Several clues help place this informative cabinet card in the early 1880s.
- Card with gilt borders
- Men's clothing
- Blurry subjects in photo
- Back imprint
This well-worn cabinet card from the early 1880s is in poor condition, yet it offers a variety of clues as to when it was taken. Of course all your photos will not be in perfect condition either, but they are still valuable treasures and can provide much information.
Card Borders
Throughout photographic card production, different styles of borders were printed, usually just for artistic purposes. Printing to the very edge of the card with a wide gilt border was popular from the mid-1870s to the mid-1880s. This treatment can be found on many cartes de visite also.
Men's Clothing
The one item that stands out most is the way the men buttoned their coats. While it may look odd today, the style throughout the 1880s was to fasten just the top button. The classic bowler hats are fun, but they were popular even in the 1870s to the 1890s.
Blurry Subjects
The fact that some subjects are blurry may seem to be an odd way of dating a photo, but it works well in this particular case. First, we will offer some photography background. Since this photo was taken in Boston, the photographer probably would have knowledge and access to the most current technology. In about 1885, new photographic chemicals and paper became available that allowed the photographer to shoot very fast photographs (for the time). That is, the exposure time was equivalent to some modern day exposures you take with your current camera - about 1/60th of a second. This is fast enough that it will freeze slight movements, though usually not movement such as a person running.
This technology was frequently labeled the "Instantaneous Process", and this notation can be found on the backs of many cabinet cards. Putting this on your card showed you had the latest technology possible. It also helped tremendously in photographing children, who tend to fidget.
In this case, it appears the newer, fast technology was not available or not used. The blurry boy in the foreground illustrates this as he probably moved during the exposure. So, we believe this was taken before 1885.
Back Imprint
The back imprint is reminiscent of the 1870s and early 1880s styles. It only takes up about 1/4 of the available area, and uses an old gothic type style that fell out of popularity in the late 1880s. Around the mid-1880s, the back artwork became very intricate and many times filled the whole card.