Cabinet Card Story...

[Vince Lupo]

Wasn't sure where to put this thread, so I thought I'd start here. This is probably the most interesting cabinet card I've ever found in the last 40 years. I think it has a lot going for it.


Whealdon1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Whealdon2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

A bit of a back story: I've been an avid antiquer since I was about 12 or 13 years-old (I put all the blame on my father - dragging me to countless auction sales and garage sales, and even helping him with selling antiques way back then). Consequently I've been interested in all kinds of old stuff, and of course I've always been a sucker for old photos. Last year I got into vintage Daisy bb guns (yes yes don't shoot your eye out blah blah blah), and have since become interested in all things Daisy. In the course of my daily eBay scouring I came across this antique cabinet card. For those of you who don't know what a cabinet card is, it was a style of photograph that was used for portraiture during the latter part of the 19th century. They generally measure about 4.25" x 6.5", and are a thin photo print affixed to heavy card stock. On the bottom of the card stock is usually the photography studio name, address etc, and it's sometimes printed on the back too. They were pretty much gone by the 1930's.

Anyhow, this particular card is from about 1890 - it has the name (I think!) of the subject written on the back. Guy Hiller Whealdon. Very unusual subject, as you can see (part of what drives the value of cabinet cards is the subject matter). A little boy, dressed in Revolutionary War costume, and holding - you guessed it - a very early Daisy bb gun. This is their 'wire stock' model, so truly one of their very first models (circa 1890). So right away the bb gun dates the photo. Second, a quick little Googling of Guy Hiller Whealdon reveals that he was born in Texarkana in 1883, so therefore he's about 7 years-old in this picture (turns out he died in 1918 from Spanish influenza). So that all seems reasonable. But now look at the name of the studio on the bottom of the card -- also the name of Whealdon. Hmmm. A bit more online sleuthing and I find Josh Whealdon Photography Studio in Texarkana. Ok now let's search for Josh/Joshua Whealdon. Found him. Born in Virginia, moved to Texarkana. Married to Emma Hiller. Had two kids. Guess who one of their children is -- Guy Hiller Whealdon. So if this photo is of Guy Hiller Whealdon, then this is the photographer's son!

Another thing about this picture that caught my eye -- Guy Hiller Whealdon looks to me like he might be African American. So if that's the case, then would it follow that Josh Whealdon was also African American? And if that's the case, then I think he'd be one of the few (I think!) African American photographers in the 19th century in the United States. Just maybe?

I have a couple of calls in to some historical society folks in Texarkana. Hopefully they'll be able to shed some more light on Josh Whealdon and his photography studio. If my suspicions and super-sleuthing turn out to in fact be correct, then this is a really interesting photo indeed (and if not, well it's just a really great photo nonetheless). My initial plan was to donate the card to the Daisy Museum in Rogers, Arkansas, but I'm still considering my options.

As they say, every picture tells a story!

 

[Muggins]

Wow, how fascinating! Please keep us posted on what you find out.

Adrian

 

[farlymac]

I have some family photos like that, and that was only two generations ago. Several more I've gotten over the years, thinking if I ever started another studio, I'd emulate the design for promotional purposes. Most are on card stock of the size you mention, Vince, but some are in folders.


Could it be that film plates and papers of that era rendered skin tones a bit darker?



PF

 

[Molli]

Sorry to just plonk myself down into the middle of your conversation, but I did a little digging (love the photograph, by the way!)
This is a link to Guy Hiller Whealdon's family tree, including grandparents and descendents (another two generations of 'Guy H. Whealdons' followed).

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/KZGZ-FTJ

I'm afraid I am going to spoil one hopeful line of speculation. He's listed on his draft registration as "Race: White".

Anyway, I hope this is of interest to you.
Kindly,
Molli

 

[Vince Lupo]

Sorry to just plonk myself down into the middle of your conversation, but I did a little digging (love the photograph, by the way!)
This is a link to Guy Hiller Whealdon's family tree, including grandparents and descendents (another two generations of 'Guy H. Whealdons' followed).

