Black and White Portrait Of a Young Man, By Smith, Dayton, Ohio.

Cabinet cards, popular in the late 1800s, are easy to recognize because they are mounted on cardstock, often with an imprint of the photographer and location just below the photo. There are similar card-type photographs, such as the smaller carte-de-visits which was introduced in the 1850s, but if your old photo is about 4x6 in size then chances are it is a cabinet card.

A style of photograph first introduced in 1863 by Windsor & Bridge in London, the cabinet card is a photographic print mounted on card stock. The Cabinet card got its name from its suitability for display in parlours, especially in cabinets, and was a popular medium for family portraits.