech has posted:

An unknown person (relative?) from the Springfield, Vermont group in the Halkard/Grimshaw album.
I think this resembles my brother-in-law, Peter.
My husband thinks this looks nothing at all like his brother. : )

Pic a day: 107/365

A Civil War Portrait

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 21:04:21 +0000

Deborah Lundbech has posted:

A Carte de Visite (CDV)
Written on the back:

T..M.V. & E.V. Doughty
Winsted, Conn.
------------------------
GALLERIES,
Opposite the Clark House and over
Hurlbut Bank
—————————
More like this can be had if desired
----------------------------------------------

This studio was active during the Civil War years according to the online Connecticut Historical Society.

The woman’s hair and neckline would also support that timeframe with her pulled back netted low bun, and the small bowtie at her neck.
She has the typical pinked up cheeks (a little harder to see here than in real life) that were pretty standard for years on CDVs and tintypes and given to men, women and children alike.

Pic a day: 33/365

Little Sweater Girl

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 05:42:38 +0000

Deborah Lundbech has posted:

Found Carte de Visite (CDV) c.1880s. Don’t remember where I found this.
I wonder when knitting - and knitting for babies - became popular?
Written on the bottom front: W.E.Hurd Artist

Pic a day: 4/365.

Trepidation

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Sun, 02 Jun 2024 11:37:40 +0000

Deborah Lundbech has posted:

Uploaded for the Vintage Photos Theme Park monthly theme of: FEAR
This theme was challenging!
This little girl, probably about three years old, is looking with some trepidation at the photographer and was the closest I could find to "fear".
Of course, with the way it often unfolds, I will find the perfect "fear" image any day now!
This is a somewhat crookedly pasted on Carte de Visite from the 19th century.

Cyanotype Mystery

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 13:11:21 +0000

Deborah Lundbech has posted:

Cyanotype. Here's an extensive link to cyanotypes, if anyone is interested.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanotype
It's a CDV size - although cut down. Perhaps a postcard originally?
I purchased this in Vermont. It makes me think of Belgium, Holland, or Germany, but it could be anywhere.
Any thoughts on the church style or the sort of wasteland appearance?
Could this be post-WWI?

Breaking News

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 03:58:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of adage illustrated (a photo illustrating a common adage—please identify the adage).

The old adage about two heads being better than one turns out to be true when it comes to a photo like this one. This is a nineteenth-century CDV showing two young women with their heads sticking out through the torn pages of a newspaper.

And why did they pose like this? They were perpetuating a photographic joke that was popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. They're literally breaking the news or perhaps just looking through the paper.

For other examples, see Breaking the News, Lititz Express, July 4, 1907 and Looking through the Newspaper.

European Victorian Era Album #42

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 00:30:09 +0000

Deborah Lundbech has posted:

Brought forward for the Vintage Photos Theme Park theme of SOCKS: striped, Argyll, tights, fishnets, men's/women's garters.
And in honor of Babs aka Corduroy Cat. (Her 2013 suggestion for the group. .I really appreciated the wonderful photographs she shared over the years of her dashing California family. Sorry to hear of her passing. Thank you, Alan, for this tribute to her this month.

I'm not sure why this CDV looks pink. It doesn't really.
This is from an album given to me by my son and daughter in law as a gift. Josef Novak and some others on the other site were kind enough o to translate many of the messages and writing.

Here's the translation of the writing on the back. (With thanks to Josef Novak.)

"Leuchtmann. Marie Leuchtenberg, daughter of an actress circa 1875 in Rudolstadt.
"The dress was light blue decorated with white braidings. I don´t remember it exactly. I was 6 or 7."

{She looks closer to 10 or 11 to me}

Dell's Decorations

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 04:55:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A photo of jewelry (rings, necklaces, bracelets, brooches, earrings, etc.) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Handwritten inscription at bottom: "Your Friend, Dell."

A nineteenth-century CDV photo of a young woman with a distinctive hair style, stylish dress, and various items of adornment, including a headband, earrings, choker with pendant, necklace, and cross.

Faceless Family CDV

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 04:42:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of flawed memories (photos that are damaged, faded, or have other imperfections, especially ones in which the flaws somehow enhance the image; this includes photos with defective processing, light leakage, and double exposures).

A spooky CDV with an unidentified faceless family. Perhaps their faces were somewhat washed out in the original photo, but they may also have been intentionally rubbed out afterwards.

Take a gander at a cropped version of the CDV for a closer look at the family's faint facial features.

For another faceless photo, see Who's the Dummy Now?

Three Jaunty Fellows, Berwick, Pennsylvania

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 03 Jun 2018 15:59:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A photo of friends for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Printed on the back: "J. M. Snyder, photographist, Berwick, Pa. Duplicates can be had at any time."

