Antique Cartes-De-Visites Photographs

Cartes-De-Visites (CDVs), were part of a major shift in the 1860’s from glass and metal photographic media to treated paper mounted on cardstock. Cheaper than daguerreotypes and tintypes, CDVs (which originated in France) made photography accessible to more people and were ideal for giving out at social visits as gifts or calling cards. These 2.5 by 4 inch prints also became the standard medium for photos of soldiers.

Interviews & Articles

The Bromance, Found in Vintage Photography

Blogger Maria Popova, who runs the wonderfully eclectic Brain Pickings site, unearthed this gem of a book, "Dear Friends: American… [more]

19th-Century Photographs, from Daguerreotypes to Cartes de Visites

I’ve always been interested in antiques. As a kid, I collected a variety of stuff – fossils, rocks, minerals, natural history stuf… [more]

Selling Soap and Smokes With Victorian Trade Cards

How did I start collecting Victorian trade cards? In the late 60s I was a bottle collector, early American bottles and flasks. I s… [more]

19th-Century Tobacco Cards

Dave Campbell contacted me after reading a post on The Baseball Card blog. He's been collecting baseball cards non-stop since 1981… [more]

Daile Kaplan of Swann Auction Galleries on Collecting 20th Century Photographs

Swann, which is New York City’s oldest specialty auction house, was founded in the late 1940s as an antiquarian book house. In the… [more]

From Ambrotypes to Stereoviews, 150 Years of Photographs

We both come from families that had collections and we both had collections as children. Jack lost his when his grandmother threw … [more]

The Force of Collecting Star Wars Cards

I was 10 when the movie came out and I went to the store and bought a couple of packs of Star Wars cards. But I ended up trashing … [more]

Hitting a Home Run with Baseball Cards

I started collecting in 1986. If you’re in Boston and you’re a baseball fan, the Red Sox may take over your life. They take over y… [more]

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Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)

Non Sports Cards: Tobacco, Gum and Candy

Non Sports Cards: Tobacco, Gum and Candy

Tom Boblitt moderates this extremely deep, collaborative site dedicated to non-sports cards (tobacco, gum and candy… [read review or visit site]



Other Great Reference Sites: Photographs

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