Charlotte Amalie Waterfront, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Annieoakley

Divided back, deckled edge, unused postcard. Photographer: Larry Witt. Publisher: Marion J. Head, 4 Norre Gade, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. 00801. Copyright 1964 Dexter Press, West Nyack, New York. Printed in the United States.

Availability status: SOLD Size: About 5 and 7/8 x 4″

A colorful 1964 postcard showing activity at the Charlotte Amalie Waterfront, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Charlotte Amalie is the capital and largest city of the U.S. Virgin Islands, known especially for its pirate history and Danish colonial architecture. The photo shows a couple of sailboats, and some people on the pier attending to bags of oranges and other articles that have perhaps just been unloaded. The green wooden craft on the left is named Esme, a name of French origin, used by men and women (Esme or Esmé short for Esmérelda) and meaning esteemed or beloved.

Sources: Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Amalie,_United_States_Virgin_Islands (accessed October 10, 2014).

Esmé. n.d. http://www.behindthename.com/name/esme10 (accessed October 10, 2014).

Turbaned Young Woman And Moon

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Annieoakley

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1918.

Price: $15.00

In keeping with the prior theater topic of the last post here is a dandy! A Real Photo Postcard showing a photo of a gorgeous and happy young woman, dressed in long skirt and blouse and wearing a head turban. She is seated on a stage or perhaps photographers prop that is a crescent moon. The moon is wonderfully charming with upturned smiling eye, substantial nose, and thin-lipped smile which shows his teeth, if you look closely. The young woman leans into the moon, head turned (in that flattering angle that photographers like), one hand resting in her lap, and the other draped around her buddy. The background props are some stars and a pennant with the lettering “Spokane.” One imagines that this was might have been taken after a college play production somewhere in Spokane, Washington. Since it’s a Divided Back card and the stamp box shows AZO with all four triangles pointing up, the date of the postcard would be from about 1907 – 1918. The card shows some pin marks, so it was probably pinned to someone’s bulletin board for a time, before it made its way to a photo album. This one was found in an antique store in Soquel, California.

Asilomar, Monterey County, CA

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Annieoakley

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked circa 1915, California. Publisher: Cardinell Vincent Co. Mfg. San Francisco, California.

Price: $7.00

Y.W.C.A. Conference Grounds, Asilomar, Monterey Co., Calif.

The most likely year of this postcard is 1915. The last number in the postmarked year is hard to read, but it shows a young woman in a long skirt and a hat, the time period looks to be at the turn of the century, sitting on one of the seaside rocks, gazing out at the Pacific Ocean. The setting is as stated above, the Young Women’s Christian Association conference grounds, in Monterey County (Pacific Grove, CA.) The YWCA played a very important role in providing shelter to women at this time who were moving to the big cities in search of work. The YWCA offered vocational classes in subjects such as money management, sewing, cooking, and typing, and held meetings attended by students, staff and supporters, providing what must have been much needed moral support and practical advise for women trying to break through to the male-dominated work force.

The name Asilomar was the winning entry chosen from a YWCA sponsored contest. It was submitted by Helen Salisbury, a Stanford University student, and stands for “refuge-by-the-sea” from the Spanish asilo for retreat or refuge, and mar which means sea.

The location of the postmark is also hard to read. We see the letters ASTL? (Castle?). Card addressed to “Miss Ella Ellison, 1314 – F street, Sacramento, California.”

The sender wrote, “Dear Ella: ‘You don’t say.’ Of course I do. Having ever so good a time and the kiddies , I wish you could see them. The sun is sinking in the west (looks like it is drowning in the ocean. B.C.”

Source: “The Complete Story, Asilomar is Born.” Aramark. Web accessed 28 Aug 2014 [http://www.visitasilomar.com/history/asilomar-the-complete-story.aspx]

Amager Woman

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Annieoakley

Collectable card, circa 1880s to 1890s. Size: 5 and 1/2 x 3″

Price: $7.00

This was an unusual find that was tucked in a large group of old postcards for sale. It’s a cutout of a figure of a woman, (a cute little lady) wearing what was probably the typical dress of the day, and carrying a basket of fresh vegetables. Maybe she has just come from the market. The cutout was pasted onto the cardboard card, and the back shows that the same was done with the word “Amager,” so I think maybe this was part of a series available for collecting, showing different styles or traditional costumes from around the world, or perhaps just from many of the European countries. Amager is a Danish island in the Øresund, in which part of the Danish capital of Copenhagen is situated. The Øresund or Öresund, is a region spanning parts of Denmark and Sweden, centering on their two respective cities of Copenhagen and Malmö.

