Alfred Howell, 195½ Argyle St., 1873 - 1883

An interesting cdv showing a delicately tinted lady under a layer of varnish, which has broken away at the bottom right hand corner. Peter Ralston is recorded at this curious address till 1871, so the 'Late Ralston' on the card suggests firstly that there may be a discrepancy of a year in the records, and also that this cdv comes from within a year of 1873. The back of the lightly textured card is also varnished - note the run-off at the top left hand corner. Howell uses the American spelling of 'colour' on this card and the ones below. Colin Ramsay the 'Scottish and American Photographer' also has the man and cross graphic (Saint Andrew?) on the back of his card.

Above is an example of two cards of similar design, one of which is produced by an external printer, Marion and Co, the other apparently not. Whether one is a copy of the other is not clear, but these can probably be dated to the mid 1870s. The third below, a similar design, but a superior product, on thicker gilt faced card, with gold text and graphics on the back.

The two portraits below, possibly of brothers, probably taken at the same sitting, (standing?) show the same situation. The design on the back is similar to that on the Mason card used by J. Hogg. Mason cards seem to cluster about the mid 1880s so these cdvs are probably in the 1880s also.