Three Generations In Winter

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Annieoakley

Another winter scene in an unknown location: This Real Photo Postcard shows a house, guessing the style might be Folk Victorian with a four-square layout; note the spindle work or gingerbread trim and the decorative running piece, that we can just see part of, on top of the roof. An older woman standing on the front porch holds a little boy who is perhaps her grandson, and two men, perhaps the woman’s sons, pose a little off to each side. The house appears at an angle, and in the foreground a picket fence runs most of the way across the photo. The fence is painted white except for the tops of the pickets, which are either painted a darker color or left unpainted. It looks like this was by design to be able to find the fence when the snow piled up high.

The time-frame for this card would be about 1907, due to the divided back, through about 1918, due to the AZO stamp box with all four triangles pointing upward. Wonder if it was the boy in the photo who wrote on the back. Looks like he addressed the card to someone and with a short message on the left 😉

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

Price: $8.00

Pony And Boy

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Annieoakley

A happy young man out for a ride on his pony on a winter’s day. We see a house in the far distance, a row of small trees or bushes (maybe fruit trees) and in the foreground what appears to be wagon or buggy wheel ruts in the snow. The time-frame for the postcard is about 1907 – 1918 due to the AZO stamp box with all four triangles pointing up.

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

Price: $5.00

Sleigh Ride, 1916

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Annieoakley

Winter fun one hundred years ago to the month!

It says “Jan 1916” on the back of this wonderful black and white photo, which shows four ladies and three men (perhaps the driver jumped down to capture the moment) all bundled up for the weather with long overcoats and hats, riding in a horse or mule-drawn sleigh. The location is unknown; a small town probably somewhere in the U.S. When was the last time you went on a sleigh ride?

Black and white photo, January 1916. Size: 4 and 3/8 x 6 and 1/4″

Price: $15.00

Robert G. Rasquin, Lithographer

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Annieoakley

Robert G. Rasquin, is the printer and perhaps publisher, from the prior post Sledding In The New Year, whose copyright appears below. He was born September 1856 in New York of German born parents. He married Charlotte Read (possible alternate spelling) on December 28, 1881 in Kings County, NY. Charlotte was born June 1858 in New York; they had two children, Roland R. and Ethel J. Rasquin. Robert died January 4, 1917.

Census records and city directories show that Robert G. Rasquin made a living as a lithographer for most of his working life, from at least 1880 at about age 24 to about age 59 in 1915. The last city directory for him (1916) lists him as a secretary working for the printing and lithography firm Lutz & Sheinkman in NYC. For this approximate thirty-five year span, not many cards have surfaced. Besides the one we have, there is a whole Lollipop Series, with cute sayings and artwork of faces on lollipops. All the other postcards found online for him at this time, show the same design on the reverse. Below is the nice header portion. Note the thought that went into the design – how two subtle little waves, dipping below and jutting above, are fashioned into both of the far curving lines, reminding one of ironwork.

A not all-inclusive timeline:

1879 – Living at 188 Dean, Brooklyn. With brother Henry whose occupation is Lawyer.

1880 Federal Census for Brooklyn. Single. Living with brother Henry and Henry’s wife, daughter and in-laws.

Married Charlotte Read (possibly Reed) on December 28, 1881 in Kings County, NY.

1887 – Brooklyn City Directory. Robert “J.” Rasquin. Lithographer. Home 120 Prospect.

1892 – NY State Census. Brooklyn. Lithographer. With wife Charlotte and children, “Rowland” R. Rasquin and Effie Josie Rasquin.

1897 Robert “J.” Rasquin. Lithographer Forman for F. L. Manufacturing Co., Chelsea, Mass. Home 76 Clark Ave.

1899 – Lithographer, home address 7 Mill, Chelsea, Massachusetts.

1900 – Federal Census for Brooklyn. Married, with wife Charlotte and Roland, age 17. and Ethel, age 13.

1915 – NY State Census. Lithographer. With wife Charlotte.

1916 – NY City Directory. Sec. (Secretary) with Lutz and Sheinkman. Home Bkn (Brooklyn).

Died January 4, 1917. Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.

