Schlickeysen's Art Gallery

For this cabinet card back, see the full backmark illustration (above) and a detail showing the street scene in front of the photographer's gallery.

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Although the photographer's name and address appears as "Schlickeisen, 343 Central Avenue, Jersey City, N.J.," on the front of this cabinet card, the name on the sign in the illustration on the back is spelled as "Schlickeysen" (ending in -keysen instead of -keisen). In addition, the arrangement of the street number--"343"--in the palette shapes on either side of the Art Gallery sign is curious, ending with a smaller superscript "3" that seemingly was added after the fact.

Interestingly, Langdon's List of 19th & Early 20th Century Photographers provides some relevant information regarding Gustav Schlickeysen/Schlickeisen. According to Langdon, "Schlickeysen" was the spelling listed in city directories for 1888 and 1889, but during those years the photographer's address was 34 Hancock Avenue, Hoboken, New Jersey, rather than 343 Central Avenue, Jersey City, N.J. Directories for 1891, 1892, and 1893, however, indicate that "Schlickeisen" had already moved to the Central Avenue address in Hoboken.

It's not clear why the spelling of Schlickeysen changed to Schlickeisen when the photographer moved from Hoboken to Jersey City. Although the new spelling appeared on the front of this cabinet card, the sign in the artwork on the back retained the old spelling. The street number, however, was updated by squeezing an extra "3" into the palette shapes to indicate the change from "34" (Hancock Avenue, Hoboken) to "343" (Central Avenue, Jersey City). If the illustration depicts the original gallery in Hoboken, however, I wonder if customers at Schlickeisen's new gallery in Jersey City were still confused by the drawing despite the updated street number.

Finally, it's worth noting that a "Portrait" display case to attract potential customers is situated on the sidewalk in front of the gallery. And notice the horse-drawn tram passing by on the tracks in front of the gallery--an indication of how easy it would be to travel to the gallery.