Monthly Archives: January 2015

Puerto Armuelles, Panamá

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Divided back, Real Photo Postcard. Postmarked May 11, 1947. Republic of Panamá.

Price:  $25.00

Here’s a Real Photo Postcard from the Republic of Panamá, 1947. The cancellation mark is too blurred to read the city. The sender wrote:

“Hi Sweet:  Here is a picture of our ship! and by the way, I got the dates[?] wrong on the letter. I…?… to you:  Will explain in the 4th coming letter!  Love. Frank.”

The card was addressed to:   “Miss Jeanette Hume, 2100 Virginia St., Virginia Court #6, Berkeley, Calif.”

Well, here is a mystery. What was the name of this ship? It’s always interesting, and quite frustrating, when you can almost make out a detail like the name on the hull. I looked at ship photos on various online sites but didn’t come up with a match. And this is part of the Alice Ellison Collection. Many more to come.

George Terrel

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Unused, Real Photo Postcard. Circa late 1910s – mid 1920s. AZO stamp box.

Price:  $10.00

A great photo of a smiling young man, about fourteen maybe, posing for the camera. He wears a belted suit jacket, knickers, shirt, necktie, and leather “cat paw” boots. The name on the back says  “Geo. Terrel.”  At first glance you might think (I did) that he is standing in a house or church. A church vestibule came to mind for some reason. But not so, upon closer inspection we can see that he’s posed in front of a painted photographer’s backdrop. Whoever the artist was did a good job!

As far as i.d. – one might have a sneaking suspicion that there would be lots of possibilities under this name showing up in records in the early 1900s, and this turns out to be the case. The writing above the name doesn’t seem like a city, maybe “P.C.” stands for postcard, so that doesn’t seem to be of any help to date the photo. The AZO stamp box with two triangles up and two down is estimated at 1910 – 1930 per Playles.com. And that’s a pretty broad range. So, probably his suit style is the most helpful for dating the photo, as similarly styled Knickerbocker suits were found on Pinterest in a Sears & Roebuck catalog for 1917. But maybe someone will be able to identify this particular George Terrel; a handsome young guy with a great smile.

Sources:  Knickerbockers (clothing). n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knickerbockers_%28clothing%29. (Accessed January 24, 2015).

“bloomers”  Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/LauraRicketts1/bloomers/ (Accessed January 25, 2015).

Railstop

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Here’s a really cool semi-candid Real Photo Postcard showing railroad workers at work, and a gentleman posed for the camera in the foreground, leaning against the train. It looks like they are at a rail stop, having just arrived or maybe getting ready to head out. Per the excellent Playles.com website, that we go to often for dates on RPPCs, the estimated time frame for this postcard would be 1907 – 1917. It has a Velox stamp box showing diamonds in each corner and “Place Stamp Here” in the center.

Divided back, unused Real Photo Postcard. Velox stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1917.

Price:  $6.00

Horse-Drawn Fire Engine

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On the back of this card was written very lightly in pencil  “Fire. ca. 1880”  but this was likely done by a prior seller, rather than the original owner of the card. This would be some type of print, a lithograph one assumes, of some beautiful artwork showing a two-horse fire truck, a couple of mustachioed firemen in blue uniforms, pulling a spouting engine. The horses gallop down the road, carrying the men and fire-fighting apparatus right at the viewer. The predominant color on the card is blue-gray, but the representation comes to us as highlighted inside a red diamond shape, with the engine’s burning flames and billowing smoke overflowing outside the diamond. One of the horse’s hooves just barely appears outside the red line: something that would always be deliberately done to help get that flow-y effect. And shooting outside the diamond tableau are some star-like designs on each side of the road (streetlights?) The cloudy-looking colors around the bottom, to me give the effect of horses kicking up dust. All in all a great action scene. Plus notice how the bright yellow at the horses’ feet balances out the other bits of yellow on the card (or vice versa)…..It really seems like the more you look at this one, the more you see.

From the public domain, here’s a great video clip of one example of the real thing; taken in 1896.

Antique card, circa 1880s – 1900. Scalloped edges on three sides. Artist and publisher unknown.   Size:  3 and 1/2 x 4 and 3/4.”

Price:  $15.00

How The Fashions Came

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Divided back, unused postcard. Circa 1907. Publisher:  A.T.F. Company, Chicago, Illinois.

