Historical Indulgences

ca. 1880, [tintype portrait of eight women displaying their hair]

via the International Center of Photography

ca. 1860’s, [trick carte de visite portrait of a figure with a gentleman’s head superimposed onto a woman’s body], E.A. Scholfield

via Connecticut History Online, Mystic Seaport, Scholfield Collection

ca. 1870’s, [double exposure, tintype portrait of a woman accompanied by a spirit]

via Luminous Lint, from the Andrew Daneman Collection of American Tintypes

ca. 1880, [cabinet card portrait of Ann Howard, the “Tattooed Lady”], G.F. Sterling

via Syracuse University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Ronald G. Becker Collection of Charles Eisenmann Photographs

ca. 1850’s, [daguerreotype portrait of a pregnant women in a fine dress and curls]

via Be-Hold, Fine Photographs

ca. 1880-1900’s, [tintype portrait of a one-armed woman]

via Jeffery Kraus Antique Photographics, Tintype Collection

ca. 1850’s, [daguerreotype occupational portrait of a telegraph operator]

“When Samuel Morse used an electrical telegraph to send the message “What Hath God Wrought” in May, 1844 from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland, he transformed communication in the United States. By the end of the Civil War, the telegraph had become the means by which information was transmitted long, as well as short distances.”

via Cowan’s Auctions

ca. 1860-90’s, [carte de visite collage portrait of “half a woman” on a table]

via Luminous Lint, from the private collection of Laddy Kite, LL/47896

ca. 1880’s, [cabinet card, portrait of a tattoed lady, Nora Hildebrandt, wearing an elaborate dress], Charles Eisenmann

via Syracuse University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Ronald G. Becker Collection of Charles Eisenmann Photographs

ca. 1860’s, [ambrotype portrait of a woman riding side-saddle on her horse]

via Capitol Gallery, 19th Century Hard Images

ca. 1870-1900’s, [tintype portrait of two cloaked ladies smiling demurely from behind a palm fan]

via Cowan’s Auctions

ca. 1870-1900’s, [unusual carte de visite advertising portrait of girl with spoons and bells hanging from her dress, small urns perched on her shoulders, a pedestal with statue and clock seated on her head, etc. A banner by her side reads “Durfee” or Durpee”],  J. White & Co.

via Jeffrey Kraus, Antique Photographics

ca. 1870, [carte de visite portrait of a tattooed lady looking into a mirror]

via Syracuse University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Ronald G. Becker Collection of Charles Eisenmann Photographs

ca. 1870-90’s, [carte de visite portrait of a woman, possible a contortionist, in an elevated box]

via Ebay

ca. 1880-90’s, [tintype portrait of two women adorned with stringed popcorn and possibly peanuts]

via Ebay