Actress Appearing in the Musical, "H.M.S. Pinafore," circa 1880

01

Artifact Overview

Professional photographers began producing cabinet cards in 1867. Consumers quickly preferred them over earlier cartes-de-visite, which were mounted on smaller cardboard stock. Through the early 1900s, Americans commonly exchanged and collected cabinet photographs of family, friends and celebrities. This example features an actress from "H.M.S. Pinafore"--a landmark comic opera that marked the beginning of popular American musical theatre.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Cabinet photograph

Subject Date

circa 1880

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

00.1307.26

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)
Cardboard

Technique

Gelatin silver process
Mounting

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 6.5 in
Width: 4.25 in

Inscriptions

front, handwritten: Caterine Smeether[?] in Pinafore front, bottom: Schloss 54 West 25d St. NEW YORK. /
Actress Appearing in the Musical, "H.M.S. Pinafore," circa 1880