The Original Water-Wagon

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, used postcard. Postmarked April 1, 1909, from Santa Rosa, California. Publisher: A.T. F. Co.

Price: $8.00

This is the first in a collection from Miss Lily Rea. Her address at this time is Box 23, Gilroy, California. We’ll get more detailed in later posts, but for now, this one is up due to it being April Fool’s Day. Lily’s friend, Hazel writes:

“April Fool. Ha! Ha. Apr. 1. 09. Recieved your card glad to know you are well. Hope to see a picture of you soon. I recieved a card from George Wells to day. Who showed you the picture of L & I. Sure all my friends are nice looking & he is a swell kid too. I hope you can meet him some day. Ans. soon Hazel. Regards to Rocky.

The card’s design, Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat, (an elephant and giraffe survey the receding flood) and the caption, “The Original Water-Wagon,” got me wondering why this card was so current to the times. Here’s a screen shot of a Google search “water wagon images in the early 1900s” showing some great old photos and some comic cards:

And see Origin of the idiom ‘falling off the wagon’ from StackExchange for the origin of being on and off the wagon.

Sources: “Water wagon images in the early 1900s” Google image search. (Accessed April 1, 2016.)

“Origin of the idiom ‘falling off the wagon’.” StackExchange.com. (Accessed April 1, 2016.)

Easter Chick For Lily V. Herrling

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Annieoakley

“Easter Greetings”

Here’s one more official Easter postcard for this year and it’s of another chick, so adorable, wearing her little shell hat with pussy willow decoration, and carrying a little bouquet.

The sender writes:

“April 4, 1914. Fort Pierre S. Dak. Dear Miss Herlling. I will drop you a few lines this tues[?]. we all well hope you the same. the snow is all gone now and we have a nice bit of water in the…?…now. it has bin dry all winter but we will have a lot of it now for this summer & yes nellie has got a little colt one week old but lily…?…is the same color she was when you saw her. good by, by for now[?] …and…? L. E. Datts. I will write a letter in a few days. Wishing you a joys Easter.”

Sent to: “Miss Lily V. Herrling. Walton, Neb. % Geo. Wilson. R.F.D.”

Lily was a public school teacher who was born in Wisconsin, about 1885. The 1920 Federal Census for Sheboygan finds Lily and her sister, Elsa May, living with their brother R. B. Herrling. Various short newspaper clips can be found online, like the two below, which show that Lily traveled to various locations to teach:

From the Lincoln Daily News (Lincoln, NE) 11 June 1915:

From the Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI) 17 August 1916:

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked April 13 (or 3rd?) 1914, Fort Pierre, South Dakota. Publisher: James E. Pitts. Series 42 F.

Price: $12.00

Sources: Year: 1920; Census Place: Greenbush, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Roll: T625_2016; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 116; Image: 1042. (Ancestry.com)

Lincoln Daily News (Lincoln, NE) 11 June 1915. (Ancestry.com)

Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI) 17 August 1916. (Ancestry.com)

Compliments Of Your Bro, M. M. Miller

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked March 25, 1912 from McDowell, West Virginia. Publisher unknown. Series or number B53.

Price: $5.00

“A Happy Easter”

A beautiful postcard of – I think these are supposed to be – Easter Lilies along with a cottage scene, a gold ribbon and dramatic rays of light surrounding all. And the capital “A” in the Easter wish some shadow behind it, giving it kind of a 3-D effect.

This was sent by M. M. Miller, the same person in the prior post, and he writes: “Compliments of your Bro. M. M. Miller to J. M. Ellison.”

Addressed to: “J. M. Ellison, 26 St. & Cheyenne ave, Pueblo, Colo.”

Kindest Greeting From Mrs. Burger, Hardtner KS

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked April 13, 1911 from Hardtner, Kansas. Publisher: The American Art Production Co., Series 680/6.

Price: $4.00

From our Alice Ellison Collection…..

“A Peaceful Easter” is the wish that adorns this 1911 embossed postcard done in muted gold and gray tones, showing a pretty girl in an egg-shaped “window” with three chicks. (So cute the way the one chick is standing on the girl’s shoulder!) The egg is flanked by lilies of the valley. The note from the sender states:

“Kindest greeting to All. Mrs. Jennie[?] Burger.” And the card is addressed to: “Mrs. Alice Ellison, 26 & Cheyenne Ave. Pueblo, Colo.”

For more about the publisher see our post: American Art Production Company, S. M. Salke – A Mystery Solved.

