Monthly Archives: September 2022

The Peter Odenbrett Homestead

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Cropped, Divided Back Postcard, unused. Printer:  KRUXO. Circa 1908 – 1920s.

Price:  $15.00           Size:  About 4 and 1/2 x 3 and 7/8″

This farm was possibly located in Belfast Township, Murray County, Minnesota. That is, if the Peter Odenbrett that we found in that location, for that time-frame, is the correct property owner of this beautiful, and evidently well-maintained property….. And after a little more research, we’re not finding anyone else that fits, so it seems a safe bet for Peter Joseph Odenbrett:  born Wisconsin 1873; married Anna Thelen 1896; died 1962 in Worthington, Minnesota.

The missing stamp box that got cropped off of the card, might have narrowed down the date for us, as KRUXO had about seven different designs with researched corresponding dates or time periods, per Playle.com. But we’re estimating 1908 – 1920s per Kruxo, in general.

If you enlarge the image (twice) you’ll notice some figures on the roof of the attachment to the (massive) barn. One man is sitting up, another reclining, another standing up and the fourth is standing on what might be scaffolding. So, they might have been just finishing the building or maybe repairing the addition when this photo was taken.

Some other details to pick out are the buckboard wagon, a watering trough?, and a portion of a car, maybe a Model T, showing just on our right of the house. A grand, gorgeous farmhouse, it is, too, with two and a half stories, two chimneys and a porch on the ground and second levels.

Sources:  “Real Photo Postcard Stamp Boxes, K-L.” Playle.com. (Accessed September 17, 2022).

Minnesota, Territorial and State Censuses, 1849 – 1905. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Belfast, Murray, Minnesota; Roll: T624_708; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0131; FHL microfilm: 1374721. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1920; Census Place: Belfast, Murray, Minnesota; Roll: T625_848; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 141. (Ancestry.com).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86821301/peter-joseph-odenbrett: accessed 17 September 2022), memorial page for Peter Joseph Odenbrett (12 Sep 1873–3 Mar 1962), Find a Grave Memorial ID 86821301, citing Saint Gabriel Cemetery, Fulda, Murray County, Minnesota, USA; Maintained by Russell Kasper (contributor 47146727).

Lillie Findahl, Sheridan, Wyoming

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box. Circa 1913 – 1917.

Price:  $15.00

Lillie May, daughter of John L. Findahl and Nancy A. Hammontree, was born December 8, 1897 in Sheridan, Wyoming. John was a native of Denmark and Nancy was from Tennessee. Lillie married Claude Olan Realing in 1918 and they had one child, their son Lyle, who was killed in action during WWII when his ship, the U.S.S. Indianapolis, was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Lillie was a lifelong Sheridan resident, and died in 1986. This postcard will be a great find for anyone researching the Findahl family.

Also of interest:  A movie was made in 2016 starring Nicholas Cage, based on the true story – U.S.S. Indianapolis:  Men of Courage.

Sources:  Ancestry.com. Web: Western States Marriage Index, 1809-2016 .

USS Indianapolis:  Men of Courage. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis:_Men_of_Courage (accessed September 17, 2022).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55435835/lyle-olan-realing: accessed 17 September 2022), memorial page for Lyle Olan Realing (1925–30 Jul 1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 55435835, citing Sheridan Municipal Cemetery, Sheridan, Sheridan County, Wyoming, USA; Maintained by Marsha Hanson Dillon (contributor 46953066) .

“Lillie M. Realing.” The Billings Gazette obituaries. August 15, 1986, Friday, p. 12A.

Hats Galore

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Old photo, circa 1900s – 1910s.

Price:  $5.00          Size:  4 x 2 and 3/8″

Just an old snapshot that has been around for over a hundred years – it had lived most of its life in one of those old photo albums with the black pages, before being picked up at a paper fair. No writing on the back at all, and it’s blurry (but imagine you are bringing the scene into focus!) And what a great time these eight ladies are having….all in some of the most wonderful hats, no two are alike. And we get a sense that the woman in the dark satin blouse was the focal point of this photo – it was some type of special occasion for her.

Postcard To Mabel L. Schultz, Halsey, Oregon

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard. Postmarked June 9, 1910 from Portland, Oregon. 

