“The War of the Roses” in the American Tintype Industry

Professor Hamilton Smith with microscope.  Daguerreotype. Courtesy Kenyon College Archives. From F. Rinhart, The American Tintype, 1999.

On February 19, 1856, patent #14,300 was issued to Hamilton Lamphere Smith (1818-1903) of Gambier, Ohio, for photographic pictures on japanned surfaces (Schimmelman, 9). This photographic process, which produced direct positive images on black lacquered sheet-iron plates, became popularly known as tintype, although tin was not used in its production. The invention of tintype represented yet another application of the collodion process. The patent for it “covered only the production of the photographs and not the manufacture of materials for them” (Taft, 155). Smith assigned the patent for what he called the “melainotype” process (from the Greek word for “black”) to his collaborator Peter Neff, Jr. (d. 1903), and his father William Neff. No sooner had the assignees of the patent established their business in Cincinnati than a strong rival, Victor Moreau Griswold (1819-1872) of Lancaster, Ohio, began the production of his “ferrotype” plates (from the Latin word for “iron”). While Griswold’s involvement in plate production was never in violation of the existing patent for the method of plate coating, the fierce competition in the production of plates between the two pioneers of the tintype industry became known as “The War of the Roses.” This was a reference to the war between two contenders for the British throne, the House of Lancaster, the symbol of which was a red rose, and the House of York, the symbol of which was a white rose. The war ended with Henry Tudor ascending to the throne as Henry VII in 1485. The 19^th-century “War of the Roses” between Neff and Griswold energized the tintype industry, led to improvements in the manner of production that drove quality up and prices down, and sped up the spread of tintype to all corners of the country, giving it near-universal popularity. 

Peter Neff, Jr. Courtesy Kenyon College Archives. From F. Rinhart, The American Tintype, 1999.

Peter Neff, Jr. established his factory for the production of melainotype plates in Cincinnati, Ohio, and entered in collaboration with a local photographer named Charles Waldack. Neff began selling “room-rights” (Estabrooke, 76) at a rate of 20 dollars per gallery and embarked on an advertising campaign that included the distribution of free pamphlets entitled The Melainotype Process, Complete and the publication along with Waldack of an instructional manual entitled Treatise of Photography on Collodion (Rinhart, 12-13). By the fall of 1856, the new photographic process had already received favorable statements regarding its qualities in photographic journals such as the Photographic and Fine-Art Journal and Humphrey’s Journal, and had been awarded a bronze medal at the fair of the American Institute in New York City. After his father’s death in November of 1856, Peter Neff, Jr. became the sole owner of the patent. Perhaps the most complicated part of the business was the actual production of metal supports for the photographs, which had to be thin, smooth, and perfectly lacquered. Neff resolved the problem by importing a fine quality of iron sheets directly from England. He also developed the “French Diamond Varnish” for protecting the surfaces of melainotypes and collodion glass plates and proposed coating the back of the plates with varnish to prevent corrosion (Rinhart, 14). He ensured that each plate was embossed with the brand name and patent information. Neff designed wooden crates with slots for the plates to ensure safe transportation and delivery to his clients. 

Neff's embossed patent mark is visible on the top of this melainotype plate.

Melainotypes had several distinct features that soon made them particularly popular. Their physical advantages over other processes attracted customers, as they were light, durable, and available in various sizes and shapes. Photographers soon noted the convenience of the ready-made tintype plates, as well as the shorter exposure and processing time, which amounted to only half of that needed for producing ambrotypes. Most of all, tintype was extremely cheap for the photographer and the customer alike, making it the most accessible photographic process achieved until that moment. 

Victor M. Griswold, ca. 1870. From R. Taft, Photography and the American Scene, 1964.

Griswold, an artist who had also been a practicing photographer for several years, immediately recognized the potential of the new photographic process and promptly launched his business of producing what he called “ferrotype” plates, which were lighter and thinner than Neff’s. “Ferrotype” was a well-chosen term as it was easier to pronounce and proved to be a more accurate description of the process than the term “melainotype.” Eventually, it became the dominant term in the industry. Griswold launched a promotional campaign by distributing free samples of his plates and by offering both “egg-shell” and “glossy” finishes, the two terms becoming standard in photography. Griswold patented several inventions related to tintype and photography in general, including “his own method of making and sensitizing very thin iron plates, which he imported from England” (Rinhart, 20-21).

