Union Army Officer, circa 1863

Soldiers fighting in the Civil War often had their photographic portraits made and mailed them to family and friends back home. This carte-de-visite made by I.G. Tomkins, Grand Rapids, Michigan shows an unknown Union Army cavalry officer in his dress uniform. Carte-de-visite, French for visiting card, is a type of small photographic print on cardboard stock made in the nineteenth century by professional photographers. Popularized by the French photographer, André Disdéri in 1854, this format measured about 4 x 2.5 inches--the same size as personal calling cards of that era. Multiple positive prints on paper were made from a single glass negative and mounted on the cards. The backs often carried advertisements for the photographer. When they were mailed in the United States between 1864 and 1866, CdVs bear a tax stamp on the back. This was a source of Federal revenue to pay for the Civil War expenses. Popular in the United States from the1860s through the 1880s, this size continued to be made into the early 1900s. After having their portraits made at the photographer's studio, people exchanged them among family and friends. Collecting celebrity portraits was also a favorite hobby. Many CdVs were gathered into photograph albums, serving as remembrances of the people depicted.