General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren, 1863-1870

01

Artifact Overview

The 1863 marriage of actress Lavinia Warren to circus performer Charles Stratton--known as General Tom Thumb--was front-page news. Publishers distributed cartes-de-visite featuring the famous couple. Cartes-de-visite, small photographic prints on cardboard stock, remained popular from the Civil War in the 1860s through the 1880s. Americans commonly collected and exchanged them to commemorate family members or celebrities.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Carte-de-visite (Card photograph)

Subject Date

1863-1870

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

00.17.327

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Cardboard
Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Albumen process
Mounting

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 3.875 in
Width: 2.375 in

Inscriptions

Text printed at bottom under image: Case & Getchell Bosto_