Cline Family Picture - Trying to Narrow Down Date

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Permalink Reply by Carol Weldon on August 9, 2009 at 4:56pm

I'm not really good on fashion so I tend to concentrate on the photographer. A book that I found very helpful for dating a Ohio photographer was Ohio Photographers 1839-1900, by Diane VanSkiver Gagel, pub. Carl Mautz Publishing Nevada City 1998.

Example of what I got on mine: Miss M.M. Udell in Cleveland: at 13 Euclid 1886-1888 and 11 Euclid 1889-1890. I had on the front of the mount: Udell’s 13 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, O.; and on the back: M M Edell 13 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, Ohio. It doesn't help with the who but you have that.

Permalink Reply by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on August 10, 2009 at 1:13pm

It isn't clear to me which individual is Jenerva. You said Jinerva was on the right (our right? the adult woman seated on our right?) What confused me was that you said the lady "on the right" was perhaps her mother. But if Jinerva is on the right, there is no else on the right. Did you perhaps mean the lady on Jinerva's right? That would make it our left

In any event, this is a Cabinet Card (first clue to identifying a year) Cabinet Cards did come into use in the 1870s so that fits with your guesstimate

However, none of the women look 15 or 16 to me, the adults look a fair bit older. And I don't think that is a boy standing between the adults, as by that time (and that age of a child!) no boy would be dressed in girl's clothing

The hair looks morelike 1880s hair (see Lost Faces ) although it could I suppose be mid to late 1870s.

Is it possible that this is a photo of Jinerva, her mother and her (Jinverva's) 2 daughters? I don't want to hazard a guess based on their clothing without going through more of my Cabinet Cards in my collection.

Permalink Reply by William S Dean on August 15, 2009 at 11:23pm

Hello, Melodie

The Shelby (Ohio) Museum of History has a webpage about the early photographers in the town including F.(rederick) H. Smith, the one printed on your attached photograph. According to them, Smith was in partnership with Jack Taylor from 1868 to about 1874. Their photographs would have carried both their names on the print. Smith continued the business on his own from 1874 until 1879 when a fire burned the building. Smith relocated and continued his photography business through the 1880s to the early 1920s. Here is the link to the Shelby Museum website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohsmh/ShelbyMuseumPhotogs2.html. What you might do is email a copy of your photo to the museum (email: shelbymuseum@copperfast.com) and they might be able to compare it with other examples of Smith's carte-de-visites to help in dating it.