Price:  $10.00

Heee heee. A great one, eh? Is that a horse or mule on the left? I don’t know. To me the image looks a little moose-like. This one appears to be showing a printing error, but if so, in this case it works really well with the subject. The publisher is A.T.F. Company of Chicago. When enlarging the back header in Photoshop to see the publisher name, a really cool effect happened. (The same thing did not happen in the regular Photo Viewer for Windows. I don’t know what that says about the pixels or technology or what have you!) Anyway, check out the stripes. The lines surrounding the words “Post Card” changed a little with each slight enlargement. I did a screen shot of this one to display here.

ATF Co Chicago Back Header

Hmmm. The publisher A.T.F. Company of Chicago shows up for other old postcards online circa 1905 – 1907. So, some undivided back and some divided like we have here. But nothing detailed for the publisher was found, as of the date of this post. In browsing the other various entries found online it seems this company must have published a number of humorous cards.

 

The Girl That Climb The Twee

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So, oftentimes we see that the sender’s spelling in their message and even in the address, is a little bit off, due to the fact that, in decades past, many people did not have the opportunity to continue a formal education, and also due to the fact that messages on postcards were often hurriedly scribbled. You know, they wrote things like, “This is just a quick note, I’m sending you a long letter soon…”  But this one looks like it says,  “The girl that climb the twee.”  And perhaps it was written that way on purpose, as a running joke from childhood. It’s addressed on the back to  “Mrs. Allie Day.”  And that looks like a large bow that decorates the young lady’s braided hair at the back. (Though that bow might remind you of a pair of small wings in the overall effect!)

The stamp box, and the fact that it’s a divided back, places the estimated date of the postcard at around 1907 – 1920s. A quick check on Ancestry.com for Allie Day reveals that there were scads of women under this name, all over the United States, which is just what one would expect.

Divided back, unused with writing, Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1907 – 1920s. Cyko stamp box.

Price:  $4.00

Our New Church

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My guess is that this is a church, newly built. We see a small pile of scrap lumber on the ground, and obviously there are no trees or large bushes, other than what we can see on the right, and this looks like something originating from the other side of the small hill that the building sits on. The season is winter or early spring:  There are no leaves on that bush or small tree, and there are a few icicles hanging from the roof. I am no architect but have come to appreciate houses, churches etc. and their features, from pouring over online images and looking in the used book that I bought which identifies the different architectural styles of American homes. What I thought was a little unusual about this building is the fact that it has two separate front doors. I found what I believe to be the explanation for this from Frank D. Myers on his wonderful Lucas County, Iowa blog. In some churches, in days gone by, men and boys sat on one side and women and girls on the other, and they used separate doors. The other noticeable features about this structure are the widow’s walk, the cupola and the weather vane. One would assume there would be a bell in the tower but we can’t really see. It looks like what we do see is a spiral staircase leading up to the widow’s walk. So, was this church close to the sea, in order to watch for sailors on their return home? That would be a romantic thought, but perhaps it was to watch out for the parishioners or just a nice architectural feature that the congregation liked, or maybe it was even modeled after another church in the architect’s home town. Well, these types of suppositions could go on forever!

As far as the possible date of this postcard, per the excellent Playles.com website, this particular AZO stamp box has been found between dates of 1924 – 1949. If you notice the writing in pencil on the back that is just the price that was listed when I bought it. A little higher priced than normal if I payed that much (I forget) but these type of photos – a building standing alone, white background like a blank slate, the clarity of the photo, these type are impossible to resist.

Divided back, unused, Real Photo Postcard. AZO stamp box with squares in each corner and with the words “Place Stamp Here” in the center. Circa 1924 – 1949.

Price:  $15.00

Source:  Myers, Frank D. “World War II:  Lessons in their dying.”  Lucascountyan.blogspot.com. May 31, 2010. Web accessed January 17, 2015

A Dapper Gentleman

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This man reminds me of Frank Morgan, the actor who played the Wizard of Oz. But he’s an unidentified gentleman, very dapper in his dark double-breasted coat, light-colored hat with upturned brim and dark hatband, carrying a cane. I would estimate him to be in his late 60s or early 70s. The AZO stamp box with all triangles pointing upward, and the fact that it’s a divided back postcard, suggest an approximate date of 1907 – 1918.

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1907 – 1918.

Price:  $7.00

Landseer Cards By Shober & Carqueville

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Trade cards, set of five. Circa 1885 – 1894. Shober & Carqueville Lithograph Co., Chicago Illinois.

