CDV Photographs: Pets in the 19th Century

In some of the more rare carte de visite photographs, owners posed with their pets. These are a few CDV & cabinet cards with animals that I've collected. 
 CDV photo circa 1870-1880. Posing with their pet pony/horse. 
CDV Photo circa 1870. Posing with her little dog. 
CDV Photo circa 1880. Mummy & Fluffy is written on the back,
the other writing is hard to make out.

CDV Photo circa 1880. A photo anomaly: the dog moved in her lap as the photo was taken
and his head appears to be missing!
Cabinet Card. Photo circa 1870-1880. Posing with her dog. 
If you were ever curious of the size difference between a Cabinet Card and a Carte de Visite, you can see here how much larger the Cabinet Card is next to the CDV. 
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CDV Photograph: Pince Nez Glasses 1870-1880

While looking for CDV (carte de visite) photographs, I noticed all the wacky antique glasses people used to wear. I made it my mission to try and obtain one for my CDV album and my patience paid off recently when I was able to get this photograph.

The photo is circa 1870-1880, and the studious girl from Massachusetts is wearing a pair Pince Nez glasses. There would have been a chain and a clip to secure to her dress and the glasses stayed on by pinching the bridge of her nose. While they definitely don't look very stylish today, I'm sure they were popular back in the day.


Here's an example of antique Pince Nez Glasses from Pinterest:

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Post Mortem CDV: Nevada G Estes & Baby John 1880

I'm still collecting carte de visite photographs, otherwise known as CDVs. There's certain subjects I've especially been trying to collect, including a post mortem.

Post-Mortem photography
was very common back in the 19th century and while it may seem distasteful or creepy to us nowadays, it was quite normal in the 1800's. Photography was rare and often expensive. Back then the only photograph you owned would most likely have been your wedding portrait; s
o often, a post mortem was the only photograph of a loved one that a family may have had to remember them by, if they passed away.  

I was intrigued by this particular photograph because of the name scrawled on the back:



I did some digging on Ancestry.com and discovered Nevada G Estes (born 1851), was married to John W Estes. In the 1880 Missouri census, they had a little baby, John Estes who was 7 1/2 months old at the time and is listed as being born October 1879. 



Unfortunately there were no records for the 1890 census, as the records were destroyed in a fire. 

The next census that showed Nevada and her husband was in 1900. (Their surname was misspelled on the census, which is quite common when you start looking into census records). Little John Estes is no longer listed in the household. Instead James H Estes, who was born in 1886 is listed as their living son. James, passed away in 1929.


From looking at other records, it appears Nevada had 7 children over her lifetime
, but only 3 lived. Only James Henry is listed on findagrave.com, but I was finally able to link little baby John Estes to his mother's memorial page. His grave is unknown.

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Finding out Linthicum Maryland is named after my ancestors.

My 6 month Ancestry membership expired today (and no, this isn't an advertisement post). I've spent the past year researching my family tree and genealogy more deeply. I've found a lot of interesting facts about my ancestors, took the Ancestry DNA test, and even found some skeletons in the closet! The earliest ancestors I've been able to trace, actually have a community named after them: Linthicum, Maryland! 

Linthicum
was my late Nana's maiden name. Her father Dabney Linthicum was descended from a line that goes all the way back to 1658, when Thomas Linthicum Sr. arrived in America and settled in Maryland, Anne Arundel County. He passed away in 1701. Through his son Thomas Jr. our line descended: 

  • Thomas Linthicum Jr. 
  • Edmund Linthicum Sr.
  • Edmund Linthicum Jr. 
  • John T Linthicum
  • William H Linthicum
  • George W. Linthicum (My Great Great Grandfather)
  • Dabney O Linthicum (My Great Grandfather)
  • Dabney's Daughter: Dorothy V. Linthicum, (My late Grandmother)
(My public ancestry family tree can be found here).

