Monthly Archives: June 2014

Oh, You Lollypop!

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Divided back, used postcard. Sent from Pontiac, Michigan on April 28th, year unknown. Publisher:  Samson Brothers. Series 257. Made in the U. S. A. Circa 1909 – 1916.

Availability status:  SOLD

“Oh, You Lollypop! Such is life – some gets the Lollypops and I gets the stick!”

It looks like Mae, the sender of this card, was an optimist, as underneath the above caption she (or someone) wrote  “Not so.”  Sent April 28th from Pontiac, Michigan, but the year didn’t show up. Addressed to:  “Miss Effie S. Kidd, Davisburg, Mich.”  The sender wrote:

“Dear Effie  I got my permission and will meet you Thurs. – if you come. How are you coming. Did you get your trunk allright.  Mae”

There is an Effie S. Kidd who was married May 8, 1916 in Springfield, Oakland County, Michigan. Springfield is actually Springfield Township, and Davisburg is located in Springfield Township, so this would be the same Effie S. Kidd for this marriage as the addressee on this postcard. The marriage data shows Effie, age about 22, born in Detroit, daughter of William Kidd and Christena Barclay. Now, the interesting thing (relating to this postcard) is that Effie married Sydney T. Lillycrop, age about 23, born London, England, son of George Lillycrop and Eliza Outen. Lollypop/Lillycrop – Humorous definitely, coincidental perhaps, or by design? Did Mae choose this card on purpose because Effie had confided to Mae that she liked Sydney, or Effie and Sydney were boyfriend and girlfriend already? The imagination runs wild. Maybe Sydney was dating someone else, Effie was upset (like the little girl on the postcard) and Mae was telling her don’t worry, you’ll get him (some gets the lollypop and I gets the stick – Not so.) It’s funny, though.

The 1900 Federal Census taken in Royal Oak, Oakland County, Michigan shows Effie and her parents and siblings:  William and Christana Kidd, ages 43 and 38, both born in Scotland. William works for the railroad; the children are William, James, Robert F., Effie S., George, Annabell and Alfred. The two oldest children were born in Canada and the younger born in Michigan. Effie is listed as born January 1894, and this is confirmed in the Michigan birth records with the exact date as January 5th.

Taking into account Effie’s birth and marriage dates, we could estimate this card to be from about 1909 when she was around age 15, till right before her marriage in 1916.

Sources:  “Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N359-HV8 : accessed 19 Jun 2014), Sydney T. Lillycrop and Effie S. Kidd, 08 May 1916; citing Springfield, Oakland, Michigan, v 4 p 256 rn 158, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2342717.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Royal Oak, Oakland, Michigan; Roll: 735; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0105; FHL microfilm: 1240735. (Ancestry.com)

“Michigan, Births and Christenings, 1775-1995,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F42H-2VM : accessed 20 Jun 2014), Effie S. Kidd, 05 Jan 1894; citing Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, reference bk30 pg89 cn1332; FHL microfilm 1377671.

Auburn Ski Club 1930

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Three pals pose next to their car, which is one of a long line of cars that are lined up at the side of the road. (I feel redundant here but oh, well.) The writing on the back says  “Auburn Ski Club 1930.”  It looks like this might have been taken on the way back home, after the fellas got some good skiing in. You’ll notice the snow in the background, but that the guys don’t have their winter jackets on. Auburn is Auburn, California, located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains…. In keeping with the tradition of identifying vehicle types on this website, the car in the foreground will be researched (more) to try to figure it out. (What would you think the rope attached to the steering wheel was for?)

The Auburn Ski Club still exists today. The Western SkiSport Museum was founded in 1969 by the ski club, and there are all kinds of fascinating facts and photos and exhibits to be found there. The second website listed below is The Donner Summit Historical Society: tons of cool (no pun intended) stuff in there, too.

The condition of this 1930 photo is not the greatest: There are some indentations in the photo, and if you enlarge it you will see that it’s a little out of focus. But it’s still a great photo of three friends and a great piece of Western skiing history.

Price:  $17.00  Size:  About 2 and 3/4 x 4 and 1/2″

Sources and related reading:  http://auburnskiclub.com/ski-museum/

http://www.donnersummithistoricalsociety.org/PDFs/newsletters/news12/December12.pdf

Lost In Thought

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Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused, deckled-edge. Publisher unknown. Series or number 990. Circa possibly 1930s to 1950s.

Price:  $20.00

Originally I was going to give this post the title “What A Face” because well, just look at that face – you just want to hug him. But the translation from German for the caption  “In Gedanken versunken”  is “Lost in thought.”  (Awww!) that’s great, too. And I hope someone corrects me if I’m wrong, but I believe this guy is a Wire Fox Terrier.

