Cabinet Card

Eaton Lothrop Collection

Cabinet cards with images of photographers are rare and with women photographers, exceptionally so. I have yet to find an affordable cabinet card of a woman photographer for my own collection. Cabinet cards by women photographers, however, are fairly common.

The camera on the right is an Adlake Repeater magazine camera, made by the Adams & Westlake Co. in the years 1899-1900. It came in two sizes, 3-1/4x4-1/4 and 4x5. According to Eaton, the company was better known for its manufacture of bicycle head lamps and other lamps.

The only cabinet card with a camera in my own collection is this one of children, a common theme on postcards but rare on cabinet cards.

F. R. Lavender of Ravenna, Michigan, the photographer of this scene, appears to have set it up outdoors. Two of the girls are wearing identical striped (possibly Kodak Girl??) dresses.