Figure 1.--This is an early American tintype. It is not dated, but looks to us like the late-1850s or early-60s. Both the clothesand pose are a good indicator of the 1850s. He has a small collar and what looks like a narrow patterned stock. Notice his dark jacket and checked pants. The vest is hard to see, but seems to match his jacket. Mother does not seem to have combed his hair.

Tintypes commonly called ferrotypes in Europe was a common photographic format for decades. We also see ferrotype used in America, but tintype seems more common. The tintype involves a wet-plate process. This means that the photographic emulsion is contained in a liquid collodion. The wet-plate process was invented in Britain by Frederick Scott Archer, a silversmith's apprentice who became a sculptor. He used calotype photographs to capture his subjects, but was disatisfied with the results. He developed the tintype process (1848) and published details (1851). This was the first low-cost process and thus helped to make portraits availble to the general public. He subsequently worked on Ambrotypes with Peter Fry. James Ambrose Cutting introduced the Ambrotype to the United States (1854). It is from Cutting's middle name that the term Ambrotype was derived. This was quickly followed by the tin-type. Actually Frenchman Adolphe Alexander Martin seems to have first developed the tintype (1852). It was at first called the Melainotype process. "Melaino" means dark or black. This term was used because the iron plate was first painted with a black Japan varnish before being coated with collodian. Profesor Hamilton L. Smith, a chemistry professor at Kenyon College in Ohio, developed the tintype process in America. He patented the process (1856). Thus we begin to first see anerican tintype in the mid-1850s. Smith then sold the patent rights to Peter Neff Jr., one of his students. Neff despite the patent encountered competition. Victor Griswold, anothr student at Kenyon College was also interested in photoigraphy. He opened a company in Lancaster, Ohio. Griswold used a very similsar process. The primary difference was ahinner metal plate. He patented his process udsing the term tintype. The British adopted a similar term--ferrotype. "Ferro" of course means iron. Griswold's process and thinner plates eventually won out. In Europe ferroplate became more common. The tintype was an almost instant process. It had several advantages, chief among them was the low cost. The use of an iron plate instead of glass greatly reduced the cost of the photograph. It was much cheaper than a Daguerreotype and even cheaper than an Ambrotype. It was also virtually instantaneous. This made it ideal for low-cost photographers such as small-scale local and itinerant street photographers as well as photographers setting up on a temporary basis such as at county and state fairs.

Terminology

Tintypes commonly called ferrotypes in Europe were a common photographic format for decades. We also see ferrotype used in America, but tintype seems more common. Tin of course was not used, but tinsnoips we used to cut the iron sheeting. Less common, but also ised is 'melainotype' meaning black or dark type..

Process

The tintype is a photograph created with a direct positive on a sheet of metal--japanned iron sheeting. The tintype normally involves a wet-plate process. This means that the photographic emulsion is contained in a liquid collodion. Silver halide crystals are suspended in a collodion emulsion. This is chemically reduced to crystals of metallic silver which when exposed change in density depending on the intensity and duration of light as a result of the exposure. The tintype was at first called the Melainotype process. 'Melaino' means dark or black. This term was used because the iron plate was first painted with a black Japan varnish before being coated with collodian. An Ambrotype uses the same process and methods only on a small piece of glass. The tintype can thus be understood as a modification of the earlier Ambrotype, only replacing the glass with a thin sheet of what was called japanned iron (explaining the term ferro). Japanning refers to the type of finish, meaning lacquer work. This originated as a European imitation of Asian lacquerwork that became known in the West following as maritime routes developed. It was initially used on European furniture (17th century). The new materials (glass and japanned iron) reduced costs substantially. The polished Dag plate was expenive. And the silver collodion image has proven to be very durable even titypes and abigs that are more than a century old. As with the Ambro, the tintype image is a negative, but because of the black japanned background, it appears as a positive to the eye. Since the tintype is a camera-original positive, most tintype images are reversed (left to right). Some of the more sophisticated tintype cameras had corrective devices. These were mirrors or a 45-degree prism to laterally reverse the printed image. Given the low cost of the tintype, most photographers had the more basic cameras. There was also a dry but less common plate process. Here the chemistry is similar but uses gelatin instead of collodion. This process was simple and fast to prepare, compared to Dags and Ambros. The tintype photographer could prepare, expose, develop, and varnish a tintype plate in a few minutes andhand it to the customer.