Sources: Lain & Co’s The Brooklyn City and Business Directory For the Year Ending May 1st, 1880. p. 833. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995)

Year: 1880; Census Place: Brooklyn, Kings, New York; Roll: 841; Family History Film: 1254841; Page: 456D; Enumeration District: 019; Image: 0392.
(Ancestry.com)

Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Marriage Index 1866-1937

Lain’s Brooklyn Directory For the Year Ending May 1st, 1887. p. 938. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995)

New York State Education Department, Office of Cultural Education. 1892 New York State Census. Albany, NY: New York State Library. (Ancestry.com)

W. A. Greenough & Co.’s The Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop Directory, 1897. p. 274. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995)

Henry M. Meek’s The Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop Directory, 1899. p. 528. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995)

Year: 1900; Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 20, Kings, New York; Roll: 1057; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0312; FHL microfilm: 1241057. (Ancestry.com)

New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1915; Election District: 27; Assembly District: 16; City: New York; County: Kings; Page: 39. (Ancestry.com)

R. L. Polk’s General Directory for New York City, Manhattan and the Bronx, 1916. p. 1347. (Ancestry.com)

New York, Kings County, Probate Records; Author: New York. Surrogate’s Court (Kings County); Probate Place: Kings, New York

Sledding In The New Year

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked January 2, 1916 from San Diego, California. Design copyright: R. G. Rasquin. Series or number 627 – 11.

Price: $15.00

“Every New Year Joy may be yours”

Here’s a charmer, just over 100 years old, and continuing with our winter theme…showing a design of a little boy sledding downhill. A pretty steep hill at that! He appears in an oval frame with snow and icicles gathered at the bottom of the frame, and just underneath, some Christmas-y looking plants and a colorful bird, who is looking at the boy with interest. (Awww!) Was thinking “snowberry” for the plant with the white berries. Probably not even a plant – but no, sure enough, that is exactly what that is. The red flower is likely representing a poinsettia, and the birdie…hmmm, artistic license? He’s got a finch or sparrow look and is green with a yellow belly and red cap. Maybe the artist was inspired by the Gouldian Finch. 😉 Love the icicles hanging from the top of the embossed border, too. There really was a lot of thought that went into these old postcards, not that we should be surprised by that. Note also how the artist has created the feeling of the snow flying up from the motion of the sled, and the pale blue portion of the background, the perfect color blue to fit with snow and ice.

R. G. Rasquin, the printer and/or publisher of this card, is Robert G. Rasquin.

Addressed to: “Master Monte Canning. 161 – 23rd Ave. (Richmond Dist) San Francisco, Calif.”

The sender wrote:

“San Diego, Cal. Dec. 31, 1915. Dear Monte: May you have a very happy birthday and many more to come. Auntie Mel was a little slow in getting your package started but I know you’ll forgive her, won’t you?”

Monte, born in January 1911 (so he was receiving this postcard for his 5th birthday) is Montgomery John Canning, son of Montgomery J. Canning and Louise E. Styles. He had an older sister, Leslie, born in 1909. The 1915 city directory for San Francisco shows Monte’s parents at the same address as the postcard and that Montgomery J. is in the car business under Canning & Vinton Auto Co. “automobiles, 453 Golden Gate Av.”

Below is a 1910 Canning & Vinton ad for their used autos.

Sources: Crocker-Langley’s San Francisco Directory for the year ending June 1915. p. 412. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995)

San Francisco Call, Vol. 108, No. 5. June 5, 1910. p. 59. (California Digital Newspaper Collection.)

“Montgome J. Canning.” and “Leslie B. Canning.” Ancestry.com. California Birth Index, 1905-1995.

Wilhelm II, Deutscher Kaiser

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Annieoakley

Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht von Preußen (Frederick William Victor Albert of Prussia; 27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941). The last German Emperor and King of Prussia.

This is a very well-done postcard, circa 1899; the detail and colors are beautiful, though the colors, as we will find out, are not quite exact. Another of it’s kind appears online with the 1899 date in description by the seller, though it seems that that card was sold, so we can’t see any details. Note the politically incorrect for today, cigarette, not to mention the poor animal that was killed to make the hand warmer. What is cool about this one is the note on the back from someone who, it sounds like, was used to seeing the German emperor take his walks in the Tiergarten in Berlin. They wrote:

“Emperor Wm II as he is dressed when he takes his early morning walk in the Thiergarten. Aber [But] – his hat is a bronze green. and the feather – grey turkey with a tuft of red.”

Regarding the publisher or printer info on the front, a Google book snippet shows a 1911 magazine ad, revealing the lithographers as Heinrich and August (or Augustus) Brüning, located in Hanau, Germany, which is about 25 kilometers east of Frankfurt. Hanau is known for being the birthplace of the Brothers Grimm. And the “Lith. Kunstanstalt” on the postcard is probably translated as Art Lithographers or something similar.

Undivided back postcard, unused with writing. Circa 1899. Publisher/printer info: Lith. Kunstanstalt, Heinr. & Aug. Brüning, Hanau. Dep. 7713.

Price: $20.00

Sources: Wilhelm II, German Emperor. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor. (accessed January 22, 2016).

