Tin Types
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In 1856, a photographer (Neff) patented a photograph which proved to be cheaper and more durable than the ambrotype. This new photograph was produced on a sheet of tin. Tintypes were produced like ambrotypes in that the light sensitive emulsion was spread onto the tin plate and the plate exposed to light inside the camera.
The first tintypes were referred to as "Melainotypes". They would not break if dropped and when cased, they would last indefinitely as long as kept dry. Rust was their only detractor. While Melainotypes were cheaper than ambrotypes, they would become cheaper still. Photographers would use thinner tin sheets making the photographs more affordable, although these tintypes would be more susceptible to bending, and more often than not, the lacquer used to coat them would not be thick enough to prevent rust.
Tintypes, owing to their economy, were popular and widespread from the mid 1850s until the 1930s when they were still a novelty at every county fair.
This tintype is of a sharp young man in his Sunday best. The photographer's props include a crude cedar fence and a painted background. Amazingly, the original label survives on the back. George Washington Minnis was a prolific photographer during the Civil War. He moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1863, so this image can be dated to before then.
The image to the right is a tintype called a "gemtype". Gemtypes were small postage stamp sized photographs. Many, like this one, were mounted to a card the same size as a CDV in order that it would fit into an album. Others were framed with a small brass keeper and mat, like the larger cased images.