HANDSOME BEARDED MAN IN SUSQUEHANNA, PENNSYLVANIA (CARTES DE VISITE)

A well dressed handsome middle aged man poses for his cartes de visite (cdv) portrait at the Harding Studio in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. The gentleman has an interesting beard. His handsome face is visible because he lacks a mustache. The photographer of this image is Addison Delavan Harding (1847-1908). At one point in time, his studio was located at 42 Main Street in Susquehanna. His obituary appears in the magazine “Snap Shots” (1908). The article reports that he worked over 40 years as a photographer. He was born in Binghamton, New York. He learned the business of photography while in the employ of a photographer in Towanda, Pennsylvania. Harding opened a studio there in 1865. He married Fannie V. Harding (Shipman) (1847-1945) in 1867. He moved his business to Susquehanna in 1873. After Hardings death, his son (D S Harding) took over the business and operated it until 1942. Fanny lived to the age of 98 years-old. Addison and Fannie Harding are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, Pennsylvania.

PORTRAIT OF AN OLDER GENTLEMAN IN PORTAGE, WISCONSIN

This cabinet card portrait features an older gentleman with grey hair and a long wiry hair. His mouth is camouflaged by his bushy beard and mustache. Watching him eat must not have been very pleasant. The man is dressed formally and has intense piercing eyes. Sherman L. Plumb’s studio in Portage, Wisconsin produced this photograph. Plumb was born in 1841 in Connecticut. By 1863 he was working as a fireman in Portage. The 1870 and 1880 US census lists his occupation as photographer. In 1872 Plumb married Alice Stanton (1852-?). Plumb was not a man who was consistent occupationally. The 1900 census found him working as a dairy farmer while the 1910 census listed him as running a grocery store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A 1912 directory reported that Alice was a widow.  SOLD

 

 

A GENTLEMAN WITH A WONDERFUL BEARD AND A WONDERFUL EXPRESSION IN STUTTGART, GERMANY (CDV)

The young man in this carte de visite portrait is displaying a fantastic expression He has a devilish glint in his eyes. This fun loving gentleman is well dressed and sports a terrific beard. The photographer of this cdv was Erwin Hanfstaengl (1838-1905) who operated a photography studio in Stuttgart, Germany. He was married to Marie Schroder Hanfstaengl (1848-1917) who was a noted German operatic soprano and singing teacher. Erwin was a member of the distinguished Stuttgart photography and art publishing family headed by Franz Hanfstaengl. There is an inscription on the reverse of the photo (see image below) which probably identifies the young man. Unfortunately, I am unable to translate the writing and am hopeful a Cabinet Card Gallery visitor will leave a comment that includes the translation.   (SOLD)

A GENTLEMAN WITH AN INTERESTING BEARD IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

This cabinet card portrait features a well dressed handsome gentleman with a stylish mustache and beard. Men were more creative with their facial hairstyles during the cabinet card era compared to today. This gentleman’s mustache is incredibly thick and he is wearing his beard in a fashion that might be called “the billy goat” look. To view other interesting beards, click on the category “Beards (Only the Best). This photograph was taken by the Hamilton studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Hamilton studio was located in Grand Rapids between 1886 and 1911. The studio was run by Daniel H. Hamilton (1836-1891) and his wife, Emma J. Hamilton (1852-1918). Daniel Hamilton was born in New York while his wife was born in Iowa. Their studio was at times single proprietor and at times run by a partnership. Daniel ran the studio between 1886 and 1896. Emma ran the studio between 1897 and 1907 and then again between 1909 and 1910. There were two partnerships in the studio’s history; Hamilton & Vancampen (1908) and Hamilton & Reingholtz (1911). Emma is listed in the 1900 US census as living in Grand Rapids with a housekeeper and a servant. Both Daniel and Emma are buried in Oakhill Cemetery in Grand Rapids.

A MAN WITH AN INTERESTING LONG DARK BEARD

This cabinet card portrait features a man with a long wiry dark beard. His beard and thick mustache completely hide his mouth. This is an interesting style of beard. Most of his face and jaw line are clean shaven and his whiskers appear to be confined to his chin and upper lip. The photographer’s last name (Farley) appears on the reverse of the cabinet card but his location is not mentioned. The identity of this photographer is most likely W. H. Farley. He operated photo studios in a number of small towns in Illinois.

