Bottles and ExtrasNovember-December 200734

Baby Feeding in Early PhotosBy Charles Harris

Ooltewah, Tenn.

Of course, Teresa and I, are collectorsof the bottles and love them along with thestories that they tell to us. One of mypersonal favorites, as may be evidenced bymy contributions to Keep Abreast(newsletter for the American Collectors ofInfant Feeders) are the photographs of theinfants and small children actually usingthe bottles that we have in our collections.That just thrills me no end. What betterproof positive than an actual photograph.Partially what started this article is that mostantique mall dealers have no idea of how toidentify the different types of photos and justlabel them Daguerreotypes because theyhave heard that these are old photos. Wow!!

But these photographs open up anothercan of worms. If someone at the time of thetaking of the photo did not write informationon the back, how are we going to be able todate it? This is a little of what I’m hopingto pass on to you at this time. There arecertain characteristics that are quite reliable,as reliable as designs of some of the feederstelling us about the date of theirmanufacture.

Daguerreotype PhotographsIntroduced: 1839Peak Years: 1852-1854Waned: 1858-1860Last Made: 1865

A “Dag” that has information — “Taken atCincerd (Covington) Ky. 1854.” Note thestain around the image that is common onDaguerreotypes. No baby bottle here.

The Daguerreotype was invented bya Frenchman. It was Daguerre’s andFrance’s gift to the world, except forEngland. He patented the processin England, which made Englandthe only country in the world thatcould not make use of the processfree of charge.

Head and body restdating from the 1850s.

(A New History ofPhotography, 1998.)

the lady could show off her beautiful dress.The lack of smiles was not entirely relatedto the length of the exposure, but also dueto the hardness of the times, which weredifficult to say the least.

Sure, we have the patents andregistrations issued by our governments todocument what was actually invented, whenand why. Yes, these are a very valuable partof the research tools available to us, but dothey always really help us in our research?Not always. You have to realize that manyof these patents are actually for minutefactors — maybe the design of a mold forthe casting of the baby bottle that we areinterested in, or in the way that the parts ofthe mold fit together. The possibilities areendless. One thing that these patentnumbers do for us is to inform us that thisparticular bottle was actually in existenceduring that actual year.

Advertisements are also wonderful forthe same reasons. They actually give us ayear of existence and very likely a drawingor photograph of the bottle in use at the time.But what has happened to those few bottlesthat we have seen the advertisements for,even published in the KA, but the BottleGuide and Rarity Guides have a rarity of“0” listed. They have never been seen inreality.

Ambrotype PhotographsIntroduced: 1854

Peak Years: 1857-1859 Waned: 1861 Last Made: 1865

The Ambrotype was inventedby Frederick Scott Archer (Britain)and popularized by James Cutting(U.S.). The Ambrotype is a thinlyexposed negative image producedon a glass plate and viewed as apositive by the addition of a blackbacking.

The Ambrotype neededthe black backing behindthe image to produce thedesired positive effect.This was done by puttinga black cloth or paperbehind the image. It was

The first successful photography thatwas commercially available to the world wasthe Daguerreotype photo, invented by Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, who perfected theworld’s first practical photographic process.The process consisted of taking a copperplate, polishing it to a mirror finish. Thenthis polished copper plate was silver platedand polished again. Next the plate wasplaced in a closed box where it was exposedto iodine vapors. Now sensitized, thecovered plate was inserted into the camerafor exposures taking as long as 30 minutesand averaged no less than five minutes. Nowonder you rarely see a person smiling —try holding a smile more than a few seconds!Next the plate was developed by placing itin a box with fumes of heated mercury. Afinishing bath of hyposulfate of soda madethe image permanent.

Daguerreotypes are easily recognized bytheir appearance — a very silveredbackground with a delicate imageon their surface. As you rotatethe image from side to side itwill seem to appear anddisappear in front of you.Please, never touch the actualimage — it will severelydamage it. Even a very softmake-up brush will scratch it.

How do the photographerseven get a sharp image of thepeople being photographed?They used a headrest — a standwith arms that reached aroundto each side of the head.The rest of the body wasanchored by sitting, restingagainst a pedestal or evenholding the shoulder of thehusband seated in the chair.Yes, the man was seated so

Bottles and Extras November-December 2007 35

also accomplished by coating the reverse of the glass plate with asphaltum, a hard tarrytype of substance. The best solution and most permanent was the use of a dark ruby redglass plate in the first place, but it was more expensive. The Ruby Ambrotype had theadvantage of not creating the shadowing effect in the dark areas that was evidenced whenlooking off angle at the image, caused by the black surface being about 1/16 inch behind theimage.

