Couple in Durand, Wisconsin
Click here to view it larger.
Click here to view the back.
What it is:
Carte de Visite (CDV) measuring 2.5 x 4.25 inches.
What I know about it:
Photographer is W. L. Bachelder of Durand, Wisconsin. Written on the back in pencil is Aunt Emma [or Erma] / Uncle Ed / for / Russell.”
Comments:
Emma or Erma? Feel free to click on the link above and weigh in if you can decipher the handwriting better than I can. He appears relaxed, staring confidently into the camera, while she appears to be barely tolerating that awkward corseting, gazing off to the side as if awaiting rescue. But then I noticed the strangely thick, rough material at his wrists beneath his jacket sleeves. It almost looks like an unraveling sweater. Is it the lining? His shirt almost appears to be a scratchy woolen work shirt with a white dress collar stuck on it. Could that be right? It made me wonder if he’s really as comfortable as he initially looks.
Pics of Then 
I was going to suggest this be dated 1880s, but then I checked a book and found almost the exact same dress in the 1870s section. FWIW.
Re: curlies at wrists: so weird! Some kind of wrist-warmer?
Thanks for the date suggestion. And as for the wrist fabric, it’s still a mystery to me. I go back and forth between feeling it’s some odd garment he’s wearing, or that it’s an awkwardly lined jacket. But it’s just as likely that I’m way off base in my guesses.
Uncle Earl and Aunt Emma? Erin?
Hard to say, isn’t it?
It looks like Erin, but I’d go with Emma, lol…