Free Vintage Cabinet Card Photos: Printable Ephemera for Junk Journaling & Collage Art
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Inside This Post:
Download two free printable collage sheets featuring authentic 1800s cabinet card portraits.
Includes whimsical children, performers, dancers, bicycles, and quirky staged scenes.
Perfect for junk journaling, scrapbooking, mixed media, tags, and vintage-style ephemera.
Learn a brief history of cabinet cards and why they’re beloved by junk journal crafters.
Comes in two sizes for maximum flexibility in your projects.
There’s something enchanting about 19th-century photography. Even though the faces staring back at us lived more than a century ago, cabinet card portraits somehow feel timeless. Each one is a tiny window into a moment that once existed in perfect stillness. The gentle sepia tones, the stiff yet earnest poses, and the charmingly theatrical props all come together to create a kind of visual poetry.
For junk journalers, collage artists, mixed media makers, and vintage-ephemera lovers, cabinet cards are irresistible. They add mood. They add history. They add that “found treasure” feeling we all adore. And best of all, they effortlessly transform a blank page into something layered, nostalgic, and full of personality.
Today, I’m excited to share two brand-new free printable collage sheets featuring a curated collection of cabinet card portraits from the 1800s. These printables were designed to give you high-quality, ready-to-use ephemera for your journals, without needing to purchase (or store!) stacks of original cabinet cards.
Whether you’re crafting something whimsical, Victorian, theatrical, or simply vintage-themed, these portraits offer a beautiful starting point and a spark of inspiration.
About These Free Printables
You’ll receive two distinct printable collage sheets, each intentionally arranged for different creative uses and project styles.
Sheet 1: Mini Cabinet Card Set (2" x 3")
This sheet is arranged as a collection of images ideal for:
Clusters and snippet rolls
Mini pockets and tuck spots
Layering behind tags, labels, and florals
Collage spreads where you want repeating portrait motifs at smaller scales
This format gives you lots of creative flexibility, especially if you enjoy building layered ephemera pieces.
Included are:
Vintage performers
Children dressed in theatrical attire
A bicycle rider
A child on a vintage tricycle
A photographer posing with his camera
A hot air balloon pilot
The mix of poses, props, and backdrops gives the sheet a lovely variety, perfect for adding personality to your journal pages.
Sheet 2: Larger Cabinet Card Format (2.5" x 4.25")
This sheet features images sized closer to traditional cabinet cards. These are excellent for:
Focal images on junk journal spreads
Large tags and decorative inserts
Mixed media layouts that need a strong visual anchor
Framed or stand-alone pieces you tuck into fabric pockets
Layering behind Victorian papers, florals, or postcards
You’ll find characters such as:
A pose-perfect ballerina framed in an ornate studio setting
A woman feeding pigeons as they flutter around her
A boy posing confidently with his bicycle
Mischievous children holding hats, tools, and toys
Twin performers on swings, suspended mid-air in perfect symmetry
Each of these portraits adds a slightly different mood, some playful, some elegant, some quirky, which makes them great for storytelling pages.
A Brief and Charming History of Cabinet Cards
Cabinet cards were introduced in the 1860s, growing out of the earlier and smaller carte-de-visite format. As photography studios expanded and portrait technology improved, cabinet cards quickly became the standard photographic format from the 1870s into the early 1900s.
A typical cabinet card consisted of an albumen photograph adhered to heavy cardstock, usually with the photographer’s logo on the front or back and often printed with gold edges, decorative type, or embossed designs.
Families displayed them in parlors, curated albums dedicated to portraits, and traded them with loved ones. Performers, dancers, and theatre troupes also distributed cabinet cards as promotional materials, an early version of publicity photos.
Collectors today value them for:
their charming poses
the ornate studio backdrops
the clothing and props that reveal fashion history
the physical texture and thickness of the card stock
the stately sepia color palette
the expressive (and sometimes unintentionally comedic) staging
Because many have survived in good condition, they’ve become a staple in vintage-themed crafts. Their authenticity adds depth, age, and storytelling potential to journals, and digitized versions like these allow you to enjoy the aesthetic without damaging originals.