Price for the set:  $15.00     Size:  About 2 and 3/4 x 4 and 1/4″

A set of five advertising cards put out by the Shober & Carqueville Lithograph Company of Chicago, showcasing at least one lithograph based on the artwork of London-born Sir Edwin Landseer (1802 – 1873.) Per a Wiki entry, there were fourteen Landseer children, seven of whom survived to adulthood, and all seven became artists. Edwin’s older brother Thomas (1793 or ’94 -1880) is known for having done engravings and etchings of Edwin’s work. The last image shown here, that of the man driving the horse-drawn sled, does not have any printing on the back, but all the others show the same identification as the image directly above. The top left of the majestic stag is easily verified as being from the famous oil painting by Edwin Landseer, which was done in 1851 and is called The Monarch of the Glen. (Yes, I know there was a British t.v. series, too, by this name!) If you’ve clicked on the link, you’ve found that this painting (not to mention the artist’s themselves) has had a rather fascinating story to tell. You’ll also immediately notice that the mountains and clouds in the original are missing from the trade card displayed here.

The Shober & Carqueville Lithograph Company was formed from the association of Charles Shober and Edward Carqueville. According to biographical info in volume 4 of Industrial Chicago, Carqueville was born in Posen, Prussia in 1841, coming to Chicago in 1857. He began working for Keen & Shober, where he learned the art of lithography. In 1865 he formed the Chicago Lithograph Company which operated till it was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1871. Afterwords the Charles Shober & Company was formed, with Carqueville as a partner. This name later changed to the Shober Lithograph Company, and then to the Shober & Carqueville Lithograph Company. The latter name was supposedly in place by at least 1894, when it was mentioned as the “current” name for said company in the aforementioned Industrial Chicago publication, but we see this company name as early as 1885 per Chicago city directories. From online records we see that Edward Carqueville had a number of sons to carry on the business and it appears (from the city directories again) that the company was being passed down around 1896 or so, with the 1896 directory for Edward showing the business name of Carqueville Lithograph Company, and evidence of one or more of his sons appearing in business with him. Edward Carqueville died in March of 1898.

Sources:  The Monarch of the Glen. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monarch_of_the_Glen_%28painting%29 (accessed January 15, 2015).

Edwin Henry Landseer. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Henry_Landseer (accessed January 15, 2015).

Thomas Landseer. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Landseer (accessed January 15, 2015).

Industrial Chicago: The Commercial Interests, Vol. 4. Chicago:  The Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1894. p. 487. (Google eBook)

Edward Carqueville. Find A Grave Memorial# 119060120. (Findagrave.com)

The Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago,1885. Chicago:  The Chicago Directory Co. p. 292. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989.

The Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago,1896. Chicago:  The Chicago Directory Co. p. 385. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989

Hotel Tuller & Grand Circus Park

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“Hotel Tuller and Grand Circus Park. Detroit, Mich. A cosy, cheerful home on a winter’s eve. Center of Business District. Fire Proof. $1.50 per day and upwards for room with bath.”

That’s the caption for the above tinted postcard photo. Fireproof would have been a big draw in the early 1900s, and we notice a different spelling for cozy than we use today. The card was addressed to:   “Miss Rose Merkel, North Main St. Marion, Ohio.”

The sender wrote:   “Hello Rose – We are having a fine time. This is where we are stopping a fine place and dandy location. Mrs. K -”
It’s kind of funny that this winter postcard was sent in August.

Rose is Rose C. Merkle, a dressmaker and long-time North Main Sreet resident. (It looks like the postcard sender, Mrs. K., had misspelled Rose’s last name.) According to the 1909 city directory Rose was boarding at 536 N. Main; later she moved to a home on 464 N. Main. The interesting thing about the 1917 city directory is that it lists Rose’s business name as “Merkle Sisters” (dressmakers) and lets us know that she and sister Minnie M. Merkle were in business together. The 1910 Federal Census for Marion shows the sisters, Wilhelmina, age 39, younger sister Rose, age 38; siblings Bertha L., age 32, saleslady; and Otto F., age 28, plumber. Head of household is widowed mother Carolina Merkle, age 64, born in Germany. The children were all born in Ohio. Next door is another Merkle family, most likely related.

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked August 7, 1909 from Detroit, Michigan. Publisher unknown.

Price:  $7.00

Sources:  R. L. Polk & Co.’s Marion City and County Directory for 1909-1910, Vol. 9. p. 259. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989.)

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Marion City and County Directory, 1917-1918, Vol. 13. p 297. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989.)

Year: 1930; Census Place: Marion, Marion, Ohio; Roll: 1847; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0012; Image: 650.0; FHL microfilm: 2341581 (Ancestry.com)