Possible Image of Joseph Smith
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CLOTHING STYLES OF THE 1840s

1840s, Men's Clothing Fashion

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Abraham Lincoln in the 1840s-1860s


Joseph Smith died June 27, 1844. April, 1844, he met with Nauvoo Photographer, Lucian Foster, noted in his journal. If my CDV is a duplication of the much purported daguerrotype of Joseph, it would be an image of a man wearing 1840s clothes, as the photographed credited by J.S. III is Lucian Foster and he only had opportunity to do this, in 1844, and I really do believe the man in my CDV is wearing 1840s clothing.

Examples of 1840s, men's clothing is seen here in  Men’s wear Magazine, it shows men wearing similar thickly scarves, wrapped high up on the neck, and tied into large bow-ties, thin popped down collars that are high up on the neck: http://www.victoriana.com/Mens-Clothing/mens-clothing-1840.html
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Seen below are verified images taken in the 1840s.


 One image found in the MET gallery of the VERY first daguerreotype in American History (dated "1840") showing a man with the same collar and scarf, along with a salt water print from around 1843, also matching in style- seen below. It is definitely plausible Joseph would wear a popped up collar in 1842, but get an update in his fashion, two years later, as he is running for President of the U.S., Spring of 1844. 
​​1843-47; Salt Water Print, John Stuart-Wortley, 2nd Baron Wharncliffe:
 www.artsy.net/artwork/hill-and-adamson-john-stuart-wortley-2nd-baron-wharncliffe
Oliver Cowdery, 1845:
www.josephsmithpapers.org/person/oliver-cowdery?highlight=Oliver%20Cowdery
 
Portrait of a Young Man Samuel F.B. Morse, year 1840: 
​www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2005.100.75/
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Above I compare Abraham Lincoln's clothing styles between three different decades; this shows how quickly styles of ties and collars changed: in 1840s (left), 1854 (middle) and 1860. (right).

Abraham Lincoln lived in Illinois and was working in politics, in the 1840s. In the 1840s, collars were no longer popped up, as they were in the 1830s, but were popped down slightly; soft scarves, double wrapped sometimes into a soft bowtie acted as a means to keep the entire neck covered, and the collar very high up the neck. In the 1850s, soft scarves were replaced with flat stiff bowties and collars that sat lower on the neck, and by the 1860s, bent down collars were VERY low on the neck, and bowties got MUCH smaller...
http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/index.html
​mentalfloss.com/article/31357/24-vintage-photographs-abe-lincoln
https://www.loc.gov/item/2004664400/

Joseph Smith’s Vest

When Joseph Smith died, Emma Smith  gave one plural wife, Malissa Lott his vest, as her married name is written on the placard, at the Pioneer Memorial Museum, in Salt Lake City. Although I cannot do an analysis here, or show the vest, it is published in a 1984 ENSIGN article. Notice the similar horizontal stripes in black, white and bright blue, black swirls, black flowers and  white flower decals, the variations I do see hints of in my image. www.lds.org/ensign/1984/01/from-the-prophets-life-a-photo-essay?lang=eng​

The Lapel

A similar lapel, of a split shade, darker upper, is seen in the Roger's Painting of Joseph Smith, matches the exact angle when superimposed onto my image, the large width of the lapel also is very apparent. 
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     The work titled "The Two Martyrs"- shows matching lapels; both a simple notch (unlike his often depicted blue coat that has a double notch) and have a darker upper. 
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1840s Illinois Man CDV under very high contrast, showing his lapel has a darker upper and matched the jacket in "The Two Martyrs" drawing, but Sutcliffe Maudsley.
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Engraving of Joseph Smith (sitting) attributed to Fredrick Piercey, showing a similar styled hair, popped down collar, dark double wrapped silk-like scarf- tied into a bow-tie.

  • Main page
  • 1840s Clothing
  • Provenance
  • Artists who Knew Joseph Smith
  • Family Pictures
  • Hyrum Smith Photo
  • Joseph's 1840s Hairline/style