I. Rice Sons, Rochester, NY

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Annieoakley

“Established in 1852. I. Rice Sons, Dealers in Men’s and Boys’ Ready-Made Clothing, Cloths, Cassimeres, Vestings, &c., 29 East Main Street, Rochester, N. Y.”

At first glance, you might wonder if the “I. Rice Sons” without “&” printed on this trade card was a printing error, but not so, as we will see: In browsing city directories we find that I. Rice was Israel Rice. His son Leopold worked with him for awhile, as the 1870 finds them under I. Rice & Son. By 1875, if not earlier, sons Henry and Seligman ran the business, hence the name I. Rice Sons appearing on this trade card.

A not all-inclusive directory timeline…

1864 – Israel Rice, clothier, 15 Main, home 8 Pleasant.

1870 – Israel Rice & Son (L. Rice) “clothers” (clothiers) 15 Main, house 12 Pleasant. Leopold Rice (I. Rice & Son), h. 11 Pleasant.

1874 – Israel Rice & Son. 15 Main St.

1875 – Israel Rice, 15 W. Main, house 12 Pleasant. I. Rice Sons (L. H. and S. Rice) clothiers, 15 E. Main.

1878 – Henry Rice (Rice & Wolff) and (I. Rice Sons) house 4 Clinton Place. Israel Rice (I. Rice Sons) house 12 Pleasant. Seligman Rice (I. Rice Sons) 29 East Main.

1882 – I. Rice Sons (H. and S. Rice) clothiers, 29 E. Main. Henry Rice & Co. (M. H. Lempert) hats and caps, 54 Mill and (I. Rice Sons) house 23 William. Israel Rice, house 12 Pleasant. Seligman Rice (I. Rice Sons) 29 East Main, house 1 Rome.

1884 – Henry Rice & Co. (M. H. Lempert) hats and caps, 110 Mill and (I. Rice Sons) house 28 William. Israel Rice, 94 E. Main, house 13 (or 12) Pleasant. I. Rice Sons (H. and S. Rice) clothiers, 94 E. Main.

The Litho company

“Bufford Boston” that appears in small lettering at the bottom left of the trade card refers to John Henry Bufford (1810 – 1870) lithographer. By the time this card was printed the business was being run by his sons, Frank and John, Jr. We have another trade card by Bufford, Laurel Cottage’s very first post (!) entitled Princess Louise.

What’s on the back?

The back has an intriguing scrap of paper glued to it, maybe it was by accident or maybe the original collector was trying to make the card sturdier. Anyway, it appears that the trade card must have been laying on top of the classified section of a newspaper and the partial ad transferred over – in reverse. You have to hold it to a mirror to read it easily. The wording is:

“White Steamer, 20 h.p tour…top, shield, speedometer and…cost 3,000.00 reasonable price.” And above that something about Chicago – maybe it was listed in a Chicago paper….Ahhh, a car – the White Steamer!

Trade Card, I Rice Sons. Rochester, NY. Circa 1878 – 1882.

Price: $15.00 Size: About 2 and 5/8 x 4 and 1/2″

Sources: Andrew Boyd’s Boyd’s Rochester and Brockport Directory, 1864-5. p.182. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

C. C. Drew’s Rochester Directory, 1870. No. 21. p. 177. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

Sampson, Davenport & Co.’s New York State Business Directory, 1874. p. 532. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

Drew, Allis & Company’s Rochester Directory, 1875. No. 25. p. 265. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

Drew, Allis & Company’s Rochester Directory, 1878. No. 29. p. 277. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

Drew, Allis & Company’s Rochester Directory, 1882. No. 33. pp. 359-359. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

Drew, Allis & Company’s Rochester Directory, 1884. No. 35. p. 428. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

John Henry Bufford. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Bufford. (accessed November 14, 2015).

Photos From A Family Album

Gallery

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Annieoakley

This gallery contains 63 photos.

Here are a bunch of old photos from someone’s family album, that have been waiting around to finally get scanned and posted. This is WWI Era (the date from the army barracks photos appears to be 7/20/18) and several show … Continue reading →

Household Sewing Machine Trade Card

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Annieoakley

Trade card, circa 1882 – 1890s, for the Household Sewing Machine Company. Many differently designed trade cards can be found online for this company, some showing Household as the manufacturer and the earlier showing Providence Tool Company. This particular one shows a winged imp or fairy opening the back of an envelope (a common theme back in the day) to reveal a beautiful Gothic Revival (?) mansion nestled back among some surrounding trees.

The illustrations and company info below can be found in the 1889 publication The Industrial Advantages of Providence, R. I. (Google eBook).