Cases/Paper Sleeves

American photographic portraits (Dags and Ambros) for the first two decades were primaeily sold in cases. This was not true in in Europe, but was fairly standard in Europe. The cases were needed because the Dag metal shet and Ambro glass were delicate and needed to be protected. The Ambro also neded a dark bckground which could be created in the case. This allows the underexposed negative image to appear as a positive. Thus convention was so common that early tin-types which first appeared in the mid-1850s were also provided cases. Americans after two decades of cased prints came to expect it. The jappaned ironnsheet used for tintype was not as delicaete and did not need the case for potection. After CDVs appeared, the cost of photography plummeted. The cases cost more thn the ohotigraphs o they quickly disappeared. We no longer see the after the early-60s. The tintypes were not only as delicate as ambros so the cases were just not necessary and perhaps even more importantly cost more than the photograph itself cost. Thus in the 1860s we see uncased tintypes. First we see inexpensive versions of Dag and Ambro cases. Tintypes framed without the wooden case. Even the inexpensive framing disappeared after the mid-60s. Dags and Ambros also disappeared, but not tintypes. They were as cheap as CDVs to produce and not delicate like Ambros and Dags. So instead of cases, we see studios packaging the tintypes in paper sleeves. We see embossed paper sleeces in high quality paper sleeves (1863), but soon inexpensive paper frames with ruling like CDVs appeared. We are not sure just when these inexpensive sleeves first appeared. We have not yet found any Civil War examples, but do noteexamples from the late-60s. A good example is an unidentified military academy student.

Popularity

The tintype was an almost instant process. It had several advantages, chief among them was the low cost. The use of an iron plate instead of glass greatly reduced the cost of the photograph. It was much cheaper than a Daguerreotype and even cheaper than an Ambrotype. It was also virtually instantaneous. This made it ideal for low-cost photographers such as small-scale local and itinerant street photographers as well as photographers setting up on a temporary basis such as popular attractions like carnivals and at county and state fairs. The metal is resilient and does not need drying. Thus the photographs can be produced and given to the customer only a few minutes after the pprtrait was taken.

History

This wet-plate process was invented in Britain by Frederick Scott Archer, a silversmith's apprentice who became a sculptor. Archer used calotype photographs to capture his subjects, but was disatisfied with the results. He developed the tintype process (1848) and published details (1851). This was the first low-cost process and thus helped to make portraits availble to the general public. The process was then described by Adolphe-Alexandre Martin in France (1853), patented in 1856 both in the United States by Hamilton Smith and William Kloen in the United Kingdom. Archer subsequently worked on Ambrotypes with Peter Fry. James Ambrose Cutting introduced the Ambrotype to the United States (1854). It is from Cutting's middle name that the term Ambrotype was derived. This was quickly followed by the tin-type. Actually Frenchman Adolphe Alexander Martin seems to have first developed the tintype (1852). Profesor Hamilton L. Smith, a chemistry professor at Kenyon College in Ohio, developed the tintype process in America. He patented the process (1856).

Chronology

Thanks to Profesor Hamilton L. Smith, we begin to first see American tintype in the mid-1850s. Smith then sold the patent rights to Peter Neff Jr., one of his students. Neff despite the patent encountered competition. Victor Griswold, another student at Kenyon College was also interested in photography. He opened a company in Lancaster, Ohio. Griswold used a very similsar process. The primary difference was ahinner metal plate. He patented his process udsing the term tintype. The British adopted a similar term--ferrotype. 'Ferro' of course means iron. Griswold's process and thinner plates eventually won out. In Europe ferroplate became more common. Tintypes are very rarely dated because it is not possible to write on like a paper print. As far as we can tell, we do not begin to see tintypes in America until the mid-1850s. This is very hard to establish because virtully no tintypes are dated. We can generally estimate the dates, but unfortuntely virtuallu no tuitypes are actually dated. We have to rely on clothing and other clues like the studio set to date the images. And becaue we want to use the photogrphs to siscuss fashionnand chrinolohical trends, this is not a vry satifactory situation for our website. As a result, the tintype is perhaps the least useful photographic format to be used as part of the photographic record. We have found a few tintypes that seem to have been takenb before the Civil War (1861-65). Most of the tintypes we have founs date to the 1860s-90s. They become les common un the 1890s and after the turn-of-the 20th century. They do not disappear, but we see far fewer in the 20th century. We continue to see them at fairs and carnivals into the early-20th century.

Social Class

The chief advantage of the tin-type was that it was inexpensive. It was also more durable than the glass ambrotype. The low cost of ambrotypesaffected both the stdios and theclentelle to which the appealed. At first tin-types in the 1850s and early-60s were done like Dags and Anbros in cases. Soon we see cheaper presentations, but still with frames. By the mid-60s they were simply placed in paper sleeves. They seemed by this time to be primarily offered by low-cost very basic studios. Early tin-types are posed rather like Anbros and Dags, but by the 1870s we begin to see clearly low-budget operations. You can tell this by the often not very professional poses and the commonly hap-hazzard setting and backdrop, Gradually the tin-type became mostly offered by itinerant studios which often set up in fairs and carnivals. There were some excellent tin-types done, but many were clearly not very professional. It also means that we often see lower-income people in the tin-types than we see from permant studios with better equipment and shoo areas, nice furniture as well as nice backdrops. This is helpful because we see the clothes worn by lower-income people who are also often not as dressed up as the clientelle of an established studio.

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Created: 3:52 AM 7/3/2012
Last updated: 6:53 PM 2/7/2016