The stamp box mark for this one says “Echte Photographie.” This seems somewhat confusing as echte is German for “real” and photographie is French for “photography.” Why use both languages? Ahhh, echte is also “real” in Dutch, so perhaps this was printed in Belgium, as Dutch, French and German are the three official languages of the Kingdom of Belgium. Anyway, we know from the stamp box that the card is a Real Photo Postcard. Trying to pin down a date is another matter:  There are variations in the design of these two words in stamp boxes. The excellent Playle’s website (playle.com) shows examples and at first (yikes!) I almost thought I saw the same mark of the cursive words in an oval which is a known 1953 stamp box, but thankfully noticed that ours here is a bit different, (a good reminder to not be too tired when doing these.) The main difference in ours here is that the line in the “e” in photographie extends all the way to the surrounding oval. Here’s the stamp box itself and the unknown printer or publisher logo that appears in the bottom left with either the series or number of the card beneath it. This one will go in the mystery pile to hopefully get clarification on later.

Echte Photographie Stamp BoxPrinter or Publisher logo for E P stamp box

Sources:   http://www.playle.com/realphoto/photod.php

http://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=8096

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

New Hat

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Young woman posing with her new hat for the camera. At least this is the story that comes to mind with this photo. The hat itself is a little hard to determine (not being a hat expert) but perhaps it is straw. It does seem to have a band of flowers above the brim, but what is that to the right, a bow? or part of the garden type setting of the background? In any case it’s a lovely photo of a beautiful and happy young woman. We tip our hat to her!

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

Price:  $6.00

Birthday Greetings From Mabel

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Divided back, used postcard. Series 249 C. Publisher:  L S C. Postmarked April 1916 at Weatherly, Pennsylvania

Price:  $8.00

There was no luck researching this one with just an initial for the last name for the sender and the common first name back then, of Mabel, and with the removal of the stamp having taken off the rest of the receiver’s last name. (Nothing showing in White Haven for John Go..?..) Anyway the sender wrote:  “Dear Cousin, Just a line too let you know we are all well hope you are all the same. I recd the letter will anser later wish you a Happy birthday and many more. suppose Edna will be home on Sunday but I am not sure Ma said you should try too get her some good bush or pole beans and bring her a few over for seed. hope you will be over soon. will look for you’s over on Sunday. with Love too all. ans soon   Mabel L.

Addressed to:  “Mr. John Go..?…, White Haven, Penna. R F D # 1.”

The front is beautiful, showing some old roses in dark and light pink with some background colors of tan and blue and a very vibrant yellow. The font for the message “Birthday Greetings” is stylish and delicate.

Indian War Dancer

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Divided back, unused postcard with writing. Publisher and distributor:  Bob Petley, Phoenix, Arizona. From a Kodachrome original by Ray Manley of Western Ways. Made in the U.S.A. Series or number K140. Photo circa early 1950s. Postcard circa 1963.

Price:  $5.00

The caption on the back states:  “Indian War Dancer. Bedecked in brilliant feathers, paint and beads, these tireless dancers carry on the same tribal rituals practiced by their forefathers who inhabited the southwest long before the coming of the white man.”

The website for the Arizona Historical Society has information on the company Western Ways, and mentions the photographer of this photo, Ray Manley. Western Ways was founded in Montana as a “loose association of photographers and writers” in the late 1930s by Charles W. Herbert, who ran the company, along with his wife Lucile, until the late 1970s. After WWII the company re-started in Tucson, Arizona and expanded to a photo-production agency and plant, portrait studio and a base for Herbert’s film and television projects. The company’s top photographers, Ray Manley and Naurice Koonce left Western Ways in 1954 when the company downsized, so the photo used for this postcard was taken maybe ten or so years earlier than the circa 1963 or maybe early ’60s postcard production date.

Source:  “The Western Ways Feature Files Collection” Arizona Historical Society. Web. 15 June 2014. [http://www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/upLoads/library_Western-Ways.pdf]

Chief Caping And Jaro

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Divided back, unused postcard. Publisher:  Sanborn Souvenir Co., Inc., Denver, Colorado. Color by Nesbitt. Printed by, West Nyack, New York. Series 9536-B, Number 3607. Circa 1963.

Price:  $8.00

There is a black and white 1947 postcard online at Princeton University which shows this couple:  Chief Caping and wife Jorro (different spelling) posing next to the sign for the Cliff Dwellings Museum. The sign indicates the museum was founded in 1904. The writing on the back of this one gives the date the postcard was purchased as 1963, and the postcard was stamped, probably by the souvenir shop, in the anticipation that it would be mailed. The stamp says:  “Mailed At Seven Falls, South Cheyenne Cañon. Colorado Springs, Colorado.”