Household’s Machine Plant at 103 Wickenden Street, Providence, Rhode Island

Household’s Cabinet Plant at Crary and Langley Streets, Providence, Rhode Island

The Household Sewing Machine Company was incorporated in August of 1882, having purchased the Providence Tool Company (where the first Household sewing machines were made.) Both the machine and cabinet plants were steam-operated and in 1889 employed about 325 skilled workmen. The cabinet shop produced “…high class cabinet work for all kinds of other manufacturers…” as well as the wooden cabinets and cases for Household sewing machines, though the company’s chief product was it’s sewing machine.

Household went out of business in 1905 (or perhaps officially in 1906 if various online sources are correct.) The following are two newspaper clips showing their auction ad, and shortly afterward, someone advertising his purchases from this auction, which he was then selling…. All a little sad, but imagine today what a picker’s dream it would have been!

November 1905 auction ad from the Boston Daily Globe

December 1905 ad from the Boston Daily Globe for Corliss Engines for sale

Note: Since we do keep finding these “Into Or Out Of The Envelope” type designs on trade cards, postcards and the like, a separate category will go up now, under this ridiculously long title. I thought about lumping them in with our Breakthrough category, but really they deserve their own space, since the two themes are related but not the same.

Trade Card. Circa 1882 – 1890s. Household Sewing Machine Co.

Price: $10.00 Size: About 2 and 3/4 x 4 and 3/4″

Sources: McKinney, James P. (Ed.). (1889). The Industrial Advantages of Providence, R. I. Providence, RI: Jas. P. McKinney. (Google eBook).

The Boston Daily Globe. 22 November 1905, Wednesday, p. 1. (Newspapers.com)

The Boston Daily Globe. 6 December 1905, Wednesday, p. 20. (Newspapers.com)

Paris Card Company, Boston, 1881

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Annieoakley

Trade Card. Circa 1881. Paris Card Co., Boston, MA

Price: $25.00 Size: About 2 and 3/4 x 4 and 1/2″

Here’s another in what we call our “Breakthrough” category, and like the last post, it’s a trade card from Boston. We’ll describe the person that does the “breaking through” as a smiling, Regency Era gentleman with long sideburns, bushy eyebrows, light-colored trousers and waistcoat, and dark cutaway (?) coat, watch hanging from fob, cuffed boots and a low-crown hat with curly brim. To his left and sitting just slightly behind him is his little dog. In contrast to the man, the dog gazes directly at us – a smart idea by the artist. Note the shadows for both figures, as well. The card indicates:

“Paris Card Co. P. O. Box 2627, Boston, : Mass.”

The only year we’ve found for this company is 1881. Below is an ad that ran in both Peterson’s Ladies National Magazine and the American Agriculturist for that year. Also, at the moment of putting up this post, no other trade cards for this company were found online.

Source: Peterson’s Ladies National Magazine, Vol. 79. 1881. (Google eBook)

Misfit Parlors, 4 Hayward Place, Boston

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Annieoakley

Trade Card. Circa 1892.

Price: $15.00 Size: About 5 and 1/8 x 3 and 1/8″

“Misfit Parlors. No. 4 Hayward Place, Boston.”

A very similar card for this same establishment (with moon and dog) was found online as having been sold at auction; hence the heavy watermarks on ours above. But what a beauty, with the winking moon, the sky colors, and the little white dog! The reverse side advertises their price listing for custom-made pants and overcoats, and includes the lovely phrasing:

“High Art and Elegant Garments in Silk and Satin Lined Overcoats and Ulsterettes, rendering a most opportune chance to secure….A $50.00 Custom-Made Overcoat for – – – $20.00…..”

“Recollect, every Garment bears the name of the Tailor.”

“Misfit Parlors. Private House, 4 Hayward Place, Near Globe Theatre, 3 doors from Washington St. Open evenings till 9 o’clock; Saturday, till 11 P.M.”

A want ad in the Boston Post dated September 10, 1892, finds the Boston Misfit Clothing Company located just down the street, at 26 Hayward Place.

In checking city directories for both the addresses, it would appear that the Misfit Clothing Company may not have been long in operation. Various individuals show at the Hayward Place addresses in the 1880’s and 1890’s, under a variety of occupations, so it would seem there was a high turnover for tenants. This fact, along with the above ad being in the want ads, probably indicates the proprietor didn’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising, and was not doing well enough to continue for very long, or perhaps just moved on to something he or she liked better.

The phrase “misfit clothing” seems to have been one used back in the day. Another ad for a tailor (unrelated to our trade card) advertised in the 1880 Fall River, Mass city directory, “Misfit clothing altered to perfect fit.”

A parlor is not always a brothel….

The very similar card from Misfit Parlors, that we mentioned at the beginning of this post, is one that we discovered was sold at auction, and we were surprised to find it described there as advertising a brothel. For sure, one can see how the use of the word “parlors” could invite this interpretation, but really, without any records found to back up this claim, even if one were stretching the point, as if the clothing store was a “front” or something….well, you can do the math. (Be careful with what you’re told is factual and with what you want to believe to be true.)

