Way We Were: Cabinet card photo of 2 boys from late 19th century

Cabinet card photographs, larger-size portrait photos mounted on hard cardboard featuring staged scenes or props, were popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This one taken by prolific Naperville photographer A.C. Kendig is of Ervine and Clarence Brown in the late 19th century, according to Naperville Heritage Society records. The two boys look like they’re rowing a small boat but it’s nothing more than a staged set into which they were placed.