Monthly Archives: February 2014

The Feathers Hotel, Ludlow, England

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Divided back, unused postcard, sepia tone, white border, glossy finish. Printed in England. Publisher unknown. No. 18493. Date unknown, possibly circa 1950s.

Price:  $5.00

The Feathers Hotel in Ludlow, Shropshire, England is famous worldwide for it’s half timbered façade and Jacobean furnishings. The oldest part of the inn, including the façade, was built in 1619 by Rees Jones, a successful attorney. It was designed as a residence but converted to an inn by the builder’s son, Thomas. The name comes from the ostrich feather motif that appears as part of the half timbered design. The feathered motifs are located “on the collars of the three street gables,” according to their website. Although the feathers are not really discernible in this photo, you can easily see another interesting detail: that of the “faces” that are centered between the diamond shapes on the second floor.

Sources:  The Feathers Hotel at Ludlow. http://www.feathersatludlow.co.uk/ (accessed February 6, 2014).

The Feathers Hotel, Shropshire. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feathers_Hotel,_Ludlow (accessed February 6, 2014).

Sweetest Girls in New Mexico

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Sweetest Girls in New Mexico pc1Sweetest Girls in New Mexico pc2

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused with writing. Circa 1910-1920.

Price:  $10.00

Real Photo Postcard of the “Sweetest Girls in N. M.” This caption may have been written by their father (Or possibly the man’s wife appears in the photo with their three daughters.) The girls appear to be wearing man’s hats and posing for the camera. The girl on our right wears a wedding ring. Were the hats the normal attire of the day? Or maybe they were putting on a skit for entertainment, or just clowning for the camera. The hats don’t necessarily seem to fit them, and the coat the woman in the center wears appears to be a man’s coat, a little too big (look at the sleeves.) On our far right we see a young boy standing, and sitting in front of him a youngish looking woman. (This woman’s pose is so funny because she looks like she’s talking on a cell phone.) In front of her it looks like there may be at least one other person but it’s hard to tell what we’re looking at here (backs of heads or is that a part of a blanket in the right corner?) In any case, this an awesome photo, and it’s nice to have one from New Mexico.

The back of the postcard shows what appears to be “Neva Nimmo,” as the name of the person to whom it was given. With the S and what looks like the beginning of a W on the left side of the card looking like the writer was going to put the caption here again, but didn’t. Neva Nimmo does come up in Ancestry searches. The 1900 Federal Census taken in Rindoso, New Mexico, shows Samuel Nimmo, born about 1860, his wife Sarah, born about 1863, son George born about 1888, daughters Neva, born about 1892, Ruby born about 1896, and Ethel born about 1898. All are natives of Texas. Based on this and other census records and Ancestry family trees linking Neva to the Monterey County area (where this photo was found), I think this photo is from the family that appears on this census.

Source:  Year: 1900; Census Place: Rindoso, Lincoln, New Mexico; Roll: 1001; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1241001. (Ancestry.com)

Miss Venen, Age 5

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Miss Venen

Cabinet Card, circa 1880 – 1890s.

Price:  $10.00         Size:  about 6 and 1/4 x 4 and 1/8″

Cabinet Card photo of beautiful little girl, age five, posed for the camera and dressed for the outdoors, in overcoat, fur hat, fur scarf, and carrying a fur muff. There is no photographer information on either the front or the back, but we are lucky to have the child’s name written at the bottom of the card. The first name is hard to decipher, possibly Iolo (as in capital I not L) or Jolo (both names do come up for girls). Her middle initial is A, and the last name appears to be Venen. Though Vinin is a possibility there are no dots over what would be the i’s, as opposed to the i in the very first word which is dotted. This word looks like it would be Miss. If it is indeed Miss, then the writer used the old-fashioned (well, to us) practice of the Ss which is often mistaken for an fs. In any case this is a stunning photograph of a gorgeous girl.

Triplett Loop Setter

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Triplett Loop Setter

Business card for James Melvin Triplett (1886-1947), manufacturer of the Triplett Loop Setter, address 607 Shotwell St., San Francisco, California. Card circa 1916.

Price:  $10.00

Well, the first question is – What is a loop setter? One might imagine it had something to do with textiles, but it is actually a term from the old movie industry. One of the entries under the heading of recently patented inventions in the Scientific American, published in 1914, is for Triplett’s Loop Setter:

“Loop Setter, – J. M. Triplett, 6 North Columbia St., Wenatchee, Washington. This invention relates to moving picture apparatus and provides means for setting the loop of the film without interfering with the operating of the machine. The mechanism is of a simple nature under the immediate control of the operator. It is adapted for use in connection with any standard moving picture machine.”

Wow, if you’d like to get sidetracked, look through this 1914 publication. There are articles, photos, advertisements, classified ads, and of course, other patent listings like the one above. The entry three up from this one is for a “torpedo steering mechanism.”

