7 original albumen prints, all with a canceled tax stamp.

Format "carte de visite", 9/10 x 5,5/6,2 cm.

7 photos showing 3 men and 4 women, full-length or head and shoulders, with orange, blue or red tax revenue stamps on verso. The stamps were used by the American government to raise funds during the Civil War. In the Revenue Act of 1862, all kinds of luxury goods incl. photos were taxed. As the war continued and funding became thinner, the act was expanded even further. The photographers were ordered to collect the tax, fix the stamp showing that the tax had been paid and then cancel the stamp with initials and date. The stamps applied here in orange and blue with a denomination of 2 cent were commonly used for images costing up to 25 cents. In 1865 the tax on images costing under 10 cents was reduced to a 1 cent tax which led to a very rare 1 cent red stamp (present here). With the tax repealed in 1865 the revenue stamps were no longer needed.