Tag Archives: women’s fashion 1910s

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).

Couple During WWI

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Photo, white border. Circa 1914 – 1918.

Price:  $2.00          Size:  3 and 3/16 x 4 and 4/16″

For Veteran’s Day…..though a day late

Even though this snapshot is very blurry, I still like it. There’s no identifying info on the back for this handsome couple. (Love the woman’s skirt – row upon row of  ruffles). But what comes to mind? The word precarious, for love during wartime. In this case the era was The Great War, as it was then called. But, in contradiction to that first thought, the word enduring. Love is forever.

The Fake Niagara Shot

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Real Photo Postcard, circa 1915.

Traveling northeast from our last post, at least in theory, we find ourselves at Niagara Falls. But no, really, this has to be a photographer’s backdrop made to look like the Falls…..but in any case, showing a beautiful, smiling young woman, smartly dressed in skirt and double-breasted long jacket with velvet collar, and a nice wide-brimmed hat with wide ribbon. She poses standing, looking into the camera, with hands folded behind her back. The backdrop artist did a good job, going to the trouble of painting a house in the distant background….and are those silhouettes of tiny spectators at a viewing point at one side of the falls? Looking closely again, maybe not. And then there’s the “mist” we see rising up above the woman’s left shoulder, or was that just a problem with the photo? The reverse side of this card shows only the rest of that black photo album type-paper that it was glued to. We’re unable to see any clues at all, not even a partial stamp box. The card was sold to us in a plastic sleeve with “Niagara Falls, 1915” written on it. So, whoever sold or donated the card might have known the date it was taken, unless it was just a general estimate. One more thing to note:  if you look closely at the bottom right of the scene, that looks like the corner of a table.