James M. Triplett married Anna A. Kreth in 1909 or 1910, according to the 1910 Federal Census for San Francisco. The interesting thing about this census is that James’ occupation is given as Baseball Player (currently employed). His name is not showing up in any online references for minor league players, though. Too bad, as that would be another very interesting line of research – what team he played on, etc. On the 1910, he and wife, Anna, are living with Anna’s mom, widowed head of household, Anna A. Kreth, and the widow Anna’s older daughter (the younger Anna’s sister) Aline (Caroline) Watson and Aline’s husband, Albert Watson. Aline and Albert are listed here respectively, as theater actress and actor. So, it would seem that James might have gotten his start in the movie film industry through his wife’s sister and brother-in-law. (No references were found for Aline and Albert Watson, but maybe they used stage names.)

James Triplett was born either in 1885 or ’86 (his WWI Draft Registration Card shows he gave 1886 as the year but the California Death Index shows ’85.) A Washington State Census for Kent in 1892, shows him with his parents and siblings. The 1900 Federal Census shows San Jose, CA with mother and some of the siblings, married brother as head of household. The 1910, 1920 and 1940 show San Francisco: the 1910 is mentioned above; the 1920 shows James and Anna with their two young daughters, James working as a machinist and owner of a stage manufacturing company, with them is Albert Watson and his wife Caroline (Aline), Albert is now listed as bookkeeper for stage manufacturing company, (so probably working for James); the 1940 shows James’ occupation as motion picture operator, with wife, Anna, their two daughters and Caroline (Aline) Watson, widowed. James was the son of Silas D. Triplett and Rebecca N. Mothersead (mother’s maiden name according to family trees on Ancestry.com)

Another reference to the Triplett Loop Setter is found online indicating:

“THE LAEMMLE FILM SERVICE, Minneapolis, U. S. A. NOW READY FOR DELIVERY “Triplett’s Loop Setter” For Power’s, Edison and Motiograph Machines. ALL MODELS. Do away with operators’ “Bugaboo” by installing “Trip- lett’s Loop …”

The above is found in The Moving Picture World, Vol. 22. This is full (and extremely long) text re the film industry in 1914. The full reference is in there somewhere but (good grief!) who has time to search for it? Like the Scientific American publication, this one from the film industry of it’s day is fascinating and diversionary, showing all kinds of film-related entries, including descriptions of the plots of movies, with great names like, “Hello Mabel”, “A Law Unto Herself”, “The Phantom Light”, “When Slippery Slim Met the Champion” and “The Family That Did Too Much For Nellie”. The description on this last one is, “How a family discovered that it didn’t pay to Doll Up the cook in Glad Rags.”

Sources:  Scientific American, Vol. CX, No. 25, June 20, 1914; Page 509. Munn & Co., Inc. Publishers, New York, N.Y. (Google eBooks)

https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=%22triplett+loop+setter%22&num=10

http://chestofbooks.com/reference/Wonder-Book-Of-Knowledge/The-Story-Of-The-Motion-Picture-Projecting-Machine.html

Ancestry.com. Washington State and Territorial Censuses, 1857-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Washington. Washington Territorial Census Rolls, 1857-1892. Olympia, Washington: Washington State Archives. M1, 20 rolls.

Year: 1900; Census Place: San Jose Ward 2, Santa Clara, California; Roll: 111; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0067; FHL microfilm: 1240111. (Ancestry.com) Year 1910; Census Place: San Francisco Assembly District 32, San Francisco, California; Roll: T624_96; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0058; FHL microfilm: 1374109. Year: 1920; Census Place: San Francisco Assembly District 26, San Francisco, California; Roll: T625_135; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 111; Image: 399. Year: 1940; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: T627_302; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 38-108. (Ancestry.com)

San Francisco City Directory for 1916. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989

Registration State: California; Registration County: San Francisco; Roll: 1544243; Draft Board: 6. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.

Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1940-1997 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.

Moving Picture World (Volume 22) Oct-Dec 1914. http://archive.org/stream/movingpicturewor22newy/movingpicturewor22newy_djvu.txt

Locust Bloom Perfume

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Locust Bloom Perfume tc1Locust Bloom Perfume tc2

Size: About 5 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/2″  Year:  Circa 1893 – ? (possibly through 1910s to early ’20s)

Availability status:  SOLD

“Locust Bloom. The sweetest of perfumes. Sold only by Gradon & Koehler, Druggists, S. W. Cor. First and Main Streets, Portland, Oregon. A logo of the letter B inside a diamond shape appears at the bottom left of the card; next to this appears what looks like the number 994. This is likely the printer or publisher info.

Printed or stamped on the back of the card is, “Yerba Santa Balsam. Is the Best Cough & Cold Remedy. Try It. Gradon & Koehler, Prescription Druggists, Cor. First & Main Sts. Portland, Or.”

