To Ella From Ed

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Annieoakley

Divided back, artist-signed, used postcard. Postmarked December 23rd, year unknown. Circa 1915 – 1916 or 1919 – 1921. Publisher: Stecher Lithograph Company, Rochester, New York. Series 726F.

Price: $15.00

“Merry Christmas

Your Christmas be a happy one

Bestowing for your good

Much merryment and rare content

Just as a Christmas should.”

Here’s an adorable little lady in mid-19th century dress, carrying presents and a wreath made of holly. Besides the wreath’s berries, the ribbons and bows are in red, as is her bonnet’s ostrich plume, and the card’s border. Next to her, on our left is what appears to be the artist’s logo; it’s quite unusual, and is nothing resembling a signature. We’d presume it to be from the artist, as the publisher logo appears in the bottom left corner of the card, showing a copyright mark for Stecher Lithograph Company, Rochester, New York.

This is another card in the Alice Ellison Collection, and is addressed to “Miss Ella Ellison, 1314 F St, Sacramento, Cal.” The postmark year got left off in the cancellation process, but shows it was sent from Auburn, California on December 23rd. We have others that were sent to Ella at this address between 1915 and 1921, but since the stamp is a one-cent, the estimated date would be 1915 – 1916 and 1919 – 1921, as during WWI the stamp price had been raised to two cents.

Unknown artist logo for publisher Stecher Lithograph Company.

Merry Christmas To Mrs. Louise Franzel

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Annieoakley

This is an intriguing postcard: The sender wrote her message in German in very small writing, starting at the top of the bell, and continuing on all of the holly leaves. I think the message needs to be translated by someone fluent in German, as the writing is just too small to make out without one being already familiar with the language. It starts out “Liebe Louise,” (Dear Louise.) After that, yikes! But how very skillful of the sender! On the card is printed, “A Merry Christmas,” and then the sender wrote, “for my dear friend Louise with love from Emma.” The top right holly leaf contains the address, “New York, 1[??] W. 45th St.” Too bad the full street number got smudged.

Searching for Emma in the city directories on Ancestry.com in Manhattan, with a keyword of “W. 45 St.” and with a street number in the 100 range, did not bring up any matches. The next possibility would be to search for the Enumeration District for the census records of 1900 or 1910, for W. 45th Street. Fortunately, there is an excellent website that helps us narrow down the EDs. Click here to search the site. Searching for 100 – 199 W. 45th St. in Manhattan shows eleven EDs for the 1900 Federal Census and ten for the 1910. So, without knowing the exact street number, it would be a long and tedious search process, unless one were to get lucky and hit on the right ED early on. We’ll leave the search for the sender then and move on to the addressee: “Mrs. P. Franzel, 323 Marguerite Ave, Portland, Ore.”

This one was easy: Peter and Louise Franzel and their daughter Louise V. Franzel show up at the above address on the 1910 Federal Census for Portland. They were not living at that address on the 1900. The couple are listed as born in Austria, Peter in about 1869 and Louise in about 1879. Daughter Louise, who is ten months old, was born in Oregon, about June 1909, as the census was taken in April. Peter’s occupation is Cement Contractor, his immigration year is 1881, and the couple has been married about three years, so they must have been married in 1906, since the card is dated that year. A search for the marriage shows the date as October 30th. Finding Louise’s maiden name was a little tricky, as it turned out there was a typo for her first name in the index, showing “Souise.” But she is Louise A. Kisswetter. (A correction was submitted in Ancestry.com.)

Undivided back, embossed, used postcard. Publisher unknown. Outgoing postmark December 24, 1906 from New York, New York. Incoming postmark December 28, 1906 in Portland, Oregon.

Price: $15.00

Sources: Year: 1910; Census Place: Portland Ward 7, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: T624_1288; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0187; FHL microfilm: 1375301. (Ancestry.com)

Oregon State Library; Oregon Marriage Indexes, 1906-2006; Reel: 1; Years: 1906-1910. (Ancestry.com)

A Christmas Wish

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Annieoakley

Divided back, artist-signed, used postcard, embossed border. Artist and publisher unknown. Postmarked December 16th, year unknown. Sent from Dover, Massachusetts? Circa 1910 – 1920.

Price: $15.00

“A Merry Christmas and a

Happy New Year, Your Pockets

full of Money and your Hearts full of Cheer.”