PORTRAIT OF AN OLDER MAN WITH BRIGHT EYES AND A LONG WHITE BEARD (PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA)

This cabinet card portrait features a well dressed handsome older gentleman with a wonderful long white beard. The man has striking eyes. They are bright and soft and he projects a certain sweetness and friendliness.  This photograph was produced by the Dabbs gallery in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Benjamin Lomax Horsley Dabbs was born in London in 1839. He immigrated into the United States while still in his childhood. His father was a pioneer in the American photographic supply trade. Dabbs learned the photography field from his father, George Dabbs. Benjamin came to Pittsburgh in 1861 and opened a business selling photography supplies. That same year he also bought a gallery from a Mr. Rorah. He grew the business dramatically and in 1869 he sold his supply business to concentrate on being a photographer. During his tenure as a photographer in Pennsylvania, he was considered by many to be the best photographer in the state. In 1868 Dabbs married Sadie Dickson and the couple ultimately had nine children. Dabbs was a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Dabbs drew some attention for his stance on free resittings for customers who were not satisfied with the portraits taken by his studio. Unlike many other photographers, he refused free resittings because “the public do not value what they can get for nothing”. In his later years, Dabbs was debilitated by rheumatism and other illness. He died at age sixty in 1899. His celebrated portrait of Andrew Carnegie can be viewed today at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art.

AN OLD MAN AND HIS WISPY BEARD IN TIFFIN, OHIO

An old man with a long pointy wispy beard poses for his portrait at the studio of W. D. Miller in Tiffin, Ohio. The elderly gentleman has a knowing but far away look in his very expressive eyes. He is well dressed for his day at the photography studio. William D. Miller operated a photography business in Tiffin from 1881 through 1887 and then again from 1897 through 1908.

A BEARDED GENTLEMAN IN GREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

This cabinet card portrait features a bearded gentleman posing at the Dunklee and Bau studio in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The man has a long wiry beard and an intense expression. Advertising on the reverse of the cabinet card states that the Dunklee & Bau studio had won medals at a 1890 Greenfield exhibition. Charles Dunklee was born in Rockingham, Vermont in 1842. He served four years in Company I of the 4th Vermont Infantry during the civil war. He entered as a private and was mustered out as a private. He was the Vice President of his regiments veteran group according to an 1887 news article. In 1865 he married May C. Billings and they were married 54 years until her death. Dunklee’s 90th birthday was marked in the Lewiston Daily Sun (1932). The article notes that he had photographic studios in Greenfield and Northfield, Mass. as well as Brattleboro, Vermont. This cabinet card was produced by Dunklee while in partnership with Charles Bau. The Bulletin of Photography (1914) notes that Bau had sold his studio in Brattleboro, Vermont in order to return to Greenfield to open a new photographic gallery. The article points out that Bau had left Greenfield just twelve years before. The aforementioned history tells us that this photograph was taken after 1890 and before 1902.

MOUTHLESS MAN IN ITHACA, NEW YORK

The Cabinet Card Gallery has discovered another mouthless man. This gentleman posed for his portrait at the McGillivray studio in Ithaca, New York. The studio was located at 28 & 30 East State Street. Those that know Ithaca winters can imagine this gentleman trudging through mounds of snow in frigid temperature with a frozen beard and mustache. To view other interesting beards an mustaches, click on the category “Beards (Only the Best)”. Research found some information about the photographer of this image. Ellsworth McGillivray was born in Caroline, NY in 1862. He attended the Ithaca school system and after he left school he became a painter. In 1881 he began his career as a photographer. He worked for photographer George Stanley for two years and then was employed by E. D. Evans for six years. He then worked in Cortland, NY for one year before returning to Ithaca in 1890 and buying the Forest City Art Gallery. McGillivray was married to Jessie L Shaw of Albion, NY.

STOIC MAN WITH WISPY BEARD IN AUSTIN, MINNESOTA

This cabinet card portrait features a stoic looking man with haunting eyes and a wispy beard. He is well dressed and well groomed. The photographer of this photograph is Orville Slocum whose studio was in Austin, Minnesota. J. E. and Orville Slocum were both photographers in Austin. Presumably they were brothers. Research discovered little about J. E. but information was found about Orville.  Orville Slocum was born in Herkimer County, New York in 1843. He worked as a photographer in Minnesota in the 1870’s, 1880’s, and 1890’s. He apprenticed with H. S. Coon. Before entering the photography business he fought in the Civil War as a private with the 1st Minnesota Cavalry (Company M). It appears that he married the boss’s daughter. His first wife was Barbara Coon who he married in 1865. That marriage ended in divorce and he then married Mary Hayden in 1891. Orville Slocum died in 1910 and is buried in the Iowa Veterans Home Cemetery in Marshalltown, Cemetery.