POTW: Cabinet Cards

[Portrait of Josie E. Burton with dog on prop balustrade], ca 1885, V1981.283.40; Burton family papers and photographs, ARC.217; Brooklyn Historical Society.

The photo of the week is a cabinet card of Josie E. Burton and dog (possibly her pet), taken sometime around 1885. Cabinet cards are photographic prints mounted on a commercially printed cardstock, usually displaying the photographer or studio name. In a previous post, I discussed cartes de visite, which are closely related to cabinet cards. Cabinet cards were developed sometime in the 1860s and were much larger in size at around 4.25 in x 6.5 in (compared to 2.125 in x 3.5 in).

The size difference changed how portraits were viewed. Rather than being placed in albums, these larger photographs had to be displayed in sitting room cabinets (hence the name). In addition, the size allowed for more detailed and elaborate portraits that included an increased use of  props, like the dog in this photograph. The size also increased demand for the new art form of photo retouching that involved manipulating the negative prior to printing to remove blemishes or other imperfections.

This cabinet card comes from the Burton family papers and photographs collections which contains 189 photographs, including cabinet cards, cartes de visite, tintypes, and prints with portraits of the Burton Family spanning from 1870 to 1949. The Burton family lived in what is now considered the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The family consisted of William W. Burton, his wife Virginia Baptista, and their five children: Percival, Virginia E., Minnie, Charles, and Sidney. Percival Burton later married Josie E. Newcombe. To see more photographs from this collection, check out this gallery.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org