Here’s a stunning card; the colors are gorgeous! (I love the pale pink and orange variation of the upper background.) It shows a mother, father and daughter, all very fashionably dressed; time-frame about mid-19th century; on their way, with wrapped presents in hand, to bring the above good wishes and cheer for Christmas. This appears to be an artist-signed card that would have been produced from a painting or drawing (how to determine the artist’s media?) however the signature, at the bottom right, is not readable. The family has that look of being “caught on camera,” as if this were a photo. As for the date of the card, the postmarked year is missing. Hopefully the addressee’s information will be able to reveal a likely time-frame. The card is addressed to: “Mrs. L. Estelle SinClair, Pleasantdon, California.”

According to the 1920 Federal Census, Louise E. Sin Clair, born about 1883 in Massachusetts, was married to Rutherford F. Sin Clair, born about 1882 in Canada, occupation carpenter. They were living in Pleasanton on Pleasantree Avenue at this time. The 1930 census shows the couple have an adopted 8-year-old son, Gordan Sinclair, born in California. On the 1930 Rutherford R. is now listed as Frederick R. Sinclair, (a very common occurrence for the middle and first names to show up as switched around at various times) and his occupation is building contractor. The message from the sender reveals, heart-breakingly, that Estelle had lost a child, and that Cora was offering her support and caring wishes, would write a letter and was also sending a little present. Per the 1910 Federal Census the couple was residing in Pleasanton, so this postcard is probably from about 1910 – 1920.

The couple’s record of marriage shows that Frederick Rutherford Sinclair and Louise Estelle Jewett were married September 1, 1909 in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The groom was born in Scotch Ridge, New Brunswick and his parents were Dougald B. Sinclair and Margaret Babb. The bride was born in Ipswich, and her parents were Stephen Jewett and Mary E. Hall.

Sources: Year: 1910; Census Place: Pleasanton, Alameda, California; Roll: T624_72; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0153; FHL microfilm: 1374085. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1920; Census Place: Pleasanton, Alameda, California; Roll: T625_92; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 207; Image: 369. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1930; Census Place: Pleasanton, Alameda, California; Roll: 112; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0340; Image: 131.0; FHL microfilm: 2339847. (Ancestry.com)

“Massachusetts, Marriages, 1841-1915,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N4FH-FCL : accessed 16 December 2014), Frederick Rutherford Sinclair and Louise Estelle Jewett, 01 Sep 1909; citing p 464 no 63, Ipswich, , Massachusetts, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,315,509.

Tennis Lovers Christmas Card

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Annieoakley

Christmas card of heavier cardboard, and rounded edges. Missing right bottom corner. Artist and date unknown. Circa 1890s – 1910. Size: About 6 x 4 and 1/2.”

Price: $6.00

“May Christmas Joys be Scattered round Thy head.”

Here’s an unlikely looking Christmas card, and it continues the topic of a few posts ago – non-traditional cards. No snow, no trimmed tree, no manger scene or Santa Claus, but instead some beautiful daisies, along with a summery card, and a tennis racquet in the middle of it all. This is for when you’re hoping for summer to return, to get back to the courts. Christmas joys scattered round thy head – like tennis balls you loft before the serve or the shots coming at you? I like the “card within a card” idea. It’s very nicely done, with the shadow included. You just naturally want to open that card up all the way, to see what it might say inside. There’s an old piece of gauze-type tape running along the top back edge, which you can see a little of here, along with some glue marks on the back. This might have been inserted in one of those old photo albums with the sort-of built in paper frames on each page, then taped to the back. But anyway, this was a must-have since it is so unusual.

Best Wishes From Mr. & Mrs. Charles Jarchow

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Annieoakley

“With best wishes for your happiness during Christmas and thru the New Year.”

Signed “Mr. & Mrs. Chas. Jarchow.”

