Category Archives: Couples

Country Meets City

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Undivided back, used postcard. Postmarked March 26, 1908 from Chesaning, Michigan. Publisher:  E. B. & E. Co.

Price:  $12.00

A slightly comical card of an illustrated older couple, maybe they live in the country or city outskirts, and have come to downtown Detroit. Within their outline is a photo (slightly distorted probably to fit in the frame, in a fun-house type of way 😉 check out the tower) of the old Federal Building and Post Office at the Northwestern corner of Shelby and W. Fort streets.

Addressed to:   “Mrs. Floyd Walworth, Fergus, Michigan”

Where is Fergus?

Fergus, Michigan is a “locale” located north of Chesaning, in St. Charles Township, Saginaw County, in the vicinity of Fergus and McKeighan roads (purple marker on map below). It was a station on the Michigan Central Railroad and had a post office that closed in 1933.

The sender writes:   “Josiah and Samantha are both recovering from their colds. Hope to be able to go sight seeing soon. This is not very warm weather but expect better some time. Are you well? Lovingly Aunt Minnie.”

Floyd and Myrtle

Without a doubt (we got thrown off track at first by another possibility) the recipient of this postcard was Myrtle G. Spencer, daughter of G. H. Spencer and Emma Burrows, who had married Floyd E. Walworth on August 1, 1907 in Corunna, Saginaw County, MI. Myrtle was about age 22 when she married Floyd, but was first married to John R. Wegert (June 18, 1902 in St. Charles, MI). Floyd was about age 29 at the time of marriage and both he and his bride were residents of Fergus, MI and native Michiganders. His parents were Matthew Walworth and Lucy Merrill. Floyd’s occupation was live stock shipper and Myrtle’s was music teacher.

Aunt Minnie, a mystery

The sender of this card, Aunt Minnie, was not yet found in records. She mentions family members Josiah and Samantha, names which we expected would jump out at us from old records, but no; a more time-consuming search would be needed as far as who’s who for Myrtle or Floyd’s possible aunts.

Publisher i.d.

Last but not least, according to Publishers’ Trademarks Identified by Walter E. Corson, the postcard publisher E. B. & E. Company was Ely, Boynton & Ely of Detroit.

Sources:  Austin, Dan. “Federal Building.” historicdetroit.org. (accessed September 15, 2018).

St. Charles Township, Michigan. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Charles_Township,_Michigan (accessed September 9, 2018).

Chesaning. Google Maps. google.com (accessed September 9, 2018).

“Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQQ4-2ZB : 9 July 2018), John R. Wegert and Myrtle G. Spencer, 1902.

Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Film: 93; Film Description: 1907 Montcalm – 1907 Wayne.

Corson, Walter E. Publishers’ Trademarks Identified. Ed. James Lewis Lowe. Norwood, PA:  1993. (print).

Choose The Best Shade

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Trade Card. J & P Coats. Circa1880s – 1890s.

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

Such a pretty card and with a clever caption! The stripes going through the waves remind me of the zigzag pattern in clothes that has materialized (just a happy coincidence on the pun) on the scene in the world of fashion in recent years, and the design on the back of the card that surrounds the lettering in bold, is delicate and almost mechanical-looking.

J & P Coats you will instantly recognize as a mega company in the world of thread. I checked my sewing tin just now and found all the labels as either Coats, under the current Coats Group logo, Clark O.N.T. (Our New Thread) or Coats & Clark.

Sources:  Coats Group. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coats_Group (accessed February 25, 2018).

Coats. TRC Leiden. (accessed February 25, 2018).

A Postal Telegram….Don’t Worry!

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Divided back, unused postcard. Circa 1907 – 1910s. Publisher APC or AP Co. Series or number 2119.

Price:  $7.00

“Postal Card Telegram. From ______. I get the blues every time I think of leaving this place; I’m thinking of locating here permantly. Don’t Worry!

A tricky spelling for many….

Ha, well permanently was misspelled above. Interesting. In looking for “permantly” in Newspapers.com (I wondered for a sec if the spelling had changed) from years 1832 to the present, over 13,000 entries were found, the last one dated in 2016. Sure, compared to the over 8 million entries found under the  correct spelling of permanently, 13k is not so very much, but still, it’s proof that the word has permanently confounded some of us English-speakers. 😉 And most definitely we can find the incorrect spelling in abundance still today, in ads, social media, etc. and though some is hasty typing, ignore spell check, no biggie type of thing, others are well, not so much.

No worries

The “not to worry” instruction to the receiver…hmmm:  Guessing that is because telegrams were often needed to send bad news, especially during the war. Or maybe, the sender is saying don’t worry, I’ll be coming back, or even don’t worry about me after I leave because I’ll be fine just as soon as I get back to you! And the image, though not of the best quality, is a charmer, of a happy couple, she in her high-brimmed bonnet and he in his straw boater, holding an umbrella.

Publisher name unknown

A nice header on the reverse shows the logo of the publisher:  maybe standing for AP or APC Company. If memory serves, this is one we haven’t come across yet.

A San Jose, California Couple

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Divided back, unused Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1910s. Photographer:  Enrico Bambocci. Solio stamp box.

