What is a penny picture?
Penny pictures were tiny portrait photographs that gained popularity around the turn of the 20th century. These stamp-sized images were often printed on paper measuring one inch square. They were affordable to common American people, with prices as low as a penny. They served as cherished keepsakes that were commonly exchanged among friends and family members or placed in small albums or lockets.

Picture labeled “Dora Bradner Shores & Miss Pope”
circa 1900-1910.
Ollie Maude Green Stowe (1882-1962) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
double photo strip circa 1900-1910.


Ida Pruett (1886-1980) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
double photo strip circa 1905.
Ida Pruett (1886-1980) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
double photo strip circa 1905.


Aubrey Jackson Pruett (1910-1966) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
double photo strip circa 1920-1925.
Nina Pruett (1909-2000) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
triple photo strip circa 1911.


Picture labeled “Benton R. Covington” of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
circa 1910.
Leonard “Hutch” Hearp (1892-1960)
& Oscar Reynolds Stowe (1893-1979)
of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
circa 1910.


Claude D. Lewis (1894-1961) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
circa 1905-1910.
Unlabeled double photo strip
circa 1905.


Major McKinley Stowe (1901-1991)
of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
circa 1907.
Photo labeled “Volia McGrigor Terrell”
circa 1915.


Photo labeled “Willie Earp”
circa 1910-1920.
Picture labeled “Charlie Ramey”
quadruple photo strip circa 1905-1910.


Beatrice Hearp (1915-2009) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia
circa 1930.
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