Well, here is an absolutely heavenly card! It was done in colors of gold, black, red and white on off-white. It’s design shows a 19th-century family consisting of a man, woman and little boy, outdoors singing Christmas carols. The moon is huge in the background, the snow falls through the golden night sky. The three have walked down the stone pathway from the charming Tudor cottage-style home on the left. Love the rounded door, the shutters, the tree showing bare branches behind the archway, even the little bush on the right, or rather I think that is meant to depict a tree top showing from the other side of the hill. Notice the detail of the door hinges, the stonework around the door; not to mention the clothing of the singers, the sweet expression on the woman’s face, the boy’s expression and fluttering long winter scarf, the way the gentleman is interestingly turned facing sideways so that we see his profile, while the other two face the front; his coat and top hat, the woman’s hooped skirt and fur-trimmed jacket and matching bonnet….Perhaps the artist drew the man facing to the side since his coat flares so much; it might not have worked so well to have his outline be similar to, or detract from the woman’s.

Very noticeable about this artwork are the patterns: the checkered pattern of the woman’s skirt, the swirl in the presumably wooden area under the roof peak, the contrast of the larger snowflakes with the smaller dotted fabric of the woman’s jacket, the stripes in the man’s coat. (One could gush on almost forever.) But we do have a very similarly styled Christmas card, that was put up here at Laurel Cottage early on. Check out the similarities to the card in this post entitled “May Your Christmas Be Merry.” It’s very possible that the two are by the same artist. (We’ll be on the lookout for more.)

As far as the time frame for this card, it’s hard to say – maybe 1900 through the 1930s. We do know that it was made in the United States, since it gives us that information at the bottom right of the scene. And the last name in the signature is definitely Jarchow; nothing shows up under alternate spellings. But a surprising amount of married couples show up in census records, at various times, in various states, for Charles Jarchow and spouse, so that won’t help to narrow down the date.

One last note as far as trying to date the card: One might think that the use of “thru” instead of “through” might be useful, as in when did we start using “thru?” However, the use of the shorter word has been around for over a century, according to numerous dictionary and word origin type references. Interesting, though (or tho!)

Christmas card, unknown artist and date. Circa 1900 – 1930s? Size: About 5 and 1/2 x 4 and 1/4″ Condition is very good except for the crease at the top.

Price: $30.00

Source: ‘ “Thru” vs. “through.” ‘ Stackexchange. Web accessed December 9, 2014. [http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/91778/thru-vs-through]

Christmas Greetings From Mrs. Graham

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Annieoakley

Christmas Greetings

“To-day across the winding miles

This card is flying fast.

To wish you matchless Christmas joys,

And a new year unsurpassed!”

I’m becoming fascinated with seasonal cards that don’t have any of the traditional images. Do we send many out today like that? This one is a great example: a Christmas card just showing an adorable barn swallow (I think) bringing Christmas greetings with the above lovely verse. The bird is flying fast to bring you the message on time, so that makes sense, but the card is not traditionally decorated with trimmed trees, Santa Claus, holly, the manger scene, etc. Come to think of it, I guess we do send out similar ones nowadays, as I have a set of Christmas cards of a bunny in winter scene. But some of the other old ones are quite unusual. Click here for the example I’m thinking of.

Getting back to the subject of barn swallows, an interesting (and very relevant to Laurel Cottage) fact from the website All About Birds, relates that, “…it was the millinery (hat-making) trade’s impact on Barn Swallows that prompted naturalist George Bird Grinnell’s 1886 Forest & Stream editorial decrying the waste of bird life. His essay led to the founding of the first Audubon Society.”

Christmas card with sender’s signature, and thin gold-tone border. Circa 1900 – 1930. Size: 4 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/2″

Price: $5.00

Source: “Barn Swallow.” The Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds. Web accessed December 6, 2014. [http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/barn_swallow/lifehistory]

Thanksgiving Greetings

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Annieoakley

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Here’s a beautiful postcard showing a design of two turkeys on a little path out in the country. (Well, with scrutiny, the turkey in the background is just next to the path.) I like the stand of evergreens in the distance. This is from an unknown publisher, printed in Germany, embossed and with gold tones, with a blue-gray background and pink flowers, and narrow white border. The tail feathers of the turkey in the foreground run a little outside the sort of upside-down keyhole shaped “window.” My friend tells me this is always on purpose; from the artist’s perspective, it lends a sense of “flow” for the eye to travel over the card.

Divided back, embossed, unused postcard. Publisher unknown. Printed in Germany. Series 6399. Circa 1907 – 1914.

Price: $10.00

Stein 4th Of July Float

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1902 – 1906.

