CARTE de VISTE & CABINET CARD PHOTOGRAPHS

By Karen Utter Jennings

 These two types of photographs come from the Victorian era or from about mid 19^th century to early 20^th century and are easily recognizable.

The carte de viste (CdV) photographs are the size of calling cards, which measure 2 1/2 x 4 inches. Because of their size, a series of photographs could be produced on paper and then cut into eight individual cards. The size may vary, however, because commercial suppliers began mass-producing cards and the images had to be trimmed to fit the card size. Many were careless in their trimming, so you may run across some CdVs that are angled or otherwise varied.

People who went calling on their relatives or neighbors used the carte de vistes. Before leaving, they would leave their CdV.  They became popular in the 1860s and royalty, politicians, actors, and other famous individuals had their image made into these photographs and signed them. The Victorians prized carte de viste photographs and collected them.

These photographs were popular during the Civil War. President Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant had their photos taken this way. To accommodate people’s collections, albums were made to hold the prized cards. It would be fortunate indeed, for someone to have an album full of these beautiful Victorian treasures among their family photograph collection!  

To identify a carte de viste, first measure the size of the photograph. The paper print will be mounted on a commercially produced card. Look closely at the subject in the picture and notice their hairstyle and clothing. Carte de vistes were produced into the very early 1900s. These small prints may appear very faded and grainy.   

Cabinet cards replaced the carte de vistes. They can measure from small, 5 inches x 7 inches to larger ones, 5 inches x 10 inches. A customary cabinet card is a photo mounted onto thicker card stock. There is extra space around the photo and you will find the photographer’s studio imprint (if there is one) at the bottom. These are albumen images and will have a yellow-brown or purple-blue tone. But sometimes they may appear black and white. That is due to the process in which they were developed. The last cabinet cards were produced around 1925.

These photographs were named due to the Victorians displaying them in their parlors, especially in cabinets. The cabinet card was an admired type of photograph that displayed family groups. By this time, photographers began to use props or complex scenes in studios using ironwork chairs, gates and fences, fake trees and grass, or ornately constructed window and doorway sets.

To identify cabinet cards, note their measurements and observe the color of the paper image. Note if they have gilt and embossed decorative borders and an imprint giving the photographer’s name & the location of the studio. If the card stock is separating layers on the edges, they were probably made after 1870.

The Victorians treasured all things, especially their clothing and jewelry. Cabinet cards document their love of the elaborate. Children’s pictures may show them poised with their dolls and toys or bicycles and wagons. Look for women in fanciful hats and gorgeous gowns and men with pocket watches, mustaches and their dapper dressing. Such as Robert Calvin Utter "Dock" & his wife, Matilda Roll Utter, shown below: 

Notice there is no studio imprint at the bottom of this photo.

 In the photo above, the studio imprint is on hte side of this old photograph. Taken in Monett, Missouri, before the turn of the century. 

When Kodak introduced the Brownie Box Camera around 1900, cabinet card photographs declined in popularity.

While researching these two types of photographs, I found a lot of conflicting information. Writers, photographers, and collectors all disagree on definite dates the carte de viste and the cabinet card photographs were introduced and about how they were produced.

I love these types of photographs and in my collection, there are cabinet card photos of babies, children posed with their pets, men sitting beside their faithful dog, women in huge hats and family groups in various settings. But, not all of them have the photography studio imprint.