Time for another adorable, Victorian era cabinet card that has found its fabulous way into my collection. And whereas the previous young lady that I posted about HERE was blonde and in brighter color clothing, our subject today is in all black, hair color, ribbons, and all. Is she possibly in mourning? We will unfortunately never know. She is smiling, which would mean if she is mourning, then that facial expression makes this photo just a little bit sinister, now doesn't it?
2 comments:
She just finished saying "If you check behind me, you will find your liver, and a couple other random organs, on the ground."
Then blood erupts from your mouth and you hit the floor.
That's not a black dress, that's leathery wings!
They all look a little funereal to me, but that is likely as much because of the granite tombstone style of wreath-embossed stock they are affixed to as the photograph itself
Many examples of this kind of thing--from the Victorian age all the way through Olde Photo Shoppe booths at traveling carnivals and Coney Islands in the recent past--predominantly feature people in dark colors. My guess is that many photo services had a closet of rental wear so people who showed up for portraits could dress for the occasion; that that black, brown, blue were just easier colors to bring off--to keep clean, to drape neatly over other outfits--than lighter colors would be.
But I'm probably overthinking it. And the fact is that this really is from the Victorian age, and nobody celebrated death rites quite like they did. So a smiling child in mourning dress feels remarkably on brand.
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