Tintype Treasures

I was in downtown Milwaukee today with my mom and cousins, Teri and Jim. All of us love old houses, antiques, and history.
We decided to stop at this little antique shop on Washington and Water St. It was a very nicely set up store with some pretty unique things.
They had tons of old portrait style pictures. I always feel bad for the homeless pictures. I can't help wondering we're their families are and why they aren't in some box in the attic instead.
I was contemplating the purchase of one such homeless portrait when I stumbled on a small pile of tintypes. At least I was pretty sure they were tintypes. To be honest, I'd never seen one before.
So of course I had to find out how this whole process worked.
The tintype was also known as a melainotype or ferrotype. It was made by producing a direct positive onto a thin sheet of iron that was then blacked by paint, lacquer, or enamel.
These photos were pretty resilient. They could be produced in a few minutes and took virtually no drying time. Makes me think of Polaroids actually. My sister and I had one of those cameras when we were kids.
They came from France and we're patented in 1856 in the US. Of course, they were most popular during the Civil War (1861- 1865). Photographers used to travel around and work outside carnivals and fairs.
The iron plates were cut in different sizes. The gem size was about 1"X1". These ones that I have are known as "Bonton" size. Its a 1/6 cut plate (about 2 3/8"X3 1/2"). The cuts aren't straight either as they were cut by hand.
The little girl's name is Jenni. Its written lightly on the back. I almost missed it. Looking at each of them, I can put together a story in my mind.  I just have a feeling they're all from the same family. Of course that also meant I couldn't bear to split them up.
They're very unique. I've decided to adopt them as part my own family and look for something to display them in. I absolutely love them and hope to find more.