Category Archives: Real Photo Postcards

Marie Rubens, Circa 1913

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Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box. Circa 1912 – 1914.

Availability Status:  SOLD 

Most likely the young lady in this postcard photo is Marie Cecilia Rubens, born May 13, 1897 in Gervais, Oregon, daughter of Joseph Rubens and Matilda Vanderbeck. We’re estimating Marie was about fifteen or sixteen when this was taken. She’s shown in a  white, long-sleeved dress, the collar gathered in ruffles under the chin, hemline just below the knee, hair pulled back in a dark bow. She stands behind a wooden folding chair, in front of a photographer’s backdrop of wooded hills.

Marie’s given this postcard to:   “Gertie Bowley, Gervais, Oregon.”

Gertrude Bowley, from the 1910 Federal Census in Gervais, was born about 1895 in Oregon, daughter of William and Barbara Bowley. Also on this census are Gertie’s younger siblings, Joseph, Mary, William and Florence. Barbara Bowley’s maiden name was Ferschweiler per Gertie’s marriage record (to Luther Garrett).

Marie Rubens married Lawrence Ferschweiler, so there’s a family connection between the subject of this card and its recipient, though we won’t spend time pinpointing the exact relationship.

Sources:  Oregon State Archives; Salem, Oregon; Oregon, Birth Records, 1842-1902, 1917. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Gervais, Marion, Oregon; Roll: T624_1284; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0210; FHL microfilm: 1375297. (Ancestry.com).

Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013. (Ancestry.com).

Oregon State Archives; Salem, Oregon; Oregon, Birth Records, 1842-1902, 1917. (Ancestry.com).

Black Hills Wholesale Grocery Company

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Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO Stamp Box, circa 1913 – 1918.

Price:  $20.00

Addressed to:   “Ollie M. Chester, Rapid City, SD.”

Caption:   “C. E. Gray, wholesale Merchant, Rapid City, and his officers. C. E. Gray.”

You can read  “Wholesale Grocery Co.” on the building, above the man on our left. Which gentleman is C. E. Gray is unknown. Here’s an ad from February, 1914 showing they were located at Seventh Street between Omaha and Rapid (Rapid City, South Dakota):

From city directories it appears C. E. was Claude E. Gray. He shows up in 1918 as vice-president of the business. And on the 1920 Federal Census for Rapid City, we have Claude, born 1880 in Iowa, occupation grocery man; his wife, Florence L., also born 1880 in Iowa; and their daughters, Miriam, Marjorie and Helen. Also in the household is domestic servant, Ida Printz.

We’re guessing this card, like the one in the prior post, is a rare find for anyone looking for either of the two businesses. The earliest mention we found for the Black Hills Wholesale Grocery Co. is January 1913, in the Custer Weekly Chronicle. On March 3, 1914, the company published a trademark, described as “Black Hills” and a mountain scene that, barring any objection, would have been registered thirty days later. The AZO stamp box with all four triangles pointing upward, is estimated to be from 1904 – 1918, hence our card’s estimated date 1913 – 1918.

Ollie is Olive M. Chester. Could she be one of the young women in the postcard? Maybe. Or maybe just a friend or relative of C. E. Gray. Olive is found on the 1915 State Census for South Dakota, born 1899 in Nebraska.

Sources:  Year: 1920; Census Place: Rapid City, Pennington, South Dakota; Roll: T625_1725; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 155. (Ancestry.com).

Simmons’ Spice Journal, April 1914, Volume 37, no. 4. Page 410. (Google.com/books).

Rapid City Journal. February 1, 1914. Sunday, p. 7. (Newspapers.com).

Keiter Directory Co’s Rapid City and Pennington County, South Dakota City, 1918-1919. p. 43. (Ancestry.com).

“Notice of Hearing Petition for Letters of Administration.” Custer Weekly Chronicle, January 18, 1913, Saturday, p. 6. (Newspapers.com).

South Dakota, U. S., State Census, 1915. (Ancestry.com).

Jerome Drug Company, Jerome, Idaho

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Real Photo Postcard, unused. Circa 1911 – 1920. Kodak stamp box “Velvet Green.” Diamonds in four corners.

