Three Clues To Identify Civil War CDVs

In my last blog post, "Victorian Women and the Revenue Stamp," I discussed narrowing down the time frame of a carte-de-visite (CDV) photograph that has a revenue stamp on the back to between June 30, 1864, and August 1866. The revenue stamp clue is easy to spot and was a natural place to start.

The next clues will help you decide if your CDVs were [probably] created during the Civil War years, although there will always be exceptions. By the way, my main reference for much of this information is the book Cartes de Visite in Nineteenth Century Photography, by William C. Darrah (Gettysburgh, Penn.: W. C. Darrah, 1981).

Card Stock
The quickest way to separate early CDVs from late CDVs is to feel the thickness of the card stock. A very thin white card, called bristol board, was used from 1860 to 1866, although some photographers were using up stock after that. Card stocks gradually increased in thickness over the years up until 1885 as new products were regularly released. So if your CDV is very bendable and the cardboard is very thin, it is likely from the early CDV era. The first card stock was plain, but borders were quickly added, such as in the image below. One line and two lines were common and appeared in red, blue, green, purple, or black.

Photo above by Mrs. E. H. Gillett, Artist, of Leroy, New York. According to Yale University Library, Mrs. Eliza Blood H. Gillett was active as a photographer from 1853 to 1866 in Leroy, New York.

Mrs. E. H. Gillett is listed as a Photographer in the 1864 IRS Tax Assessment List. She's listed again in 1866. U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918, online at Ancestry.com.

Portrait Size

The next clue to look at is the size of the subject's head in the image. If you take a look at the example above, you'll notice the woman's head is very small in relation to the size of the entire CDV. This was because of the quality of the lenses available in the early 1860s. The rule of thumb is if the image is smaller than about 3/4" by 3/4", than you can date the CDV to between 1860 and 1864. Images that are between 3/4"-1 1/4" x 1 - 1 1/2" can be dated to between 1860 and 1867, according to William Darrah's book. On page 194 of his book, he's got a recapitulation that helps to narrow down dates for CDVs through the last half of the 19th century.

Image by Miss Gillett, Artist, Saline, Michigan. She was Lucretia A. Gillett, sister of G.C. Gillett, also a photographer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There's a writeup on Lucretia Gillett at Saline Area Historical Photos, where they stated that Lucretia's relative, Mr. G.C. Gillett, perhaps her grandfather, was also a photographer. The problem with that idea is that in the 1860 census, G.C.Gillett is 3 years younger that Lucretia, so he is more likely her younger brother (see census below).

1860 U.S. Federal Census for Saline, Washtenaw County, Michigan, listing head of family G. B. Gillett, with family members Mary, L. A., and G. C. The latter two are listed as Daguerrean Artists.

Photographers Imprints

The last clue that will help you clearly place a CDV in the Civil War time period is the photographer's imprint. There are actually a variety of choices that photographers used during the 1860s, and Darrah lists them in his book. But for the sake of this blog, the simpler the imprint, the better chance there is that the image was taken during the Civil War years. Imprints could have been single lines, two or three lines; they could have indicated that they preserved negatives or made duplicates, and they could have included a vignette with an eagle, shield or Liberty.

William Darrah states that when the photographer includes "Negative Preserved" on the back, the image can be dated between 1861 and 1866. According to the University Chronicle of March 2, 1867, Gillett was succeeded in business by Revenaugh & Co.

You may have noticed that the three examples I used in this blog are all Gilletts. Mrs. E. H., or Eliza H. Gillett, of LeRoy, New York, may have been the wife of G. C. Gillett of Ann Arbor and Saline, Michigan, the brother of Lucretia A. Gillett of Saline, Michigan. Yale University Library says that Eliza was known also as Mrs. G. C. or George Cooper Gillett and was active in LeRoy from 1853 to 1866. 

Three Clues Narrow the Time Frame

I have tried to give you tools in this blog post so that you can date your CDVs that you might have based on the card stock, the portrait size, and the photographer's imprint. These three characteristics, and the presence or lack of a revenue stamp, should help you narrow down whether or not your CDV is from the Civil War era. For Civil War reenactors trying to ensure their clothing and jewelry are period correct, studying real Civil War images is very useful. Being able to tell if an image is from the correct time period can be very beneficial for your research efforts.

Victorian Women and the Revenue Stamp

One way to try to learn about the fashions of a specific time period is to study the images that are available for that era. For the four years of the American Civil War, several types of early photographic processes were available at photographic studios. A description of the specific processes is beyond the scope of this blog, but you can read about Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and albumen prints (the process usually used with CDVs or cartes-de-visites) at The American Museum of Photography's Primer on Processes.

