Drug Store & the Rooms Above

Drug Store and the Rooms Above. . , The Drug Store , This hole was once the cellar beneath a drug store operated by Herbert Hudson and James D. Craig. They sold medicines, chemicals, paints, perfumes, and cigars., On the same lot was Thomas L. Craig's large family grocery, Coleman's Dry Goods Store, and Fellow's Jewelry store. All of these store owners were related through marriage. Having relatives nearby meant that whenever there was trouble in the store, help was only a few steps away., The Rooms Above , Traveling photographers would lease the second floor of the drug store, unless it was occupied by a traveling dentist., In the 1840s and early 1850s, residents of Cahaba who wanted an exact likeness of themselves came here to have daguerreotypes made. These photographic images were produced on copper plates faced with silver. Daguerreotypes were expensive, fragile, and housed in sealed cases to keep the polished surfaces from tarnishing. , In 1856, the photographer Mr. Duffin introduced ambrotypes to Cahaba. This newer photographic technique exposed images on thin sheets of glass. Ambrotypes were less expensive, To protect the glass from breakage, ambrotypes were also placed in cases., Photographs of Cahaba's Antebellum Residents , The cased images on the left are daguerreotypes. They are reversed images made of silver on copper plate and have a mirror-like quality. Unlike other photographs, these images can only be seen at certain angles., The cased images on the right are ambrotypes. These are negative images in an emulsion on a glass plate, but are seen as a positive because a black backing was applied to the opposite side of the glass. , Finding good examples of photographs created in the rooms above Cahaba's Drug Store is difficult. Over time, daguerreotypes exposed to the air tarnish. Ambrotypes do not tarnish, but because the image is on glass, they break easily. Also, the emulsion on the front of the glass tends to fade and is easily scratched while the paint on the back of the glass can crack, flake, or otherwise separate from the glass.