A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
We all know something or other about Wheeling’s rich history. For instance, our National Landmark, the Suspension Bridge sits in plain sight as a statement centerpiece memorial to the past of this “Friendly City.” Prior to the Civil War, when Wheeling was still in Virginia, this iconic feat of engineering finished the connection between Ohio and Virginia via the National Road. Moreover, along with the B&O railroad for trains and the Ohio River for watercraft, Wheeling’s transportation system was truly ideal for the encouragement of growth into the second largest city in the state.
So much has happened here, and so many people have passed through leaving behind only traces of themselves (some, respectfully, more than others) in newspapers, census reports, local lore, journals, letters, artifacts, library books, and more. However, the most important of all these corroborations must be photographs. Today, I’d like to turn the lens around and briefly shed light on a couple lesser-known photographers who have so carefully and meticulously documented our city’s past.
Theodore Brinkmeier, Tintypes, and Cabinet Cards
A few months ago, a good friend of mine, and fellow photographer, graciously gifted me an approx. 6.5”x4.2” piece of cardboard with the face and information of a one “Theodore Brinkmeier.” It looked very old—the surface was scuffed and the corner was bent. When I flipped it over, the words read were “To get the Best Pictures for the least money, call at the Photographic Art Studio of Theo. Brinkmeier.” And at the bottom, “Tin Types.” I knew, then, that I was holding quite the historical artifact, and I just had to know more.
After a quick google search, I discovered that the thin piece of cardboard was a “cabinet card.” These were popular from the late 1800’s into many years after the turn of the century. Cabinet cards were made for the general public and were also used widely for advertisement and business cards.
While Brinkmeier probably made many of these cabinet cards, he also advertised for tintypes. Tintypes are a vintage form of “wet plate” photography popularized during the civil war. The process involves preparing a light aluminum plate with chemicals like collodion and silver nitrate to create an image directly on the tin plate itself. Photographers needed to make sure they had a portable darkroom wherever they went because the plate had to stay wet throughout the process, meaning they had to quickly develop the images. Most tintypes were small enough to be carried in pockets, acting as the world’s first durable, portable images. With the popularity of tintypes, it is likely that this was Brinkmeier’s main form of photography for many years. Notice the prices in the above picture of the cabinet card: “Large, 4 for 50 cents.”
My friend also shared with me an old photo album that has been in his family’s possession for generations. The below image is from the inside of this photo album. It holds a variety of cabinet cards and tin types—some may or may not be made by Brinkmeier, but this is the kind of product that Brinkmeier and other Photographers in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s would have sold to the public.
Brinkmeier advertised his work in the surrounding area from Sistersville, WV, to Martins Ferry, OH. While he may have had other studios in these towns, he had purchased a lot in the year 1902 in Wheeling, WV on Market St., by present-day 7-11, where the Omega Cafe currently resides. It is highly likely that Brinkmeier’s son, with the same first name, had taken over the business after his father’s death; however, the business probably disappeared somewhere around the 1930’s. I could not find much more information regarding its lifespan and success, except that it must have been an esteemed studio.
Photo-Crafters – L. C. Knee: Artifacts Above Nail City Record
A couple months ago, I was asked to meet at Nail City Record for a photoshoot. My client informed me when I arrived, that we’d actually be taking a little adventure to the floor above. We were going to the resting place of a vintage photography studio! Being analog photographer myself with dreams of opening my own studio, I was humbled and elated by the opportunity to explore. We walked up a skinny, creaky, old staircase and into a dusty room where there were no cameras or furniture, but some of the elements of the space still appeared to be frozen in time. I found countless light bulb sockets all over the ceilings and walls, boarded-up windows for light control, and a dedicated darkroom in the back with large sinks and hose hookups. Among all of this was a small backroom with various fragile documents and a couple of decaying photographs They seemed to be quietly awaiting discovery like some historical sleeping beauty.
The most interesting, precious, and educational among the artifacts in this backroom was a single letter: Addressed from Eastman Kodak Co. to Photo-Crafters and dated 1932. The information held in this letter was profound. It provided us with the studio name, “Photo-Crafters”, the photographers name, L. C. Knee, and the shared recipe for a developer named, the “Richardson Formula,” that must have been used there to make many negatives. For all I know, these artifacts still remain above Nail City Record today.
Photo-Crafters was most likely in business around the 1930’s through the late 1940’s. Portrait photographs around this time were primarily taken on film (probably large format film) and dry plates. Though still offered by some photographers, tintypes and wet plate processes were subsequently mostly phased out because there was no longer a need to carry a darkroom around for every picture. On another vein of change were postcards. Linen postcards, in particular, were developed around this time and Photo-Crafters was responsible for publishing many of Wheeling.
View the Archives!
I’ve only touched on a couple here, but there are plenty more photographers in Wheeling’s history. If this article piqued your interest or you’d like to do more research, I would highly suggest using resources of the Ohio County Public Library. They have a plethora of historical images to peruse in their online database and on Flickr. Their collections include works by Thomas M. Darrah, responsible for photographing Wheeling in the late 1800’s, and Joseph Hoffmann, a writer and photographer for the Wheeling News Register. However, the library’s proudest acquisition was donated in 1950 by W. C. Brown. The collection holds photographs from both W.C. Brown and his father, which documents much of Wheeling in turn of the 20th century. You can visit the library’s collections through this link: Archives: Photographic Collections > Archives | Ohio County Public Library | Ohio County Public Library | Wheeling West Virginia | Ohio County WV | Wheeling WV History | (ohiocountylibrary.org)
References:
“Suspension Bridge in Wheeling,” Ohio County Public Library https://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/wheeling-history/3304Ohio County Public Library, The Wheeling Register, Tuesday, March 18th, 1902, https://ohiocountywv.historyarchives.online/viewer?k=theodore%20brinkmeier&i=f&d=01011852-02281935&m=between&ord=k1&fn=wheeling_daily_register_usa_west_virginia_wheeling_19020318_english_2&df=1&dt=10
Ohio County Public Library, “Building of Browne Bros. & Davis, Burkham & Tyler, 1915, Flickr, Jan. 6th, 2025, https://www.flickr.com/photos/ohiocountypubliclibrary/30012433591
Smithsonian Institution Archives, “Greetings from the Smithsonian: A Postcard History,” https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/postcard/postcard-history
Boston Public Library, “St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Wheeling, W. Va.”, Flickr, Jan. 6th, 2025, https://flic.kr/p/faFAJz
Ohio County Public Library, The Wheeling Register, Tuesday, November 17th, 1904, https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/find-out-when-a-photo-was-taken-identify-a-cabinet-card/
