Victorian Tin Types

Poking about, I came across an interesting thing called Victorian Tin Types and, having no idea what they were, I decided to poke about some more...

I found a brief history of tin types at Grand Memories: A tintype is a photograph made on a sheet of iron (not really tin) instead of on paper. In 1856 Hamilton Smith patented the process for producing tintypes. Most tintypes were sepia colored (light brown). The most common size was about 2 ½ " x 3 ½", although they were made much smaller for lockets and as large as 5x7. Tintypes were popular from1856 until the late nineteenth century when cheaper paper methods and better photographic equipment caused them to disappear as "old technology."


lovely tin type online