Neat Facts:

  • John T Linthicum married Francis Dabney in 1816. Her maiden name later became my Great Grandfathers first name.
  • Hill C Linthicum the brother of my great great grandfather George Linthicum, was a famous Architect in Virginia and North Carolina.
  • There's a genealogy book: Geneology of the Linthicum and Allied Families that was published about the Linthicum Family in 1936, written by Matilda P Badger.
  • Our family is distantly related to Johns Hopkins, Philanthropist. We share the same early ancestor Thomas Linthicum Sr. Only his line was through Thomas's daughter Mary. Our line is through her brother Thomas Jr. (Page 83 in the Linthicum Genealogy book).
My Great Grandfather: Dabney O Linthicum & Great Grandmother: Nellie Capper.
My Nana Dorothy V Linthicum as a teenager, with her Mother Nellie.
The earliest record I've found of Thomas Linthicum Sr, a document stating Edward Selby transported Thomas here on a ship to Maryland from England in 1658. I'm not sure if Thomas was indentured to Edward. (The Linthicum surname was also spelled Lincicomb, Linscombe, etc; in old records).

The burial record of Thomas Linthicum Sr in 1701.
My Grandmother Dorothy V Scaife (d.2014
& my Grandfather William.

Pictures of me with my Grandmother 
& Grandfather over the years.

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1864-1866 CDV: Civil War Photograph Tax

I've been wanting to add a civil war revenue stamped carte de visite to my collection, and this photograph kept speaking to me. I just love the unique pattern on her dress sleeves.

In 1864, Congress enacted a revenue tax on photographs to raise money for the civil war. Any photographs from that brief period (1864-1866) will usually have a revenue stamp on the back of the photograph, sometimes canceled with a handwritten date or a scribble in ink. 


Her hair is styled with a snood, which was in fashion at the time. It's very similar to a hair net.

I'm not sure what is written on the back of this CDV, if you have any ideas, please leave them below in the comments. It's most likely a name. I sort of see 'Paris', so that's what I've decided to call the girl in the photograph. Unfortunately someone put tape on the photograph at some point in it's 150+ year history.


The pattern on her sleeves intrigues me the most. The cross hatch, slash, almost hash tag pattern. I've seen similar styles on other civil war dresses. My friend Maryann thinks this sort of design was probably only worn by union states, which makes sense, as the photograph was taken in New York. 
Similar examples:
Source: Pinterest
Source @civilwarmonitor
If any civil war buffs out there know if this design means anything in particular I would love to hear from you.

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Sid, Sall, & Salt Water Taffy- 1914 postcard (Atlantic City NJ)

Atlantic City, New Jersey. The beach, the shore. In 1914, a little girl named, Sid (possibly Sidney) wrote this postcard to her friend Sally in Minneapolis.

The wicker rolling chair that she is posing in, is still a popular boardwalk pastime in Atlantic City to this day, and real photo postcards made a popular souvenir in the early Twentieth century. We can only guess who is pictured with Sidney. Her Mother?, Aunt?, Sister?, or the Betty mentioned in the postcard? With no last name it's almost impossible to trace them.

April 1914: Dear Sall, I got a box of salt water taffy and a Campbell kid like yours, only with a blue dress and Betty and I had a Easter hunt. I'm going to get some grape juice now. Lots of love, Sid.

The Campbell Kid mentioned in the postcard is of course, a Campbell Soup Kid! Campbells was founded in New Jersey back in 1869. Their Campbell Kid advertisements became incredibly popular in the early 1900's, & all sorts of merchandise, (including dolls) were sold.

I also love the mention of salt water taffy! Growing up in Philadelphia, my family always went down the shore every summer. (We frequented Ocean City, NJ). I always loved stopping at Shrivers and buying a box of their amazing salt water taffy, (or pistachio fudge!) You can even order it online. My husband and I ordered a box for Valentine's Day this year. 

To see more posts like this check out my HistoricalSeries category. 

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Little Miss Priss- 1860's CDV (Ottawa Illinois)

Even in early photography, there were times children didn't want to cooperate, as this little girls face reveals. She looks to be on the verge of a tantrum. It could sometimes take up to a minute for the exposure to take, so it was probably hard for her to hold her pose. I love her expression, it's priceless! It's rare to find such an expressive photograph from the early 19th century. I nicknamed her 'Little Miss Priss'. She looks to be around three to four years old. This carte de visite photograph is circa 1860-1870. It was taken in Ottawa, Illinois. 
I just had to make her into a meme, lol! ;) Feel free to share! 
I recently acquired this antique CDV photo album. The front cover is inscribed 1865. 

To see more posts like this check out my HistoricalSeries category. 
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