Killarney, Thro’ The Pass At Gap Of Dunloe

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Annieoakley

Addressed to: ” ‘Blue Nurses’ Emerson Hospital, Concord Mass U.S.A.”

The term “Blue Nurses” doesn’t show up online, and with the surrounding quotes by the card sender, it must have been just an affectionate term he or she had for the nursing staff there at that time. Likely their uniforms were blue. (There are many examples that can be found online of vintage nurse uniforms, blue in color.) The sender, someone with a nice sense of humor, wrote an interesting note about his or her adventure in the Gap of Dunloe:

“June 17 – Imagine me on a little Irish poney starting thro’ this gap of Dunloe for 6 1/2 miles. Later on steep and rugged – so rough, in fact, that my poney fell and I went over his head and into a morass at the side of the trail – I’m mended now. I seem to have had trouble to spell pony – Perhaps the fall – I’ve enjoy[ed] my gift so much – M. Copeland.”

Appropriate, the injury and mending story being sent to nurses, eh?

And how ’bout that use of the word thro’ ? Multiple dictionary definitions describe it as: An informal or poetic variant spelling of the word through. It is pronounced the same, just like the common variant that we see nowadays as thru.

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked June 18, 1929 from Baile Atha Cliath (Dublin) Ireland. Publisher: The Woolstone Bros., “Renowned” for Local Views. London. E. C. 1. The “Milton” Series. Printed in Saxony.

Price: $15.00

Dear Little Sister

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, embossed, used postcard, postage stamp removed. Postmarked from Sacramento, California, 1912. Publisher: Pacific Novelty Company, San Francisco, California. Made in Germany.

Price: $4.00

This is a beautifully designed “Birthday Greetings” postcard of an Ireland-looking scene of boats in the bay, green hills, a castle in the distance, bordered by four-leaf clover with flowers and three cheerful birdies. The embossing is wonderful, the detail of the clover…it’s kind of too bad this got so soiled over the years, but then again, what’s a few coffee stains, etc? It’s another from The Alice Ellison Collection, and the sender, Lizzie, writes:

“Dear little sister, I hope you passed to the third grade. How is Mamma? We are all well. Dos. & Geo. was out last sunday. love from your sister Lizzie.”

Addressed to: “Miss Henrietta Ellison, 26 st. & Cheyenne Ave., Pueblo, Colo.”

This postcard is unusual in that when you flip it over, it’s upside down. Wonder how many others turned out that way.

Alfalfa Farming Family On The North Smoky

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, used, Real Photo Postcard. Postmarked February 2, 1909 from Wallace, Kansas. Artura stamp box.

Availability Status: SOLD

A beautiful young family on a Real Photo Postcard in 1909: Their names are unknown, but there’s the dad and mom, the daughter, maybe about four years old, and son, guessing about two, all very nicely dressed. I love noticing the details on the clothes: the mom’s ribbon-trimmed vest, the ruching at the shoulders (well, I think ruching but apparently the definition is debatable – not going there…) the lace, the neck bow for the boy (that towheaded blond), the contrast of the dark suit for the dad, the photographer background of muted flower/foliage scene, not to mention the expressions on these four…..In any case, they wrote the following note to their friend, Steve:

“Feb 2nd, 1909. Come and see us now you will have a nice ride from Jennings to Goodland we will be 14 or 15 miles south east our place is right on the north Smoky 40 acres alfalfa land about 9 – 12 ft to water. Well Good Bye.”

Yes, you can see that above technically it really says Feb 2st, after the 1 got changed to a 2. Details details, always good to notice! The card is addressed to:

“Mr. Steve Wennihan, Kanona Kans. Decatur Co.”

In looking at a map of Kansas with the directions we’ve been given by the senders, we find their new location to be northwest of the town of Winona (middle left part of the map below). There’s the northern part of the Smoky Hill River, and you can see the town of Goodland (G is cut off) at the red airplane mark at Highway 70. It must have been a beautiful place, and we wish this family well from our vantage point here in 2016, hoping they had long, happy and prosperous lives.

The postmark on the card appears to say Wallace, which is located further west on Highway 40. And if you keep going you will come to Sharon Springs, which in August of 2013 became famous for having the biggest sinkhole in Kansas appear almost overnight, near that town. Click to see the Youtube video.

Getting back to the addressee: He is found on the 1910 Federal Census for Altory, KS as Steve W. Wennihan, born Missouri about 1877, occupation Farmer; with his wife Gertrude E., born Colorado about 1891; and their son Virgil D., born Kansas about 1908. Altory is about four miles east of Kanona.

Update: Per a comment on our “Contact” page, Steve Wennihan died in 1940 at age 63 (info from Dan Davidson, great-grandson).

