Old Spanish Bridge, Ocotlán, Jalisco, México

Old photo, circa early 1900s. Printer/publisher stamp on back not readable.

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

A commercial-type tourist photo, the printer or publisher stamp (upside-down) is blurred but we can see that the first word is Laboratorios. The caption on the back reads:

“Lake freighters at Ocotlán, Jalisco, stone bridge in the background built by the Spaniards.”

Yes, the term “lake freighters” definitely seems out of place today. And, that’s the Santiago River, according to multiple websites showing shots of the same bridge….How nice, we can make out the name of the boat on our left, she was called Adelita. (Don’t you love when the light bulb comes on…..you’re staring at something that suddenly comes into focus?!)

The church in the distance is Señor de la Misercordia (Our Lord of Mercy). Originally, the site of the chapel La Purísima Concepción. The church was rebuilt and dedicated in the new name, after a documented occurrence – the Miracle of Ocotlán, (also called The Prodigy of Ocotlán, translation below). An image of Jesus Christ on the cross appeared in the sky October 3, 1847, to over 2,000 people. This was one day after the earthquake that killed over forty people and left much of Ocotlán in ruins. (Many websites say forty, however the eyewitness account from the town’s mayor says forty-six.)

In checking various websites regarding the miracle, I prefer one in Spanish (from Catholic.net), for content, but had trouble getting its English version, so here’s a quick copy and paste from Google translation:

Back to our photo:  Where is the rest of the church tower on our right? Had there been a problem with the film and it was edited out? No, it wasn’t that. (If anyone can fill us in on what was going on with this church tower for some years, please leave a comment!) Below, our photo, cropped and the 1932 one, in black and white, from a Google search and found appearing on Pinterest:

Last but not least, another crop, calling attention this time to the rather enormous wheels on the horse-drawn wagons:

Sources:  Señor de la Misericordia de Ocotlán.” https://es.catholic.net/op/articulos/63499/cat/1241/senor-de-la-misericordia-de-ocotlan.html#modal (accessed April 14, 2022).

“Eye-witness account of an earthquake in Jalisco in 1847.” (February 21, 2010.) https://geo-mexico.com/?p=301. (accessed April 10, 2022).

“images of the churches in ocotlan jalisco mexico.” Google.com search. Cropped from search result of images that included Pinterest.com. (accessed April 10, 2022).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIlD3I2oKV4.

Snake River Bridge At Blue Lakes, Idaho

Divided back, unused postcard, circa 1911 – 1915. Publisher:  Wesley Andrews, Baker, Oregon. Series or number 305.

Price:  $12.00

 I. B. Perrine’s Blue Lakes Bridge

Started in 1910 and completed in 1911, is the steel bridge seen in this postcard, spanning the Snake River at Blue Lakes. It replaced I. B. Perrine’s ferry and was known as I. B. Perrine’s Blue Lakes Bridge or Perrine’s Bridge, and was a toll bridge until Perrine’s building costs were recovered. It was closed to the public in 1921. Ira Burton Perrine was a renowned fruit rancher and is credited as having founded Twin Falls, Idaho.

Below, a clipping from The Oregon Daily Journal, October 1910, informs readers that the piers for the new bridge were completed, and the work on the structure would soon be undertaken by a Minneapolis company. According to the article, the bridge’s length was going to measure 600 feet.

Watermelon in the desert and where was Blue Lakes?

Below, two newspaper clippings:   On the left, a partial clip from The Evansville Press, September 1906, on Perrine’s mineral-rich fruit ranch where fruits too numerous to mention were grown in the volcanic soil. On the right, a partial article from The Minneapolis Journal, September 1903, and the best description found online of Blue Lakes. According to the unknown journalist, Blue Lake was not a town, but a post office established for the fruit farmer, whose ranch was referred to as Blue Lakes, located about four miles below the Shoshone Falls on the Snake River, north of the city of Twin Falls, and who’s name derives from the two almost pond-size bodies of water, so poetically described below, as “….blue with a blueness that defies description…….the water is sparkling, transparent indigo shading into purple….”  And the million-dollar question in 2017:  Are the lakes still there? (Hopefully someone will comment and let us know.)

Sources:  “Bridge The Snake At Blue Lakes.” The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland, OR). October 30, 1910. Sunday, p. 5. (Newspapers.com)

Matthews, Mychel. “Hidden History:  First Perrine Bridge.” MVMagicValley.com. July 7, 2016. (Web accessed November 18, 2017).

I. B. Perrine. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._B._Perrine (accessed November 18, 2017).

Gardner, Gilson. “Romance Of An Idaho Eden.” The Evansville Press. (Evansville, IN). September 28, 1906. Friday, p. 4. (Newspapers.com).

“An Idaho Romance.” The Minneapolis Journal. September 26, 1903. Saturday, p. 5. (Newspapers.com).

Rocky River Bridge, Cleveland, Ohio

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked June 7, 1913 from Cleveland, Ohio. Publisher:  Wm. Frank, Cleveland, OH. Number or series:  1361 – 5.

