That Summertime Smile

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Annieoakley

Per Playle’s guide for dating stamp boxes on Real Photo Postcards, this NOKO design ranged from about 1907 – 1929; a broad range to be sure! My feeling is it might have been taken in the 1910s or early ’20s. But in any case, it shows a beautiful woman with an absolutely radiant smile (you can enlarge the photo twice for best view.) From afar one might get the impression that she’s in her late 30s or early 40s, but I think this is more of an effect of where the sun highlights her hair, making it appear gray on top, thus aging her appearance a little. With a closer look she appears to be maybe in her 20s. Anyway, our subject sits cross-legged, holding a parasol, and smiling at the person taking the photo. She wears a dress with white sailor collar with dark bow; white cuffs and wide decorative white band near the hemline. The dress material is possibly seersucker; a up-close view shows pale stripes; and pinned to the collar is a round locket or watch. The location, like the woman’s name, is unknown; she sits just inside a length of grass and wildflowers (why call them weeds?) and the photo appears to have been taken in a courtyard of some type. Is that a set of apartments showing in the back with pillars supporting a trellis canopy? Did she live there or work there? We may never know but aren’t we lucky to be graced with such beauty around us, in the past, present and yes, future? To quote Janis Joplin on the subject of time, “It’s all the same fucking day, man!” and Mother Teresa on the power of the smile, “Peace begins with a smile.”

Divided back, unused Real Photo Postcard. NOKO stamp box. Circa 1910s – early 1920s.

Price: $6.00

Sources: “Ball & Chain” (W.M. Thornton) Recorded live by the Full Tilt Boogie Band on July 4, 1970 at the Canadian Festival Express in Calgary, Alberta.

Quotes About Smile. Goodreads. Web accessed March 8, 2015. [http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/smile]

Fae’s Keepsake

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Annieoakley

Here’s an Art Nouveau heart-shaped bit of ephemera. The back just has one word, “Fae” written in pencil. It shows a country path veering off to the right of a cottage in the distance. It is no surprise that the artist added some yellow and orange to depict sunrise or sunset; these times of the day show up often in antique and vintage cards, especially where house scenes are concerned! What seemed out of the ordinary was the rounded band nearly surrounding the tableau, with it’s unusual design. But as it turns out this idea is not so unusual after all; many others within the genre can be found online, often highlighting the figure of a beautiful woman; a Greek muse, for example.

Embossed heart-shaped card with scalloped edge in Art Nouveau style. Circa late 19th to early 20th Century. Fair condition due to fold and small tear at top left, and wear showing at bottom.

Price: $6.00 Size: About 4 x 3 and 1/4″

This Tin Lizzy Makes Some Feed!

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Annieoakley

“When a Ford gets sick,

Hit her with a brick,

And she’ll ramble right along just the same.”

Here’s a humorous artist-signed postcard of a drawing of a man tossing a brick at the radiator of a Model T, while the lady in her stylish hat waits unconcernedly in the passenger seat. A billy goat is tugging on the back fender, thinking, “This Tin Lizzy makes some feed.”

This is one from a comical series by Indiana native Conrad “Cobb” X. Shinn (1887 – 1951) who produced many illustrations, also including those of the comic “Dutch accent” type that were so popular in the day, and others of profiles of beautiful women. His works can be easily found online.

“The Little Ford Rambled Right Along” seems to have been the inspiration for Shinn’s Tin Lizzy illustrations. This song came out in 1915 and was advertised as the “Greatest Comedy Song Sensation.” The music was by Byron Gay, and lyrics by C.R. Foster and Byron Gay, and was performed by Bill Murray. It starts out about a guy named Jones who is out with his girlfriend in his limo. When the limo breaks down, a guy by the name of Nord (to rhyme) comes along “…in his little old Ford.” And as you can guess, the first guy is quickly out of the picture as Nord and his Ford steal the girl away, whereby guy, girl and car proceed to have a day’s worth of adventures (including meeting up with a mule and a donkey) and bumping into a preacher, who jumps in for a ride resulting in the newly-met couple becoming man and wife. (Heehee) It’s really a clever song; the long and short of it being that the Ford is indestructible no matter what she encounters. The last line of the song is, “When the power gets sick just hit it with a brick and the little Ford will ramble right along!” (From Mitch Taylor’s Ford Model T website.)

As to the term Tin Lizzy or Lizzie, it seems to have been around from at least February of 1915 (the earliest date I found online.) The short clip below is dated a little later, June 4, 1915. Wow, it looks like the report indicates Ford’s capital stock had increased from two million to one hundred million dollars, due to the popularity of the affordable car for the masses!

Modesto Evening News, June 4, 1915, Friday, page 1.

But still, the exact origin of the nickname “Tin Lizzy” seems to be unknown. A couple of good guesses found online are that Lizzie was a common name for a horse, or that Lizzie was a slang phrase used for a domestic servant, with the idea being that “Lizzie” ran all the errands for the household which could now be run with the help of the automobile. But the above article does happen to disprove another theory which was that the term was coined at a race in 1922 at Pike’s Peak in Colorado.