Three jaunty fellows--friends with self-assured looks on their faces and cigars in their mouths--peer out at us from this nineteenth-century carte de visite photo. Checkered vests and pants must have been in vogue at the time.

Merry Christmas 1890

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 21:24:42 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Victorian-era chromolithographed card with an added photo (a rectangular portion of the card was cut out of the middle, and the photo--part of a CDV--was affixed to the back). As far as I can determine, "Merry Christmas 1890" is what's stamped at the top.

Women in Ladder CDV

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 15:01:34 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

I'm trying to imagine what happened at the photo studio that day.

Photographer: Well, ladies, I've just received a couple of interesting new props that we can use in your portrait today. There's one here and another one over there. Do you prefer the former or the latter?

Ladies: Oh, we'll take the ladder, of course!

Otherwise, there are no identifying details that might help to explain the origin of this unique photo.

Clara Rousby, British Stage Actress, ca. 1870s

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 20:14:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Mrs. Rousby. Stereoscopic Co."

Clara Rousby (1852?–1879), a British actress who played Joan of Arc and other roles on the London stage, in a hand-tinted CDV by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company (see backmark below).

Alpenblumen (Alpine Flowers)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 23:32:36 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A CDV photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

"62. Alpenblumen. 62. Nigritella angustifolia. Rhododendron hirsutum. Leontopodium alp. Aster alp."

Backmark: "F. Fridrich, K. Pr. Hofphotograph, Verleger, Prag." ["F. Fridrich, Royal Prussian Court Photographer, Publisher, Prague."]

This hand-tinted carte de visite of colorful Alpine flowers came from the studio of Czech photographer František Fridrich (1829-1892) (see Fridrich's entry in the Czech Wikipedia).

As indicated in the caption, the flowers include black vanilla orchid (Nigritella angustifolia, now classified as Gymnadenia nigra), hairy alpenrose (Rhododendron hirsutum), edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), and Alpine aster (Aster alpinus).

Boy on Mast

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 27 May 2015 18:22:30 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"J. C. Stodart, Margate."

In this CDV, a boy looks somewhat uncomfortable as he perches on a studio version of the top of a sailing ship's mast. I'm not sure why a mast mockup like this was used as a studio prop, but perhaps it was popular in a seaside resort town like Margate, Kent. In any case, similar depictions of boys on masts appeared on advertising trade cards, postcards, and other media in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Bonnet Baby

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 19:14:53 +0000

Deborah Lundbech has posted:

A CDV that was cut at some point.
Found in Warrensburg, NY. 2014

Handsome Dude With Twin Points Beard

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 02:40:57 +0000

Deborah Lundbech has posted:

Brought forward for the Vintage Photos Theme Park theme of "Beards."

Printed on back:
Loren Webster Photography
Johnsburg
Warren County, N.Y.

Found photo.
Warrensburg, NY
September 2012

First Communion in Germany

nobody@ipernity.com (Deborah Lundbech) — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 17:26:25 +0000

Deborah Lundbech has posted:

Found photo, a Carte de Visite, in Warrensburg, NY 2014

Printed on the back:
Joseph Werner
phot
Munchen
Zweibruckenstrasse 2
Fur Nachbestellungen blieben die Platten aufbewahrt
Alex Lindner Berlin

Mr. and Mrs. Tom Thumb in Their Wedding Attire

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 19:29:28 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A weddings photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Handwritten caption (barely visible at the bottom of the photo above): "Mr. & Mrs. T. Thumb." Handwritten note on the back of the photo (see below): "Mr. & Mrs. Tom Thumb." Printed on the back of the photo: "Published by the New York Photographic Co., No. 453 Broadway, New York."

Other versions of this photo are captioned "Mr. & Mrs. 'General Tom Thumb' in Their Wedding Costumes" (see, for instance, Photo_History's copy, Tom Thumb's Wedding by Brady, on Flickr).

As Wikipedia explains, "General Tom Thumb was the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton" (1838-1883), a little person who became famous as a performer for circus promoter P. T. Barnum. His marriage to Lavinia Warren (1841-1919), a little person who was a former school teacher, took place on February 10, 1863, and received extensive publicity.

Stratton died in 1883, and Lavinia married another little person, Count Primo Magri (1849-1920), in 1885 (see the photo of Count and Countess Magri below). Despite her marriage to Magri, Lavinia continued to make appearances as Mrs. General Tom Thumb (see below for a 1912 theater advertisement and an undated green ticket). Lavinia died in 1919 and was buried next to her first husband. Magri passed away the following year.

After all the publicity generated by Lavinia and Stratton's marriage in 1863, people began referring to the playful mock marriages in which children assume the roles of bride and groom as "Tom Thumb weddings." These events are still held today by churches and other groups for fundraising and entertainment purposes (see below for a photo of a children's mock wedding held in the 1920s).