Photo Dating Tips for Genealogists
Julian Livingston
February 23, 1999
Reissued September 17, 2003
The Importance of Dating a Photograph
If you can date a photograph and guess the age of the person(s) in the photo then you can combine that with a known provenance (a genealogy chart for that family will help) and - Lo & Behold - you can identify the person in the photo! Further, take note of the great value of photos with more than one person in the photo. Photos of whole families are just treasures beyond compare, while, sadly enough, baby photos without an adult convey very little information to later generations.
Note the following formula:
PhotoDate - AgeGuess = BirthDate
Once you have that all important BirthDate, just check who matches that birth date in the genealogy of that family. You have a good guess as to who the person is. Now you can see what other clues take shape.
A web-site for dating 19th and early 20th century photographs has been located. It is: www.city-gallery.com. Dating is, of course, the essential step in identifying those long lost pictures of forgotten relatives. The other step is provenance. Those two general areas of information are your best hope of identifying that mysterious old picture. Posting the picture is a poor second to aggressive action on your own part. You might want to print and keep some of the information on this site. Make sure your Acrobat reader plugin is ready to go. Also, there is www.ancientfaces.com .
19th & Early 20th Century Photo Types Encountered by Genealogists
The following material can be printed out as an aid to have in hand when dating photographs. Keep in mind that photography became a commercial reality about 1840. Almost no paper photos survive in family collections from the first twenty years after 1840. A few cartes d'visit type are found in the early 1860s, but interest was kicked up several notches as the Civil War wore on. However, photo paper was consumed entirely by the government to document the war and there was a fallback to tintypes as represented by the tiny tintype inserted in a paper pocket the size of a cartes d'visit. A patented version of this, known as Potter's Patented Pocket, appeared early in 1865. It had the date of the pocket engraved around the rim of the tintype insert making for "precise" dating of the photo.
PHOTO TYPES WITH ESTABLISHED DATES:
Daguerreotype - image applied directly on black oxidized copper plate. Copper is non-magnetic which helps in the identification process, as another type (tintype) is on magnetic iron plate. Usually cased. Right to left is reversed, a mirror image. 1/6th plate = 2 X 3¼. 1839-1860-1865.
Ambrotype - image applied to the back of a glass plate, with black/dark paint applied against and behind the image. Non-magnetic. Usually cased. Right to left is not reversed because one sees image through glass, a big breakthrough. 1/6th = 2 X 3¼. 1854-1860-1865.
Tintype - cased or non-cased. This one is magnetic since it is an image applied to a dark painted iron plate. It is reversed - a mirror image. 1/6th = 2 X 3¼. Replaced cartes de visite during Civil War using Potter's Patented Pockets. There is a pre-civil war type that has little or no backgrounds for the pictured individuals. Post civil war often elaborate sets were constructed to show an idealized living background for the subject. 1856-1867-and a long decline until 1900.
Cartes d' visit - calling card stock backing with a paper photo attached. This image is not reversed but appears to the observer like the real life person would appear. Size of image = 2½ X 3½. 1858-1870 - and a long decline until 1905; there was a Civil War hiatus using tintypes in pockets; tax stamps from 8-1864 to 8-1866.
Cabinet card - dense cardboard backing with a paper photo glued on. Likewise a positive image. Size of image = 4 X 5½. Foreign 1863; America 1866-peaking 1870-1905, and a very slight amount until 1920.
Custom sized images - often pasted on various sized, but same material used for the Cabinet Card. Seen 1890-1930.
TECHNOLOGY ALLOWING DATING:
IMAGE CASES: Wood frame: 1839-1867
Union (thermoplastic, Peck, sawdust & shellac, Goodyear [similar to Bakelite plastic - yes believe it!] with molded motif or embossed): 1854-1867
Patriotic (also plastic and wood): 1861-1865
Inlay (mother of pearl, cameo) and painted (wood): 1850-1865
Shapes (circle, oval, octagonal, decorated, screw-top): 1860-1867
Cases declining after 1867; rare after 1870
BRASS MATS & PRESERVERS:
Mat-pebble: 1839-1847
Mat-sandy: 1847-1854
Mat-fine: 1854-1857
Mat-embossed: 1857-1867
Preserver-simple: 1839-1857
Preserver-ornate: 1857-1867
Use declining after 1867; rare after 1870
PAPER PHOTOGRAPHS:
Calotype-prints: 1841-1862 (Few exist today, uncommon, valuable, usually very fragile)
Cartes-de-visite: 1854(USA/1858)-1870 (Civil War era used pockets, tintypes, and tax stamps - Wartime Retail Tax Act, 1 Sept. 1864 to 1 Aug. 1866.)
Cabinet Cards: 1863(USA/1866)-1905 (Peaked 1870-1905, tail through 1920s)
Wet-plates & Albumen-prints: 1845-1895
Dry-plates & Gelatin-prints: 1871-1920+ (Basically today's black&white prints)
Dry-plates & Platinum-prints: 1882-1920+
Later mounted prints had decoration and/or studio imprint; definitive start date known.
DATING: CARTES DE VISITES:
Earliest in Europe by 1854
Earliest in America by about 1858, a plain image glued to plain square-corner card stock.
Early 1860-1863 one or two gold (or red lines) around image.
Oval picture frame to use smaller amount of albumen paper 1863-1869.
(Paper pocket mounts (Potter's 1865) for tintypes 1860-1870- long decline through 1905.)
Declining 1870-1905
Thicker card stock added 1870-1905
Rounded corners added 1871-1905
Colored mounts added 1873-1905
Beveled gilt edges added 1875-1905
Sturdy, rich, dark colors in backing with studio and logo shown 1880-1905.
Scalloped edges of card 1890-1905.
DATING: CABINET CARDS:
Earliest in America were light weight with thin red/brown line around image 1866-1880.
Background stages/settings visible from about 1870.
Other color lines and photographer's imprint 1885.
Gold bevel edges sometimes with printing on back 1885-1892.
Notched or scalloped edges sometimes with elaborate printing on back 1892-1905.
Declining through 1920s.
Julian Livingston - February 23, 1999, Reissued September 17, 2003