Price: $20.00

“Dear Uncle Walter, Your postals I received. Many thanks for same but sorry to say I lost the postal card Saturday of you. send me one again. be so kind and send Saturday again. This is our float for the 4 of July. I am the one with the head …?… turned …you[?] …with love to you …?…I [?] …?…I will go to stay with Grandpa next month. Myrtle Stein”

Card addressed to: “Mr. Walter Stein, New York City, N. Y., #104 West 100th Str.”

RPPC gem

This is a gem of a postcard from probably 1902 – 1906: A Real Photo Postcard, from the undivided back era, showing a photo, taken during a Fourth of July parade, of the Stein family’s horse or mule-drawn float. There are lots of details to try to pick out here. We can see the Stein name on the side of the float, though the word after Stein is hard to read. You’ll notice what appear to be street signs just behind the tropical looking plant. The signs seem off-kilter so maybe they were put up for the parade. And is the plant part of the float? It’s hard to tell. One of the signs looks like it says “First National.” Here is a cropped but not resized photo. You should be able to click twice on the image to get the best view.

Man or bear?

Continuing on with some of the other details, there’s a lady wearing a large hat, and a gentleman with a white goatee. There are several different hat styles the men are wearing. And that looks like part of a windmill behind the wooden utility pole. There’s the star-spangled banner and oh that beautiful iron railing that the banner hangs from! On the float the man in the front wears a funny hat, and there are three girls at the back, one of whom is Myrtle, probably the one on our right, based upon what she says in her note. And what are we looking at just to the right of the man? To me it looks like a fake bear standing up, with his head looking upward and his left arm reaching up or holding onto the vertical support, and a chain or rope around his waist. My husband thinks it’s a guy in a fur coat with a belt and wearing a hat. (This is always so amusing, to wonder if what you think you see is really what you see, and if not how far off were you? You can picture yourself doing that quick heel of the hand to the forehead gesture, saying, “Ahhhh, of course, I see it now, it’s….” as you are cracking up laughing.) Come to think of it, this would be hot weather so it seems doubtful someone would be wearing a fur coat…

Railway Mail Service

Although the card is postally used, the postmark did not get fully stamped, unfortunately. What we can read of the postmark is “.& El Paso. R” and just below that “Tr. 9.” (Train 9? Trolley 9?) To the right of that is a mark that should have read “RMS” which stands for Railway Mail Service and means that this postcard was processed in a mobile post office, such as a railway, or streetcar. The postal workers would have worked in a separate mail car attached to the train or on a trolley where half of the car would be for passengers and half for mail. The railway postal clerk job was dangerous, involving the possibility of train wrecks, falls, fires, robberies and derailments.

A Mystery

The addressee, Walter Stein, was not found at this address on the 1905 New York State Census or the 1900 and 1910 Federal Census for Manhattan. There are multiple entries for Myrtle Stein in various locations but no confirmation was found for this postcard. As for railway companies or lines there are at least seven that end in “& El Paso” that I’m finding in a quick search so this avenue of research is also proving to be difficult…Okay, so we have another for the Mystery category, but still, this is a great postcard. And one more note: At first glance the photo for this postcard looks like it was glued on to the card, as there’s sort of an optical illusion effect happening on the right. But it would have been cropped and taken somewhere to have it made into a postcard, so it’s actually all one flat surface.

Source: Smithsonian, National Postal Museum. Web. 4 Jul 2014. [http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2c1_railwaymail.html]

Bunnies In The Backyard

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Annieoakley

Divided back, lightly embossed, used postcard. Postmarked March 24, 1910 from Axtell, Nebraska. Publisher unknown.

Price: $4.00

“Axtell Nebr., Mar. 24, ’10 – Dear cousin Ida. How are you by this time we are all well hope this will reach you all the same. You had better come with your mother and Josie out here this summer. It blew something terrible yesterday but to-day it is still and nice. Have you got any small chickens yet we got two hens that are hatching. As ever your Cousin Alice.”

Addressed to: “Miss Ida Nelson, Terril, Iowa, Box 5”

Tea with kitty, breakfast with bunny….