Sources: Boston Post. 10 September 1892. Saturday, p. 7. (Newspapers.com.)

Ulster coat. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_coat. (accessed November 8, 2015).

Sampson, Davenport & Co.’s Fall River Directory, 1880, Vol 14. p. 526. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

A Case Of Lock-Jaw

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, artist-signed, used postcard. Postmarked September 6, 1905 from West Hoboken, New Jersey. Artist: Antlers.

Price: $10.00

“Sept 6. I am afraid you will be in such a case some day. have you got over to homestead yet. I am going down to Uncle H’s today so write then. Herman.”

Addressed to: “Miss Mabel Wildrick, 30 Tonnelle ave, West Hoboken, N. J. % Geo Bartow.”

This postcard was sent to Mabel J. Wildrick, born June 1888, from her younger brother, Herman P. Wildrick, born October 1889, New Jersey born (both). From the 1900 Federal Census taken in Stillwater Township, NJ: They are with their parents, Jacob B. Wildrick, born June 1863 and Susan E. born August 1859, both in NJ. He is a foreman at a creamery. Also in the household is Arthur Linaberry, born October 1879 in New Jersey, who is the nephew to head of head of household, Jacob.

Find A Grave shows the entry for the Wildricks, and gives Susan E. Wildrick’s maiden name as Youmans. Arthur Linaberry turns out to be Susan (Youmans) Wildrick’s nephew, son of Phillip Linaberry and Martha D. Youmans. And George Bartow (the “care of” on the postcard) appears to be related on the Linaberry side, with Phillip Linaberry showing up on an Ancestry tree with the middle name of Bartow.

As for the artist, Antlers, his identity was not found. He did a whole comic series though, about mosquitoes, and those postcards, dated 1905 and 1906, are easily found at the moment for sale on eBay and other sites.

Lastly, Mabel’s younger brother Herman, that funny guy (!) was correct about his older sister. She did get herself into that “lock-jaw predicament” and got married to a gentleman named Orestes Hendershott. And we’re adding this post to our category of Unusual First Names.

Sources: Year: 1870; Census Place: Blairstown, Warren, New Jersey; Roll: M593_892; Page: 26B; Image: 56; Family History Library Film: 552391. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1900; Census Place: Stillwater, Sussex, New Jersey; Roll: 995; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0175; FHL microfilm: 1240995. (Ancestry.com)

“New Jersey Births and Christenings, 1660-1980,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC2S-1L8 : accessed 8 November 2015), Phillip B Linabery in entry for Linabery, 23 Jul 1885; citing Warren, New Jersey, reference Vol. 21; FHL microfilm 494,203.

Find A Grave Memorial# 39988077. (Findagrave.com) Accessed November 8, 2015.

Find A Grave Memorial# 39988436. (Findagrave.com) Accessed November 8, 2015.

Kenton Baking Powder Trade Card

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Annieoakley

The trademarked design on this Kenton Baking Powder trade card seems to fit the fall season with the weather having turned chilly. Notice the red-tipped nose on the man in the moon. And we hope the owl has seen the shooting star and made a wish! 😉

The oval stamp on the back of this one says: “W. W. Hough, Dealer In Groceries & Crockery. Empire Block, Boonville, N. Y.”

The 1880 Federal Census for Boonville shows William W. Hough, grocer, born about 1846; his wife Nancy M. born about 1850; and their sons Clinton W., born about 1877 and William D., born about 1879. All are native to New York.

According to online city directories, Hough was a grocer in Boonville at least as early as 1878 and up until at least 1884. However, he more likely operated until about 1904, according to the ad below for H. B. Belknap, successor to W. W. Hough, from the Boonville Herald, dated January 26, 1905.

As to Potter, Parlin & Co., of Cincinnati – they were the manufacturer of Kenton Baking Powder, here advertised as 20 cents for a 1 lb. can, 10 cents for a 1/2 lb. can and 5 cents for a 1/4 lb. can. (Hmmm, got me wondering what size I have in my cupboard. For the record, 7 oz. – which translates to a little less than a 1/2 lb. The Calumet brand I have currently costs about $5.00 for 7 oz. $5.00 – funny, coincidentally the price of the Williams’ Utica city directory for 1894 per below.)

As an aside….the politics of city directories

The above page is from Williams’ Utica City Directory and Williams’ Street and Block Directory, 1894 – including Boonville and other towns. Check out the “convicted pirates” reference. In general city directories contain wonderful information for researchers and historians, and this particular directory was a great one, with items such as a breakdown of the total length of paved (27.09 miles) and unpaved (74.05 miles) streets in Utica in 1894; a historical listing of appointed and elected mayors year by year; a list of fire alarm signal boxes (of which there were many) and their locations; a table of wages; and an official death register (the first we’ve come across in city directories) for those over age eighteen and excluding state hospital deaths. In short, $5.00, the price for this particular directory, bought you a lot!

