Theater | Laurel Cottage Genealogy

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

Price: $15.00

In keeping with the prior theater topic of the last post here is a dandy! A Real Photo Postcard showing a photo of a gorgeous and happy young woman, dressed in long skirt and blouse and wearing a head turban. She is seated on a stage or perhaps photographers prop that is a crescent moon. The moon is wonderfully charming with upturned smiling eye, substantial nose, and thin-lipped smile which shows his teeth, if you look closely. The young woman leans into the moon, head turned (in that flattering angle that photographers like), one hand resting in her lap, and the other draped around her buddy. The background props are some stars and a pennant with the lettering “Spokane.” One imagines that this was might have been taken after a college play production somewhere in Spokane, Washington. Since it’s a Divided Back card and the stamp box shows AZO with all four triangles pointing up, the date of the postcard would be from about 1907 – 1918. The card shows some pin marks, so it was probably pinned to someone’s bulletin board for a time, before it made its way to a photo album. This one was found in an antique store in Soquel, California.

A Real Photo Postcard showing a wonderful, very clear photo of what appears to be a group of probably amateur theater actors, posing outside in a field. There are some houses in the background and we see part of a wooden building directly to their right. Perhaps this was taken after the production of a town play or commemorative event. The costumes appear to be from around the Civil War Era. In picking out some of the clothing and accessory details, of course the four top hats are a standout; there’s a newsboy hat on the young man fourth from the left; we have a gentleman in slightly dramatic fashion lighting or smoking a pipe on the right in the back row; the ladies bonnets with flowers and ribbons stand out, especially the higher-billed ones; there’s a beautiful velvet brocade? parasol; a drawstring purse; velvet-collared jackets on six of the men; a very distinctive (I’m no fashion expert but I’ve never seen this) cut-out design on the long sleeves of the young woman fifth from the left (if you look closely you’ll notice that this dramatic effect was obtained from buttons fastening at intervals down the sleeves.)

Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box, circa 1910 – 1930.

Price: $25.00

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Category Archives: Theater

Turbaned Young Woman And Moon

A Theater Troupe