Friday, March 26, 2021

Bradley and Rulofson




photographer: Bradley & Rulofson
Entrance, 14 Dupont Street
over city of Paris
Between Market and Geary
San Francisco


reverse of the card at the left
Many examples of
Bradley and Rulofson work
can be found at Wikimedia Commons

There are extensive and detailed biographies available on line describing the lives of Henry William Bradley and William Herman Rulofson. LOST GALLERY will concentrate here on a timeline of events to locate where they worked and when. Again, not all the accountings of the lives of these two men agree. There are some minor differences in dates and events. The following timeline combines the best version available.

During their studio days Bradley and Rulofson photographed hundreds of celebrities and notable Californians. These included such people as Bret Hart, Susan B Anthony, Queen Emma of Hawaii and Emperor Joshua A Norton.

Visit some of these fine sources:
From Broadway Photographs
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Prologue: Guilty Secrets an extensive review
From Rogue Scholar by Richard W. Bailey
Photograph examples
Calisphere
Cabinet Card Gallery examples

Timeline

Henry William Bradley
(1813-1891)
William Herman Rulofson
(1826-1878)

1813 Nov 02
Henry William Bradley born in Wilmington, North Carolina
1826 Sep 27
William Herman Rulofson born in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada
1846
Bradley returns to North Carolina from New Orleans, LA, where he was studying photography
1847
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, Rulofson establishes a studio
1848 Dec 27
The Weekly Herald and Conception Bay General Advertiser, advertisement for W H Rulofson and Daguerotype Miniatures
1849
Stockton, CA, Rulofson leaves wife and daughter to move to California and establishes a daguerreotype studio

- continued in next row -


1850 Feb
Bradley leaves North Carolina and opens a photography studio in San Francisco, CA, on west side of Montgomery st between Washington and Jackson sts; this was variously advertised as “over the Pacific Baths” and in July, “Opposite Delmonico’s” and in September “271 Montgomery st, upstairs”
1851 May 04
Bradley’s first studio burns down and he opens a new studio within two weeks over Jack’s and Blake’s Jewelry Store, opposite the post office on Clay Street; also begins selling photographic materials; He advertises his location from June 19 through August as “Moffats Building, opposite post office” and in January, 1852 as ”Clay st corner of Kearney”
1851
John B Cameron and William Herman Rulofson were in partnership as Rulofson & Cameron in Sonora. They conducted business in a car.
1853
Bradley establishes a branch studio in Sacramento, CA, at 68 and 70 ”I“ street, between Third and Fourth streets
1856
Bradley wins prize for photography at California State Fair
1857 January 18
Rulofson buys Cameron's remaining interest in the Sonora gallery.

1858
Bradley closes his gallery at the corner of Clay and Kerney
1859 Sep 21
Wilmington, NC, Bradley marries Betsy Euphemia Cutlar
1861
Bradley moves his wholesale photograph materials business to 622 Clay, San Francisco, CA
1861 or 1863
Rulofson leases out his Sonora Gallery gallery and moves to moves to San Francisco, CA
1863
Bradley and Rulofson join forces in San Francisco, CA, buying out the portrait gallery of daguerreotypist Robert H Vance to establish the photographic art gallery of Bradley & Rulofson at 429 Montgomery st, San Francisco, CA
1864
Bradley and Rolofson win the contract to photograph San Francisco’s defense facilities at Fort Alcatraz and Fort Point; the pair became embroiled in a dispute and resulting scandal in which they were accused of being Confederate spies because they claimed ownership to the nearly 2000 negatives and sold prints in their gallery; the military seized the negatives citing violation of War Department orders against publishing photographs of military installations; the negatives were returned after settlement of the dispute

1866
Bradly and Rulofson begin offering patent enameled card photographs
1867
Rulofson’s wife Amelia dies
1871
W H Rulofson’s brother Edward H Rulloff is hanged for murder
1871
The Chicago, IL, fire causes significant losses to Bradley and his photography supply business leading to bankruptcy in 1877
1872
Bradley and Rulofson install an elevator to their second floor studio at 429 Montgomery
1873
Rulofson wins gold medal in Vienna
1874
Rulofson wins gold medal in Philadelphia, PA,
1874
Rulofson is elected president of the National Photographic Association
1875
Bradley and Rulofson employ Louis Thors at the gallery
1875
The photographers publish “Bradly & Rulofson’s Catalogue of Celebrities"
1876
Rulofson wins second gold medal in Philadelphia, PA, Centennial Exhibition
1877 Oct
Bradley files for bankruptcy

1878
after bankruptcy, Bradley retires, his interest in the Bradley-Rulofson partnership had been assigned to John H Dall and the studio continues in San Francisco, CA. Still under the name Bradley and Rolofson
1878
the Gallery issues a Celebrity Catalogue listing their inventory which ran 51 pages
1878 Nov 02
William Rulofson died after falling from the roof of the Bradley & Rulofson studio in San Francisco. According to a report by The New York Times, he was heard to have exclaimed, "I am killed" during the descent
1878
Bradley closes his wholesale photographic supply business and retires
1878-1883
studio continues operation as Bradley and Rulofson, managed by Dall and a staff of photographers
1883
Bradley and Rulofson Studio operates under Dall’s sole ownership but at several locations
1887
the studio closes
1891 Apr 27
Alameda, CA, Bradley dies at home suffering from crippling rheumatism; he was 77

The cabinet card at the top was probably done between 1878 and 1887 when it was operated by Dall and a staff and changed locations often.