An Ambrotype of an American Indiangrandmother feeding with a medicine bottle,hose AND nipple, circa 1850s. Her featurescarry one back in time, showing the extremepressures of nothing more than pure simpleexistence.

An Ambrotype of a Confederate soldier, takenno earlier than 1861, when the Civil War startedtaking place and changed the history of our greatcountry.

Tin Type PhotographsIntroduced: 1856Peak Years: 1860-1863Waned: 1865Last Made: 1867*

*The last tintypes to be contained incases were produced around 1867, markingthe end of cased images. They were stillbeing produced in various other forms untilabout 1930.

Like the earlier types of photographicimages, Tintypes, or Ferrotypes, were a oneor single generation type of photo. Actuallytin was never used. Like the Daguerreotypeand Ambrotype, the image that you happento be holding in your hands is the only onelike it in existence. It could not bereproduced except by re-photographing thatcompleted image. Like the Ambrotype, itwas viewed as a positive image because ofthe black backing behind the image. In thiscase a thin piece of tin was undercoated witha black Japan varnish and the sensitizedemulsion was coated on top of the tin, priorto exposure.

Because the tintypes continued to beproduced until the 1930s, they are a littledifficult to date. First if they are in their

original hard case, or if you can seescratching from the brass matte thatoriginally framed the image they are

A tintype that came out of a hard case. Thereare slight bends in the plate under the ornategold plated matte from rough handling. It is hardto see, but she is drinking her milk out of aturtle-style bottle with the straw, hose andnipple attached. The difficulty of cleaning andsterilizing the hose gained this type bottle thenickname of the “Murder Bottle.”

A Tintype that came out of a photo album withno matte of any kind. Note the cloth coveringthe chair and the mother holding the baby. Thisbaby is drinking out of an old whiskey bottlethat has been converted to a feeder by using astraw, hose and nipple. Consequently it, too,was one of the “Murder Bottles.”

definitely pre-1867. But it is very easy toplace a later image in a case. You need tolook at the image and try to note datableitems in the image, such as a Baby Bottlethat was not manufactured till a certain date.Normally if an Afro-American is portrayedin a tintype, it is most likely after the 1860’sdue to being affordable to the lower financialechelon of people of the time. If an Afro-American appears in a Daguerrotype orAmbrotype, this person was most likelyhighly respected by their owners and theyare quite valuable images.

Cartes de Visite (CDVs)Introduced: 1854Peak Years: 1859-1866Waned: 1870Last Made: 1905

The Cartes de Visites are French for“card with picture” or in modern terms acalling or business card. In size, they wereabout 2 1/2 inches by 4 1/8 inches. It waspopularized in France by Andre-Adolphe-Eugene-Disderi. The front carried aphotographic image of the person with aspace at the bottom for his signature or thephotographer’s imprint. There is a book inexistence listing nearly every knownAmerican CDV photographer in businessduring the Civil War years: “A Catalogueof Civil War Photographers, Compiled byGeorge F. Witham.” For me it is most

Bottles and ExtrasNovember-December 200736

invaluable.The CDV image was a very thin albumin paper print that was

glued to a thin card about the thickness of an index card. Theoriginal negative was on glass and it was printed on to an albuminpaper. This made multiple prints possible and they became verypopular throughout the world.

The earliest CDVs were on thin blank cards dating from theinception till about 1860. During the Civil War years, 1861-1865and up until 1868, the great majority of the cards had a doublegold borderline around the image and square corners. If the doublegold line border has the lines the same width, the image dates to1861-62. If one line is thicker than the other the image dates tothe period of 1863-1866. Rarely were other colors used. Also, onthe back side of the CDV, if the two or three lines of small wordsincorporates the words “Negatives” or “Duplicates,” the image datesto 1863 or later. During the period of Aug. 1, 1864 until July 31,1866, all photographs and otherdocuments were required tohave a documentary tax stampaffixed to the backside. Thesetaxes were to help pay for theexpenses incurred by theFederal government during thegreat American Civil War.

After 1869, with therealization of the accidentalbendability and damage of thethinner cards and images, athicker card was used and in1871, the corners were rounded.Various colored mounts wereintroduced around 1873, and by1875, the edges were trimmedin gold gilt. By 1880 the cardstock was thick and sturdy, and

Three illustrations: a Civil War era CDV image of a baby drinking outof a pewter nursing bottle. This photo with the two different widths ofdouble gold lines dates it to the 1863-1866 era. The pewter bottle, fromthe Dr. John Gimesh collection, is identical to the one in the photo. Theback mark below the photo also proves the photo’s 1860-1865 dating.