Price:  $15.00

The image on this postcard is of Tressa or Tessa, surname unknown. She writes:

“Wish you were here this week enjoying the Rose carnival. Dude is here and she is to be with me tonight. Edna C. is staying with Oda this week but she will visit me next week. Met her intended yesterday. Suppose you are sorry that school is out? I haven’t heard from Neta in a long time, jog up her memory a little. Write soon and tell me if you are coming down. Much love to you from Tressa.”

“My dear Mibs:- Just recv’d your card so will answer right away. I am sorry I haven’t written before. The schools here close the 22nd. Are you coming down then? I hope you are and you know you must stay longer this time than you did before.”

Addressed to:   “Miss Mabel L. Schultz. Halsey, Oregon.”

Such a charming photo from the sender, she in her wide-brimmed hat, trimmed, in part, with ostrich feathers. (The details of the whole ensemble stand out pretty well for such a small photo.) But, we can’t be sure whether her given name is Tressa or Tessa and we’ll have to skip a long, drawn-out search for her, too many possibilities, even factoring in  trying to tie in the names she mentions in the note to Mibs. (Though some time was spent – as the mystery always beckons.)

As for Miss Mabel L. “Mibs” Schultz:  She is likely the person appearing on the 1910 Federal Census, in Albany, Oregon (about 26 miles north of Halsey) born about 1887 in Nebraska, daughter of Herman and Belle Schultz (spelled Shultz). Mabel’s occupation in 1910 is schoolteacher at a public school, and that definitely fits with the references in Tressa’s note.

Source:  Year: 1910; Census Place: Albany Ward 1, Linn, Oregon; Roll: T624_1283; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0198; FHL microfilm: 1375296. (Ancestry.com).

Kate Hang, Redondo Beach, 1911

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. August 1, 1911. Artura stamp box.

Price:  $15.00

“Taken Aug. 1st at Redondo.”

The scene behind Kate is, of course, a photographer’s backdrop, and a nice one at that, with its breaking waves, rocks, lighthouse and distant ship. Holding a pastel striped parasol (note the optical illusion – it appears to be inside-out) and in a graceful pose with natural-looking head tilt (the photographer must have loved her!) Kate is trim-waisted in long skirt, belt, and a white blouse – pleats, cuffs, and a collar folding down into a wide tie – perfect for the seaside look. I’m trying to figure out that hat with it’s missing center part – maybe just a wired velvet half-wrap with velvet flower on the side. Different, but not surprising given the myriad of styles showing up in old photos and postcards.

The surname on the back is a little hard to read but Hang is the only name that fits, according to records found, though there are not many, and the name is often misspelled “Haug.”

1916 Voter Registration:  310B Metcalf St, Los Angeles, CA. Mrs. Katie Hang. Spouse, John is a cook.

1920 and 1924 Voter Registrations: John and Kate, 1668 Echo Park Ave, Los Angeles. John works for the American Railway Express. Name spelled “Haug.”

1918 WWI Draft Registration for John Hang:

1934 Voter Registration and 1937 City Directory – John (clerk) and Kate. 710 Lucretia Ave. Name spelled “Haug.”

Sources:  U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. (Ancestry.com).

Railway Express Agency. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_Express_Agency (accessed September 13, 2022).

Los Angeles County, California, U.S. Voter Registrations, 1900-1968.  (Ancestry.com).

Los Angeles Directory Co.’s Los Angeles City Directory, 1937. p. 882. (Ancestry.com).

Japanese Kabuki Performer RPPC

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Real Photo Postcard, unused. Date unknown. Publisher unknown.

Price:  $15.00

A Kabuki actor wearing an eboshi hat (a type of ceremonial headwear for men). Kabuki theater was invented by a woman but in the 17th Century women were banned from performing it. (It’s worth enlarging this photo to see the details – specifically the make-up, which is, not surprisingly, very beautifully done.)

The publisher is a mystery at the moment. I’ve seen the stamp box before on other Japanese RPPCs but currently am finding nothing online to identify them. The writing on the front (in the musical instrument lyre design) and on the back is, I think, in Kanji, a system of writing which has thousands of characters, so we’ll need to try to get some help on it, if possible.

Sources:  “Kazaori eboshi hat.” Google.com search. Accessed September 10, 2022.

Strusiewicz, Cezary Jan. “How Women Disappeared From Kabuki Theater.” January 10, 2022. tokyoweekender.com. Accessed September 10, 2022.