Sources: Year: 1880; Census Place: Boonville, Oneida, New York; Roll: 902; Family History Film: 1254902; Page: 71B; Enumeration District: 083; Image: 0145. (Ancestry.com)

Kimball’s Oneida County Directory, 1878. p. 308. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

C.N. Gaffney’s Gazeteer & Directory of the County of Oneida, 1884. p. 422. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

H. B. Belknap advertisment. Boonville Herald, 26 Jan. 1905. (FultonHistory.com)

Morrison, Abraham Cressy. (1907) The Baking Powder Controversy, Vol. 2. New York: The American Baking Powder Association.

Trade Card. Kenton Baking Powder. Circa 1878 – 1884.

Price: $7.00 Size: 3 x 2 and 3/4″

Woman In Fur Collar

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Annieoakley

A studio portrait of a beautiful woman perhaps in her late twenties or early thirties. She may have been somewhat well-to-do, as she’s wearing what appears to be a silk blouse or dress with a perhaps detachable fur collar in white. As to her hairstyle – was it a bob or just pulled back? I’m guessing the latter. There is no identifying information on the back, but the photo was found in a shop on the Central Coast in California.

Vintage studio photo. Circa 1910s – 1920s. Size: 2 and 3/8 x 6 and 3/4.”

Price: $5.00

Frank McMullen, Dayton, Ohio, 1894

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Annieoakley

A handsome young man signed, dated and identified his location on the back of this Carte de Visite: “Your Friend. Frank McMullen. Dayton O. 9/22/84.”

If Frank is about eighteen in this photo, he would have been born about 1866. An 1880 Federal Census record for Dayton, Ohio, shows young Frank, about age 15 (born about 1865) living with his sister, Eva (McMullen) Hanitch; brother-in-law Henry Hanitch, and nephew, three-month-old Walter Hanitch. The address for the family is 207 Water St.

The 1870 census for German Township (about 33 miles southwest of Dayton) shows more McMullens: Anne, age 37; Eva, age 16; Emma, age 7, as well as Frank, age 5. They are living with the Schaeffer family, and presumably, Anne McMullen is the mother. This record fits since we have Eva and Frank, and also ties into a later Dayton city directory (1893) that shows Ann (the widow of John and confirming Anne as the mother), Frank and younger sister Emma, living at 136 N. Sunset Avenue, in Dayton. In 1893 Frank is working as a traveling salesman for Thresher & Co.

A much earlier Dayton city directory (1881) shows Frank working as a clerk at 17 S. Main St., boarding at 207 W. Water, between Wilkinson and Liberty. So, Frank was out in the work force at least as early as about age sixteen.

Carte de Visite. Dated September 22, 1884. Dayton, Ohio.

Price: $12.00 Size: About 2 and 1/2 x 4 and 1/8″

Sources: Year: 1880; Census Place: Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio; Roll: 1051; Family History Film: 1255051; Page: 106C; Enumeration District: 151; Image: 0211. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1870; Census Place: German, Montgomery, Ohio; Roll: M593_1248; Page: 475B; Image: 174; Family History Library Film: 552747. (Ancestry.com)

Williams & Co.’s Williams’ Dayton Directory, 1881 – ’82. p. 291. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

Williams & Co.’s Williams’ Dayton Directory, 1893 – ’94. p. 552. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.)

Mom And Baby, A Sunny Day

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Annieoakley

An old photo from the 1910s or 1920s or so that was found in San Juan Bautista, California. There is no writing on the back other than “Free” written by the antique dealer. It was found in the same bin as the last post, so it’s up after the prior just in case there’s any family relation. But it’s a beautiful moment: a close-up view of a dark-haired young mom, in checked long-sleeved blouse (rather full at the shoulders) and a darker calico-patterned apron. She’s holding her blonde-haired young son or daughter, some number of months old, along with the baby’s rattle.

Old photograph, unidentified. Circa 1900 – 1920s. Size: About 3 and 1/4 x 2″

Laurel Cottage Genealogy

Genealogy Services, Old Photos, Postcards, Trade Cards, Etc.

Monthly Archives: November 2015

I. Rice Sons, Rochester, NY

Photos From A Family Album

Gallery

Household Sewing Machine Trade Card

Paris Card Company, Boston, 1881

Misfit Parlors, 4 Hayward Place, Boston

A Case Of Lock-Jaw

Kenton Baking Powder Trade Card

Woman In Fur Collar

Frank McMullen, Dayton, Ohio, 1894

Mom And Baby, A Sunny Day