John H. Kay, 57 Argyle St., 1862 - 1865

A thin card with an early form of text on the back which was used by many other photographers (eg, Bowman, MacNab, Ralston) in the early years of the 1860s. The print is marred by a very definite fingerprint over the gentleman's face.

The simple form of the text on the reverse, and the lady's fashion and accessories suggest a date in 1863 or 1864 for the cdv above.

The rather poor quality cdv above shows typical furnishings of the period, and a full length framing. The image of the back has been darkened to show more clearly the small central design which again was customary in the early to mid 1860s. Almost identical designs were used by MacNab and Robertson, among others.

The stereo card below of the Glasgow necropolis was taken by a photographer A. R. MacWilliams, and published by John Kay. It is likely to have been taken in the very early 1860s or even late 1850s, when the first craze for stereo arose. It can be seen that the workers are wearing top hats!