A green 3c Proprietary Taxstamp dates this imageto between Aug.1, 1864and July 31, 1866. Thephotographer even put his oldand new addresses in thebackmark.

rich, dark colors were common. The backs of these cards containedthe photographer’s imprint which was incorporated into elaborateprinted designs. In 1890 the cards were again made thicker withscalloped or other fancy edges.

Cabinet CardsIntroduced: 1863Peak Years: 1870-1900Waned: 1905Last Made: 1920s

The Cabinet Card was introduced by the British at the Windsorand Bridge studios in London. With the advent of better lensesand larger cameras they began using the whole plate process(previously prohibitively expensive). Many of the cameras hadtwo lenses and twoimages produced on thenegative plate. Thiscould be done byuncovering one or bothof the lenses at one timefor duplicate shots ordifferent shots. After inthe Victorian era theywere used to doingeverything in a big way.

The Cabinet Photowas 4 inches by 5 1/2

inches on a 4 1/4 inch by6 1/2 inch card — fourtimes the image area ofa CDV. Prior to the newlarger albums the cardswere displayed on theparlor cabinets, thusinspiring the nameCabinet Cards.

Dating the CabinetCards is similar to theCDVs. They didn’treally catch on until the late 1870s, so prior to then, they are scarce.The earliest Cabinet Card mounts were lightweight and light incolor, often with a thin red line about 1/8 inch from the edge. After1880, various colors were used and the area below the imagecontained the photographer’s imprint. Cards with the beveled goldedge date from the period 1885 to 1892. Maroon faced cards wereproduced during the 1880s and cards from the 1890s often hadscalloped edges and were imprinted with elaborate patterns on theback.

Another datable feature is the Real Photo Post Cards. Theycame into existence about 1910 and were used up into the 1930s.They are the standard post card size, and quite often, the ones thatwere mailed will have a postmark on the reverse.

I know that I seem to have been heavily emphasizing the historyof photography, but it’s progress heavily helps us in the dating ofthe baby bottles (or any bottle in the photograph) that are prized inour collections. After about 1900, the camera became a tool of theamateur and the dating of the photos becomes much more difficultand unreliable in research. Also the commercial studios changedvery little in appearance over the first 60 years of the 20th century.

A cabinet card with the thin red lineborder showing a nice Turtle bottle(Murder Bottle) and an elaborate backmark printed on the front.

Bottles and Extras November-December 2007 37

References:Collector’s Guide to Early Photographs,

by O. Henry Mace © 1990.Catalogue of Civil War Photographers,

compiled by George F. Witham © 1988.Exposing America, by David Horn ©

2006.Introduction to Civil War Photography,

by Ross J. Kelbaugh © 1991.

A definitely elaborate Victorian young lady inher exquisite dress and hat. This Cabinet Cardhas the beveled gold edge which dates it to thelate 1880s. Many of the ladies of this periodwould not breast feed because it was beneaththeir dignity. Just a fad, I suppose.

The “real photo” post card is really a uniqueform of its own. Often the photographer traveledfrom house to house plying his trade like theold tin tinker. This young child is using amedicine bottle, capped with a very largenipple. I personally love this type of photobecause it show how much of America reallylived.

A commercial studio portrait showing a cutelittle girl with her nippled medicine bottle alongwith her favorite doll.

Pure Poison, by Charles David HeadContinued from Page 32sinkhole fillers, I told Cousin Billy that weneeded to forget about the pot and thinkabout our hides and get the heck out ofthere. Ever optimistic Cousin Billy retortedthat nobody would ever know we had beenin the valley, much less catch us red-handedgathering some of the crop.

It was then I remembered the crack inthe poison bottle’s “head” and responded:“We may not get caught in here, but if weare and by the right one, it’s going to bePURE POISON for us!”

A gunshot at the head of the valleyaccomplished what my admonishmentscould not – get Cousin Billy moving towardthe truck, We reached home withoutencountering anyone and reminisced aboutour day’s adventures.

I placed the poison bottle on my nightstand where it would be among the firstthings I saw the next morning, serving asa constant reminder for me to try to makeit through the days ahead without getting amatching crack in the skull!

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is a truestory and one very few people have hearduntil now. Although Cousin Billy andI wanted to revisit the valley, we neverhad an opportunity to do so. It is anyone’sguess as to how long the valley was usedto grow marijuana prior to our visit, orhow long the operation continued.However, two years ago, I noticed a photoon the front page of my hometownnewspaper that a major crop of pot had beenconfiscated and hauled away by the JacksonCounty, Alabama Sheriff’s Department.While I am not certain, there is a possibilitythat this pot camefrom the same fieldCousin Billy and Ihad stumbled onto inNovember 2001.