Category Archives: Hats

Young Man With Hat

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Cabinet Card. Circa 1880s. Photographer unknown.

Price:  $5.00

No identifying info on this one for either the subject or the photographer, but it’s a nice photo with a nice rural backdrop. The young man wears a sack suit and bow tie, holds an open book in one hand and his low-crowned hat with upturned brim in the other, and by virtue of the fake stonework, gets to strike a casual pose. The headgear might remind one of a parson’s hat because of the short crown but from a quick online search it appears the parson’s hat has a much wider brim.

Anna Flottman’s Cousin Ed

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Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. Circa 1910 – 1918.

Price:  $10.00

” Cnell Ill.  Dear Cousin, how are you I am fine and dandy. From your Cousin Ed Aleves.”

Addressed to:   “Miss Anna Flottman. Burden, Kans.”

This one’s a bit of a puzzle. I had sworn during research for the last post (in Burden KS via internet) that I’d come across the correct surname for this handsome gentleman. (A subcategory, that will hopefully be adhered to 😉 is being filed away somewhere “up top” entitled, “The Importance of Writing Things Down”.) His last name is hard to read in the signature. Alives, Alves, Aleves, Aluves, Alires were searched and how very odd now to be not finding the reference just previously come across. And the location he has written appears to be an abbreviation, possibly for Cornell, Illinois.

If Ancestry.com trees are correct for the marriage of Anna Flottman to Reason Leslie Moore on July 7, 1918, that narrows down the postcard time frame a little, since she was single when the card was sent to her. And for more about the recipient of this card, see the prior post.

Owen Curtis Herr, Burden KS 1908

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Divided back, unused, Real Photo Postcard. January 1908. KRUXO stamp box.

Price:  $12.00

A handsome young man, age seventeen when this photo was taken:  Owen “Curt” Herr, son of Samuel Horatio Herr and Caroline Jane Stuart. Curt was born November 13, 1890 in Jasper, Iowa. He wrote:

“Jan 1908. To Miss Annie Flottman. Remembrance of Mr. Curtis Herr.”

Addressed to:   “Miss Annie Flottman, Burden Kans.”

Annie is Anna Louise Flottman, born in Kansas in 1883, daughter of Harman (also spelled Herman) Flottman and Mary Pickens. Annie’s brother Albert married into the Herr family.

For another card addressed to Anna see the next post:  Anna Flottman’s Cousin Ed.

Sources:  State Historical Society of Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa. Ancestry.com. Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1856-1940.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Silver Creek, Cowley, Kansas; Roll: T624_436; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0062; FHL microfilm: 1374449. (Ancestry.com).

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 21 June 2018), memorial page for Anna Louise Flottman Moore (13 Jun 1883–7 Apr 1945), Find A Grave Memorial no. 17647604, citing Grand Prairie Cemetery, Burden, Cowley County, Kansas, USA ; Maintained by Judy Mayfield (contributor 46636512).
Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 21 June 2018), memorial page for Matilda R. Herr Flottman (29 Apr 1885–21 Oct 1970), Find A Grave Memorial no. 17646745, citing Grand Prairie Cemetery, Burden, Cowley County, Kansas, USA ; Maintained by Judy Mayfield (contributor 46636512).

A Family Man

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Old photo, white border. Circa 1920s – 1930s.

Price:  $5.00          Size:  About 2 and 13/16 x 2″

Sometimes we look at a photo of someone and we totally forget that they were not alone at the time, since, well duh! the person holding the camera was also there. This is one such for me. I think of this guy as a dad, having a few moments alone, but as always, engaged in the welfare of his family, the upkeep of which is often not easy…..

Arms Akimbo, Etc.

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Divided back, Real Photo Postcard. Unknown manufacturer. Circa mid-to-late 1910s.

Price:  $7.00

This is a late post for Father’s Day (surely there is a dad in this photo). Late since I was out of town for a week, and just getting back to LCG this morning. And what to name this one? I was struck by the variety of poses in this group of five men and one small boy, posing for the camera on their (or somebody’s) front lawn. I love the formidable stance and gruff expression on the gentleman in the rear – with the overalls, the mustache and the arms akimbo. As for the time frame, one of the best clues for dating this image should turn out to be the vehicle in the background (cropped and inserted below). Is it an electric car or a delivery wagon minus the horse? Hmmm, really not sure, but help should be forthcoming.

