This album of cabinet portraits was found in a Bloomington, Illinois antique flea market in October, 1999. Since most of the photographs had been taken in Astoria, it is hoped that they can be dated, identified, and returned to descendants.
Pointing to each picture gives a Pop-up description of the subject, photographer, card style, and just a few with notes on the back. Those notes are shown as captions to the pictures below.
Click on each picture for a larger version.
Clues:
The couple in #6 are separately shown in #21, #50 and #52.
The black border on #16 and #21 may indicate being circulated at the death of the person.
The four children in #2 through #5 are all wearing the same gown, and may all be Schumans, and may have moved to Rushville prior to the birth of the last child.
The early photos from the mid 1880s were from Robinson in Astoria, and show three styles of print on the panels. The ones from Baird, successor to Robinson, show about five styles of print and border effects. The commercial art on the back of many Baird prints indicate the styles and appear to be from around the 1890s.
#25 Young man; Shoemaker and Richardson, no notes.
#16 Man; P. A. Newberg & Co., Galesburg, Ill., black card, gilt bevel edge, no notes.
#46 Young lady; F. J. Kesler’s, Beardstown, Ill., back imprint, no notes.
#52 Lady; Robinson R, Astoria, Ills., gilt deckle edge, no notes.
#29 Young lady; Baird, Astoria, Ill., green print, no notes.
#53 Father, Anna; Kaufmann, York, Pa., gilt deckle edge, aqua tint.
#38 Man; S. R. Murphy, Astoria, Ill., gray card, bevel edge, imprinted back, no notes
#20 Boy; Clark’s, Rushville, Ill., printed back, no notes.
Baird back
Baird 2 back
Baird 3 back
#14, Young man; Robinson, Astoria, Ills., R, naut. double exp., gilt deckle edge, no notes.
Copyright 1999, 2006 Judi Gilker; all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibited without prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appear with the information.