Griswold’s competition did not go unnoticed. The improvements in the quality of the product and the cost-effective measures that he undertook led to his ability to sell his ferrotype plates for less, while causing the demand for them to increase dramatically. One of those improvements, for example, was the japanning of whole sheets of iron before cutting them into various sizes, which greatly reduced the time and labor involved. Another improvement consisted of replacing the heavy wooden crates for transporting the ready plates with compact, lightweight boxes made out of paper. Griswold also offered ferrotype plates in an array of colors. In spite of, or rather because of, his success, Griswold encountered obstacles and even danger: “dealers who were anxious to take hold of the plate, were deterred by threats of lawsuits and prosecutions, and the inventor himself was repeatedly menaced by dire consequences if he persisted in the manufacture” (Estabrooke, 83). Griswold, however, was careful not to violate Smith’s patent. He even proposed a merger with Neff’s business in order to strengthen the operations and avoid further competition, which proposal was apparently rejected by the latter (Estabrooke, 83-84).

Abraham Lincoln campaign button, 1860.

The event that boosted significantly the popularity of tintype was the election of 1860, when the idea of pins and medals displaying the portraits of the candidates for office was introduced for the first time. “The desire to wear a medal was apparently inborn in the breast of the human male, and when this tendency was coupled with the fact that an actual portrait of one’s favorite candidate was included in the medal, the lure was irresistible, and the fortune of the tintype, if not the inventor, was made” (Taft, 158). Tintype was the ideal solution for that demand, as the tintype process was well suited for the production of miniature images that could be mounted on pins, medals, inserted in lockets, etc.

Neff's melainotype plate factory in Middletown, Connecticut.

Both Neff and Griswold realized the importance of moving their business operations closer to the main source of demand—the East Coast of the United States.  As early as 1857, Neff established a factory in Middletown, Connecticut, while Griswold moved his family and factory to Peekskill, New York, on the Hudson River in 1861. From a modest beginning with a three-man/one oven operation and no funds to spare, Griswold’s business grew in just a few years to a two-factory establishment with about 50 employees and twelve ovens for baking the ferrotype plates. The new production sites for melainotype and ferrotype ensured lower freight expenses and sharpened the cut-rate wars. Both Neff and Griswold established offices and show rooms in Lower Manhattan.

Unidentified Confederate soldier. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The onset of the Civil War brought about an explosion in demand for tintype plates, as families and loved ones exchanged portraits with their young men who were going off to battle. This demand exacerbated the already fierce competition between the two pioneers in the industry. It also brought about the proliferation of numerous new competitors (Scovill Manufacturing Co., Anthony & Co., Holmes, Booth & Hayden, etc.), whose business led to further price reductions for tintype products. In 1862, in an attempt to fight the array of rivals, Neff introduced his new and improved “Excelsior Plate.” However, competitors spread rumors falsely claiming that Neff had withdrawn from the business, and they sabotaged his shipments by replacing plates with poor quality imitations (Rinhart, 18). A year later, Neff decided to drop out of the business and discontinued all melainotype plate manufacturing. Griswold continued producing ferrotype plates throughout the Civil War and up to 1867, when he discontinued their production and moved on to experiments with the “ferro-porcelain process, which proved a failure at that time, but which he subsequently perfected” (Estabrooke, 93).

Griswold’s withdrawal from tintype plate manufacturing marks the end of the pioneer era in the tintype industry. “The War of the Roses” brought about the popularization of the tintype process in the late 1850s, driving its cost down while building and enhancing its manufacturing and distribution infrastructure. When the demand for cheap, sturdy, quick, and easy-to-make photographs peaked during the Civil War Era, the tintype industry was ready to meet the challenge. “The War of the Roses” also opened up the field to a robust crop of new business rivals. Some of them, for example the Scovill Manufacturing Co., “were better financed and better equipped to make the iron plates used in the tintype process, so that they were able to overcome the early lead of these two pioneers in their trade” (Taft, 162). The energetic competition in the tintype industry allowed for the democratization of this photographic process. Photography was no more the privilege of the well-to-do members of society. Everybody could afford a snapshot of themselves or their loved ones in the form of a tintype. And it was precisely this feature of the tintype process that allowed it to enjoy popularity for almost eighty years (Davenport, 21), persisting well into the 20^th century alongside newer photographic processes of much superior quality.

Sources

Davenport, A. (1991). The history of photography: An overview. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

Estabrooke, E. M. (1972). The Ferrotype and how to make it. New York: Morgan & Morgan. (Facsimile reprint of the 1872 ed.)

Rinhart, F., Rinhart, M., & Wagner, R. W. (1999). The American tintype. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.

Schimmelman, J. G. (2002). American photographic patents 1840-1880: The daguerreotype & wet plate era. Nevada City, CA: Carl Mautz.

Taft, R. (1964). Photography and the American scene: A social history, 1839-1889. New York: Dover Publications.