Carte-de-visite advertising photograph issued by Bliss, Artist, located in the Dearborn Block on West Main Street in St. Charles, Illinois. The front features a small portrait of a mustached man surrounded by bold red printed promotional text advertising the studio’s services. The card prominently states “Copying and Enlarging a Specialty,” along with “Photographing and Ferrotyping Done,” indicating the studio offered both standard albumen portraits and tintype photography.

Advertising mounts such as this were commonly distributed by nineteenth-century photographers as both promotional material and examples of their portrait work. The combination of printed advertising text and mounted photograph allowed potential clients to see the quality of the studio’s output while also learning about available services including copying older photographs and producing enlargements. These hybrid advertisement portraits are less frequently encountered than standard studio CDVs.

The reverse carries a detailed “Bliss Price List” outlining costs for photographs and ferrotypes, including prices for dozens, half dozens, duplicates, and different plate sizes. The printed list also notes that negatives were preserved, allowing customers to reorder images. A visually appealing and informative example of nineteenth-century photographic studio advertising.