2 x 3 Journal Cards
Creative Ways to Use These Printable Cabinet Cards
When it comes to junk journaling and mixed media, portrait photography is incredibly versatile. Here are some creative ideas for incorporating these printables into your projects:
1. Build a “Character Page” in Your Junk Journal
Pick a portrait and imagine who they might have been.
A shy ballerina?
A bold little cyclist?
A mischievous pair of performer twins?
Add handwritten notes, florals, tapes, and vintage scraps to create a tiny fictional biography.
2. Create Layered Collage Clusters
Cabinet cards look incredible when layered with:
music sheets
lace scraps
sewn paper pieces
text clippings
ledger scraps
Build a few clusters and store them in an envelope until you need a ready-made embellishment.
3. Make Tags, Pockets, and Tuck Spots
The taller cabinet card format is perfect for:
long vertical tags
slim pockets
corner tucks
bookmark-style inserts
Distress the edges, stamp the background, or sew a border for added texture.
4. Create Story Collages for Altered Books
These portraits add personality to book-based art journals. Try:
inserting them between gessoed text pages
pairing them with botanical illustrations
giving them whimsical “dialogue”
surrounding them with antique handwriting or postal marks
This makes your altered book feel like a curated treasure.
5. Incorporate Them into Vintage-Themed Décor
Printed on sturdier paper or photo matte stock, these images look beautiful:
framed in small Victorian-style frames
strung into garlands
clipped to twine with clothespins
used on gift tags for vintage-inspired wrapping
They can also be added to wreaths, trays, or collage boards for craft fairs or room décor.
Printing Tips for Best Results
To get the most authentic vintage look:
Paper Choices
White cardstock for the clearest image
Lightweight paper for layering in collages
Matte photo paper for extra crisp detail
Finish Options
Add a subtle tea-stain wash to the edges
Lightly rub the paper with an ink pad
Use brown watercolor for a “soft antique” effect
Size Adjustments
You can resize the sheets in your printer settings:
Scale down to 80% for smaller journals
Print two per page for tiny versions
Optional Embellishments
Use machine or hand stitching to frame the images
Add vintage stamps or postmarks
Layer with scraps of lace, fabric, or kraft paper
Your prints can be as simple or as elaborate as you like.
2.5" x 4.25" Journal Cards
Other Free Printables You Might Like
Free Vintage French Postcard Ephemera - Perfect as backgrounds and layering pieces behind portraits.
Free Vintage Alphabet Book Printables - Whimsical letters add a playful, storybook contrast to sepia photographs.
Free Sewing Ephemera Sheets - The textures of old needlework catalogs pair beautifully with portraits and staged studio shots.
Free Vintage Floral Label Printables - Elegant florals that embellish these portraits beautifully when making tags and layered embellishments.
Final Thoughts
Cabinet cards have a way of instantly transporting you into another time. The expressions, the attire, the props, and even the slightly theatrical postures all invite curiosity. They offer such a rich storytelling element, which is why they’ve become a favorite among junk journalers and mixed media artists.
I hope these free printables inspire you to create something beautiful, whether it’s a heartfelt journal spread, a whimsical collage, or a handful of tags for your next crafting session.
Love These Printables? Support The Art Scavenger!
I love sharing free vintage printables, and if you enjoy them, there are easy ways to support my work so I can continue creating and offering more free designs:
You may also enjoy these free collage sheets.
Terms of use:
Free to use for personal or commercial projects. You may print the collage sheets as many times as you wish for your personal crafts or in your projects to sell, including: art journals, scrapbooks, junk journals, collage art, etc. You may not redistribute or sell the collage sheets “as is" in either print or digital form.
If you wish to share the files on your own website, please do not make the files available for download directly from your site. Instead, include an image with a link back to this site.
To the best of my knowledge, these are all royalty free images that are in the Public Domain in the US. However, you should always do your own research if you plan to use them commercially.