I have a collection of CDVs of women that I have been studying to see if I can learn anything about the jewelry that the women are wearing. CDVs were first introduced in New York in 1859 and were incredibly popular during the Civil War, most likely because of their portability. They were still popular into the 1880s, so dating CDVs can be tricky unless you pay attention to clues within the photograph and on the card the photograph is placed on (front and back).

In this blog post I'll give a couple of examples that will show you how to specifically identify CDVs that were created between June 30, 1864, and August 1, 1866. Yes, that sounds pretty darn specific and there's a reason for that. During session one of the 38th Congress, an act was passed on June 30, 1864, "to provide Internal Revenue to support the government, to pay Interest on the Public Debt, and for other Purposes." This act required that photographers charged a luxury tax on "photographs, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, or any sun pictures" that varied depending on the cost of the image. To prove that the studio had collected the tax, a revenue stamp was affixed to the back of the image. The stamps were in denominations of two, three, and five cents and could have been imprinted with "Bank Check," "Internal Revenue," "Telegraph," or "Playing Cards."

Always be sure to look at both sides of CDVs very carefully. In this case, there is a 2 cent revenue stamp on the back (below). It is also helpful to note the name of the photographer, as that may help you further narrow down the date and location, if no other information is available.

According to Yale University Library, Mrs. B. H. Russell was active in Moodus, Connecticut, between 1860 and 1869. Sometimes it's possible to find more information about photographers and their studios, such as advertisements in newspapers or city directories. I wasn't able to find anything else about this couple with a quick search.

Here's one more example. The woman in the photo above is in mourning. The photo can be narrowed down to between June 30, 1864, and August 1, 1866, because the revenue stamp is on the back of the CDV. The image was take by S. L. Dellinger of Marietta, Pennsylvania.

From the March 16, 1861, Weekly Mariettian, online at Pennsylvania State University

The above ad was found online showing that the photographer S. L. Dellinger was practicing his photography--as well as other business pursuits found in other ads--as early as 1861 in Marietta, Pennsylvania.

This discussion was intended to show you how to narrow down the date of a CDV, if you are lucky enough to have one with a revenue stamp on it. Please don't ignore the backs of photographs! Not only are the revenue stamps informative, but the photographers may be the answer to your quest as well. Sometimes you are able to find the name of the photographer who took over for another photographer, perhaps indicating that the first photographer either died or moved away. University archive finding aids frequently help pinpoint this type of information, as mentioned in this blog post. Be creative in your Google searches to find what you are looking for.

If you don't have a revenue stamp, don't give up! I'll give some more clues to help you pinpoint dates in a future blog post. Meantime, be sure to visit my Pinterest board with the images of Victorian women and the backs of the photos, with my comments. Stay tuned...

They Didn't Make Jewelry Like That In the 19th Century...

As a Civil War reenactor and historian, it is always a challenge to ensure that my clothing and jewelry are as historically accurate as possible, within the confines of 21st-century reproduction capabilities and 21st-century historical prejudices.

As a 21st-century jewelry designer, I am free to use a large variety of materials and techniques to create interesting pieces that challenge my creativity. When I design pieces for use by reenactors of 19th-century events, it becomes very important to research and discover the common materials and jewelry findings that were invented or in use during those time periods. In this blog, I'm going to be discussing tips and hints for those looking to purchase either antiques or period-correct reproductions to wear with a living history outfit. Since my discussion will span a couple centuries from time to time, depending on the topic, some of the information may be of use to reenactors of periods other than Civil War.

As much as I research and study pictures, I'm always learning and discovering new facts that shatter previous beliefs about particular jewelry findings or types. For instance, just last week I discovered that lobster claw clasps weren't used until the 1970s; for some reason I had assumed that they were used in the 19th century. Therefore, I need to go back and change the clasps on my necklaces because many of them have lobster clasps on them. 

Lobster clasps

So what was used instead? Hooks or box clasps were the popular choices throughout the 19th century. There were many variations on this simple theme:

Box clasps

I hope that you will enjoy my blog and that you will visit my Etsy shop Jewels Victoriana from time to time to see my new offerings and examples of Victorian jewelry that I will be talking about here. And if there's something you'd like me to write about, please let me know.

By the way, the idea for this blog was prompted from frustration I experienced this past weekend at a living history show where I saw a variety of bad jewelry being sold to unsuspecting people. The period covered for the show was supposed to end in 1890, but the cameos that were being sold were blatently representing women from the twentieth century. So, I am hoping to provide an education to those interested in learning about the history of jewelry.

Cheers--Liz Kelley Kerstens