Cabinet Card
The bigger sibling of the CDV — large albumen portraits on heavy ornamental mounts.
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Young Woman Dark Wavy Hair High Collar Dress
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Family Men Women Child Rifles Guns Wiley Farm
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Santa Fe Depot Train Station Railroad Emporia Kansas
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s R.R. Sallons Two Young Women Goderich Ontario Canada
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Such & Co. Fresine Balanger Young Woman Montreal Canada
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s N.P. Mallette Boy First Communion Montreal Canada
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Loupret Philip Gagnon Romantic Couple Montreal Quebec
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Nap Belanger Wedding Couple Man in Hull Quebec Canada
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Archambault Leon Belanger Young Man Suit Montreal Que.
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s D. Wilkie Woman Curly Hair Dress Ingersoll Ontario CA
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s D. Wilkie Young Woman Dress Ingersoll Ontario Canada
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Young Child in Winter Coat & Hat With Dog Snow
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Ranney Man Large Mustache 4 Children Lockport New York
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s C.C. Schoonmaker Young Man Bowler Hat Albany New York
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Eskelsen Bros. Elderly Man White Beard Carroll Illinois
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Bonney & Wallace Woman Large Feather Hat South Bend Ind
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s G. F. Sterling. Family Portrait 4 Kids West Bay City Mi
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s J. H. Power Painter With Family Muskegon Michigan
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Gardner Two Women Curly Hair Lace Kansas City Missouri
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Voigt Two Young Women Curly Hair Milwaukee Wisconsin
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Chapman Perry Lunke 6yo Boy W/ Bow & Bulldog Stanton Mi
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Little Girl Victorian Lace Dress Doll Grand Rapids Mi
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Welling Soldiers Home Main Building Marshalltown Iowa
Cabinet Card Circa 1890s Christmas Infant Baby With Doll Lace Lansing Michigan
Cabinet cards are larger albumen photographs mounted on thicker, often decorated card stock. First offered in London in 1863 and reaching American studios by 1866, they were dominant from the 1880s through the early 1900s — the ‘Golden Age’ of the cabinet card runs roughly 1870 to 1895 — and continued in declining numbers into the 1920s.
HistoryOrigin & era
Cabinet cards offered the same albumen process as CDVs but at a size more flattering to detailed studio work. By the 1880s mounts grew elaborate — gold edges, embossed studio logos, chromolithographed backs. The format faded sharply after Eastman Kodak's 1900 Brownie put cameras in everyone's hands; few cabinet cards date after 1906, and the last were produced in the early 1920s.
IdentificationHow to spot a Cabinet Card
- Mount roughly 4¼ × 6½ inches.
- Heavier card stock than a CDV, often with rounded corners and gold or beveled edges.
- Photographer's imprint usually on the front below the photo, with elaborate logos on the back.
- Plain pale mounts are earlier (1870s); dark green, black, and gilt mounts are 1880s–1890s.
Cabinet Card sizes
Standard cabinet cards are remarkably consistent, but several larger "deluxe" formats were sold by the same studios.
| Format | Inches | Millimeters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard cabinet card | 4¼ × 6½ in | 108 × 165 mm | Universal mount size. |
| Cabinet print on mount | ≈ 3¾ × 5½ in | ≈ 95 × 140 mm | Photo trimmed to fit with a narrow border. |
| Promenade | 4 × 7 in | 102 × 178 mm | Taller variant, popular 1875–1900. |
| Boudoir | 5¼ × 8½ in | 133 × 216 mm | Larger format for full-length portraits. |
| Imperial | 6⅞ × 9⅞ in | 175 × 251 mm | Largest of the cabinet-family mounts. |
| Panel | 4 × 8 in | 102 × 203 mm | Narrow, full-length portrait format. |
Common questions
What is a cabinet card?
A cabinet card is a Victorian-era portrait photograph — an albumen print mounted on a heavy card roughly 4¼ × 6½ inches. First offered in London in 1863 and arriving in American studios by 1866, cabinet cards were the standard portrait format from about 1880 through the early 1900s and continued in declining numbers into the 1920s.
How do I date a cabinet card?
Mount color and decoration are the best clues: pale buff or cream stock with a simple imprint is 1870s; dark gray or maroon with gold edges is mid-1880s; deep green, black, or chocolate brown with ornate gilt lettering is 1890s. Beveled edges with gold appear around 1885.
What are cabinet cards worth?
Generic studio portraits typically run $5–$20. Cards depicting identified subjects, occupational scenes, ethnographic subjects, post-mortem photography, or well-known photographers can range from $50 to several hundred dollars. Condition, sharpness of the print, and subject interest matter more than age.
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