So I found another example taken by Sussman studios. Same exact pose. Also found this article about Apeda studios
Apeda's primary advantage among the New York metropolitan studios was its possession of industrial photograph developers and postcard printers. Whenever a New York photographer took a shot that they could not reproduce and market themselves or took a photograph that could not be copyrighted because there was no contract between photographer and sitter (the situation of flashlight stills of Broadway plays for instance), Apeda would secure a print, eradicate whatever name or trademark appeared on the print and affixed their own Apeda signature.