Go to the CABINET CARD GALLERY site for more excellent examples of Bradly and Rulofson.


The Weekly Herald and Conception Bay General Advertiser -
27 Dec 1848 From contriburot J Ward
San Francisco (CA) Chronicle - 21 Oct 1865


Feather River Bulletin (Quincy, CA) - 28 Feb 1874


The Petaluma (CA) Courier - 03 Jan 1878

Santa Cruz (CA) Weekly Sentinel - 14 Feb 1880

Record Union - 28 Jul 1882


Oakland (CA) Tribune - 28 Apr 1891


Example of one of the "Celebrity" photographs found on an auction site


Photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
Example from New York Library

photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco, CA
example from auction site

photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
429 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA
example from auction site

reverse of card at left
Finished sometime after 1863


photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco, CA
example from Be-Holder.com

photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco, CA
example from Be-Holder.com

reverse of card at left
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco, CA
example from facebook


photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
429 Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA
example from auction site

reverse of card at left
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco, CA
example from auction site
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco, CA
example from auction site


photographer Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco, CA
example from auction site

Backing example from 1863-1877

photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
backing probably from after 1873


photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
CDV back
imprint probably used around 1864 or after


photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
CDV example from Marshall on facebook

photographer: Bradley & Rulofson
example from an auction site

reverse of the card at the left
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
429 Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA
example from auction site
reverse of card at left
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
SF Cal
poor scan from fb

photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
SF Cal
example from auction site
(note this imprint differs from all the rest on this page)
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
429 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA
example conributed by Warfield family members (So far, Bradley and Rulofson can be documented at this address from 1863 to 1872. )
reverse of card at left
(reverse inscribed: Dennis B. Warfield
Past Master
Oakdale Lodge: 275
Oakdale )
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco,CA
example contributed by Warfield family members
reverse of CdV at left
(handwritten on card: "Major Warfield")
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco
example from British Museum
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco
example from British Museum
No imprint
credited to: Bradley and Rulofson
example from British Museum
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco
example from the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco
example from Broadway Photographs
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco
example from the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco
example from AlaskaWanted.com
photographer: Bradley and Rullofson
San Francisco, CA
example from Cabinet Card Gallery
photographer: Bradley and Rullofson
San Francisco, CA
example from Cabinet Card Gallery
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
San Francisco
example from the Broadway photographs
photographer: Bradley and Rulofson
429 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA
reverse of card at left

The card at the left is from the Herbert Andrews family. It was contributed by a close friend of the family, Robin Potrzebowski.

While there is no date on the card itself, it was probably finished between 1872 abd 1887.

The card was made after the elevator was installed in 1872 and probably before Bradley sold the studio in 1877. But possibly as late as 1887, as John Hall continued to operate the studio under the original name until about then.

Additional information is always welcome.


Not the one you were looking for? Here's the photographer's INDEX by name. Listed here are all the Cabinet Card photographers of the 19th century found in LOST GALLERY. This is a work in progress. For a look at the original postings go to LOST GALLERY.

Some examples on this page have been enhanced or restored for clarity and presentation here.

This page is free for educational and research purposes only but, as always, if the original owner of any of these examples objects to the use on this page, just let me know and they will be immediately removed.

9 comments:

  1. What years were Rulofson Photographic Studios at 14 Dupont Street, between Market & Geary, San Francisco?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your question. There are more than a couple accounts of the business life of William H Rulofson. No document has surfaced so far with the address you mention. A time frame guess would be between his arrival in San Francisco and before his partnership with Bradley or about 1861 to 1863. The Bradley and Rulofson partnership/studio operated until 1887.

      However, some accounts describe Rulofson as a bit of a wild card, to say the least. It would not be hard to imagine a short break in the partnership with Bradley, while Rulofson ran his own studio for a few months or even weeks. But that is only speculation.

      The best bet is still between 1861 and 1863.

      Delete
  2. Hello. I am from Mallorca, Spain. I have a photo made by Bradley & Rulofson. It is a picture of Joan Bou Roig (aka Giovanni Roig). He was an opera singer and he was my great grandmother's brother. In the photo he is dressed for the opera Don Giovanni.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment! You have a real treasure there. If you could send me a scan or a clear photograph including the edges, I would be happy to add it to this page with your comments and credit. Thanks again

      Delete
  3. I have 2 old photos of relatives done at this studio.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment. If you would like to add your examples to the page send a clear photograph or a good scan to the address in the profile (bottom of page). Submissions must include edges, no cropping, as shown by the examples on this page. The edges are sometimes helpful in establishing the age of the card. Add any identifying information you would like included in the caption. Also let me know how you would like your credit line to read: "Submitted by ..."

      Delete
  4. I will send photos of them, but didn’t find the address.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Address in profile is phase65 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com; profile is beside picture at lower left at bottom of the page.

      Delete
  5. I think I have one of these pictures. How would I find out the value?

    ReplyDelete

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I am 4' 3", eat small insects, dress in the dark and take annual showers. phase65@yahoo.com