J. E. Allen & Sons Trade Card

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Annieoakley

“Compliments of J. E. Allen & Sons. No. 16 N. Third St., Harrisburg, PA.”

Here’s a beautiful trade card for the winter season: a country scene in brown and white on gray; showing a man driving a two-horse drawn sled which is hauling some very large logs. They are driving past a large windmill, appearing on their left. The road is bordered by a rustic wooden fence, and there are some trees and buildings in the background; note the church steeple. The back of the card has a beautifully delicate design, which is a partial border around the message:

“Go to ALLEN & SONS. No. 16 North Third Street, Harrisburg, Pa. For Fine Confections, Fruits, Nuts, &c. ORDER YOUR HOLIDAY CAKES FROM THEM. A Specialty Made of Fruit Cake. The Largest and Finest Stock of TOYS in the City.”

Imagine being able to go back in time to this store, especially just before Christmas!

J.E. Allen & Sons was John E. Allen, and sons James C. and George. The 1880 Federal Census for Harrisburg shows: John E. Allen, born about 1825; his wife Frances E., born about 1834; son’s George, born about 1856; James C., born about 1858; daughter Mary E., born about 1862; son Charles E., born about 1865; and Rosanna Paul, occupation servant, born about 1827. All in the household are Pennsylvania natives except for Frances, who is native to New York. Occupations for John E. Allen and sons George and James C. are listed as baker. City directories found online for this company are running from 1876 – 1882.

Trade card, circa 1876 – 1882. Size: 4 and 1/2 x 2 and 1/2″

Price: $15.00

Sources: Boyd’s Harrisburg City Directory, 1876 – 1877. p. 81. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Boyd’s Harrisburg “Telegraph” Directory, 1882 – 1884. p. 343. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Year: 1880; Census Place: Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1123; Family History Film: 1255123; Page: 193A; Enumeration District: 087; Image: 0389 (Ancestry.com)

Somewhere In France

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Annieoakley

Real Photo Postcard, undivided back. “Carte Postale. Ce côté est exclusivement réservée à l’adresse.” Photographer and publisher unknown logos showing RPH and PMM. Series L.B. 7592. Circa 1900 – 1904.

Price: $10.00

True, the beautiful wintertime photo used for this postcard may have been taken somewhere other than France. But I’ve (internally) given it the above title every time I’ve looked at it, so…. It’s a postcard produced from a real photo, but with publisher and possibly the photographer logo, and a series number at the bottom right; so, a commercial type of Real Photo Postcard. It shows a farmhouse, with rustic wooden fence, woodpile, a couple of deciduous trees in the foreground, a wood of evergreens in the background, and last but not least a woman out working in her garden. The ground, the tree branches, some farm implements next to the fence, and of course, the rooftops, are all blanketed with snow. Maybe it is late autumn with an early snowfall, or early spring with snow on the ground still. But what vegetable would she hoeing?

The logos – one on the front and other on the back – are from an as-of-yet unidentified publisher and photographer, we presume, but which would be which is also unknown.

“P” and an “H” inside a larger “R.” We’ll call it RPH.

Larger “P” and smaller double “M” in a circle. We’ll call it PMM.

A Winter Pose

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Annieoakley

The style of Cyko stamp box on this Real Photo Postcard dates this one, since it is a divided back, around 1907 – 1920s, but I would estimate it to be older than the 1920s. It shows a young woman either in a long fitted coat, or long skirt and jacket. It’s hard to say, since the skirt appears to be a little bit paler in color than the jacket, or is that just an effect of the light? The outfit is very striking due to it’s enormous white fur collar, and matching muff, along with matching hat placed atop her Gibson-girl hairstyle. She is smiling and posing for the camera, standing outside in a snow-covered countryside setting, with some bare-branched trees in the background.

Divided back, unused, Real Photo Postcard. Cyko stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1910s.

Price: $5.00

Best Wishes From Mr. & Mrs. Charles Jarchow

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Annieoakley

“With best wishes for your happiness during Christmas and thru the New Year.”

Signed “Mr. & Mrs. Chas. Jarchow.”

