1930s Post Mortem Hand Colored Cabinet Card

In a time before modern medicine and hospitals, maternal and infant mortality rates were high.  With the invention of photography it became common practice to photograph the deceased.  These images were kept as keepsakes, placed in the home as a memorial and tribute to their loved ones.  This practice was popular throughout the Victorian period but began to decline in the 1930s likely with how accessible photography became to the masses.  Most people were able to easily photograph themselves in life and there was less need to photograph people in death.  

This post mortem photograph was taken in the early 1930s, when the practice began to go out of fashion.  This photograph has been lovingly hand colored and mounted on board to be preserved and displayed in the home.  You can just make out the words "Dad" and either "Father" or "Brother" written on ribbons within the flowers.  There is also a coffin plate propped up at the back of the coffin, likely another keepsake for the family to remember their cherished father.