Almira Richardson, 1860s, photo by S. Anderson, New Orleans, Louisiana

This is a CDV photo of a little girl with the name Almira M. Richardson written on back.  It was taken by S. Anderson of New Orleans.  It is about 2 1/4 by 4 inches, has square corners,  the mount is very thin and it has thin borders, all of which date it to the 1860s.

What makes this interesting to me is that there is an orange two cent  internal revenue tax stamp on back. This were issued by the federal government and were required to be placed on back of CDVs (among other things, I assume) from August 1, 1864 to August 1 1866.

Of course the early to mid 1860s was a time of civil war in the United States, and Louisiana was one of the confederate states.  My assumption is that this tax stamp dates it from sometime between April 1865 (the official end of the civil war) and August 1866.  New Orleans was occupied during part of the civil war period, so it's possible the stamp could have been placed on earlier.

Civil war era CDV of a man wearing a military coat

This is a CDV portrait of a young man wearing what looks like a military uniform coat.  If it is indeed a military uniform, that makes it an unusual acquisition, at least for us.    There is photographer information on the back:  E. M. Smith, 268 Main St., Buffalo.   Also, someone wrote the following in pencil:  "Mrs. Goodrich son".   They wrote it exactly like that.

We believe we have a portrait of someone who was either serving (or had served) in the US Army during the time of civil war.

What we know:  The CDV has the right look to be from the 1860s.  The photographer, E. M. Smith, was at the address listed on the back in Buffalo, NY from 1861-1864, which corresponds to the era of the CDV and the dates of the civil war.   The man is definitely of military age, and the coat has a military look to it.

What is conjecture:  We're assuming his last name is Goodrich, but it may not be.  If his father had died and his mother remarried, for example, he probably would not have the same name as his mother.  I'm assuming the coat is military, but I'm no expert. If it is, he was most likely a private, because there is no rank insignia.  NCOs would have patches on the sleeves, officers would have shoulder boards.

So, it is what it is.  Personally, I think this guy was a soldier when this picture was taken.  And I think his last name was probably Goodrich.

Update: Sold!

A Hand Colored CDV of a Little Boy - 1860s

The thing that makes this CDV interesting is that parts of it are colored.  I'm pretty sure this was done by hand and it would have had to have been a painstaking process.  The obvious colorized object is the crimson table cloth.  Not so obvious is a very slight pinkish tint on the little boy's cheeks, the gold colored buttons on his shirt and the yellows and greens in the carpet.

I think (but am not positive) that the suit he is wearing is two piece, but the shirt and pants have the same checkered design.  His shoes have what look like metal tips on them, leading us to believe that his parents may have been doing well for themselves. 

This CDV is from the 1860s - we can tell by it's trim & weight (it is relatively thin) and to a lesser extent the clothing style.  There is no tax stamp on it, so it is either before 1864 or after 1865.  Not much to go on, but at least we know when it isn't, if you can follow the logic and grammar.  There is no photographer information or writing or any kind on this photo.    And it does have come condition issues - the corners have been trimmed, and there are some spots of something near the bottom.  But it's in the neighborhood of 150 years old, so we can make allowances I guess

CDV Photo Reverend Maxwell Wright, Edinburgh Scotland, 1860s

 

This is a CDV photo of a man with some good sized mutton chops.  He's sitting in a fancy chair, is well dressed, holding a pair of gloves and has a top hat on the table next to him.  It is possible he's wearing a cleric's collar, but I can't really tell. 

 

His name is written on back as "Rev'd Maxwell Wright".  I'm making a couple of assumptions here; I assume that "Rev'd" is an abbreviation for Reverend.  Also the hand writing is not the best, so it is possible I have the name wrong, but I believe Maxwell Wright is what it is.  Since I'm assuming he's a Reverend, it follows that he might be wearing a cleric's collar.  I'm not a 100% sure.

 

The photographer's name is J. Moffat, and his address was 103 Princes Street, Edinburg Scotland.  John Moffat was born in 1819 in Aberdeen and died in Edinburgh in 1894.  You can find out a ton of information about the photographer at the following site:  www.edinphoto.org.uk  

 

This is a clean, sharp photo, and it is almost certainly from the 1860s.