Divided back, unused, artist-signed postcard. Artist: Cobb X. Shinn. Publisher: Commercial Colortype Company. Circa 1915.

Price: $25.00

Sources: “Model T Music & Lyrics.” www.fordmodelt.net. Web accessed March 6, 2015.

1915, June 4. “Tin Lizzies” Prove to be Profitable to the Ford Auto Company. Modesto Evening News, p. 1. Web accessed March 6, 2015. (Newspapers.com)

Laramie, Wyoming, Circa 1921

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Annieoakley

Divided back, used Real Photo Postcard. Postmarked May 8, 1921 from Laramie, Wyoming. Series or number a[?] 6.

Availability Status: SOLD

This commercial type Real Photo Postcard shows the east side of Second Street, looking south, in Laramie, Wyoming. The postmark is from May of 1921 so the photo may have been taken that year, or the year before, or so.

The businesses that are showing up in the photo are the First State Bank; above the bank is Dr. Sawyer, dentist – this building is at Thornburg (now Ivinson) and Second St.; next door is the clothing store of Frank J. Terry – the name at the top on this building is Simon Durlacher, a very prominent clothier who died in 1893; next to the clothing store is Bendt’s Bakery; next to the bakery is a business of unknown origin; next to them we can see a sign that looks like it might say Drugs. Further down and on the corner of the next block we can see a large Western Union sign.

A little more detail…

The dentist was Dr. Clifford J. Sawyer, his business address on the 1922 city directory is 202 Thornburg. Simon Durlacher died in June of 1893, but the building bearing his name at 203 S. 2nd St. (built in the 1870s) housed clothing stores for almost a hundred years. Nels Bendt, a Danish immigrant, owned Bendt Bakery (205 S. 2nd St.) …Here’s a great virtual tour of historic downtown Laramie by the Albany County Tourism Board at VisitLaramie.org

We are right there…

The cars are wonderful to look at, are all of them Model Ts? There are a number of pedestrians, including a guy in a cowboy hat, and two boys who are hanging out at the corner on Thornburg. We see a couple of bicycles – one in front of the bank and the other across the street, on the bottom right of the photo. And at the bank’s entrance, tucked inside the protected entrance way, is a baby carriage – assuredly Baby is inside the bank with Mom! We also notice a couple of multi-globed street lights, and a globed traffic divider that says “Keep To Right” that is set up in the middle of the dirt road. The sidewalks are paved though. All in all a wonderful photo. Don’t you feel like you’re right there?

Cold as H…

Not to forget the sender’s message – it’s short but great: “Cold as H and Snowed yesterday – J.” Note that the card is postmarked May 8th. It was addressed to: “Geo. Hume, Box 122, Sacramento Calif.”

Sources: R.L. Polk & Co.’s Laramie City and Albany County Directory, 1922-1923. Vol. 6, p 94. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

R.L. Polk & Co.’s Laramie City and Albany County Directory, 1920-1921. Vol. 5, p 20. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Historic Downtown Laramie: Wyoming’s Hometown. Albany County Tourism Board, 2008. VisitLaramie.org. Web accessed March 6, 2015.

It Is Certainly Great Around Weitzer, Colorado

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Annieoakley

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked August 15, 1917 from Weitzer, Colorado. Publisher initials: A.P.C. Company. Number or series 2106.

Price: $20.00

“It is Certainly Great Around

Weitzer, Colo.

But it Needs

You to Make it Heaven”

No other postcards are showing up at the time of this post for Weitzer, Colorado, so this is a bit of a rare find, but any reasonable offer will be accepted. See the prior post for another from this same publisher.

Gone but never forgotten…

This one was unexpectedly interesting because Weitzer, Colorado is no longer on the map. Thanks to COGenWeb which lists Colorado places by county, and their former names (if any). Weitzer was located in the county of Otero, and was renamed Vroman in 1918, which would have been sometime in the calendar year after this postcard was sent. Vroman is located on U.S. Highway 50, about six miles west of Rocky Ford. Continuing about 47miles west on Highway 50 (from Vroman) is the city of Pueblo.

Name origin…

There is a Frederick Weitzer and family in 1900, living in Precinct 4, Rocky Ford, Otero County. Frederick was born April 1865 in Germany. His occupation was Manager of a Beet Sugar Factory. With him are his wife, Alma, born May 1875 in Iowa; and their daughter Eleanor, born Nebraska in 1899. Also in the household is domestic help Minnie Mauska, born May 1881 in Germany. Some more digging (no pun intended!) finds Frederick Weitzer as manager of the America Beet Sugar Company. A further search brings confirmation: According to an article by Ruth M. Grenard:

“In 1891, a small original woodframed school building was constructed approximately 5 miles west of Rocky Ford. That location was near a railroad siding bearing the name Wietzer, the railroad siding having been named after Fred Wietzer, a former Manager of the Norfolk, Nebraska, sugar beet factory who subsequently became the first manager of the American Beet Sugar Company in Rocky Ford.” The article goes on to describe the various Weitzer and Vroman schools. But getting to the reason for the name change, “The railroad siding name was also changed to Vroman, in honor of well-known land owners, agricultural promoters, and ranchers who came to the area in the 1870s. This change in name was also because of the political climate, in that a German name seemed less politically correct because of the involvement of our country in WWI.”