Going back to the top image:  that particular style of hat for the young man on our left, too…a newsboy cap? Note his use of sleeve garters and the skinny tie. We can also see that the shade trees, at least on this side of the street, are maple. And last but not least, under one of these maples, stands a little girl wearing a big hair bow, looking on.

One final thought for now….I love the bird-like shadow that has graced this photo, highlighted below, with the big wing out-stretched and the tail feathers….like a hawk or a thunderbird…or even a dove….

 

A. H. Taylor, Pianos And Organs

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Trade Card. Salem, Massachusetts. 1880 – 1881.

Price:  $12.00         Size:  2 and 1/2 x 4 and 1/2″

“A. H. Taylor, Pianos And Organs, 293 Essex St., Salem, Mass.”

This could be the only surviving trade card for this company in existence, though that might be “doing it too brown” as they say in Regency terms. (I wonder if Georgette Heyer interspersed that era’s vocabulary into her own present-day conversation, and if so, what the response was, blank looks?) In any case, this is a charming card showing a young maid setting up for a small outdoor tea party.

A. H. Taylor was Albert H. Taylor, born about 1857 in Manchester, Massachusetts, son of John M. Taylor and Ann H. Lee. He married Cora B. Kenney June 11, 1879. The 1880 Federal Census for Salem, shows Albert’s occupation as piano tuner, and the household at that time was Albert, Cora and their one month old son, Albert H., living at 88 Federal St.

By 1900 they have another family member, Louis C, and the family is now in Bridgeport, Connecticut, at 111 Hicks St. Albert, Sr.’s occupation is listed as music dealer.

And by 1910, Albert and Cora have relocated to Springfield, Mass. Albert’s occupation appears to read as “com. traveler, pianos,”  so, commercial traveler or traveling salesman in the piano industry.

As for city directories, the 1881 for Salem lists A. H. Taylor at the 293 Essex St. address, under headings of Music Stores, Piano Dealers and Piano Tuners. Evidently, he ran an ad on the front cover of that directory, but the cover is missing. The 1879 directory shows a music store belonging to H. R. Perkins & Co., the 1880 directory wasn’t found and nothing shows for the 293 address after 1881 until 1888 (a house furnishing store). So, this trade card can pretty accurately be said to be from 1880 or 1881.

Sources:  Sampson, Davenport & Co.’s The Salem Directory for 1879, No. XVIII. p. 279. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

Sampson, Davenport & Co.’s The New England Business Directory for 1881. pp. 284, 285 and 278. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Salem, Essex, Massachusetts; Roll: 532; Page: 686A; Enumeration District: 235. (Ancestry.com).

New England Historic Genealogical Society; Boston, Massachusetts. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840-1915.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Bridgeport, Fairfield, Connecticut; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0036. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Springfield Ward 7, Hampden, Massachusetts; Roll: T624_593; Page: 19A; Enumeration District: 0649; FHL microfilm: 1374606.(Ancestry.com).

Girl in Wicker Chair, Reading PA

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Old photo on cardboard frame. Circa 1900 – 1901. Photographer:  Ammon M. Lease.

Size including cardboard frame:  3 and 7/16 x 4 and 11/16″

Price:  $10.00

Here’s a portrait of someone about teenager age, a young girl right at the turn of the last century, in skirt and blouse and wonderful hat, posing in a beautifully ornate, but common for the time-period, wicker photographer’s chair.

Lease is Ammon M. Lease, photographer, who was listed at the address of 742 Penn Street in 1900 and 1901. Below, from the 1901 Reading city directory, and this seems a little unusual, there are eight photographers on Penn St., who all must have been fairly close to one another, per the street numbers.

Sources:  W. H. Boyd & Co.’s Directory of Reading, 1900. p. 58. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.)

W. H. Boyd & Co.’s Directory of Reading, 1901. p. 60. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.)

Sweet Home Soap

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Trade card, circa 1880s – 1890s.

Price:  $3.00          Size:  About 3 and 1/4 x 4 and 5/16″

Young love in an old trade card

Here’s a trade card, a little worse for wear, but still….a beauty:  depicting a lovers’ scene of a young man cutting roses for his sweetheart (or maybe clearing a path for her, or both).