Price:  $7.00

The publisher logo is eye-catching and worth cropping to highlight below.

The card appears to be addressed to:   “Mr. Ernest Hain, 312 West 24th St., New York.”  Though no records were found under this name or Haim, Hamm etc. that might fit for location and time frame.

The sender, whose name we’re guessing to be Edgar, wrote in french:   “Ca va bien mais seulement il fait très sec dans la journée. les salutations de ton ami Edgar.” 

“Everything’s going well but it’s very dry during the day, regards from your friend Edgar.”

Five of six…

As for the subject on the front of the postcard, the Rocky River Bridge or Detroit Rocky River Bridge (1910 – 1980) was the fifth (of six) bridges to be built at this location that crosses the Rocky River, connecting the Ohio cities of Rocky River and Lakewood. It was replaced in 1980 by its current structure. The old bridge in the postcard was a record-holder for a time:  When it was completed in 1910, it was,  “the longest stretch of unreinforced concrete in the world”  at 208 feet.

Source:  The Cleveland Historical Team, “Detroit Rocky River Bridge.” (clevelandhistorical.org). Accessed June 9, 2017.

Ice Breakup In Fairbanks, Alaska

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Vintage photo, Cushman Street bridge and Ice Breakup, Fairbanks, AK. Circa 1920s – 1940s.

Price:  $7.00          Size:  3 and 1/2 x 2 and 1/2″

You can see the spire of Immaculate Conception Church that, from this angle, is appearing behind Samson’s Hardware store. The church, built in 1905, is listed on the National Registry of Historic Sites and was originally located on the other side of the river. It was hauled over the ice on skids (logs or planks) to its present location in 1911 so it would be close to the hospital that had been built a few years prior. And that’s the Cushman Street bridge, built in 1917, that is spanning the Chena River. Samson’s, in business since the Gold Rush days (now Sampson’s True Value) relocated in 2010 about a mile and a half west of the site it occupies above. Here’s an image from Alaska’s Digital Archives showing a somewhat similar view of the store (note the long windows) as well as partial views of the church spire and bridge.

Sources:  “Fairbanks – Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.” Diocese of Fairbanks. Missionaries in the last frontier. (Web accessed August 12, 2016.)

Cole, Dermot. “Historic Samson Hardware celebrates grand opening at new store.” Newsminer.com, May 22, 2010. (Web accessed August 12, 2016.)

Photo of “Sled dog team on Chena River in Fairbanks.” Alaska’s Digital Archives. (Web accessed August 12, 2016.)

Writing Home From France

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I’d been looking for something to put up for Memorial Day and so this and the following post are a little late. It sounds like the author of this little note to his Mom would have made it back home just fine (and we pray he did) but just in remembrance of those men and women who’ve served and had not…..here’s a postcard showing Saint-Aignan (Loir et Cher) – Vue Générale et le Pont, written shortly before the end of WWI. The sender writes:

“Aug. 27, 1918.  E.E.F.  Dearest Mother, I’m fine and dandy, how are you? This is the town I am at. This is a beautiful river I go swimming there quite often. On the left hand corner is the church I spoke to you about last Sunday. You can’t see half of it. Had a lovely time Sunday the boys…”

It sounds like there may have been another page or two after the above, unless he meant “with the boys.” And that is the River Cher that our guy goes swimming in, and the Collegiate Church of St. Aignan that he’s mentioning, on the left.

The publisher logo appearing on the back, top left, shows the letters IPM. The words surrounding the letters are hard to make out, except for “Paris.”

Divided back postcard, unused with writing. Dated August 27, 1918. Publisher:  IPM, Paris, France.

Price:  $4.00

Happy Be Thy Birthday

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“The wish of thy friend is

Happy be thy Birthday”

 

Per musings from the prior post, here’s another card with the often seen stone bridge. A simple design in a fancy frame:  a winter scene with red bridge over a stream and a red house that’s supposed to be further in the background. One of the Lena Davis collection, and the sender wrote:

“Oct. 4, 1912. Dear Cousin. Many happy birthday greetings from Mr. and Mrs. C. Haney[?]”

Addressed to:   “Miss Lena Davis. Almena, Kans. R. F. D. #3”

And what almost went unnoticed was the publisher info which barely appears from under the postage stamp, indicating Copyright E. Nash.

Last but not least, this same design with a different message shows up on another card in the same collection.

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked October 5, 1912 from Elwood, Nebraska. Publisher:  E. Nash. Landscape Series, No. 16B.

Price:  $3.00

May You Always Know

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“May you always know the

enjoyment of happiness

that comes from true friends.”

Another from The Lena Davis Collection. By publisher E. Nash and showing a framed winter scene of a river with a red bridge and red house further in the background. The sender wrote:

“Long Island. Dec. 11. Dear Cousin, We got home o.k. about six. We picked up Newt Miller in Almena and took him to the Island he said he had been to the burg. We picked up Babe at Hays and drove her the rest of the way home. We had lots of fun.”