On the front:  Stunning trade card for Gradon & Koehler Druggists showing an image of a bell made out of single-petal pink roses. The bell has a green clapper and hangs from a wooden beam. I guess, depending upon where you live, but “locust bloom” is not a term you may hear much, so you might be thinking, (as I was) “What is a locust bloom?” A locust bloom is the flower from the locust tree, of which there are two species, Black Locust and Honey Locust. Both of these have different subspecies. Though some varieties do produce pink flowers, their flowers do not resemble the flowers in the bell on this card. But the single-petal rose was probably the best choice from which to “construct” the bell, as the locust flowers are smaller and bloom in clusters, and wouldn’t have worked quite so well here. The flowers of the Black Locust are edible, and many different uses can be found for them, as you might imagine, a few of which are:  raw in salads, as jelly, as wine, as fritters, steeped with water, honey and lemon to make a refreshing drink. (Though the flower is edible to humans the other parts of the tree are toxic.) Of course, as this card indicates, the blossoms are wonderfully sweet-smelling. Searching online confirms that the flowers are still widely used today in perfume:  Fifty different brands were found that list locust blossoms as an ingredient. As for the Honey Locust tree it is known for it’s large thorns that grow out of the trunk (though there are thornless varieties) and for it’s seed pods having edible pulp. The thorns were used by Native Americans and were also used by soldiers (as makeshift buttons) in the Civil War.  (Just a few quick facts here, in trying not to veer off too much from the original topic. Not easy!)

On the flip side:  The product advertised as Yerba Santa Balsam probably contained an extract of the plant Yerba Santa (Holy Herb in Spanish) and maybe Balsam needle extract, as we find both with lots of info online re their historic and present-day medicinal uses.

About the drugstore:  Gradon & Koehler was Walter A. Gradon and William F. Koehler. The store address was 241 1st St., Portland as early as 1893, as an 1893 city directory shows an ad for the store, indicating they were the successors to John A. Child & Co. Walter Gradon died in 1931, but a 1934 city directory shows Gradon & Koehler, still operating but at 1101 S.W. 1st Ave. Various city directory and census records are online for both gentlemen and their families. The 1920 Federal Census for Portland indicate Walter A. Gradon was born about 1858, wife Nettie, about 1861, and daughter Florence about 1903. All three were native Oregonians. The same 1920 census finds William F. Koehler, born Oregon about 1867, his wife Sarah A., born Washington about 1870, and their son Frank, born Oregon about 1901. Living with the family is William Allison, listed as brother-in-law to William Koehler.

Update:  Bill, Grandson of William F. Koehler contacted me with more info:  Walter Gradon was born in 1859 and died April 1931. W. F. Koehler was born July 17, 1865, and died March 2, 1956, both in Portland. Wife, Sarah Antoinette (Allison) Koehler, was born November 1869 in Steilacoom, Washington, and died January 29, 1937 in Portland. Son, Frank Koehler, was born June 22, 1900 and died January 16, 1991, both in Portland.  (AH – editor. June 2, 2014.)

Sources:  http://the3foragers.blogspot.com/2011/06/black-locust-flowers.html

http://www.fragrantica.com/notes/Black-Locust-296.html

http://mosurvival.blogspot.com/2012/06/honey-locust-thorn-tree.html

http://www.uky.edu/hort/Honeylocust

http://sbhealthandhealing.com/blog_files/feed.xml

Portland city directories, various years. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Portland, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: T625_1501; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 118; Image: 866, and Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 126; Image: 1107. (Ancestry.com)

Oregon State Library; Oregon Death Index 1931-1941; Reel Title: Oregon Death Index M-Z; Year Range: 1931-1941. (Ancestry.com)

Old Ironsides

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“Because of the success of Matthias W. Baldwin’s first locomotive, a small working model that ran on miniature tracks at the Philadelphia Museum in 1831, officials of the six-mile Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad (now part of the Reading system) ordered a full-size locomotive from him. Baldwin had so much difficulty in finding mechanics and securing tools to build her that he told a friend, ‘This is our last locomotive.’ But after completing the engine which was named Old Ironsides, he went on to new triumphs. Eventually he built locomotives for railroads all over the world, gaining a reputation as a builder second to none. Old Ironsides weighed 11,000 pounds, had a crank axle connected to two horizontal cylinders and made 28 miles an hour on a trial run, November 23, 1832, over trackage which previously mounted horse-drawn vehicles. – Reading Company”

Matthias William Baldwin (1795-1866) was an American inventor and machinist, born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He was a jewelry maker and silversmith before partnering with machinist David Mason to produce equipment for printers and bookbinders. The need for more power to support the machine shop led to the building of steam engines, which led to the founding of one of the largest, most successful locomotive manufacturing firms in the United States: Baldwin Locomotive Works. A statue of Matthias Baldwin appears in front of Philadelphia’s city hall. Baldwin is also known for his support of charitable causes, was outspoken in his support to abolish slavery, and donated money to help establish a school for African-American children in Philadelphia.

The Reading (pronouncing “Redding”) Company was in operation from 1833-1976. Officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road (later Railway) and was one of the most successful railroad corporations in the U.S. This card is number four of a series, date printed unknown, possibly from the 1950s through the last possible year of 1976.

Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_W._Baldwin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Company