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- Hair Style & Snood
- Woman's Dress
- Imprint on back
This carte de visite of a lovely lady reveals some of the challenges in dating photographs of the Civil War era. There is no tax stamp on it, so the picture is from before July 1864 or after July 1866. A tax was levied on all photographs during that two year period, and a tax stamp was affixed to the back.
The simple, hand-cut card is indicative of pre-Civil War photos, as the manufactured cards with borders were introduced in 1863.
Yet her hair style with the snood in the back, along with the thin white collar are typical of fashion that prevailed during and after the Civil War.
The quality and size of the image in the photograph also puts it post-Civil War. Head-only or bust photos tended to be much smaller in the early 1860s.
These are just some of the various clues, sometimes conflicting, that you have to take into account.
So with no other input, we would say the photo was taken in early 1864 or late 1866 or 1867.
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Confirmed Date: 1866
A Built-in Answer
However, we are very fortunate that this photograph came with a date. And the manner the date is revealed is quite unusual for this era.
The photographer's imprint on the back is quite small (indicative of early 1860s), yet includes his name, address, and city.
However, we get a bonus with the carte - it includes the date of 1866 on the back. This is very unusual at this time.
Without the date stamp, we would have to go with the possibility of before or after the Civil War. But with the stamp, it confirms the lady's style. One possibility for the 'out of date' looking card is that many photographers were not making a lot of money. Instead of buying pre-manufactured cards, the photographer cut his own out of larger sheets. And the back imprint is probably just a stamp, not printed, which would have been more expensive.
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