Carte-de-Visite

The Carte de Visite has been made for over 60 years and its appearance has changed a lot during that time. From about 1870 it became really popular. The first photos were mounted on a thin, plain cardboard. On the back the photographer and the city was noted. But there were also very few photographers who moved from place to place. Since there were not many photographers in the beginning, there was no need to print more information on the CdV. With the competition the phantasy of the cardboard suppliers grew and many subjects and information could be printed on the back. The size varied only slightly and remained about 6 x 10 cm, but there were also much smaller and larger formats. Compared to portraits, much fewer landscapes were made as CdV.

At that time, it was certainly an event to go to the photographer and people also dressed up accordingly. For a good photo you had to sit or stand for seconds. Therfore it was not easy to take a good picture of a child. If you compare a daily wage of that time with the price of the CdVs, then the expenses were quite considerable. The CdVs may have been stored in an album or photo frame on the dresser.