Colorized Photos of Lincoln

[Donna McCreary]

(11-24-2012 08:42 PM)Mark MacKenzie Wrote:  There is a recent magazine special on Lincoln. I thought it was Time Life but I think I am mistaken. Anyway, there is a photo of Mary in a dress that looks black with a pattern of strawberries. Then there is a photo beside of the actual dress in the Smithsonian. It is a beautiful dark blue with the strawberry patterns. I guess it is an Elizabeth Keckley dress.

I will look up what magazine it was. I lent it to a friend.

Daguerreotypes were frequently tinted. I wonder when the tinting fad became popular. Wallace Nutting made a fortune off of it in the early 1900's.

The "strawberry dress" is located at the ALPL in Springfield. For detailed information, you can check pages 59 - 61 of Fashionable First Lady: The Victorian Wardrobe of Mary Lincoln. Most likely it was made by Keckly, but we can not be sure. What makes this dress outstanding are the beautifully embroidered red berries and green and purple leaves on the black silk fabric. I studied this dress in detail several years ago. It is one of the few dresses of Mary's that still exist.