Children’s portraits of this time period also intrigue me, as during the Civil War era they were dressed as miniature adults. This CDV of a beautiful young girl was taken in 1863. Notice the young girl's off-the-shoulder gown
I'm a collector. An incurable collector. I collect many antique items from scales to Coffee Mills to snuff boxes. But my favourite collection is my collection of Civil War era photo albums and over 3,000 CDV (Carte de Visite) photographs.
1855 saw the introduction of the Ferrotype process (commonly called tintypes) in the United States. It substituted an iron plate for glass and was even cheaper than the ambrotype.
Then came the CDV. CDV stands for carte de visite, meaning a photographic calling card. The CDV process began in France in 1854 and rapidly replaced the old glass images of the ambrotypes, producing a card which was the size of a standard calling card, around 2.5 x 4.
CDVs arrived in the United States around 1859, on the eve of the Civil War (1861-1865). Demand for CDVs was high, as soldiers and their loved ones sought an affordable image of remembrance. Special photo albums were designed for cartes-de-visite. These are what I collect.
I began collecting these beautiful photo albums of CDVs and tintypes about 5 years ago. My interest was in identified portraits, and whenever I bought an album of labelled CDVs I would spend time researching the family. Gradually my interest became more specialized and I sought out individual CDVs, especially those portraying women during the Civil War era. I rarely purchase a CDV that is not identified as to subject, unless it is an unusual or rare image.I am fascinated by the customs and traditions that women followed during this time period. Their clothing, their hairstyle, jewellry and even their poses reflect the social nuances of the times.
There are few casual photographs, people were most often posed formally for their photos. Often women hold an actual CDV Civil War album, or a book. But rarely is it a personal item with meaning to the individual. If I find one that is something personal, it's a treasure!
You can see some examples of Civil War era fashions in CDVs.
Men's fashions are much harder to date, and it is important to remember that older women often wore fashions or hairstyles that were in style in their youth. Older women frequently are seen wearing bonnets which may be quite out of style for the time period. It's best to use more than one clue when attempting to date an old CDV. Look at the hairstyle, the jewellry, clothing, photographer's backdrop, photographer logo on reverse of CDV, photographer name, edges of CDV (square vs round), type of backing (thin vs thick) and whether or not there is a Revenue Stamp on the reverse.
One of my finds is a CDV of a young child with his rocking horse. It is rare to find portraits of children with their toys or familiar objects, for they were expected to behave as adults and stand or sit very still during their sitting for the photographer.
Children’s portraits of this time period also intrigue me, as during the Civil War era they were dressed as miniature adults. This CDV of a beautiful young girl was taken in 1863. Notice the young girl's off-the-shoulder gown
Collectors of cartes-de-visite often have one or more prized Civil War photographs that have revenue stamps fixed on the reverse side. An Act of Congress passed on June 30, 1864 added a new tax on all "photographs, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes or any other sun-pictures" to be paid for by attaching a revenue stamp on the back of the photograph. Because these stamps were only required on photographs from 1864 to 1866, their presence (or absence) gives us the approximate dates of photographs of the Civil War era. Often the photographer dated the revenue stamp which gives us an exact date the photograph was taken. This CDV of two widows holding Photo Albums has a hand cancelled Revenue Stamp on the reverse.
I always check the back (verso) of a CDV because the photographer’s mark can provide great clues to its age. First, when was the photographer in business? Look for the photographer's printed address on the back of the card, then research the known dates of his studios.
Second, check the logo itself. In general an 1860s verso has a simple logo and writing, similar to an ink stamp. From 1865-1868 logos changed to a design in the middle. Sometimes ribbons, scrolls and other decorations can be seen. Usually there is a “Copies can be had” statement
Next I carefully remove each CDV. This requires a steady hand and great patience. You must find tools which work for you and which will not harm either the album pages or the CDVs. It is a laborious task but cannot be rushed. As I remove each CDV, I assign it a number-letter combination and record its details from both front and back (verso).
Each album is labelled in pencil in the back inside cover with its letter combination I have given it. I also number the album for a binder I keep with a paper record of each album, its number, its letter combination designation and a list of all the photos from it. After carefully removing all the CDVs and other images from the album, I either display it in my collections cabinets, or I put it in storage for the possible day when I might reunite the original photos and the album again. For example some museums have expressed interest in specific albums in my collection. Those will have their CDVs placed back in the album in the original slots, and then it will be donated to the museum at some time in the future.
Once all the CDVs have been removed and catalogued, I begin scanning them. I scan both front and back at 300 dpi. After the technical work (removal of CDVs, assigning numbers, recording details, scanning) is complete, I get down to the fun stuff – dating each image as best I can using the clues found in the CDV itself. This can take hours or days for each image.
I then store each image in acid-free plastic sleeves and with a special pen, I mark on the sleeve the letter-number combination I have given the image. This allows me to find all images that belong to a specific album at any time in the future.
I also note the estimated date I believe the photograph was taken. This allows me to sort the CDVs into any type of grouping I choose – by date, by subject (men vs women vs children vs soldiers, etc), by type of pose (standing, sitting, head and shoulders), by photographer – the choice is mine. I usually sort into men vs women vs children vs families vs couples vs soldiers, then by type of pose (standing, sitting, head and shoulders), then chronologically.
When I first decided I needed to organize my collection of over 3,000 CDVs, I used special archival binders with acid free sheets, each sheet holding 9 CDVs. This did not work well as it meant I could not label the outside of each CDV pouch in case I might later wish to rearrange the order of I found another CDV that needed to be inserted in the middle. For me, individual acid free see-through sleeves work best for sorting as I can label them and rearrange the order easily.
I spend hours poring over these beautiful memories of times past. Best of all I know that I’ve preserved the photos for future generations of descendants.