Circus Performer Dolly Adams, "The Water Queen," circa 1880

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Artifact Overview

Circus performer Dolly Adams, nicknamed "The Water Queen," posed in her bathing suit for this carte-de-visite around 1880. The carte-de-visite was a small photographic print on cardboard stock made by professional photographers. People exchanged and collected cartes-de-visite, popular in the United States from the Civil War in the 1860s through the 1880s, to help them remember family and celebrities.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Carte-de-visite (Card photograph)

Date Made

circa 1880

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

00.1307.3

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Cardboard
Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Albumen process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 2.5 in
Width: 4.25 in

Inscriptions

printed on front: DOLLY ADAMS "The Water Queen" handwritten on back in pencil: Dolly Adams / "The Water Queen" purple ink stamp on back: WM. A. HILDEBRAND / COLLECTION
Circus Performer Dolly Adams, "The Water Queen," circa 1880