Cabinet Card

Lincoln Home parlors set up as a “cabinet of curiousities.”

After Lincoln’s death, the house was rented to various tenants. One renter, Osborn Oldroyd, was a collector of Lincoln items. He set up a museum of his Lincoln items in the parlors of the house and charged visitors a quarter. He also sold this photo card as a souvenir. This upset Robert Lincoln, who removed Oldroyd from the house and gave the home to the State of Illinois in 1887 with a stipulation that it had to be free to visitors.