Carte de visite facts for kids
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The carte de visite (pronounced "cart duh vee-ZEET"), often shortened to CdV, was a special type of small photograph. It was like a tiny picture printed on a card. A photographer named André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in Paris made it famous in 1854, even though someone else used it first.
These photos were the same size as a regular visiting card. People loved to swap these photo cards with their friends and family in the 1860s. Many homes had special albums to collect and show off these cards. Because they were so popular, people also started collecting photos of famous people.
Contents
The Story of Carte de Visite Photos
A carte de visite was usually a thin paper photo, called an albumen print. This photo was then glued onto a thicker paper card. The photo part was about 54.0 mm (2.125 in) by 89 mm (3.5 in). The card it was mounted on was a bit bigger, about 64 mm (2.5 in) by 100 mm (4 in).
In 1854, Disdéri also found a way to take eight different pictures on one camera plate. This made it much cheaper to produce the photos. The carte de visite didn't become super popular right away. But in 1859, Disdéri released photos of Emperor Napoleon III using this format. Suddenly, everyone wanted one!
This new photo style became incredibly popular very quickly. People even called the craze "cardomania." It spread fast across Europe, then to America, and all over the world.
By the early 1870s, cartes de visite started to be replaced. A new, larger photo card called a "cabinet card" became popular. These were also usually albumen prints but bigger, measuring 110 mm (4.5 in) by 170 mm (6.5 in). Cabinet cards were popular until the early 1900s. That's when Kodak introduced the Brownie camera, making it easy for everyone to take their own snapshots at home.
Photos During the American Civil War
The carte de visite photo was very popular during the American Civil War. Soldiers and their families could get these photos cheaply. They could then send them to loved ones in small envelopes.
Photos of important people like Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant became huge hits in the North. People didn't just buy photos of themselves. They also collected pictures of famous people of the time.
Gallery of cartes de visite
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One of the first cartes de visite of Queen Victoria, taken by photographer John Jabez Edwin Mayall.
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Tewodros II of Ethiopia in the 1860s.
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Hector Berlioz, around 1864.
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Two photos from the American Civil War. These soldiers were part of the 77th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
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Sojourner Truth. She sold these photos to help raise money.
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The only known photo of Mary Seacole, taken in London around 1873.
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Sim D. Kehoe, who brought Indian-club exercises to the United States.
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A chair given by Seth Kinman to Abraham Lincoln. Kinman sold CdVs in the U.S. Capitol.
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Fridtjof Nansen, 1886.
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An early funny cat picture by British photographer Harry Pointer, around the 1870s.
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Camille Silvy's portrait of William Fane De Salis, London, 1861.
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A. Kerpen with a beard 8 feet long, grown over 11 years.
Images for kids
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A later cabinet card showing the same image of Sojourner Truth.
See also
In Spanish: Tarjeta de visita (retrato fotográfico) para niños
