Cabinet Cards: Making New Fun Out Of Old Photos...

Cabinet Cards have been around for over 150 years now. They are actually a take-off of a smaller version of photos set onto smaller cards. While most you will find during your 'treasure hunt' excursions have a portrait with an inside background, they were originally done outside, and most often taken at weddings or other important events. The earlier edition of cards were usually in an antique coloring of a brownish shade (neutral tones), while the later cards of 1870s on took on a black and white tone. The bottom of the later cards usually have the name of the photographer, studio, or place where it was taken. Very successful photographers/studios used more elaborate information on the backs of the cards. They were usually about 4in by 6in in size, and were very popular. But they were virtually replaced after the 1920s when it was more and more common to just have your own camera (more than likely a Kodak like the old Brownies I have collected).

If you're lucky enough to have some real Cabinet Cards that were passed down to you, like I have, you will want to make sure they are stored correctly in a safe place. But, I would also recommend you scan them to a portable drive (like Western Digital 1T or 2T- both very well-spent investment than the old disks we like to use and pass around, and has tons more space than a smaller flash-card/drive. If you have a good digital camera, you can make a simple setup and take photos of the photographs. Lighting is extremely important for this, so I would suggest having a professional help out, or have them do it for you. I've done this many times, but I like to rely on natural lighting to get as closely as possible to the colors in the photograph. Scanning is simpler, but you'll need to make sure your scanner & printer are on the correct settings. The owner's manual should help you out with that.

But, no matter whether you choose photos of people you know, or those you don't know- you can have a lot of fun making your own Cabinet Cards- even of today's digital selfie shot you did! Just use your computer or your camera's edit shop to change the photos however you want and stick them to a cardstock background, adding some ink around each piece. You can even skip the shape of a Cabinet Card, and use your manilla tags and make a Tag Book of the photos. Only your imagination is the limit. :) Here's another video that helps you out to see what I mean...

 

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