River View, Menominee, Michigan

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, used postcard. Postmarked from Menominee, Michigan on August 1, 1906. Incoming postmark at Fort Sheridan, Illinois on August 2, 1906. Publisher: The Rotograph Co., New York City, NY. Series or number: A52588. Made in Germany.

Availability Status: SOLD

“River View, Menominee, Mich.”

“Dear Mrs. Henning: – We are having a very pleasant vacation. I am very glad you find your new home so pleasant. Miss Wilkins[?]” Addressed to:

“Mrs. O. Henning, Ft. Sheridan, Ill.”

The city of Menominee is located at the southernmost tip of the Upper Peninsula, on the shores of Green Bay of Lake Michigan, and the banks of the Menominee River, which makes up part of the Michigan-Wisconsin border. This postcard is the last one in the Dr. Oswald Henning Collection, but we hope to come across more.

Easter Blessing To Hannah From Genevieve

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Annieoakley

Here’s another beautiful Easter card; this one showing a dark-haired angel holding a book, and gazing down to her right. She is situated in the center of a silver cross with ornate scroll work and the unfurled message, “Easter Blessing.” The publisher included a space for “To” and “From” to be written in by the sender. So, it was Hannah White that sent this card to Genevieve Julian.

The card was addressed, “Miss Hannah White, Oakland Cal. # 1201 Alice St.”

The outgoing postal mark shows Fruto, Cal. Fruto is an unincorporated community in Glenn County; about 14 miles northwest of the city of Willows.

There is a “Jenevieve” Julian, born July 1875 in California, appearing on the 1900 Federal Census for Glenn County, CA. This record shows she was married to Lee Julian, and they were staying with his brother, William Julian. So, Genevieve would have been about age 30 when she sent this postcard to Hannah…As for Hannah, she does show up on the 1906 city directory at 1201 Alice Street, but no census records were found with the same address.

Undivided back, used postcard. Postmarked April 13, 1906 from Oakland, California. Publisher: International Art Publishing Co., New York. Series 218. Printed in Germany.

Price: $10.00

Sources: Fruto. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruto,_California. (accessed April 5. 2015).

Year: 1900; Census Place: Township 3, Glenn, California; Roll: 86; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0015; FHL microfilm: 1240086. (Ancestry.com)

When Last Seen On The Road

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Annieoakley

This RPPC has one of the best homemade captions ever! The image shows a couple of guys (we presume them to have a great sense of humor) in their photo prop car, overcoats and derby or bowler hats.

If you’ve noticed that the steering wheel is on the right in this photo, then “good eye.” So, was the image reversed or the card from Great Britain then? No, the explanation (for those of us who were not previously aware) is that prior to the 1908 Ford Model T, almost all American cars were made with the steering wheel on the right. Ford’s Model T design placed it on the left, to make it easier for the passenger to avoid oncoming traffic. See the link below for a great web article on the subject.

Undivided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused with writing. Sailboat stamp box, manufacturer unknown. Circa 1905 – February 1907.

Price: $7.00

Source: “Fact: American Steering Wheels Haven’t Always Been On The Left.” March 13, 2013. Lost In The Pond. Web accessed March 31, 2015.

Ship Ann?

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused with writing. CYKO stamp box shows “Prints at Night” and “Place Postage Stamp Here.” 1904.

Price: $4.00 Size: About 5 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/8″

I really do not understand the handwritten caption on this one which appears to say, “Ship Ann?” Was Ann the little girl in the photo? Did she like ships? But she’s adorable in her big hat, standing on the shore. This postcard was found along with the prior post entitled “One Of My Favorite Stunts” and most certainly appears to have been written by the same person.

One Of My Favorite Stunts

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused with writing. CYKO stamp box shows “Prints at Night” and “Place Postage Stamp Here.” 1904.

Price: $4.00 Size: About 5 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/8″

” ‘Jen’ One of my favorite stunts. Ted. 1904″

Click on the front of this postcard view, then click once more to get the best look at this photo. It shows a young man riding a bicycle while balancing on his shoulder a tall ladder – sideways. Not an easy thing to do! The photo’s unusual border is sort of like a puzzle piece. This postcard, and the following one under the title “Ship Ann?” appear to have both been written by Ted.

All A-Tiptoe

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Annieoakley

Price: $15.00

“All a-tiptoe I will be

Until my Valentine I see.”

Here’s a beautiful E. Curtis, (Elizabeth Curtis) artist-signed postcard published by Raphael Tuck & Sons. The artwork is actually a little cut off at the bottom, but it shows a little boy in red-striped winter hat and blue scarf, with a mailbag on his shoulder, on tip-toe reaching to the mailbox. The composition is lovely with another mailbag illustrated at the top right, open and with letters falling. The card is addressed to:

“Miss Helen Huggins, 2313 Channing Way, Berkeley, Cal.”