Sources: Amager. n.d. Wikipedia. Accessed 24 Aug 2014 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amager]

Øresund Region. n.d. Wikipedia. Accessed 24 Aug 2014 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%98resund_Region]

Dilworth’s Coffee

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Annieoakley

Trade Card circa 1884 – 1888. Size: About 3 and 1/4 x 2 and 1/2″

Price: $10.00

Old trade card for the Dilworth Brothers Company, which was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This one shows shows an angel in a fur-trimmed coat, carrying a large mail pouch, delivering the daily postals to a young woman who’s just answered the door. There is snow on the ground, and the calendar month of February is printed at the top. As one can well imagine, trade cards like these were a great marketing scheme, to keep people coming back to get the other eleven months of the year, or the rest of the countries of Europe or for whatever other theme was being used. Dilworth’s advertised here that “No color-poisoned, stained or damaged Coffees are ever used in it’s production.” I don’t know what was meant by “color-poisoned” (yikes) and did not find any other online references to this term; hopefully clarification will show up in later research. I did find a similar old trade card (for Arbuckle’s) that mentioned coffee beans being glazed with a mixture of egg and confectioner’s sugar. The egg maybe as a binder for the sugar or for shine, but the sugar was to close the pores of the beans in order to preserve the flavor. The gold coffee urn in the trade card was Dilworth’s symbol and is placed here (charmingly slightly off-kilter) with it’s feet in the snow.

As for the manufacturer of this trade card, the small print at the bottom on the front shows Sackett, Wilhelms & Betzig, 45-51 Rose St. (New York, NY.) This was a lithography company and shows up in the New York City directories from at least 1884 – 1888.

Sources: Trow’s City Directory Co.’s Trow’s New York City Directories for 1884-’85, Vol. 98 p. 1520. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Trow’s City Directory Co.’s Trow’s New York City Directories for year ending May 1, 1888, Vol. 101. p. 1714. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Woman With Shoulder Yoke

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, unused postcard. Publisher unknown. Circa 1901 – 1907.

Price: $5.00

This postcard shows an artist’s close-up view of a beautiful dark-haired young woman gazing off into the distance. She wears a lace head covering, a grey blouse or dress, with a red collar or necklace, and a wooden shoulder yoke used for carrying buckets. There are several windmills in the background. I am not sure what the pom-pom looking things are that are attached at each side of the yoke.

There is no visible artist’s signature, nor publisher information, but since this is an undivided back postcard, presumably printed in the U.S., the date would be from December 24, 1901 up until March 1, 1907.

Well Nancy

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Annieoakley

Divided back, unused with writing. Circa 1910’s.

Price $5.00

“Well Nancy I will send you a picture of our old home. Bettie[?] and ? was away when the photo man came and Gladys and I were washing so we just stood out with our dirty close on. hansome aint we. The dog was the only one that was dressed up. ha ha.”

Real Photo Postcard showing an old farmhouse with two ladies and their dog posing for the camera. The above note to Nancy by our unknown author with the sense of humor (unknown except that she is one of the ladies in the photo) is a good one.

Estimated date may be the 1910’s. There is no stamp box and the back header shows a divided back line separating the phrases “Correspondence Here” and “For Address Only” which are under the words “Post Card.”

Two Beautiful Ladies

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Annieoakley

Divided back, unused Real Photo Postcard. AZO stamp box, circa 1907 -1918.

Price: $8.00

Here’s another Real Photo Postcard with an AZO stamp box and divided back, circa 1907 – 1918. This one shows an older and younger woman standing side by side posing for the camera. Both wear blouses and long skirts. The woman on the right wears a belt of tooled leather. Possibly they are mother and daughter but that would not be a ready assumption, just because they don’t really look that much alike, although they both seem to have somewhat darker skin, especially the woman on the left. One wonders what their ethnicity is: Native American? The setting for the photo takes place outside on a lawn or maybe in a tended field with some small deciduous trees in the immediate background. It looks like there are some boards laying on the ground, and what might be a fence or bridge in the far distance, too blurry to tell. Nothing in this one really gives any major clues for the location, but it’s a great photo nonetheless.

Out Standing In Their Field

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Annieoakley

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, Unused. AZO stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1918.

Price: $5.00

Real Photo Postcard showing a gorgeous photo of four beautiful ladies (three women and a child) posed in a field of tall grass. One of the women holds an umbrella, which may have been just for providing shelter from the sun, but it could have been brought along for the rain too, as we can see that the sky holds some dark clouds. I think the family relation is probably a mother and child and the mother’s older and younger sister. There is something quite interesting about this photo, though. If flipped in Photoshop it will show that the woman holding the little girl wears the ring on her left hand rather than on her right. If the photo was reversed when processed by the photography studio, then that changes the assumption of who the child’s mother is in the photo. (Unless the woman is wearing an engagement ring, and the mother is the woman in the center.) However, the little girl, and woman holding her, both wear checkered dresses, and we can well imagine that the little girl might have been proud to be wearing “a dress like Mommy.” Also, the woman in question appears to maybe be pregnant. Here below is the image reversed in Photoshop, and I think that this is the correct interpretation. In any case, this is just a beauty of a photo. Too bad there were no names or even a place name written on the card, but it’s a divided back card and the stamp box is an AZO with all four triangles pointing upward, which dates the postcard from about 1907 – 1918.

Vintage Alaska Tourist Photos

Gallery

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Annieoakley

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Price for the set: $15.00 Size for each photo: 3 and 1/2 x 2 and 1/2″ Here is a wonderful collection of vintage black and white photos, (in very good condition except for the top two which have some major … Continue reading →

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