Figure 1.--This portrait is undated. We think it may have been taken in the 1880s, although the late 1870s is also possible. Hopefully a reader who knows more about dresses will provide a more accurate estimate. All we know or sure is that the portrait was taken in St. Louis. The portrait shows a mother with her son or daughter, we are not sure which.

This portrait is undated. We thought it might have been taken in the late 1870s. A HBC reader thinks the 1880s is more likely. The simplicity of the photographer's lpgo we thought was a factor. Hopefully a reader who knows more about dresses will provide a more accurate estimate. A German reader tells us, "I think it is an 1880s picture. I can't really explain why. It really does not look like an 1870s one. The American card design differed from the German one. But I don't think that the plain logo is a hint for the 1870s. A better help is always the backview (when ist is not plain). Often you can see there much more information. The clothing looks to me like 1880s but my knowledge is not so extended now that I could explain it like: "Oh, look here, this part indicates this and this, ..." Another thing: How both persons are posing and the child is even smiling let me tend to say the 1880s. People in 1870s pictures look much more stern." All we know or sure is that the portrait was taken in St. Louis. The portrait shows a mother with her son or daughter, we are not sure which. A reader believes that the child is a boy. We believe this may be the case, but we are not sure. We thought the face looked a bit like a boy, but there are no prop clues. A HBC reader writes, "This looks clearly like a girl to me! The hair style is girlish. There is necklace and earrings. All looks girlish. In this case I would not have thought about if this might be a boy." We would tend to agree that the hair looks like a style more for a girl than a boy, but we have seen some boys with their hair done like this. And the child does not have a center part which many girls did have. Generally HBC's approach is to assume that the children in unidentified images like this are girls unless there are a range of cluse suggesting the child is a boy. The dresses seemed to be the same color when I first looked at it, but now think they are different colors. I am not sure what color they were.. Mother has a very tight cprset. Notice how much the waist is indented. The styling of the two dresses is different. The child's dress seems to have a small cut-away jacket. Both mother and child seem to have the same bauble on a necklace.

Created: 11:24 PM 12/28/2005
Last updated: 8:39 AM 12/30/2005