Sent to:   “Miss Lena Davis, Almena, Kan.”

Almena is about ten miles southwest of Long Island, and there’s a Hays, Kansas about 100 miles south of Long Island. Wonder how long it would have taken them in 1913. It sounds like it was just a day trip, but on the other hand perhaps Hays is a person. It’s interesting that Long Island is referred to as “the Island.”

See another in the Lena Davis Collection with the same design but different message.

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked December 11, 1913 from Long Island, Kansas. Publisher:  E. Nash. Number or Series:  G-16.

Price:  $3.00

View Of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1906

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Undivided back, used postcard. Postmarked June 20, 1906 from Cincinnati, Ohio. Publisher:  The Cincinnati News Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. Printed in Berlin, Germany by Leipzig. No. 3216.

Availability Status:  SOLD

A view of Cincinnati, Ohio, looking south from Mount Adams, circa 1906:  This is the fifth postcard we’ve found for the Dr. Oswald Henning Collection. (See prior posts for more information.) They were all in the same dealer’s collection for sale at an antique and vintage paper fair in California. However, they were not all together, and at the time they were purchased, the relationship between Oswald Henning and Helen Muirhead was unknown. So, it’s really unusual and interesting that they were chosen that day out of thousands in the dealer’s collection. Helen and Oswald were married on June 30, 1906, in Chicago. See the first in this series, entitled The Lake, Belle Isle Park, Detroit, Michigan for more information. As you can see, this card was postmarked only ten days before the couple got married! The card was addressed to:  “Miss Helen Muirhead, 901 Hamilton Court, Chicago.”  Oswald dated the card on the top right and he wrote:

“Dear Helen – Homeward Bound – Can hardly wait am so anxious to see you all again. Oswald”  and at top left he added,  “Am obliged to lay over here for four long hours.”

The bridge on our left appears to be the L&N (Louisville & Nashville) Railroad Bridge, which was first opened under the name of the Newport & Cincinnati Bridge, on April 1, 1872. The name changed to the L&N in 1904. The bridge was rehabilitated (and painted purple) and in 2003 re-opened for pedestrians only under the name of the Newport Southbank Bridge but is commonly called “The Purple People Bridge.”

The bridge on our right appears to be the Central Bridge (Cincinnati Newport Bridge) which opened in 1890 and was demolished in 1992. In it’s place today is the Taylor Southgate Bridge. Don’t let the church steeples in the photo fool you when you look at the Central:  They almost line up with the bridge’s two highest points.

Sources:  Crowley, Patrick. “Meet the Purple People Bridge.” The Purple People Bridge. Web accessed November 16, 2014. [http://www.purplepeoplebridge.com/History/tabid/536/Default.aspx]

Mecklenborg, Jake. “Central Bridge.”  Cincinnati-transit.net. Web accessed November 16, 2014. [http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/central.html]

Views On Indian Creek, Dallas, Missouri

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Divided back, unused postcard. Publisher:  The Elite Post Card Co., Kansas City, Missouri. Made in the U.S.A.  Number/series:  157.  A-16684. Circa 1908 – 1914.

Price:  $8.00

“Views On Indian Creek, Dallas, near Kansas City, MO.”

Beautiful postcard with Art Nouveau lines and what appears to be tinted photos of three views near Kansas City, Missouri of:  Indian Creek, the bridge over Indian Creek, and Watkin’s Mill, built 1833.

Watkin’s Woolen Mill is a National Historic Landmark and a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark. The Missouri State Parks website explains that this woolen mill was the only one of 2,400 textile mills in 1870, that still contained it’s original machinery and equipment.

The publisher for this one (and the following post) is the Elite Post Card Company of Kansas City, Missouri. According to the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City, this publisher did views of the Midwest, and operated from about 1908 – 1914. They may have been having some struggles or started winding down by 1912 though, as a September 1, 1912 publication gives a short newsworthy note that the company was “petitioned into bankruptcy.”

Sources:  http://mostateparks.com/page/55172/parkhistoric-site-plans

http://www.metropostcard.com/publisherse.html

The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, Vol. 37. New York, September 1, 1912. p. 160. Web. (Google eBooks)

Greetings From Edinburgh, Scotland

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Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked May 2, 1949 from Edinburgh, Scotland. Publisher unknown. Printed in England. Series or number 23A.

Availability status:  Digital image only. $3.00. The original is in a friend’s collection.

Beautiful postcard from 1949 Edinburgh, Scotland showing scenes of St. Giles’ Cathedral, The Forth Bridge, Princes Street – West End, and Edinburgh Castle and Art Galleries. In the center is a lovely profile of a Scottish Terrier above a sheaf of heather (one of the national flowers) tied with a bow. The card is addressed to:

“Mr. & Mrs. George Hume, 2100 Virginia Street, Berkeley California U. S. A.”

The sender wrote,  “Hello Ella & George. Having a very lovely time. Have seen quite a few of our old friends. Best Regards  Annie[?]”