Tintype photos and sources for obtaining your own...

Good morning friends. I hope that you are all well and had a wonderful Christmas. Now that the gifts have been cleared away, I am trying to focus on cleaning up my studio, which for the past few weeks became a gift-wrapping station covered with glitter and all sorts of miscellaneous mess. The work table is recovering and being readied for some creative projects.

I have been going through my stash of old photos, and wanted to share some info on tintypes. I recently bought a few, not as much for art projects, but rather just to admire. These are usually pretty dark, and do not copy or scan very well. You can read up on these on Wikipedia, but they were around before the ever-popular cabinet cards, being popular during the Civil War and into the 19th century. Though they were not actually made of tin, they were durable and small. This made it easy for soldiers to carry pictures of their loved ones with them. I sometimes wonder if any of the ones that I have were held in the pocket of a soldier who missed his wife and children. Note that the fashions and hairstyles are different than what you see on the cabinet cards (hair being parted down the middle, for instance).

Below are a few of mine to share with you, all purchased on eBay...

This one measures only about an inch high.

I love this one. It is cracked, which lends to its charm. Could

this have been the one carried into battle?

The next three were obtained through eBay also.

Note the slight blushing of the cheeks on the first two,

which seems to have been the trend.

The last three pictures shown above were obtained from the same seller. Her name is Glenda, and after I purchased these, she sent me the nicest email thanking me for the purchase. Well, actually, I only bought the first two, and she provided the third for free! I must say that I have only had great experiences with the sellers on eBay, but this lady offers an excellent client experience that is paralleled only by the pictures that she sells. If you want to see her current eBay offerings, she is under the seller name of "recycledrelatives". Glenda also provided me with her two websites. The first is dedicated totally to tintypes and can be found here. Be sure to check out her personal collection, as well as the ones that she has for sale. She also has another website through which she sells other photos, and that one can be found here. You will not be sorry you spent the time!

Well, so much for the lesson of today! Stay well!