The carte de visite, or visiting card, a photographic format about the size of a modern baseball card, dominated the American scene coincident with the Civil War. Invented in France and imported to the United States via Great Britain about 1860, it immediately became all the rage in big cities and small towns across the country.
Portraits of men during American Civil War
In 1863, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes declared, “Card portraits, as everybody knows, have become the social currency, the ‘green-backs’ of civilization.” Cartes began a gradual decline in popularity in 1866 after the introduction of the larger cabinet card format. The card photograph continued in production as late as 1920.
Here below is a set of vintage cartes de visite from Ronald S. Coddington that shows portraits of men during American Civil War.
A bearded man stands before the camera operator wearing the embroidered accouterments that signal his membership in the Masons
A clean-shaven young man wearing a white collarless shirt, vest, striped checked pants and coat sits with a stick and top hat
A gentleman poses with his pipe and a humidor
A gentleman sits sideways on a chair, gazing off camera with hand to cheek in what appears to be a contemplative, thoughtful frame of mind
A Maine gentleman strikes a casual pose with frock coat, top hat and cane
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