Big with beets…

From the Denver Post, dated January 19, 1906, “A formal contract has been drawn between committee and citizens of Las Animas and Frederick Weitzer, manager of the American Beet Sugar Company, whereby, in consideration of 2,500 acres of beets for the year 1906 and 5,000 acres for the years 1907, 1908, and 1909, to be grown in the vicinity of Las Animas, the American Beet Sugar Company agrees to construct a 600-ton beet-sugar factory here for the 1907 crop and to add a railroad spur from Las Animas east and west for a distance of about 10 miles each way. These spurs are to be connected with similar spurs built out of Lamar and Rocky Ford, thus forming a through line. All is to be completed by 1907. The American Beet Sugar Company is to provide a large bond to insure the construction of the road and fulfillment of its contact.”
(U.S. Agriculture publication on the beet sugar industry.)

As for the sender of the postcard, they (name unreadable) wrote:

“8/13/17. Dear Ella. Just a few lines to let you all know that I am feeling Better at present. Hoping these few lines finds you all well. good By [?]”

The card is another of the many in the Alice Ellison Collection, and addressed to “Miss Ella Ellison, 1314 F St, Sacramento Calif.”

Sources: Colorado Places by County, W-Z. COGenWeb. Accessed March 2, 2015. [http://cogenweb.com/coplaces/city-wz.html]

Year: 1900; Census Place: Precinct 4, Otero, Colorado; Roll: 127; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 0081; FHL microfilm: 1240127. (Ancestry.com)

Google map showing Vroman and Rocky Ford, Colorado. Google.com. Web accessed March 3, 2015.

Saylor, Charles F. Progress of the Beet-Sugar Industry of the United States in 1905. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. p. 86. Web accessed March 3, 2015.

Grenard, Ruth M. “Rural Schools In The Rocky Ford Area Served A Great Need From 1871 On. Washington Primary School. Web accessed March 3, 2015. [http://washingtonprimary.cp.rfp.schoolinsites.com/?PageName=%27AboutTheSchool%27]

Wishing For You In Augusta, Michigan

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Annieoakley

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked December 1919 from Augusta, Michigan. Series or number 2138.

Price: $5.00

“I Broke My Wishbone

Wishing for You in

AUGUSTA, U.S.A.

Come and Mend it P. D. Q.”

A cute pennant postcard showing a small photo of a tree-lined dirt pathway in Augusta, Michigan. Augusta is a small town in Kalamazoo County; the 2010 census recorded the population as 885. And if this is an actual photo from Augusta, then that could be the Kalamazoo River, however pennant postcards tended toward generic scenes, and it’s probably more likely that this one was not from the actual area. The publisher is possibly Auburn Post Card Company, but nothing definite was found to verify this, though they did do pennant cards and others with series or numbers like the one we see here. This one will go in the mystery category regarding the publisher….But the back header is nice and shows the publishing company’s initials. The card was addressed to:

“Miss Ella Ellison. 1314 F St. Sacramento Calif.” (I’m not sure what the 267 or 269 under the address refers to.) The sender wrote:

“My dear Ella, Glad to have your note. Excuse my answering it with a Postal. You & Al look quite nifty in those sailor suits. What’s the idea of the “Cigs”. I think you are learning bad tricks. I’ll have to come back but I’m married now…[?]…Married life is great but it don’t pay to write Particulars ‘en ever’thing on a P.C. – Get me?! Ha! – Yours R.A.B.

Source: Augusta, Michigan. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta,_Michigan. (Accessed March 1, 2015).

Sunset Cliffs, Point Loma, CA

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Annieoakley

Here’s two Real Photo Postcards in the Alice Ellison Collection, from July 1935. If you enlarge the top photo you can see the printing on the right that says, “Sunset Cliffs Point Loma Cal.” This must of been something done in the photo process; these are commercial type RPPCs made for tourists. (There was another found online with the same type of printing.) But the person who bought the postcards wrote the date on the fronts and backs.

Point Loma is the name used for both the seaside community within San Diego, and the peninsula that separates the San Diego Bay from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula is said to have been the landing place of the first European exhibition (in 1542 by Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, written as João Rodrigues Cabrilho in Portuguese.)

Divided back, unused, Real Photo Postcards. July 1935. EKKP stamp boxes.

Price for the pair: $15.00

Source: Point Loma, San Diego. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Loma,_San_Diego. (Accessed March 1, 2015).

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