Alice Austen Business Cards and Advertisements Collection
PI
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:48:50 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:36:17 PM
Added description
Description
Alice Austen Business Cards and Advertisements Collection
Overview
The Alice Austen Business Cards and Advertisements Collection is a digitized assemblage of Victorian‑era commercial ephemera created in 1894. It is housed at the Alice Austen House museum in Staten Island, New York, and consists primarily of scanned business cards and printed advertisements that illustrate the fashion and commerce of the New Brighton community during the late nineteenth century.Background
Elizabeth Alice Austen (1866‑1952) was a pioneering photographer and a keen collector of local business cards. The collection reflects her interest in the social and economic milieu of her hometown. The cards were compiled in 1894, a year that also saw the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, which influenced local fashion and trade. The Alice Austen House, now a museum, preserves these artifacts as part of its broader effort to document Staten Island’s cultural history.Contents
The collection contains a range of business cards and advertisements, each scanned as high‑resolution JPEG images with accompanying OCR text. A representative example is the card for Madame K. Rowe (née Joyce), a dressmaker operating at 59 Sixth Ave., New Brighton, Staten Island. The card lists her trade as “ROBES” and serves as a primary source for the local dressmaking industry. Other cards in the set advertise fashion goods, local services, and community events, offering insight into Victorian‑era consumer culture and the everyday life of New Brighton residents.Scope
The collection is confined to the year 1894 and focuses on business cards and advertisements related to fashion and local commerce in New Brighton. It includes items that highlight the social networks of the period, such as connections between dressmakers, photographers, and other professionals. While the collection is rich in Victorian commercial imagery, it does not extend beyond the 1894 timeframe or beyond the geographic boundaries of New Brighton, Staten Island. The digitized format allows researchers to examine the visual and textual details of each card, providing a valuable resource for studies of late‑nineteenth‑century urban life, fashion history, and the economic history of Staten Island.Raw Cheimarros Data
@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth_year: @date_1866, death_year: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer", residence: @staten_island}
@date_1866
@date_1952
@date_1894
@austen_business_cards_collection:document {title: "Alice Austen Business Cards and Advertisements Collection", creator: @alice_austen, institution: @alice_austen_house, year: @date_1894, subjects: ["Business cards","Advertisements","Fashion","Victorian era","New Brighton"]}
@alice_austen_house:organization {type: "museum", location: @staten_island}
@file_pinax:file {type: "Metadata (PINAX)", description: "Metadata record for the Alice Austen Business Cards and Advertisements Collection"}
@file_pinax -> documents -> @austen_business_cards_collection
@new_brighton:place {city: "New Brighton", borough: "Staten Island", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@dressmaker:concept {definition: "A maker or seller of dresses, especially in the Victorian era"}
@madame_k_rowe:person {full_name: "Madame K. Rowe", maiden_name: "Joyce", occupation: @dressmaker, business_location: @new_brighton}
@sixth_ave_address:place {address: "59 Sixth Ave., New Brighton, Staten Island, New York"}
@madame_k_rowe_business_card:document {type: "business card", owner: @madame_k_rowe, location: @new_brighton, year: @date_1894}
@file_1894_12_dec_6001_copy_jpg:file {type: "Image/Asset with OCR", description: "Scanned business card of Madame K. Rowe"}
@file_1894_12_dec_6001_copy_jpg -> depicts -> @madame_k_rowe_business_card
@madame_k_rowe_business_card -> has_address -> @sixth_ave_address
@austen_business_cards_collection -> includes -> @madame_k_rowe_business_cardMetadata
Files (1)
1894_12-Dec 6001 copy.jpgJPEG
OCR Text
Madame K. Rowe, nee Joyce ROBES. 59 SIXTH AVE., NEW BRIGHTON, S.I.
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:48:50 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:54:13 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:53:07 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:36:17 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Business_Cards_Advertisements"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)