** Photographs: paper frames








Photographs: Paper Frames


Figure 1.--Most American portraits in the 1890s were cabinent cards. We note about the turn of the 20-century that portraits began to be printed in fancy paper mounts. This portrait was taken in Wilson, Kansas during 1904. This 3-year old boy wears a tunic suit.

The first paper frames we note were tin types. Tin types often came in inexpensive paper frames. We believe these inexpensive paper frames appeared in the 1860s, but thuis needs to be confirmed. Throughout the 1860s-90s CDVs and cabinent cards were the dominant format. We only note the paper fram used with tin-types. There seems to be a very destinctive shift made at the tutn of the 20th century, although this transition mzay have varied from country to country. After the turn of the 20th century, at least in America, cardboard mounts gave way to paper mounts of various designs. These were not the cheap paper frames used for tin-types, but rather often artistically done frames with heavy paper and embossing or fancy print. Some had the photographer indicated, others were blank. The paper frames were less elaborate by the 1940s, but the images inside tended to be larger than earlier in the century. These paper frames largeky disappeared during the 1950s. Much of our assessment comes from the United States. We are not at all sure about styles and chonological trends in other countries. All of these different approaches and the styling associated with them can be used to help date photographs.

Tin-type Paper Frames

The first paper frames we note were for tin types. The first tin-types were done in cases like Dags and Ambros or cheaper versions to look like expensive cases. By the 1860s we begin to see inexpensive paper frames. Tin types during the late 19th century often came in these inexpensive paper frames. Most of the frames were a light color, but we see a few dark-colored frames. Assessing the tin-type paper frames is a little complicated because so few are dated. Very rarely do we find a dated tin-type as the metal could not be enscribed. We do see writing on the paper frames, but not very commonly. And many tin-types no longer have the paper franes. So this will be a difficult topic to develop.

Print Paper Frames

Throughout the 1860s-90s CDVs and cabinent cards were the dominant format. We only note the paper fram used with tin-types. There seems to be a very destinctive shift made at the tutn of the 20th century, although this transition mzay have varied from country to country. After the turn of the 20th century, at least in America, cardboard mounts gave way to paper mounts of various designs. These were not the cheap paper frames used for tin-types, but rather often artistically done frames with heavy paper and embossing or fancy print. Often very large frames were used for rather small images, some times printed in cirles and ovals. Some paper frame had the photographer indicated, others were blank. The paper frames were less elaborate by the 1940s, but the images inside tended to be larger than earlier in the century. These paper frames largeky disappeared during the 1950s. Much of our assessment comes from the United States. We are not at all sure about styles and chonological trends in other countries. All of these different approaches and the styling associated with them can be used to help date photographs. This is, however, a vast topic which will take some time and effort to develop.







HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to Main album, case, frame, amd mount page]
[Return to Main photoography page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Bibliographies] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Satellites] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Sailor suits] [Sailor hats] [Buster Brown suits]
[Eton suits] [Rompers] [Tunics] [Smocks] [Pinafores]



Created: 1:08 AM 12/28/2006
Last updated: 12:47 AM 9/19/2008