[Dressed in Finery]--a Tintype Photograph of 8 young people

No place identified: No photographer identified, No date [c. late 19th c.]. No binding, photograph. Very good +. [TINTYPE PHOTOGRAPH] [MELAINOTYPE] [FERROTYPE.] 3 ½" x 5"; image is clear; japanned verso; light scratching to surface; very good plus. A tintype or ferrotype photograph of five young women and three young men, most likely taken during the 1890s based on the clothing style. Three men, two in Bowler or derby style hats and suits buttoned high. First introduced in England in the 1840s and considered formal wear, the Bowler was worn by working classes by the late 19th century. The women are dressed in suits with short jackets, a style that emerged in the late 1880s and went on to be a men's wear craze during the 1890s and well into the 1910s. Each person's outfit suggests the wealth of the upper class. Other types of photography had been developed and perfected by the late 19th century, but the tintype remained a sturdy, inexpensive and quickly developed alternative.