The caption on the back states  “#3607 – Chief Caping and Jaro, Santa Clara Indian dancers at Seven Falls, Colorado Springs, Colorado.”

Source:  Princeton University Digital Library. Western Americana Collection. Chief Caping and Wife, Jorro, Pueblo Indians. Web. 15 June 2014 [http://pudl.princeton.edu]/sheetreader.php?obj=r207tp696

Mazatlán 1958

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Divided back, used postcard. Publisher unknown. Number or series 60. Postmarked in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico on February 2, 1958.

Price:  $15.00

“2/1/58.   Dear Aunt El & Unc. Geo.   Here is a card from Mazatlan, the nicest place we’ve been so far. The beach is excellent. We are leaving tomorrow. Love, Lorraine[?] & Henry[?]”

Card addressed to  “Mr. & Mrs. G. Hume, 2100- Virginia, apt #6, Berkeley Calif. U.S.A.”

A few brief facts:  Mazatlán is the second-largest city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, and situated on the Pacific coast.  The city’s name is a Nahuatl word meaning “place of deer.” The larger hill rising up out of the ocean, on the right, is Cerro Crestón, atop which is El Faro Mazatlán, the highest lighthouse in the world at about 500 feet above sea level. Cerro Crestón today is described as part of the city, but is stated to have been an island before a connecting land mass was built to it. (Another account I read was not sure if this was correct.) Hmm, it appears to be an island in this photo. The city was founded in 1531 by an army of Spaniards and by indigenous settlers. German immigrants helped develop it in the mid-1800s into a thriving seaport; Banda, a brass instrument based form of traditional Mexican music came about through the Bavarian folk music influence, and another tie to Germany is that the brand of beer Pacífico, was started by three Germans in around 1900. It’s still brewed there today (but also in Mexico City) and you can take a tour of the plant. Mazatlán is a popular tourist spot and well-known for it’s beaches and cliff divers. (The only trouble with researching destinations is that it always makes you want to jump on a plane and go. Why not?)

Sources:  Mazatlán. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazatl%C3%A1n (accessed February 14, 2024).

Pacific (beer). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac%C3%ADfico_(beer) (accessed February 14, 2024).

El Faro Lightlouse in Mazatlán. http://www.mazatlantoday.net/el_faro_lighthouse_mazatlan.html (accessed February 14, 2024).

Emma, Lionel And Marie

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

Price:  $12.00

Real Photo Postcard showing a wonderful oval studio portrait of Emma, and her two children: toddler Lionel, and baby Marie. Although the back of the photo does not specify that the mother is Emma, I think we can presume that whoever wrote it would put the mom’s name first. I did some searching through the 1910 and 1920 U. S. census records but was not lucky enough to find any possible fit (what a time-consuming endeavor it would be to do a thorough search) but perhaps the photo will be recognized by a family member…..The stamp box is an AZO with four triangles pointing upward, so circa 1904 to 1918, but then with divided back puts it around 1907 – 1918. To pick out the details in these images is always interesting and revealing:  In this one I love how Emma is holding baby Marie’s hand; the look on Marie’s alert little face; Lionel’s blonde, blonde hair; his gazing off-to-the-side expression, and chubby cheeks; the lacework on Marie’s cap and sleeves; the contrast between Lionel’s dark hat, dark stockings and high button boots, with his white (or maybe very pale pastel) tunic and knickers; Emma’s stylish dress with the darker underside to the sleeves to match the darker waistline sash; her stand-up neckline trim of dotted lace and ruffle; and her eyeglasses which appear to be not eyeglasses at all, but a monocle with a pince nez, also called nose piece or nose bridge.

Kids And Donkey Picture Day

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Real Photo Postcard. Divided back. Unused with writing. Circa 1907 – 1918.

Price:  $16.00

An ever-so charming Real Photo Postcard of five beautiful children, and one beautiful donkey. The four youngest kids are lined up astride the animal and the oldest, a girl, stands with her arm gently draped over the donkey’s neck. That looks like the seat of a bicycle just behind the girl’s arm, so there must have been a bike on the porch. There is some writing on the back of the postcard, along with part of the black photo page that the postcard was glued on. The writing shows the same name written a few times; maybe one of the girls was practicing her penmanship; and the name looks like it could be Maria. The divided back plus AZO stamp box, with all four triangles pointing upward, indicates an approximate date for the postcard of 1907 – 1918.