Price:  $20.00

The stamp box on the reverse of this card, and described above, is one I’ve never seen before. It’s not listed on the wonderful Playle’s website, either. (Very surprising.) Often the stamp box helps to narrow down the date on a Real Photo Postcard, but luckily we get help elsewhere:

One of the keys to the location of this card are the names advertised on the second-story windows, Dr. L. G. Phillips, Dentist and Dr. Schmershall, especially the latter, of course. They were found in the 1920 Jerome County City Directory:  Leon G. Phillips and spouse Madeline and John F. Schmershall, county physician, and spouse Agnes.

Leon G. Phillips and Madeline are on the 1920 Federal Census in South Jerome. He was born in Illinois, about 1882, she in Illinois, about 1889, and sons, Leon G., about 1914 and Robert Ridgeway Phillips, about 1916, both born in Idaho. Leon Phillips and Madeline Ridgeway married in Lincoln, Idaho on August 22, 1911.

John and Agnes are also on the 1920, in Jerome, with son, Peter Clark Schmershall, along with boarder, Leland S. Johnson. John was born in Pennsylvania about 1877, Agnes in Colorado about 1889, and Peter in Idaho, about 1913. John Schmershall and Agnes Miller were married April 6, 1911 in Jerome.

When the drug store, or building that housed it, was built has proven hard to pin down, but mention in the local county paper was found starting in 1911. An ad for Dr. Schmershall, office above the store, was found for the same year:

Something different in a newspaper:  Interspersed throughout the town news are ads like these, in the Jerome County Times, from various businesses. Here are some from August 14, 1913, pertaining to the subject of this postcard:

That does sound good! And, one more. (I couldn’t resist.) This one from October 3, 1912:

Jerome Drug Co. is later listed in newspaper ads as “the Rexall Store.”

Lastly, if you’ve enlarged the image, no doubt something has struck you as odd, it’s in the block lettering for the doctors:  It’s rather funny, the “C” in Doctor (and in Physician, but not as striking) looking like a “G, ” so that we’re reading “Dogtor.”

Sources:  Year: 1920; Census Place: South Jerome, Jerome, Idaho; Roll: T625_293; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 183. (Ancestry.com).

Ancestry.com. Idaho, U.S., County Marriages, 1864-1950.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Jerome, Jerome, Idaho; Roll: T625_293; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 184. (Ancestry.com).

Ancestry.com. Idaho, U.S., Select Marriages, 1878-1898; 1903-1942. (Ancestry.com).

The Jerome County Times. August 14, 1913. Thursday, p. 5. (Newspapers.com).

The Jerome County Times. October 3, 1912. Thursday, p. 8. (Newspapers.com).

The Jerome County Times. March 16, 1911. Thursday, p. 4. (Newspapers.com).

Somewhere Out West

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. Kruxo “divider line” no stamp box. Circa 1911 – 1922. Number 4313 appears in bottom right, front of card.

Price:  $5.00

I found this Real Photo Postcard in Nevada, so it’s possible that the photo could have been taken there. The original image is rather dark, so the second view is a lightened version from Photoshop. These obscure, maybe somewhat forgotten, or seemingly easy to overlook images are a draw for me, for some reason. Or it may have appealed due to the similar scene out multiple windows that we see from our new home. (Just a girl from Detroit who moved out to the Central Coast in Cali, then retired and moved one state over. I suspect my perspective of “Out West” will always be that of a Michigander 😉 )

Anyway, it’s always possible that someone will recognize this particular view of our postcard’s mystery range. And, you’ll notice the house, outbuilding and barn (or three houses?) and fence. Wonder what the story was. Was it a ranch? Not an easy life, especially in winter. On a related note: On our property I’ve found lots of remnants of cowboy campsites, circa 1920’s and ’30s – pieces of charcoal; flattened tin cans and small buckets; broken cups, plates; (including purple carnival glass) Mason-type jars and bottles – one intact, so far, a small, amber Hazel-Atlas. This intact bottle, if you want to make a case for alternate realities, had shown up out of nowhere in an area I’d already trod multiple times, (always looking for that “glint in the sun”). The universe’s answer to a small request to find something unbroken (and it was much appreciated!)