Sources: “Map of the Smoky Hill River in Kansas” Google search. Map courtesy of National Geographic.

Walton, Charles. August 4, 2013. “Massive Sinkhole Opens in Sharon Springs, Kansas – 200 Feet Across and 90 Feet Deep.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPMMAsbWtCk (Accessed March 13, 2016)

Year: 1910; Census Place: Altory, Decatur, Kansas; Roll: T624_437; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0008; FHL microfilm: 1374450. (Ancestry.com)

Ruth E. Dimond, Stamford CT, 1905

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Annieoakley

“This is not a little boy but your friend. Ruth E. Dimond. March 29/05.”

An oval photo of Ruth, on the porch steps, in double-breasted caped coat with belt and cap. Just behind her to her left you can see her doll. (Awww!)

Addressed to: “Miss Nellie Irene Hexamer, 48 Grove Street, Stamford, Conn.”

Well, the sender believed in being detailed! (What with the name, and assuming that Ruth was probably her daughter, and then the addressee’s first, middle and last name.) And that’s good for us.

Though Ruth’s last name is a little hard to read on the postcard, she was easily found in the 1910 Federal Census for Norwalk, CT, along with her family. This census shows: Charles J. Dimond, age 43, born in CT about 1867, occupation Superintendent at a Corset Factory; his wife, Nora J[?]. Dimond, same age, also born in CT; Ruth E., age 7, born about 1903 in CT; Harriet C., age 4, born about 1906 in CT; and Annie Kovac, “Servant” age 35, born about 1875 in Hungary.

As for Nellie Irene Hexamer, she is the daughter of Adolf C. and Nellie Hexamer, and found on the 1920 Federal Census for Stamford at the address given on the postcard, along with Nellie Irene’s younger brother Adolf. Nellie Irene is listed as Irene on this census, born about 1901 in CT, so Ruth and Nellie Irene must have been playmates.

Price: $15.00

Sources: Year: 1910; Census Place: Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut; Roll: T624_130; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0100; FHL microfilm: 1374143. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1920; Census Place: Stamford Ward 4, Fairfield, Connecticut; Roll: T625_179; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 174; Image: 577. (Ancestry.com)

The Henderson Sisters, Oakland CA, 1912

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Annieoakley

“This is the Henderson sisters. Emma’s place is not finished yet but expects to move down next week. Mary is not feeling well but all the rest of the bunch are alright. Love from all, hope you are feeling good. Flora.”

Addressed to: “Mrs. Reiterman, 177 – Page st., San Francisco, Calif.”

Well, the first names of the Henderson girls weren’t found, Henderson being a fairly common name, for one thing. Then also, the family may not have stayed in Oakland, the presumed city this photograph was taken in. But it’s such a cute photo, and there they are standing/sitting in clover, with the house border’s roses and gladiolas behind them.

The Reiterman Family was found at the address on the postcard in the 1912 city directory. And from the 1920 Federal Census for the same address we find that the addressee is Mrs. Mary F. Reiterman, born California about 1866; married to William J.Reiterman, born California about 1864, his occupation Cutter in the furnishing goods industry; their sons are William A., Neil D. and Percy (ages 32 – 27 on this census).

Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard. Postmarked June 25, 1912 from Oakland, California.

Price: $15.00

Sources: Year: 1920; Census Place: San Francisco Assembly District 29, San Francisco, California; Roll: T625_133; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 58; Image: 1087. (Ancestry.com).

Crocker-Langley’s San Francisco Directory for the Year Ending August 1912. p. 1413. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.)

To My Sweetheart

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Annieoakley

A Valentine’s Day postcard with Cupid riding up in the clouds in a small golden chariot that is overflowing with forget-me-nots, and being pulled by two doves. This one is signed presumably by the sender on the bottom right of the front of the card, but the name is hard to make out. Mailed to:

“Miss Ethel Main, 299 Sunol St., San Jose Calif.”

Undivided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked February 15, 1907 from San Francisco, California. Publisher: The International Art Publishing Co., New York.

Price: $3.00

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Category Archives: Postcards Used

The Original Water-Wagon

Easter Chick For Lily V. Herrling

Compliments Of Your Bro, M. M. Miller

Kindest Greeting From Mrs. Burger, Hardtner KS

Killarney, Thro’ The Pass At Gap Of Dunloe

Dear Little Sister

Alfalfa Farming Family On The North Smoky

Ruth E. Dimond, Stamford CT, 1905

The Henderson Sisters, Oakland CA, 1912

To My Sweetheart