A Picture Says a Thousand Words: Photos as Memory during the Civil War

 

Union soldier, Library of Congress

In a previous post early last year I wrote about revenue stamps which were introduced in the US in 1862 to pay for what was likely to be a protracted war. Many items such as bank checks, mortgage documents, deeds, and even playing cards were taxed, for the most part, for one or two cents. Bear in mind that at that time one cent was the equivalent to today's 20 cents. For this purpose the Internal Revenue Department printed stamps in varying denominations. See my post here: https://ccowing.blogspot.com/2024/01/taxes-taxes.html

Photographs were becoming more common and less expensive. The first commercially viable type of photograph, the daguerreotype, was introduced in 1839 and rapidly made it to the United States. By early 1840 daguerreotype studios were popping up in all major cities on the East Coast. Daguerreotypes were expensive and cumbersome to make. The sitter had to sit still for some minutes although with that time was reduced. The photographer had to go through a number of complex steps that needed to be done precisely in order to produce a good image. Daguerreotypes can be difficult to view as well. They were produced on a silver plated copper plate, so they have a mirror finish. They often have to be held at a particular angle to be viewed.

In the mid 1850's two new methods of taking photographs were developed. The ambrotype was an image produced on a piece of glass and encased for protection. It involved some work but was easier to make. Even easier was the tintype, an image produced on a piece of sheet iron lacquered in black, generally, although dark brown was sometime used. A tintype could be produced in about 20 minutes start to finish so this became the preferred way to have a picture made. By the mid 1860's the tintype was king, the ambrotype was fading from use, and the daguerreotype was rarely made.

When soldiers enlisted in either the Confederate or Union armies it was common for them to have their picture made as a tintype and either sent home if done in the field, or done at home before they left. Compared to today's money they only cost a few dollars and were durable images.

By 1864 the war debt on the Union side was growing rapidly. By the end of the war it was 2.7 billion dollars in contemporary money, almost 41 billion today. Revenue stamps paid this off by 1883.  In mid 1864 the tax was expanded to include photographs, most often tintypes. This tax on photographs was in effect from 1864-1866.  It was a good source of revenue because so many people took advantage of it.

I do not own any Civil War tintypes in my collection because they are very

expensive and desirable, although I hope to some day. I do have a collection of tintypes, ambrotypes and a couple of daguerreotypes of average people from before and during the war, however. A few have revenue stamps, three in particular have revenue stamps that were cancelled by the photographer when the customer paid for the picture. Many times the stamp intended for playing cards were used, but quite often stamps were used for any tax regardless of the wording on the stamp. In the example here, this tiny tintype (this size is called a "gem,") is mounted into a card, a very common way to mount the picture. On the back the tax was paid with a 2 cent bank check stamp. It was cancelled by the photographer, which was done by hand often with the date. It is notoriously difficult to date pictures from this period, in which hair styles and clothing are the only clues as to when the picture was made. Here, I know the exact date, December 26, 1864. The big question is whether he was off to war. It's impossible to tell. The production of tintypes expanded rapidly as more soldiers were drafted or enlisted, and after the war it remained common. Glass plate negatives were coming into use during the war, and they eventually dominated the market because unlimited prints of the photograph could be made from one negative, whereas all the previous methods produced unique images. Except for the tintype. The typical tintype was 2.5" x 3". the "gem" size pictures were made with cameras with multiple lenses, sometimes with as many as twelve lenses, so multiple images could be made at once because of their small size.

The other side of memory is just as poignant. Soldiers on both sides very commonly had small tintypes or ambrotypes of loved ones. Many stories are told of a dead soldier being found on a battlefield with a tiny picture of a loved one in his hand, presumably looking on their image in his last moments of life. The three photographs below, one tintype and two ambrotypes, are all small. The tiniest is that of the young girl, which is less than two inches square. The other two are 2 by 2.5 inches. Any and all of these could have been cherished by a soldier who may or may not have come home.

Young girl, tintype, ca 1860-65

Widow, ambrotype, ca. 1860-65

Young woman, ambrotype, ca. 1860-65

Southern couple, ca. 1860's

Occasionally couples would have their photograph taken together. The picture above of a couple in the 1860's is an excellent example. It could be one that the husband had taken before he left for the war. I believe it to be from the Confederacy because of the style of the husband's beard, which wasn't nearly as common in the North as it was in the South. It's likely their sober expressions are a result of having to wait a few seconds for the exposure. I have to wonder, though, if the wife's expression, seemingly one of steely determination, is in anticipation of her husband going away to war, perhaps never to return.

George Lewis, my gr. gr. grandfather, was able to have a salt print made from a glass plate negative, often referred to as a "dry plate" because the chemicals on the plate's surface were not wet. It is possible that his uncle I.C. Lewis paid for it. We'll never know.