Source for postcard date estimate:

“Real Photo Stamp Boxes. K – L.” (https://www.playle.com/realphoto/photok.php). Accessed December 28, 2022.

Of interest for identifying old bottles:

https://glassbottlemarks.com/ Glass Bottle Marks (glassbottlemarks.com).

Happy in Winter

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Real Photo postcard, unused. Cyko stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1920s.

Price:  $4.00

No name or location on the back, as you can see, and I think I just bought this one because the card made me happy. An older gentlemen in either a fur hat or a black sheepskin hat, (it looks kind of wool-y) and wool turtleneck sweater and jacket. A strong, handsome face with a fairly hefty mustache, and he’s standing outside, looking off to the distance; for me, his expression a mixture of kindness, satisfaction, warmth. The phrase, “a satisfied mind” comes to the forefront. A man of integrity that’s worked hard at taking care of the land and his family, maybe an emigrant to this country many years prior.

The estimated date for this postcard comes from Playles.com, (1904 – 1920s). But our 1907 start estimate is because both sender’s note and addressee info would have gone on the reverse, and postal regulations didn’t allow for that until the end of 1907. (Assuming Real Photo Postcards went by the same general rule, and I’ve never seen anything to the contrary.)

Source:  “Real Photo Postcard Stampboxes – C.” https://www.playle.com/realphoto/photoc.php (accessed December 23, 2022).

Mrs. Levi Joshua Cheney, Dyesville, Ohio

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1918.

Price:  $15.00

This is Charity (Chase) Cheney, born June 1868 in Ohio. The date estimate for the postcard is due to its being a Divided Back card and having an AZO stamp box, all four triangles pointing upward. This would make Charity around age 39 – 50 when the photo was taken, and it may have been a special occasion for her, per the flower corsage she’s wearing. This shot has captured some years of hardship, worry and grief in her expression. (It’s not an easy life we came here to live, is it?) But she’s still lovely in the long white dress (love the double row of buttons) and with the small puffed shoulders and her jewelry – the heart, the short necklace, and the other accessories – wide black belt, oblong box-style purse (I’m picturing alligator), and possibly a flower in her hair. It’s hard to tell on that one, even when darkening the image in Photoshop, it’s not definite.

Thank you to the person that identified person with place on the back. We appreciate them whoever they were. Dyesville is located in Columbia Township, Meigs County, Ohio.

Sources:  Year: 1880; Census Place: Columbia, Meigs, Ohio; Roll: 1047; Page: 36D; Enumeration District: 104. (Ancestry.com).

Young Man On Wicker Bench

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard. AZO stamp box. Circa 1910 – 1930.

Price:  $5.00

A young guy (now, to me he looks Irish, but that could just be that he reminds me of someone I knew who was Irish-American) in suit, tie, hat and high-top boots, seated in a wicker photographer’s chair – a bench, sort of, no back to the chair most likely. The rug beneath him has a nice diamond pattern. And is that a photographer’s painted backdrop? You be the judge. We’re so used to seeing these that it was the assumption, at first. Yes….no…..well, maybe yes, but a very nicely done one.

And this post has a rather generic name because I started to see what impression I got for “mood” and couldn’t pick just one. Like always, when you look at a photo of someone up close, you’re looking at their eyes and the set of their mouth, and then you end up getting many impressions. Maybe in layers – and this is, well, of course, because nobody’s just three-dimensional – even though we’re seeing in 3D, we’re sensing more. Then too, our impression of someone can easily change depending on our own mood. (I’m just using “mood” here as a quickie term,  but of course, it’s more complex than that.) It’s a pretty fascinating thing to really look at photos of people. Same for landscapes or whatever. (Surely the impressions of the photographer when he or she took the photo, play in there somewhere, for how we view it.)

James A. Anderson, Maumee, Ohio

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box. Circa 1914 – 1917.

Price:  $15.00          Size:  3 and 3/8 x 4 and 3/4″

Always charming – these photos and cards of children on donkeys and horses – a donkey in this case. And this particular postcard is a little off from the standard size in length (length of card as viewed from the reverse with writing side).

