Emma Lorderyon Simmons (1871–1913) stands at center in a full-length portrait captured by J. B. Grignon, Jr. of his Photo Studio in Winneconne, Wisconsin, on an albumen cabinet card dating to the 1890s. The image is exceptional in its occupational specificity: Simmons poses directly before a display stand bearing the sign "Mrs. Bollom Millinery," placing her squarely within the world of the late Victorian hat trade.

Her costume is a showpiece of the milliner's craft, featuring a light-ground skirt printed with bold botanical or bird motifs, layered from collar to hem with cascading white and dark feather pompons and fluffy marabou trim. A large dark hat crowns her head, its brim edged in white ruffled fabric, and she wears dark gloves while holding additional feathered millinery stock. The display stand behind her is similarly dressed with alternating white and dark pompons.

Winneconne, Wisconsin, is a small Fox River community in Winnebago County, where small-town milliners regularly staged trade photographs to advertise seasonal stock to local clientele.

The reverse bears a later manuscript inscription reading "Emma Lorderyon Simmons / 1871–1913."

From the collection of James Lee Soffer