Well, here is an absolutely heavenly card! It was done in colors of gold, black, red and white on off-white. It’s design shows a 19th-century family consisting of a man, woman and little boy, outdoors singing Christmas carols. The moon is huge in the background, the snow falls through the golden night sky. The three have walked down the stone pathway from the charming Tudor cottage-style home on the left. Love the rounded door, the shutters, the tree showing bare branches behind the archway, even the little bush on the right, or rather I think that is meant to depict a tree top showing from the other side of the hill. Notice the detail of the door hinges, the stonework around the door; not to mention the clothing of the singers, the sweet expression on the woman’s face, the boy’s expression and fluttering long winter scarf, the way the gentleman is interestingly turned facing sideways so that we see his profile, while the other two face the front; his coat and top hat, the woman’s hooped skirt and fur-trimmed jacket and matching bonnet….Perhaps the artist drew the man facing to the side since his coat flares so much; it might not have worked so well to have his outline be similar to, or detract from the woman’s.

Very noticeable about this artwork are the patterns: the checkered pattern of the woman’s skirt, the swirl in the presumably wooden area under the roof peak, the contrast of the larger snowflakes with the smaller dotted fabric of the woman’s jacket, the stripes in the man’s coat. (One could gush on almost forever.) But we do have a very similarly styled Christmas card, that was put up here at Laurel Cottage early on. Check out the similarities to the card in this post entitled “May Your Christmas Be Merry.” It’s very possible that the two are by the same artist. (We’ll be on the lookout for more.)

As far as the time frame for this card, it’s hard to say – maybe 1900 through the 1930s. We do know that it was made in the United States, since it gives us that information at the bottom right of the scene. And the last name in the signature is definitely Jarchow; nothing shows up under alternate spellings. But a surprising amount of married couples show up in census records, at various times, in various states, for Charles Jarchow and spouse, so that won’t help to narrow down the date.

One last note as far as trying to date the card: One might think that the use of “thru” instead of “through” might be useful, as in when did we start using “thru?” However, the use of the shorter word has been around for over a century, according to numerous dictionary and word origin type references. Interesting, though (or tho!)

Christmas card, unknown artist and date. Circa 1900 – 1930s? Size: About 5 and 1/2 x 4 and 1/4″ Condition is very good except for the crease at the top.

Price: $30.00

Source: ‘ “Thru” vs. “through.” ‘ Stackexchange. Web accessed December 9, 2014. [http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/91778/thru-vs-through]

Sincere Wishes From Sophia Hubbard

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Annieoakley

This one is part of what I’m starting to think of as the E. Nash and pre – E. Nash publisher mystery. E. Nash was a postcard publisher about whom not much is known. Oh boy, one of those type. 😉 So, the next posting after this will be an organization of what we have so far for Nash and the possible prior publisher. They both used the same beautiful spiral design in the back header, but Nash used a capital “N” in a triangle for his logo and the prior person used a capital or two capital “A”s in a circle. The publisher logo on this card shows a subtle variation in the circle.

Anyway, this beauty shows a nice winter scene at sunset or sunrise, of a guy in a skiff (easy to miss unless you click on the image to enlarge. You can click again to enlarge one more time.) He is using the skiff’s pole to navigate the little stream, and in the background on the right is (presumably!) his house and on the left, across the stream (very handy) the church he attends (again presumably 😉 ). This is another addressed to Lena Davis of Almeria, Kansas and is from Lena’s cousin, Sophia Hubbard. Sophia writes:

“Pomona Kans. Oct. 7 – 1913. Dear Cousin Lena. Papa is out west. Has been gone a week to-day and we haven’t heard a line. We are worried almost to death. The baby has the grippe. It has rained twice since he left. I came home last Mon. night. wk. ago. Was glad to get yours & Lillies cards they were all I got. We got a letter from Aunt Katie. They have moved. Wish you a very Happy Birthday. Sophia Hubbard. Will write you a letter just as soon as I know any thing for sure.”

Yikes! We hope everything turned out fine for Sophia and her family. There are more postcards that we’ll be adding later on to the Lena Davis Collection, so we’ll sort out the different family relations at that time.