Availability Status:  SOLD

Happily, from time to time, we find more RPPCs by Italian-born photographer Enrico Bambocci. Here’s to hoping the trend continues! The Bambocci studio was located in San Jose, so it’s probably safe to assume this handsome couple resided there, or in the vicinity. This could be a wedding photo also, (like the prior post) but not necessarily so. And there’s a badger (?) skin (as we’ve seen in another of Bambocci’s photos) draped over the wooden chair, and though it’s not the same badger, it is probably the same chair.

German Couple, Wedding Photo

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Divided back, deckled edge, unused Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1910s – early 1920s. Photo paper company:  Trapp & Muench. Germany.

Price:  $5.00

A beautiful couple, and our imaginations do not have to run wild to think that this was probably their wedding day. The very faded or washed out image was darkened in Photoshop. Original below:

The photo paper company on this RPPC was manufactured by Trapp & Muench, per The Postcard Album website (by coincidence mentioned a couple of posts ago). T & M’s trademark, shown below, appears on the reverse of the card above the dividing line:

Source:  “Photo Paper Trademarks, Logos and other imprints.” T & M (Trapp & Muench). Web accessed February 19, 2018.

C. H. B. And Marian Shaw, Daytona 1905

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Undivided back, unused, Real Photo Postcard. 1905. Sailboat stamp box.

Price:  $10.00

Here’s a beautiful young Springfield, Mass couple posing for the camera. They seemed to have been dressed up for some occasion, she in a long dark skirt and white blouse with bow at the neck (note the pocket watch pinned near the shoulder and that might be a pin of some sort at the bow) and he in a dark suit and tie with light-colored vest, breast pocket handkerchief and visible watch chain. From the writing on the front and from the feel of the photo itself, one presumes they are C. H. B. Shaw and wife Marian, but we can’t say for sure. Nothing definitive was found in census records, city directories or online historical newspapers in either Massachusetts or Florida. Very surprising, too.

Love At The Beach

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Divided back, unused postcard. Publisher:  Theodor Eismann, Leipzig, Saxony. Th. E. L., Series 950. Circa 1907.

$7.00

Segueing from a valentine (the prior, the only one we had this year) to a couple’s theme. And, by the way, posts are sparse at the moment due to much overtime at the regular j.o.b. But we’ll return to something more normal (yes, I know, define normal) shortly…..A beautiful German postcard from publisher Theodor Eismann of Leipzig, Saxony from maybe around 1907. I’m guessing this approximate date after looking at the prior link under the excellent The Postcard Album website; not sure if the series numbers were running in numerical order or not. If you click on the image to enlarge it you’ll see all the gold glitter accents for the couple and on the rattan high-backed domed beach chair.

Source:  “Theodor Eismann, Leipzig Saxony.” The Postcard Album. (web accessed February 18, 2018.)

From Our House To Yours, The Sanders, 1960

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Christmas card, deckled edge, 1960.

Price:  $5.00          Size:  About 4 and 1/4 x 5″

Jumping ahead a couple of centuries from the last post…..Mr. and Mrs. Sanders, a beautiful and happy couple at Christmastime. And they’re decked out, she in her pearls and lace and he in his dress shirt with totally awesome wide necktie.

This card was found in an antique shop in Morgan Hill, California.

Three Cheers

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Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked February 25, 1910 from Pueblo, Colorado. St. Patrick Series No. 3.

Price:  $3.00

“Erin Go Bragh”

Three cheers for Old Erin’s Isle,

Three cheers for the harp and flag of green.

Three cheers for the shamrock boys,

And a kiss for the Irish Colleen.”

Another for St. Pat’s Day….Three-leaf clovers this time, and a pretty, rather heavily corseted colleen, pinning a clover on her man’s lapel. They’re out for a night on the town, she in her finest dress, he in top hat and tails. He’s bringing the shillelagh though, just in case of any trouble. 😉  Addressed to:   “Mr. J. M. Ellison, Sawnee, Okla.”  which the sender probably wrote in haste, as it should, of course, be Shawnee. She writes:

“2 – 25 -10.  Dear Mike: – Your letter received and I want you to do what ever you think best about that place. It sounds alright to me. Hope to see you soon. Love from all, Ma.”

Tourists In Tijuana, 1955

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Tourists In Tijuana 1955 pc1Tourists In Tijuana 1955 pc2

Divided back, unused, Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1955. Kodak Paper stamp box.

Price:  $7.00

An African-American couple (presuming couple and presuming they’re from the U.S.) posing for a photo wearing tourist sombreros, seated on a platform behind a “Tijuana Zebra.” That’s a depiction of the Legend of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl as the photographer’s backdrop, and at the top of the backdrop we can see “1955” and what looks like the suggestion of “Mexico” to the right of the year. The photo does seem unmistakably 1950’s with those pedal pushers the beautiful young woman is wearing. Just behind the donkey we can see the start of the word “Tijuana” that’s painted on the platform.

Sources:  Tijuana Zebra. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana_Zebra. (accessed April 22, 2016).

Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popocat%C3%A9petl_and_Iztacc%C3%ADhuatl. (accessed April 22, 2016).