Sixth plate tintype of a young member of the "Wide Awakes," an organization primarily composed of young Americans that supported the 1860 candidacy of Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States. Members of the Wide Awakes were described by The New York Times as "young men of character and energy, earnest in their Republican convictions and enthusiastic in prosecuting the canvass on which we have entered.”

The Wide Awakes were known for their novel "uniform," a textbook example of which can be seen in this image: a glazed black cape and matching hat, and a torch six feet in length to which a large flaming pivoting whale-oil container was mounted. The torches were used during the primary activity of the Wide Awakes, torch-lit night marches through cities. Many of the young men who participated in the Wide Awake movement would later enlist in the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War.

Photographs of Wide Awakes in full regalia are extremely scarce, this is one of just several that have ever been offered publicly at auction.

Housed in a half leatherette case.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Abraham Lincoln] [19th Century Photography, Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, Tintype, CDV, carte-de-visite, albumen, cabinet card] [Abraham Lincoln]