# Sherlock Holmes original stories, photography and store question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [March 9, 2022, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-original-stories-photography-and-store-question/960724 "2022-03-09T05:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-original-stories-photography-and-store-question/960724/1 "2022-03-09T05:11:02Z")
“The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton” ends with a description of “a shop window filled with photographs of the celebrities and beauties of the day”. So what kind of “shop” is this? A photography studio? A souvenir store? A department store? Here’s the complete quote: (last paragraph of the story, link below) Holmes had not said one word to me about the tragedy which we had witnessed, but I observed all the morning that he was in his most thoughtful mood, and he gave me the impression, from his vacant eyes and his abstracted manner, of a man who is striving to recall something to his memory. We were in the middle of our lunch, when he suddenly sprang to his feet. “By Jove, Watson, I’ve got it!” he cried. “Take your hat! Come with me!” He hurried at his top speed down Baker Street and along Oxford Street, until we had almost reached Regent Circus. Here, on the left hand, there stands a shop window filled with photographs of the celebrities and beauties of the day. Holmes’ eyes fixed themselves upon one of them, and following his gaze I saw the picture of a regal and stately lady in Court dress, with a high diamond tiara upon her noble head. I looked at that delicately curved nose, at the marked eyebrows, at the straight mouth, and the strong little chin beneath it. Then I caught my breath as I read the time-honoured title of the great nobleman and statesman whose wife she had been. My eyes met those of Holmes, and he put his finger to his lips as we turned away from the window. [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The\_Return\_of\_Sherlock\_Holmes/Chapter\_7](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Return_of_Sherlock_Holmes/Chapter_7) ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-original-stories-photography-and-store-question/960724/2 "2022-03-09T05:39:58Z")
It was a print shop. > **[London's Victorian print shops | Museum of London](https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/windows-world-londons-print-shops)** > > How Victorian print shops let Londoners see the news and celebrity gossip of their day. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-original-stories-photography-and-store-question/960724/3 "2022-03-09T11:00:54Z")
Thank you! Interesting, I’d never heard of print shops before. I was curious because I remembered photo studios from a while back (I think the last time I saw one was 25 years ago at least) and how they used to have portraits of patrons in their front windows. The description in the story sounded like a photo studio but different too. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-original-stories-photography-and-store-question/960724/4 "2022-03-09T13:02:51Z")
I didn’t really think about it much, but I recall seeing a few of these (to me) odd shops when we were in Dublin 5 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-original-stories-photography-and-store-question/960724/5 "2022-03-09T18:12:02Z")
People used to collect photos of celebrities, including military heroes. I remember reading about that being a fad in England before WWI. > **[Carte de visite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_de_visite)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The carte de visite (French: \[kaʁt də vizit\], visiting card), abbreviated CdV, was a type of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero. Each photograph was the size of a visiting card, and such photograph cards were commonly traded among friends and visitors in the 1860s. Albums for the collection and display of cards became a common fixture in Victorian p...