Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Sat, Sep 19, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-19 11:00:00 2026-09-19 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/september-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-24380
Our September 2026 auction is anchored by two remarkable private collections, together making up about half the sale, alongside a broader selection of consignments spanning early photography, Civil War material, and vernacular imagery. The Soffer Collection, built with an eye for rarity and historical significance, is particularly strong in vernacular portraiture, Native American photographs, and Iowa Civil War imagery. The Palmer, Massachusetts collection, much of it found at Brimfield, centers on maker-marked daguerreotypes from the golden age of the American daguerreian studio.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 587

Cabinet Card, L.I.B.C. Co. Locomotive Ganister, Tallapoosa GA

Estimate: $50 - $100
Starting Bid
$25

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000

Two albumen cabinet cards are presented together as a single lot, both documenting American steam railroad subjects from the 1880s. The larger card, photographed by J.H. French of Tallapoosa, Georgia, shows a full passenger train stopped at a rural station beside a building with a partially legible "Sale & Bacon" sign, a tall flagpole flying an American flag, and a crowd of men in suits and hats gathered along the trackside. The second card, a CDV, provides a close broadside view of locomotive No. 8, named "Ganister," lettered on the tender for the L.I.B.C. Co., with three crew members posed on and within the cab, the engine set against a rocky, open grade.

The Ganister image captures the locomotive in sharp detail: a flared diamond smokestack, large headlamp, prominent bell, multiple dome covers, and exposed drive rods are all clearly visible. The tender bears the reporting mark "L.I.B.C. Co." in bold block letters, and the number 8 appears on the cab side. The crew wear working clothes and flat caps, one man standing with arms crossed atop the tender.

The L.I.B.C. Co. lettering on the Ganister tender corresponds to the Lookout Iron and Blast Coal Company, a late nineteenth-century industrial railroad operation. The French cabinet card documents what appears to be a ceremonial or excursion train stop in the Tallapoosa, Georgia area, consistent with the town's rapid railroad-driven development in the late 1880s.

The reverse of the larger cabinet card bears the printed imprint "Photographer. J.H. French. Tallapoosa, Ga." with a penciled notation reading "85 00" in the upper right corner. The CDV reverse is plain dark stock with no imprint.

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