Helen Huggins would have been about five or six years old when she received this postcard. She can be found on the 1920 Federal Census for Berkeley, at the address on the postcard, born in California, about 1899. She is with her parents, Charles W. Huggins, born Minnesota, about 1861, working as a civil engineer for the city, and Pearl O. Huggins, born Missouri, about 1871; and younger sister, Bernice Huggins, born California, about 1903. Boarding with the family is Euphemia A. Black, born California, about 1881, occupation Housekeeper.

Source: Year: 1920; Census Place: Berkeley, Alameda, California; Roll: T625_93; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 184; Image: 113. (Ancestry.com.)

Dr. W. Derby’s Croup Mixture

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, unused, artist-signed postcard. Circa 1906. Artist: Stauter. Publisher unknown.

Price: $20.00

“Wet feet, cold hands, Dr. W. Derby’s Croup Mixture, Eaton Rapids, Mich.”
is printed at the bottom of this artist-signed postcard showing merriment in winter – elves throwing snowballs.

I was searching for a Dr. W. Derby in Eaton Rapids around 1900 without finding an entry. Then after finding the below patent information, wondered if Dr. Derby was a fictional name; however the 1870 Federal Census taken in Eaton Rapids shows Willougby Derby, physician and surgeon, born in New York, about 1829; his wife Hattie, born in Michigan about 1839; living with them are Annie Pomeroy, invalid, and Adelbert Garfield, domestic servant. By the 1880 census, Hattie is widowed, and the 1900 shows Hattie working as a milliner, but several doors down from her on this census is Frank Godding, born Michigan, July 1863; his wife Emma, born Michigan April 1866. Frank Godding’s occupation is Pharmacist. Their son Dan is eight years old. George Wilcox is Frank Godding’s likely partner. He appears on the 1900 as a commercial traveler (drugs), born Illinois, August 1861; his wife is Katherine, born Michigan, September 1866; their daughter Florence is five years old. So, perhaps Dr. Willoughby Derby developed the croup mixture or possibly it was named in honor of him.

The lower right corner of this charming postcard shows the artist’s signature, which appears to be J.? Stauter. We’ll add this to the mystery category, as the full name of the artist is unknown.

Sources: The Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 122, Issues 8-9. 1906. p. 3005. Web accessed January 10, 2015. (Google eBook)

Year: 1870; Census Place: Eaton Rapids, Eaton, Michigan; Roll: M593_670; Page: 231A; Image: 465; Family History Library Film: 552169. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1900; Census Place: Eaton Rapids, Eaton, Michigan; Roll: 709; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0069; FHL microfilm: 1240709. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1900; Census Place: Eaton Rapids, Eaton, Michigan; Roll: 709; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 0069; FHL microfilm: 1240709. (Ancestry.com)

Merry Christmas To Mrs. Louise Franzel

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Annieoakley

This is an intriguing postcard: The sender wrote her message in German in very small writing, starting at the top of the bell, and continuing on all of the holly leaves. I think the message needs to be translated by someone fluent in German, as the writing is just too small to make out without one being already familiar with the language. It starts out “Liebe Louise,” (Dear Louise.) After that, yikes! But how very skillful of the sender! On the card is printed, “A Merry Christmas,” and then the sender wrote, “for my dear friend Louise with love from Emma.” The top right holly leaf contains the address, “New York, 1[??] W. 45th St.” Too bad the full street number got smudged.

Searching for Emma in the city directories on Ancestry.com in Manhattan, with a keyword of “W. 45 St.” and with a street number in the 100 range, did not bring up any matches. The next possibility would be to search for the Enumeration District for the census records of 1900 or 1910, for W. 45th Street. Fortunately, there is an excellent website that helps us narrow down the EDs. Click here to search the site. Searching for 100 – 199 W. 45th St. in Manhattan shows eleven EDs for the 1900 Federal Census and ten for the 1910. So, without knowing the exact street number, it would be a long and tedious search process, unless one were to get lucky and hit on the right ED early on. We’ll leave the search for the sender then and move on to the addressee: “Mrs. P. Franzel, 323 Marguerite Ave, Portland, Ore.”

This one was easy: Peter and Louise Franzel and their daughter Louise V. Franzel show up at the above address on the 1910 Federal Census for Portland. They were not living at that address on the 1900. The couple are listed as born in Austria, Peter in about 1869 and Louise in about 1879. Daughter Louise, who is ten months old, was born in Oregon, about June 1909, as the census was taken in April. Peter’s occupation is Cement Contractor, his immigration year is 1881, and the couple has been married about three years, so they must have been married in 1906, since the card is dated that year. A search for the marriage shows the date as October 30th. Finding Louise’s maiden name was a little tricky, as it turned out there was a typo for her first name in the index, showing “Souise.” But she is Louise A. Kisswetter. (A correction was submitted in Ancestry.com.)

