Figure 1.--These Pennsylvania brothers, Arthur and Charlie, had a studio portrait taken in 1897. Notice the bright white colored mount. We see many of these whitish cards in the 1890s. The script is more plain than we normally see on these cards. Also notice the white whicker furniture. Whicker furniture was common in the 1890s and 1900s, but white whicker furniture was mostly found in the 1900s. Of course 1897 is close to 1900.

A substantial portion of the cabinets cards we have archived during the 1890s were mounts with whitish shades. We do not see as many white mounts before he 1890s. We do see some, so white is not a definitive indicator of the 1890s., but it is suggestive. We note some stylistic differences which can help destinguish at least some of the 1890s white cabinet cards. We also notice a range of whitish shades such as ivory. Whitish colored cards seem especally popular in the 1890s. This is a little difficult `to assess because the white shades discolored over time because of yellowing. Thus we are not sure about the original color. Some cards show bright white colors. While other cards are dull and yellowed. We do not know what the original color was. A factor here is how the cards were stored. Differentiating white shades is a challenge and we do not think at this stage is a paticularly useful endevor. But many of the white shades are particularly associated with the 1890s. We continue to see cabinet cards with white shades in the 1900s, but the new card styles rapidly replaced the classic styles.

The 1860s

We note some plain colored mounts in the 1860s looking like discolored white paper. We are not sure what the original color was. We have never found any bright white mounts from the 1860s. Most 1860s portraits are CDVs, but after appearing about 1866, the cabinet card quickly gained in popularity.

The 1870s

The cabinet card became the dominant type of American studio portraits in the 1870s. Thus there is a vast wealth of portraits wgich can be used to assess mount colors. The CDV did not disappear, but unlike Europe was not a very important format.

The 1880s

We continue to see most cabinet cards by the 1880s. We do not many white mounts before he 1890s. We do see some, so white is not a definitive indicator of the 1890s, but it is suggestive. This is a little difficult `to assess because the white shades discolored over time because of yellowing and thus may appear brown. Thus we are not sure about the original color. The mount colors were mixed in the 1880s as was the case in the 1870s. We see many dark colored mounts such as burgundy, dark blue, and dark green. It is a little difficult to establish the relative prevalence of the various colors as so few are actually dated. We can assess the dates, but for this section we like to use precisely dated cabinet cards. And this means that we have relatively few examples to work with. We see some whitish cards in the 1880s, but not yet the bright white cards we see in the 1890s. We would, however, not be surprised to find somw btight-white cards in ythe late-80s because we see them in the early-90s.

The 1890s

A substantial portion of the American cabinets cards we have archived during the 1890s were mounts with whitish shades. Our archive is large enough that we believe this is a reasonable indicator of prevalence. We would estimate that more than half of 1890s mounts had these whitish mounts. We note some stylistic differences which can help destinguish at least some of the 1890s white cabinet cards. We also notice a range of whitish shades such as ivory. Whitish colored cards seem especally popular in the 1890s. Some cards show bright white colors. While other cards are dull and yellowed. We do not know what the original color was. A factor here is how the cards were stored. Differentiating white shades is a challenge and we do not think at this stage is a paticularly useful endevor. But many of the white shades are particularly associated with the 1890s. Not all cabinet cards had white mounts in the 1890s, but it was by far the dominant color.

The 1900s

We continue to see cabinet cards with white shades in the 1900s, but the new card styles rapidly replaced the classic styles.

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Created: 8:29 PM 4/27/2015
Last updated: 12:50 AM 10/29/2017