Although there were a few different technologies used to product cabinet photos, the albumen emulsion process was the most popular. Albumen prints are always mounted on stiff cardboard and were frequently displayed in cabinets or bookcases and thus were called cabinet photos or cabinet cards.

Albumen prints were produced from glass negatives on paper coated with clear egg whites mixed with aluminum chloride. Egg whites are also called albumen, which gave the process its name. The coated paper could be dried and stored and later used a bath of silver nitrate as the sensitizing agent just prior to exposure. This made it a “wet plate” system. The exposed paper was developed in a solution of pyrogallic acid. The process was introduced in 1850 by L.D. Blanquart-Evrard in France and was used until about 1910. This means that there are a lot of cabinet photos in existence. In fact, millions of these photos still exist and many are in fairly good shape.

Albumen prints produced sharp images with a good tonal range. Moreover, multiple prints could be made from a single glass negative. One further advantage is that albumen coated paper could be mass produced and cut and used as needed.

The durability of albumen prints is good if they are stored in cool, dark and dry places. Moisture and humidity can damage the protein-based albumen coating. Most often a deterioration shows up as fading, yellowing or brown spots.

One identifying characteristic of a albumen print is it distinct purplish-brown or purple tones. Yellowing and fading are common and will be found even with good quality prints. These traits distinguish albumen prints from similar looking prints produced at the time, such as woodburytypes and carbon prints, which do not fade due to the pigments used.

Albumen prints were mounted on stiff cardboard because they had a tendency to curl as they dried out. In fact, if they were not held flat by some method, they often curled so badly that they would eventually resemble a drinking straw. Once a print has curled, there isn’t any method to straighten it out without damaging the print.

Many albumen prints, such as the one at the right taken around 1890, included the name and location of the photography studio. From a family history research perspective, this information is important because it can help you to pinpoint both when the photo was taken and where the person lived. Studio photographs were popular in the late 1800s and many neighborhoods contained one or two studios.