Two men by Thiele in Hamburg
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These two little carte de visite images were sold to me together as part of a larger lot. They both appear to (unfortunately) be trimmed along the bottom in the same way. Both are photographed by C. Thiele of Hamburg, Germany. And both men appear to have related occupations. So is that all a coincidence, or did these two men know each other? I’m interested in the way the backs have the same graphic design, but different colors. See what I mean below [click to enlarge]. Were these photos taken at different times, between which the photographer changed his stock? Or did the photographer offer at least two different options at once?
Pics of Then 
I bet Thiele offered different options to his customers. The black looks good from the front, but isn’t convenient for writing on the back. If I were a customer, I’d probably end up buying some of each!
That makes sense. And good point about the black one being hard to write on.