From small cake soap manufacturer to industry giant

Buffalo, New York native John Durrant Larkin (1845 – 1926) was the founder of J. D. Larkin & Co., manufacturer of Sweet Home Soap, a bar laundry soap, and with the help of the marketing genius of his brother-in-law Elbert Hubbard (1856 – 1915), became one of Buffalo’s most successful businessmen. Hubbard is reported to have been Larkin & Co.’s first salesman, and pioneered the strategy of selling direct to the consumer, thereby cutting costs to be able to offer many incentives to buying the company’s products (which became numerous, a “laundry list,” pun happily intended, of household, food and other items). These incentives or “premiums” as they were called, were first small enough to be included with the customer’s order, until the idea was expanded to include the redemption of beautiful pieces of furniture, as well as pottery and glassware, lamps, bed frames and other items.

Below, a clipping from a Google search for Larkin & Co furniture:

Glove buttoners and biscuit cutters

Below, a clipping from an 1888 ad appearing in The Appleton Crescent, listing the bonus items one could get, along with 100 cakes of Sweet Home Soap. We’re wondering if any of the pictures mentioned titled, “Desdemona”, “Skye Terrier”, “Jockey Joe”, “Love’s Young Dream” etc. still grace any walls today. Then too, when we look at the artwork in the average working family’s home, as in….after gazing at our ancestor’s photo, then looking past them to see what was in those picture frames (if we can see, sometimes it’s just barely, and always to the point of wanting to jump in the photo for a moment)….we can imagine what might have been the humble soap origin of that prized piece of wall decor (as in our related post, The Village Belle.)

Factory girls in ’04

Below, a photo courtesy of the Buffalo Courier, May 29, 1904 of Larkin factory girls packing products (and if your ancestor worked in Buffalo for Larkin’s it’s rather nice to think that she might be one of these ladies.) Last thought:  Are those wreaths hanging on the pillars?

Sources:  John D. Larkin. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Larkin (accessed May 6, 2018).

Elbert Hubbard. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbert_Hubbard (accessed May 6, 2018).

“images of Larkin & Co. furniture.”  Google.com search. (accessed May 6, 2018).

“Twin Babies” Larkin ad. The Appleton Crescent (Appleton, WI). November 24, 1888, Saturday, p. 4.

“One of Buffalo’s Most Successful Manufacturers.”  Buffalo Courier, May 29, 1904. Sunday, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).

Melvin E. Noel

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Divided back, unused Real Photo Postcard. NOKO stamp box. Circa 1925.

Price:  $12.00

I think we can say beyond a reasonable doubt that this gentleman is Melvin Eustace Noel, born September 18, 1899 in Palermo, California, as no other possibilities were found. Melvin was the son of Daniel Noel and Daisy E. (Darby) Noel. We’re estimating maybe he was around 25 years old when the photo was taken. From records it appears he had never married and had made his living in the ranching industry. Makes sense as to his work boots and maybe best work pants that he wears for the photo, along with the suit jacket and tie. His WWII Draft Registration Card shows he was employed at that time by Amadee Ranch, address Wendel, CA with employer’s contact name and address given J. L. Humphrey of Reno, NV. Below, a Google map showing the town of Wendel, just north of Honey Lake, and moving eastward, the California-Nevada border.

Sources:  The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1320. Ancestry.com. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Ophir, Butte, California; Page: 24; Enumeration District: 0020. (Ancestry.com).

Original data: State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics. (Ancestry.com).

Wendel, California map (Google.com).

A Proud Owner

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Divided Back, unused Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1910s – 1930s.

Price:  $5.00

“The window is not broken, it is the reflection of the sun.”

This is a Tudor-style house, as we can see from the steep-pitched roof, the tall windows, and the decorative half-timbering on the gable. If you look at the upper portion of the side of the house you might think you’re seeing wood shingle siding but that overlapping effect must be just an illusion – look at the lower half and you’ll see brick. There’s a small built-in front porch with a rounded archway, and the front facade of the house is stuccoed above the, would one say, brick wainscoting? The top segments of the bay windows are called awning windows, and it’s one of these that appears to be broken, but like the proud owner says, it’s a reflection of the sun. And there’s the gentleman himself, posing to the side, in suit and fedora. There are two small potted evergreens that look like they might be for planting elsewhere, and note the key that’s hanging in the door. Looking closer still, we see a zigzag pattern of tile for the porch floor. And the windows in the door and on each side (does this remind anyone of the 1960s or ’70s?) are done in some type of privacy glass with a pebbled effect.