'Fisher and Monfort' ring a bell?

A Salvation Army lass gazes serenely in this cabinet card.

Okay, Plainfield history buffs, here's one for you: Who were Fisher and Monfort?

The current photography exhibit at the Plainfield Public Library ('Chronicles of Plainfield', see here) got me to wondering about what other photographers may have flourished in the Queen City over the years.

Searching the internet turned up some 'cabinet cards' produced by Fisher and Monfort, a studio working in Plainfield probably in the last quarter of the 19th century. You can view scans of the original cards on Cabinet Card Gallery, the blog of the modest 'bmarshphd' (see here). This collector has posted two images by the Plainfield studio, the Salvation Army lass pictured above (see post here), and a wildly mustachioed gentleman (see card here).

Cabinet cards were popular in the latter part of the 19th century as an inexpensive form of portraiture (though they were originally conceived of with landscapes in mind). The photograph was mounted on a stiff piece of cardboard which made it suitable for display on a small stand on a mantelpiece, table top or in a cabinet (hence 'cabinet card').

When George Eastman developed a viable emulsion film in 1885, the days of the cabinet card were numbered, and their demise was hastened by the Kodak box camera which became available to the public in 1888 and made outdoor and more naturally posed photos a possibility.

Though popular, the original Kodaks had the drawback that the user had to mail THE ENTIRE CAMERA back to the manufacturer for processing of the prints (any parallels with replacing batteries in Apple's iPod?), which were then returned, along with the reloaded camera.

Eastman's offering of the Brownie camera in 1900, with its roll of removable film, finally put photography firmly in the hands of end users, and was the last nail in the coffin of American cabinet cards, which seem to have disappeared within a few years of the Brownie's debut.

The Plainfield business' partners were Charles W. Fisher and George W. Monfort.

What happened to their studio after cabinet cards waned in popularity? Did they adapt to the changing times or did they disappear?

Anyone have any clues?

This mustachioed gentleman is a good example of a cabinet card.

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• Plainfield Today: "'Chronicles of Plainfield' exhibit at the Library"
• Blog: "Cabinet Card Gallery"
• Cabinet Card: "Bespectacled Salvation Army worker in Plainfield, NJ"
• Cabinet Card: "Great Mustache in Plainfield, NJ"
• Wikipedia: "Cabinet cards" | "Kodak and film" | "The Brownie" | "Eastman Kodak origins"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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