F. M. Wills and Harry Barfoot are depicted in full-length theatrical costume in this cabinet card, photographed by Anderson at 785 Broadway, New York. The two performers are shown in character as "The Beats" from the production "Kit," a stage role that called for deliberately disheveled, comic presentation. The image dates to the later nineteenth century, consistent with Anderson's known Broadway address.

Wills wears a battered soft-crowned hat, wire-rimmed spectacles, a loosely knotted scarf, layered waistcoat and sack coat, and a draped overcoat, with a small boutonniere tucked at his lapel. Barfoot stands at right in a dark, close-buttoned frock-length coat, a small kepi-style cap, and patched trousers, holding a thin cane and wearing dark gloves, his chin bearing a small patch of stage makeup.

"Kit" was a popular American comedy-drama that toured widely in the 1870s and 1880s, and theatrical cabinet cards from Anderson's Broadway studio documented many productions of that era.

The reverse bears a period pencil inscription reading: "F. M. Wills & Harry Barfoot. 'The Beats,' in 'Kit.'"

From the collection of James Lee Soffer