Cabinet cards were a style of photograph common in the 1880s-1910s. They generally consist of albumen prints mounted on cards, with the name of the producing studio printed ornately on the cards.
The album images all appear to be studio portraits, either of individuals or of families. The sole exception is the loose postcard, which is a photograph of a gravestone. Images are not labeled making it difficult to identify the individuals pictured, with two exceptions. The gravestone on the postcard is identified as Wiley Campbell (July 11, 1832) and his wife Elizabeth (Oct. 30, 1826, Aug 28, 1911). One photograph depicts a woman holding her diploma from Washington Agricultural College and School of Science (Washington State University); the diploma identifies her as Dora Orlette Lobaugh. Unnattributed notes from the time of donation identify the album as "portraits of early Pullman, WA residents." However, a majority of the cards are from out of state; since the origin of that note is ungiven it is now unclear if this was an assumption made from a few cards, or if the images taken out of state are all of people who later moved to Pullman.
Though the subjects of the images are unidentified, most of the cabinet cards do identify the studios which produced them. Studios present include: L.S. Page; Frader; Williams; Holderness; D.B. Rich (all of Emporia, KS); M.S. Eastman (of Pullman, WA and Colfax, WA); Emery / Aristo; S.S. Sloan; L. Taylor (all of Pullman, WA); New York Gallery (of Reading, PA); Blaul; B.F. Reimer (both of Philadelphia, PA); Dixon (of Colfax, WA); Bailey (of Spokane, WA); Galeria de Plaza (of Los Angeles, CA); and Chistopher (no location given).
The collection consists of one photo album full of cabinet cards; the cards are retained in their original order and mountings within the album. Two additional images (one postcard, one photographic print) came in the album, and have been placed in sleeves but otherwise retained in the same places they were found in at time of processing.
This collection is open and available for research use.
[Item Description] Album of Cabinet Card Portraits, ca. 1890-1900 (PC 133)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
This collection was received as MS 85-16 at WSU Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections in 1985 from a donor who preferred to remain anonymous.
This collection was processed by University Archivist Mark O'English in December, 2009.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.