This is a great card for me, as it so reminds me of myself with our own bunny (as previously mentioned on a prior post.) After, what I’ve come to refer to as “Tea With Kitty” comes “Breakfast With Bunny.” Breakfast with the bun takes place in the backyard, in a setting much like the one here, with a high fence, and greenery, and with me on the garden bench with my cereal, and the bun bun, just like on this card, to my left, with her varied plateful of kale, parsley, roses, dandelion leaves and flowers, etc. (Enough about me, but it is interesting to find the ones where art imitates life or there is some special connection.)

You might not notice at first, the caption in script at the top which says, “A Joyful Easter.” And just to describe the card, it shows two reddish brown bunnies and a white one (the lookout maybe, making sure everything is okay) in a garden setting. The brown bunnies are being fed some greens by a little girl in her Easter dress, who sits on a garden bench. She has gold ringlets, and holds Easter eggs in her lap.

The receiver of this card was not found in online records, though there are plenty of Nelsons in Dickenson County, and even in the town of Terril.

Welcome Easter Morning

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Annieoakley

We welcome Easter morning today, just as this postcard did 101 years ago. This card is from an unknown publisher who appears to be the very same unknown publisher for the post entitled Easter Greetings To Uncle Dewey. Anyway, this is another beauty showing a couple of ever-so-cute brown and white bunnies; one is stationary and the smaller one, at the bottom of the card, is running and has his back feet up in the air. The background is white with a beautifully embossed flower design; white embossed flowers appear in the corners; the border is yellow-green and the caption is gold-tone with colorful capital letters. The card was sent from the Fletcher, Kansas post office, and the sender wrote:

“Hello. I received your card a long time ago, was glad to get it. How are you, I am just fine. Wish I could see you. How are you teaching school. Best Easter greeting – your Friend. Elsie Winger”

Addressed to: “Miss Mattie Winter, Richmond, Kans.” It looks like the date was either March or May 18, 1913. Check out how the embossing looks as seen from the back of the card – so cute! In searching for the addressee in online records, we find quite a few entries. The 1910 Federal Census taken in Richmond, Franklin County, Kansas, is one such entry, and shows Mattie with her widowed father and her sister. The census shows: Austin W. Winter, teamster, born Illinois about 1852; Anna L., no occupation, born Kansas about 1881; and Mattie J., Public School teacher, born Kansas about 1889. Since there is no street address for Mattie one assumes Richmond was a small town in 1913, and a Wikipedia search indicates that as of the 2000 Federal Census, the population in Richmond Township was 812, and some more searching confirms that Richmond was indeed a small community back when this card was sent. See the excellent website listed below re Franklin County for more history on the town.

As to the sender, Elsie Winger: This was a puzzle for a short while, as Fletcher, Kansas was not identified online as a current or defunct town. It turns out Fletcher was the name of the post office which was located in Mitchell Township, Stanton County, KS. We then can be quite confident in assuming that it is the correct Elsie Winger, with her parents and brothers, that is on the 1910 Federal Census taken in Mitchell Township. (No other possibilities show up.) This census shows: James H. Winger, farmer, born Indiana about 1873; his wife Luiza J., born Missouri about 1880; Elsie M., born Kansas about 1901; William H., born Kansas about 1907; and Harold K., born Kansas about 1908. It’s interesting to note that this census shows an Elsie M. Chapman, also age nine, living next door to the Wingers. So, Elsie Winger would have been about twelve years old when she wrote and sent this postcard to friend Mattie, who would have been about twenty-four.

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked March or May 18, 1913 from the Fletcher post office, Mitchell Township, Kansas. Publisher unknown.

Price: $10.00

Sources: Year: 1910; Census Place: Richmond, Franklin, Kansas; Roll: T624_439; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0099; FHL microfilm: 1374452. (Ancestry.com)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Township,_Franklin_County,_Kansas

http://www.franklincokshistory.org/places-2/towns/richmond/

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/f/fletcher.html

Year: 1910; Census Place: Mitchell, Stanton, Kansas; Roll: T624_455; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0208; FHL microfilm: 1374468. (Ancestry.com)

Laurel Cottage Genealogy

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

Category Archives: Holidays

To Ella From Ed

Merry Christmas To Mrs. Louise Franzel

A Christmas Wish

Tennis Lovers Christmas Card

Best Wishes From Mr. & Mrs. Charles Jarchow

Christmas Greetings From Mrs. Graham

Thanksgiving Greetings

Stein 4th Of July Float

Bunnies In The Backyard

Welcome Easter Morning