There was nothing especially posh about CDVs.... They became relatively cheap and people at all levels of society paid for them and exchanged them. They were not "visiting cards" associated with silver salvers, butlers and society matrons calling on each other. They took their name from such visiting cards only because they were the same size. Society matrons probably would have thought it infra dig to leave a calling card with your likeness upon it! There is an excellent book, "The Mechanical Eye in Australia" which will give you a lot more background about photography in Australia, but I cannot think - off the top of my head - of a similar reference for Scotland. However, I cannot imagine someone has not done some kind of catalogue or reference to photographic studios of the 19th Century - the Scots took to photography like ducks to water. Bob Hay. On Dec 29, 2007 2:16 PM, Helen Ulmann <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks again, Bob. I really would like the potted history if you don't > mind. Of course I'd read of visiting cards, silver platters, butlers etc. > but hadn't realized that some cartes de visite came with photographs - was > this the norm? I'd thought of my gggrandfather as a simple crofter (with > 4 > acres beside the old Spey Bridge at Grantown) who had worked as a grieve > on > farms on the Castle Grant estate. Not of the social strata to have > visiting > cards produced. But perhaps it was wealthy son Peter who decided that Dad > should be upgraded! > Canberra's photographic expo sounds fascinating, the place to be in 2008, > particularly for a (pre-digital) mad keen photographer... > Happy New Year, > Helen > > > >