James, dressed up in wool hat, suit coat and knickers and wearing button, high top boots, was a Maumee, OH native, born October 26, 1909. The son of Charles E. Anderson and Julia “Jewel” Elnora Wise/Weis, James’ middle name was Arnold, according to the 1910 Federal Census for Maumee, Ohio, which flipped the names and lists him as “Arnold J.” (Note the stirrups are a little too long for him in the photo.)

Sources:  Ancestry.com. Ohio, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1774-1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Maumee Ward 2, Lucas, Ohio; Roll: T624_1210; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 0163; FHL microfilm: 1375223. (Ancestry.com).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112621700/james-arnold-anderson: accessed 24 September 2022), memorial page for James Arnold Anderson (26 Oct 1909–29 Jan 1956), Find a Grave Memorial ID 112621700, citing Calvary Cemetery, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, USA; Maintained by TAYLOR (contributor 47701928).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119834096/julia-eleanor-anderson: accessed 24 September 2022), memorial page for Julia Eleanor “jewel” Weis Anderson (2 Aug 1891–27 Aug 1980), Find a Grave Memorial ID 119834096, citing Calvary Cemetery, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, USA; Maintained by M_artin S_chauder (contributor 47780256).

Boy Eating Watermelon

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1918.

Price:  $7.00

I was in mind to post this one in July for summertime and here it is almost October. So, before summer slips completely away this year, here it is. And laughing at my title now, does it remind you of “man-eating shark”? 🙂 Anyway, it’s a great shot, a little boy in shorts and an old straw hat, on his porch steps. Posed between two large watermelons, he’s holding up a large slice that has a big bite out of it. A woman, maybe his mom, half out of camera range, looks on.

I’ve got two whole watermelons in the pantry right now and another half in the fridge. (Yes, I know I am truly blessed.) Large mugs of blended watermelon are on the agenda for breakfast again. (Nirvana!) For the 411, health-wise, on watermelon and melons, in general, see the Medical Medium blog posts:  Watermelon and Healing Powers of Melon.

“Watermelon” and “Healing Powers of Melon”. medicalmedium.com. (Accessed September 24, 2022.)

Thelen, Kenkel, Goergen, Burdick, Wolf, Relatives & Friends, Iowa, Circa 1910

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Divided Back, unused, cropped postcard. KRUXO Stamp Box. Circa 1910.

Price:  $20.00

What a great find for the families named above and the one unnamed young woman! (Someone knows, I’m sure.) The Thelen siblings appearing in this postcard are Josephine, Catherine, Gertrude, Mike and John – children of John (Johann) Thelan and Catherine Leick.

Left to right:  Katherine (Jonas) Nettleship, born 1888 Iowa. Married Arthur Cyril Nettleship about 1910. Kate was the daughter of Joseph Jonas and Maria “Gertrude” Thelen. Working as a domestic servant in 1910 in Stockton, CA. Single at that time.

Josephine “Jo” (Thelen) Kenkel, born 1887 Iowa. Married John Joseph Kenkel June, 1910.

Catherine (Thelen) Goergen, born 1882 Iowa. Married Matthias “Math” Goergen September 1908.

Gertrude (Thelen) Burdick, born 1880 Iowa. Married Charles Burdick May 1910.

Christine (Wolf) Thelen, born 1884 Iowa. Married Michael Thelen October 1908.

Unknown friend

Mike Thelen, born 1884 Iowa. Married Christina Wolf October 1908.

Math (Matthias) Goergen, born about 1879 Iowa. Married Catherine Thelen September 1908.

John Kenkel, born 1881 Iowa. Married Josephine “Jo” Thelen June 1910.

John M. Thelen, born 1888 Iowa. Married Eunice Davis December 1915.

Sources:  Ancestry.com Family Trees.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Baker, O´Brien, Iowa; Roll: 451; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 0077; FHL microfilm: 1240451. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Nassau, Sioux, Iowa; Roll: T624_423; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0152; FHL microfilm: 1374436. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Stockton Ward 2, San Joaquin, California; Roll: T624_103; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0136; FHL microfilm: 1374116. (Ancestry.com).

Iowa Department of Public Health; Des Moines, Iowa; Series Title: Iowa Marriage Records, 1880–1922; Record Type: Marriage. (Ancestry.com).