“For Designs For Cigar Boxes.” The Studio, Volume 51, National Magazine Company. Google snippet. (accessed January 22, 2016).

Hanau. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanau. (accessed January 22, 2016).

Herzlichen Glückwunsch

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Annieoakley

“Herzlichen Glückwunsch, zum neuem jahre!”

“Warm congratulations to the New Year!”

We’ve traveled to Germany to offer New Year’s wishes, albeit belatedly, with a beautiful little card bringing good luck. The design shows a leaf in green, secured by a golden horseshoe, and in the center of the leaf, two ladybugs; all framed by a golden cord fastened at the top ends by four-leaf clovers. The card appears to be signed on the inside and shows a message on the last page from the sender, but we need someone fluent in German to translate.

New Year’s Card in German, embossed on front cover. Circa 1900.

Price: $12.00

Bonne Année ’47

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Annieoakley

Here’s another for the new year, from France this time, and showing a very summery design of pink roses overflowing from a garden urn. The writing is difficult to read in places, and we’ll just translate the first two lines for now: “Dear Miss Brouard [?], we send you our best New Year’s wishes for ’47. I hope that you always think of me for the little odds and ends [little jobs?]

“Chère Mlle Brouard, à l’occasion du nouvel ans nous vous adressons nos meilleurs voeux pour 47. J’espère que vous pensez toujours à moi pour les petites bricoles. Si vous les avez vous pourriez les donnes à maman qui vient…?…une…?…?…,…?…épaisses et moins épaises, si vous avez, enfin vous voyez à peu près, 2 ou 3 de chaques. Je vous remercie d’avance, vous ne devez pas avoir bien chaud sur la place en ce moment. …?…..?…..?…..?….. Gisele et Paul.

Divided back, unused postcard. Publisher unknown. Printed in France.

Price: $3.00

HNY From Sonora, CA

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked December 31, 1909 from Sonora, California. Publisher: Davidson Bros., London, England and New York, New York. “Davidson Bros.’ Pictorial Post Cards.” Series 3020.

Price: $5.00

“A Happy New Year”

Yet another in the Ethel Main Collection, this one is from an anonymous sender who writes:

“Dear Mrs. Main. Wishing you all a Happy New Year to all.”

No doubt Mrs. Main knew who the card was from. Looking up Sonora, California…A historic gold mining town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, and named in reference to the Mexican miners from Sonora, Mexico who settled the town in 1848. In 1910 it had a population of about 2,029. (The 2014 population shows about 4,802.) The name Sonora reminds me of two things: one – that I’ve been through the town, or stopped briefly in it years ago, before the old postcard/photo/trade card love/obsession hit; I want to go back to visit to see what treasures await, and two – the line from the movie Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken where I think it’s the hunky love interest that asks for the leading young lady’s name and she answers, “Sonora, Sonora Webster.”
Cool name, I thought, in admiring the character and actress (simultaneously, lol). Based on a true story…Check out this blog article from Horse and Man, on the subject of horse/rider jumping from a high dive platform into a pool of water. Incredible!

Having veered way off track, but it’s always fun…the postcard front is a study in tones of silver, gold and copper of a winter scene of house, stone bridge and stream. The publisher is Davidson Brothers, of London and New York. According to Metropostcard.com they operated from about 1901 – 1911.

Sources: City of Sonora. Sonoraca.com
Accessed January 12, 2016.

Sonora, California. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonora,_California. (accessed January 12, 2016).

“Diving Horses” September 23, 2013. Horse and Man. Accessed January 12, 2016.

“D – Publishers.” MetroPostcard.com. Accessed January 12, 2016.

Fruitcake From Ethel

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Annieoakley

“A Happy New-Year.”

A heavily-embossed postcard of a poinsettia in a bed of holly and some forget-me-nots bordering a clock which is about to mark the new year. This card is from the Ethel Main Collection and kind of personal. Sounds like it’s from her man, and he sure appreciates her and the fruitcake she sent him. Addressed to:

“Miss Ethel Main, 3622 – 18th Street, San Francisco, Calif.”

As for the publisher, it’s one we’ve not seen yet. It appears to show the initials T – I – C on a banner running round a globe.

Divided back, embossed, postcard. Unused with writing. Circa 1907 – 1916. Printed in Germany. Publisher: T.I.C.

Price: $2.00

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

Monthly Archives: January 2016

Three Generations In Winter

Pony And Boy

Sleigh Ride, 1916

Robert G. Rasquin, Lithographer

Sledding In The New Year

Wilhelm II, Deutscher Kaiser

Herzlichen Glückwunsch

Bonne Année ’47

HNY From Sonora, CA

Fruitcake From Ethel