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Ambrotypes, Melianotypes, and Firnotypes, Oh My! Photography after the Civil War

An ad placed in the Winchester News for August 18, 1865 shows Winchester getting back to some semblance of normalcy. One of those signs was Nathaniel Routzahn, a local photographer, noting a reduction in prices for his services to previous costs. His prices before the war? According to an 1859 ad, they ranged anywhere from 50 cents to $50. 

An 1858 invention to display photographs like a slideshow, advanced by the knobs on the top of the cabinet in The American Journal of Photography. The inventor believed "it has numbered the days of the fashionable album."

Suppose you were hankering for a portrait. Mr. Routzahn's company offered several options, so let's take a look to explore what each type of image was:

  • Ambrotypes: This is an image printed on glass, which first proliferated in the United States in the 1850s. While they were cheaper to produce and clearer than the earlier daguerreotype, by the time of this ad, ambrotypes were falling out of favor, in part due to their fragility.
  • Melianotypes: This appears to be another name for tintype photography (and is usually spelled "melanotype" in modern sources). In contrast to the ambrotype, tintypes used a thin metal sheet with a dark lacquer as the base, making them a bit more resilient, and also a bit faster and cheaper to produce. The downside? Tintypes used potassium cyanide as a fixer, making it potentially the most hazardous photography method. Tintypes persisted into the 1930s.
  • Firnotypes: This one may be a complete misspelling, possibly intending "ferrotype" here. This is essentially another kind of tintype, likely with a different proprietary production method.
  • Hallotypes: This appears to be a subset of ambrotypes, still being on glass, but this time involving two pieces of glass and additional color washes. The two pieces of glass are affixed to each other, creating something of a "3D" effect.
  • Card de Visette: Most likely a corruption of the more common term "carte-de-visite, or photographic calling card." These small prints (about 2 1/8" x 3 1/2") were introduced around 1861, and faded by 1905.

An ad taken out the following year introduced the "porcelain" to Routzahn's lineup, which, as you can imagine, consisting of firing the photographic image onto a piece of porcelain. The technique was supposed to be the best "for softness and delicacy of tone, clear complexion and making the features stand out prominent." 

By 1868, Routzahn had relocated to the first floor of the newly-built Masonic Lodge, opposite the Taylor Hotel. It appears from brief newspaper notices that Routzahn took at several tours in the surrounding areas as an itinerant photographer, but always returned to Winchester. He passed away at age 87 in 1908, and is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery, marked with a stone obelisk.

Sanborn map, 1885, showing the Lodge at building numbered 23. The gallery was in an addition off the back of the first floor. 

If  Routzahn's name seems slightly familiar, you may have heard it in connection with his most famous photograph taken of General "Stonewall" Jackson during the winter of 1861-1862. The story goes that before he sat for the photo in his military uniform, one of his buttons had fallen off. After begging a needle and thread, the button was reattached - though somewhat misaligned, leading to the so-called "crooked button" picture. 

While details about Nathaniel Routzahn are relatively scarce outside his famous image, a profile in the 1883 Winchester Times alludes that he was imprisoned at Fort McHenry during the Civil War for his attempts to obtain chemicals for his photography. After looking through the prisoner records of Fort McHenry, we may be able to confirm this tidbit. On page 290, there is an entry for a Routzahn, first name illegible, who was a citizen. It appears he may have been imprisoned from Dec. 13-31, 1864 at the orders of Major General Sheridan. He was suspected of being a blockade runner, which tracks with the statement in the newspaper.

The chemicals needed for photography are flammable, and collodion can also be used in medical applications. Sheridan's time of military occupation in Winchester was especially harsh, so it is plausible an "innocent" attempt to obtain chemicals could be seen as an attempt to smuggle in restricted goods. If this is indeed our Nathaniel Routzahn, he was released by General Morris, the commander of Fort McHenry.

If the timeline is correct from the article in the Winchester Times, Routzahn arrived in Winchester around 1858 and enjoyed a long career taking portraits at least through the 1870s and likely into the 1880s. More of his work, including the "crooked button" image, can be seen at the Stewart Bell Jr.'s image collection.

For the scholars, you may wish to read more at Photographs from the 19th Century to learn about these different photographic processes and how to identify them, or Photography in a Nut Shell, printed the same year Routzahn set up shop in Winchester.

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