Divided back, embossed postcard. Unused with writing. Dated October 7, 1913. Publisher unknown. Possible E. Nash connection. Nash may have obtained the rights to the postcard back header from this unknown publisher.

Price: $5.00

Reward Of Merit To Katie Stearns

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Annieoakley

Reward of Merit, embossed card from unknown artist or publisher. Circa late 1890s. Size: About 4 and 1/16 x 6 and 1/16″.

Price: $15.00

Here’s a nice one for the season, though it doesn’t look like this in California at the moment, at least not where we are! It’s a Reward of Merit, embossed and showing a beautiful winter scene of three children, or perhaps one adult and two children. They are standing in front of a large home, or maybe it was a school, which appears inside a rustic wooden fence, and has a line of trees to its right. It must be a daytime scene since the sky shows blue, the scene is well enough lit; therefor that is the sun we are seeing rather than the moon, but a wintery-looking sun. Not sure what the taller person is holding but what comes to mind is a bird’s nest, as he seems to be carrying it carefully. The card is bordered by mossy, snowy branches, maybe birch, with two adorable birdies at the top right, and a row of icicles at the top – a nice touch. The artist has blurred the border a little in order to focus our attention on the scene itself. And you can’t see it in the scanned image here, but if you turn the card at an angle, you can see a sparkly snow effect.

The town of Derinda, Jo Daviess County, Illinois is less than six miles west of the town of Pleasant Valley, as the crow flies. Though there is no location named on the back of the card, it’s a pretty sure bet that the following student and teacher combo is correct. (Other searches were done online without finding any other possibilities) So, as indicated on the back, this Reward of Merit was given to Katie Stearns by her teacher Clara Dittmar. The 1900 Federal Census records show that Katie lived in Pleasant Valley, and Clara in Derinda.

Katie (spelled Kattie) Stearns, age 11, was born November 1888 in Illinois. Her parents are Robert and Betsey Nash. Robert born July 1861 in Iowa, his occupation day laborer; and Betsey, born January 1867 in Iowa. Katie’s younger siblings are Martin, age 9; Lillian, age 7; William S., age 5; and Susan, age 9 months.

Clara Dittmar, age 24, was born September 1875, in Illinois. She is single, living with her widowed father and siblings, and her occupation is public school teacher. Her father is Albert Dittmar, age 53, born April 1847, in Germany, occupation farmer. Clara’s siblings are Julia B., age 26; Lottie A., age 18; Emma E., age 16; William A., age 14; and Lydia M., age 10. Living with the family is Lillian E. Kringle, age 24, also a public school teacher. According to an Ancestry.com family tree, Clara’s mother was Anna Maria Praeger.

Sources: Year: 1900; Census Place: Derinda, Jo Daviess, Illinois; Roll: 310; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0031; FHL microfilm: 1240310 (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1900; Census Place: Pleasant Valley, Jo Daviess, Illinois; Roll: 310; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0038; FHL microfilm: 1240310 (Ancestry.com)

“Iowa, Marriages, 1809-1992,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XV93-6LH : accessed 6 December 2014), Robert Sterns and Elizabeth Nash, 19 Dec 1887; citing Clayton, Iowa, reference ; FHL microfilm 1,255,483.

Faith

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Annieoakley

Old card, circa 1890s – 1910.

Price: $5.00 Size: About 2 and 1/2 x 4.”

“The just shall live by faith. – Heb. 10.38.”

Small card with bible verse, possibly from the Victorian Era. Maybe it was used as a calling card. It has the name Walter Hartwell written on the back. This wonderful image was surprisingly hard to describe at first, but denotes faith. The verse, combined with the image, to me means that the continued practice of honesty and kindness bring faith, faith then carries us and protects us, allows us to see the sweetness in life and to know that we are never alone. The card shows a little girl in winter taking a break from picking holly (per the basket beside her). It’s lightly snowing and she is sitting on the ground, under her umbrella, which is keeping off the snow. Two birdies have come to greet her. Though she is not dressed in fine clothes or even very warmly, we can see by her beautiful expression that she is spiritually rich and walks in faith.

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