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/KZGZ-FTJ

I'm afraid I am going to spoil one hopeful line of speculation. He's listed on his draft registration as "Race: White".

Anyway, I hope this is of interest to you.
Kindly,
Molli

Thanks for the great info. Unfortunately I'm unable to directly see it via that link, as you need to 'sign up' in order to access it. Amazing what you can find online!

 

[Vince Lupo]

I have some family photos like that, and that was only two generations ago. Several more I've gotten over the years, thinking if I ever started another studio, I'd emulate the design for promotional purposes. Most are on card stock of the size you mention, Vince, but some are in folders.


Could it be that film plates and papers of that era rendered skin tones a bit darker?



PF

Not sure actually, here again it was just my personal perception.

Still not sure what I'm going to do with the card -- I may possibly end up keeping it, and having it matted/framed really nicely.

The Daisy model could be the third version of the wire stock, so that would be 1891. I compared the one in the cabinet card with one in one of my Daisy history books and it’s close, but not an exact match. I can’t seem to find a picture of the second version anywhere, and I think the fourth version had a wood stock. Pretty sure it’s not another brand (like Markham or King).

 

[Muggins]

Agreed as to the astonishing variety of stuff you can find on the intertubes. I was searching Ancestry for something today and thanks to the vagaries of it's search algorithms, discovered that it was picking out names for me from the records of Dachau.

That was a sobering moment.

The object of my research was world changing in its own way, saving more lives than the Holocaust took, but nonetheless it sat me back a few steps to find that.

Adrian

 

[rfaspen]

I used to have an old Daisy BB gun. It was my grandfathers. I had a sale and someone was mighty anxious to snap it up. I think I asked too little for it -- perhaps $10? It definitely had a wood stock.

As an honorary New Mexican, I can see your interest in old Daisy airguns. A long history for sure, eh?


Mine looked just like this one, or very similar. It was a rather old one, not new:

 

[Vince Lupo]

I used to have an old Daisy BB gun. It was my grandfathers. I had a sale and someone was mighty anxious to snap it up. I think I asked too little for it -- perhaps $10? It definitely had a wood stock.

As an honorary New Mexican, I can see your interest in old Daisy airguns. A long history for sure, eh?


Mine looked just like this one, or very similar. It was a rather old one, not new:

Guess it all depends on which model, whether it was a Plymouth MI or Rogers AR manufacture, wood stock vs plastic stock etc etc. Plus condition is a huge thing, and if they’re working, been resealed etc. The first model Red Ryder, for example, can bring big bucks (like upwards of $750), but the second model is less than half that. Model 25’s are pretty consistent across the board, but the Variant 7 example (first year of the engraved receiver, about 1936) seems to be the desirable model. As a shooter I’d rather have a model 25 over a Red Ryder. Think it all depends on which way the wind is blowing and what certain people are interested in collecting. I’m not a fan of the Red Ryder, but if a pre-WWII example came along in nice shape and at a good price, I might be interested. I’m teaching myself to take them apart and reseal them, so that is a bit of a money-saver. My wife has definitely kept me ‘in check’, so I have a fairly limited collection. Probably a good thing 🙂

Funny thing - if you’ve seen the movie ‘A Christmas Story’, the Red Ryder that Ralphie wants has a compasss in the stock and that thing that tells time (sundial). In reality, Daisy never made a Red Ryder like that. The author of the book upon which the movie is based mis-remembered the BB gun he had as a child. It was actually a Buck Jones model and not a Red Ryder, so Daisy had to make a special version of the Red Ryder just for the movie. Subsequently Daisy did come out with various commemorative models of the ‘Christmas Story’ Red Ryder that had the compass and the thing that told time in the stock.

Right now my favourite is the model 195 Buzz Barton Special (I have a 1936 version). Shoots great (about 280-300 FPS) and is really accurate. Paper targets quake in its presence. Another one I have that’s a real peach is a Sheridan Blue Streak (1971 vintage), but that’s a .20 cal pellet multi-pump pneumatic rifle, so much more power than a vintage BB gun.