Posted 6 years ago
scottvez
(977 items)
A sad scene, repeated all too often in the 19th century.
Image is a late 1870s round corner carte de visite by Van Orsdell of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Southern views are significantly harder to find, even into the post Civil War era.
Reproduction in any form is prohibited.
Thanks roycroft, tyndall and vetraio-- appreciate you looking.
scott
I brought a boxlot at auction years ago and there was a post mortem tintype of a young women in reprose. Then I found a mourning book with many signed names off amily and friends. She was from a well to do family in Conn. They took photos of the departed because travel was a long way for many mourners!!! I traced the family and found ancesters that lived in Florida. They were very happy to get their history back and I felt great being part of it!!
Thanks for looking gottahavestuff.
Most pm photos were taken simply as a family remembrance.
For young children, pm photos may have been the only image of the child.
In this day of instant photography, many forget that for most people in the 19th century a photo involved a studio trip and was used to document a life event.
scott
You are so right about the pm photograph being the only one that a family might have.
Such was the case with my grandmother's family: in the 1930s, when her little 3 year old died, a pm photo was taken of the beautiful child. Grandmother kept the photograph in a metal box in her dresser, protecting it from light, for the rest of her own long life.
It was a very sweet and touching picture. I never saw any other picture of the little girl alive.