Undivided back, embossed, used postcard. Publisher unknown. Outgoing postmark December 24, 1906 from New York, New York. Incoming postmark December 28, 1906 in Portland, Oregon.

Price: $15.00

Sources: Year: 1910; Census Place: Portland Ward 7, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: T624_1288; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0187; FHL microfilm: 1375301. (Ancestry.com)

Oregon State Library; Oregon Marriage Indexes, 1906-2006; Reel: 1; Years: 1906-1910. (Ancestry.com)

Mullen & Bluett Clothing Company

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, artist-signed, unused postcard. Publisher: American Commercial Advertising Company, New York. Circa 1909 – 1910.

Price: $20.00

Here’s an old postcard that was used for advertising purposes by the Los Angeles, California-based Mullen & Bluett Clothing Company, and shows an illustration by Hamilton, Ontario-born artist Benjamin Sayre Cory Kilvert. The clothing company wrote:

“The chill, cool days are coming, to remind the boys of our attractive assortments of Fall and Winter Clothes – Good styles and good values in the newest Suits, Overcoats, Hats and Furnishings. Mullen & Bluett Clothing Co – Los Angeles, Cal.”

Two similar postcards were found (at the time of this post) for sale on eBay. They show the exact same format – illustrations by the same artist, calendar in top right, postcard back with the same “Mailing Card” heading, same publisher and the exact same writing style for the message. One is a summer scene with the calendar for August 1910 for the H.M.& R. Shoe Company,Toledo, Ohio, and the other a winter scene with a January 1910 calendar for The Luke Horsfall Company. This was really quite clever of the publisher, American Commercial Advertising: You have designs by a popular artist, a new possibility every month, a small calendar (always handy) included on the card, and a space for the clothing company, shoe company or whatever, to write a few short lines to their existing and potential customers.

A third postcard, and one made for Mullen & Bluett, like the one we have here, can be found on the excellent Plummer & Associates’ Blog. They also show some old postcards of the various Mullen & Bluett stores.

Lastly, the postcard back showing “Mailing Card” and “This Side for Address Only” does not seem to have been as common as those that say “Private Mailing Card.” Probably this one was printed either in late 1909 or early 1910, but the company must have been using old card stock, since on March 1, 1907 the U.S. postal regulations had changed to allow the divided back.

Source: Plummer, John. “Downtown Los Angeles History.” Plummer & Associates’ Blog. February 6, 2011. Web accessed November 21, 2014.

View Of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1906

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, used postcard. Postmarked June 20, 1906 from Cincinnati, Ohio. Publisher: The Cincinnati News Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. Printed in Berlin, Germany by Leipzig. No. 3216.

Availability Status: SOLD

A view of Cincinnati, Ohio, looking south from Mount Adams, circa 1906: This is the fifth postcard we’ve found for the Dr. Oswald Henning Collection. (See prior posts for more information.) They were all in the same dealer’s collection for sale at an antique and vintage paper fair in California. However, they were not all together, and at the time they were purchased, the relationship between Oswald Henning and Helen Muirhead was unknown. So, it’s really unusual and interesting that they were chosen that day out of thousands in the dealer’s collection. Helen and Oswald were married on June 30, 1906, in Chicago. See the first in this series, entitled The Lake, Belle Isle Park, Detroit, Michigan for more information. As you can see, this card was postmarked only ten days before the couple got married! The card was addressed to: “Miss Helen Muirhead, 901 Hamilton Court, Chicago.” Oswald dated the card on the top right and he wrote:

“Dear Helen – Homeward Bound – Can hardly wait am so anxious to see you all again. Oswald” and at top left he added, “Am obliged to lay over here for four long hours.”

The bridge on our left appears to be the L&N (Louisville & Nashville) Railroad Bridge, which was first opened under the name of the Newport & Cincinnati Bridge, on April 1, 1872. The name changed to the L&N in 1904. The bridge was rehabilitated (and painted purple) and in 2003 re-opened for pedestrians only under the name of the Newport Southbank Bridge but is commonly called “The Purple People Bridge.”

The bridge on our right appears to be the Central Bridge (Cincinnati Newport Bridge) which opened in 1890 and was demolished in 1992. In it’s place today is the Taylor Southgate Bridge. Don’t let the church steeples in the photo fool you when you look at the Central: They almost line up with the bridge’s two highest points.

Sources: Crowley, Patrick. “Meet the Purple People Bridge.” The Purple People Bridge. Web accessed November 16, 2014. [http://www.purplepeoplebridge.com/History/tabid/536/Default.aspx]

Mecklenborg, Jake. “Central Bridge.” Cincinnati-transit.net. Web accessed November 16, 2014. [http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/central.html]

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