E. L. Moore's photography businesses

I’m working on filling some holes in E. L. Moore’s biography as I write the manuscript. One of those holes concerned his photography business. I had done some earlier investigation, but it was far from complete. Basically, all I knew was he ran a photography studio in Charlotte, N.C., that specialized in baby and child portraits. I decided to dive back into the Charlotte city directory to see what I could find. Here’s a summary of what I’ve got:

1933 - 1936

E. L. Moore's 1933 entry in the Charlotte city directory

The first listing of a photographer named E L Moore, also referred to as Earl L Moore in later listings, is in 1933. During this time he’s listed as residing at 204 N College. It looks like he was an independent photographer, working out of his residence without a dedicated studio.

1937 - 1940

Earl L Moore is still listed as a photographer, but now he’s located at 114 1/2 S. Tryon. Still no studio associated with him.

1941 - 1946

First Moore's Baby Studio entry in 1941 Charlotte directory

In 1941 there appears an entry for Moore’s Baby Studio, noted as photographers specializing in child photography, run by Earl L Moore. It’s located at 114 1/2 S. Tyron, the same address listed for the 1937 to 1940 period.

1947

Something odd happens in the directory for this year. I can’t find any listings for E L Moore, or any photography business he might have run. I need to investigate this further.

1948 - 1951

First entry for Little Folks Studio in 1948 Charlotte directory

In 1948 there appears an entry for a company called Little Folks Studio, noted as photographers specializing in baby photography, run by E L Moore. It’s located at 401 N Church.

In 1950, the listing for Little Folks Studio shows a W A Cauthen listed along with E L Moore. Maybe they were now business partners?

1952 - 1960

In 1952, Little Folks Studio has moved to 1702 E 4th. W A Cauthen is still present in the listing along with E L Moore.

1961 - 1963

E L Moore's 1961 Charlotte directory entry

In 1961 the entry for Little Folks Studio is now just a one-liner stating the address. Earl L Moore now has just an individual listing with the address of 525 Oakland Avenue, apt 3, which, as we’ve seen from his correspondence, was his home address at the time. The text “(Little Folks Studio)” appears beside his name, but I think that is included to inform people who are looking for him that he is the Earl L Moore who was associated with Little Folks Studio.

Little Folks Studio also just has a one-liner entry stating it’s at 1702 E 4th. There’s no mention of either E L Moore or W A Cauthen in the entry, or any other names. There are a couple of other names in the directories that have “(Little Folks Studio)” beside them - maybe they now own the studio, or have bought some of its assets? 

I think what we’re seeing is that by 1961, E. L. Moore was no longer associated with Little Folks Studio, and likely that business was no longer a going concern, if it still existed at all. 1961 was likely the year E. L. Moore began his retirement - he’d be 63 years old at that time.