Category Archives: Holidays

With Every Fond Wish

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Divided Back, embossed postcard. Copyright 1908, Julius Bien & Co., New York. Postmarked March 15, 1909 from Kansas City, Missouri. “St. Patrick” Series Number 740.

Price:  $12.00

Just realized we missed posting a St. Valentine’s card last month, oops! But here’s a gorgeous one for St. Pat’s Day.

Addressed to:   “Miss Elizabeth Waite, Salina, Kansas. Hoyt-West Millinery Co.”

The sender wrote:   “Only a postal from Myrtle. I leave here Monday eve for Wellington. Hope you are all O.K.”

Elizabeth Waite, according the the 1910 Federal Census was a milliner, so this card was sent c/o her employer. She is the daughter of Isaac Smith Waite and Lizzie Hogle, born native to Ohio. Elizabeth was born in Kansas, October 19, 1884.

In searching for Hoyt-West Millinery, among other mentions, we’ve clipped part of the “Town Gossip” section of The National Field, March 5, 1908. (How’s that for a pretty close date to our postcard?) The interesting thing is the mention of a Myrtle Wilcox accepting a position with Hoyt-West. So, this could be the same Myrtle that sent this card.

Another clip below; this one mentioning Elizabeth:

Sources:  Year: 1910; Census Place: Salina Ward 4, Saline, Kansas; Roll: T624_455; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0138; FHL microfilm: 1374468. (Ancestry.com).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/125233967/elizabeth-s-waite: accessed 17 March 2023), memorial page for Elizabeth S. Waite (19 Oct 1884–1 Mar 1983), Find a Grave Memorial ID 125233967, citing Gypsum Hill Cemetery, Salina, Saline County, Kansas, USA; Maintained by Mayflower Pilgrim 332 (contributor 47081711).

“Town Gossip.” The National Field, March 5, 1908. Thursday, p. 5. (Newspapers.com).

“Local Items.” The Salina Evening Journal.July 20, 1909. Tuesday, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).

Time and Tide Pass Quickly Away

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Divided Back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked December 31, 1915 from Grand Central Station, New York, New York. Publisher:  S. A. S., copyright 1913. Series 254.

Price:  $7.00

“A Bright New Year”

“Time And Tide Pass

Quickly Away

But True Friendship

Is Here To Stay.”

Addressed to:   “Mr. & Mrs. Louis Maier, #320 E. 123 Str, NY. City”

From:  “Mr. & Mrs. Carl Klein”

A few possibilities show up for Louis Maier around this time, but oddly, nothing with the above address, not even under a different name. And Carl Klein is a common name in New York City, so, there’s no way to track him either.

A charming card – that of boy in snowshoes and winter outfit, carrying a beautifully-flowered lantern and bringing some mistletoe – one assumes maybe this was a Scandinavian tradition, but we couldn’t find confirmation of this idea. Maybe, just in general, the lantern’s bringing light for the New Year. The embossing is quite nice, too – the whole scene coming to us on some rough-edged “parchment” with a poinsettia “attached.”

A Happy Christmas To Miss Mattie Smith, Norton, KS

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Divided Back, embossed postcard. Unused with writing. Publisher unknown. Circa 1907 – 1909.

Price:  $3.00

Obviously, this one’s a little beat up, but I think I have other cards for Mattie, so I want to make sure they all get included.

The sender wrote:   “Dear Mattie: –   I rec’d  your Christmas remembrance which I was very glad to get. I hope you have had a Merry Christmas and I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year. Nellie K.”

Addressed to:   “Miss Mattie Smith, Norton, Kansas.”

This might be the Mattie Ristora Smith that had married Theodore Denney Romans in 1910. And, the sender possibility is Nellie King. They were both in Norton, Kansas in that time-period. We’ll have to look up the other possible cards we have for Mattie, and do some more research.

To Mr. and Mrs. Les Sparks, Lansing, KS

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Divided Back, embossed postcard. Made in U.S.A. Series 161. Postmarked from Tonganoxie, Kansas, December 23rd. Year missing. Circa 1925 – 1936.

Price:  $7.00

A cute design for this card, with its bowl of holly, quite adorable bow and dainty stars. (Seems unusual that the artist used a brown “pen” to draw with  – but that’s part of the charm of old postcards.) The prior post was from the same unknown publisher and dated 1927, so we started with an estimate of 1920s and went from there. The senders, Babe, Gladys and their boys, lived about 17 miles southwest of Lansing, Kansas.

The addressees are Kansas natives, James Leslie (or Lesley) Sparks, born about 1901, and wife, Mary, born about 1902. They were married August 8, 1923. Mary’s maiden name was Throckmartin, middle name Ver (apparently a family surname).

James appears as Leslie Sparks on the 1920 Federal Census, and as J. L. Sparks in city directories found online. Their home was in “Tonga City” and he worked at the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing when this card was sent, hence the added, “c/o Warden K. P.”

The 1925 State Census shows James L.’s occupation as written below. (Wow, tricky.) But this is standing for he “mans a service station”.

On the 1930 Federal Census, James L. is listed as unemployed. The record refers us to line number 3 on the Unemployment Schedule, however that information appears to have been lost. It’s possible that he may have been employed at the penitentiary and temporarily laid off, or he may not have not started working there until later in 1930 or as late as 1934, per that city directory.

The town, Tonganoxie was named after a Delaware Indian Chief.

Sources:  “Married Wednesday Evening.” The Columbus Weekly Advocate. August 11, 1923, Saturday, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).

Registration State: Kansas; Registration County: Jefferson County. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Union, Jefferson, Kansas; Roll: T625_535; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 84. (Ancestry.com).

Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1925 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: KS1925_78; Line: 29. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1930; Census Place: Tonganoxie, Leavenworth, Kansas; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0033; FHL microfilm: 2340443. (Ancestry.com).

“FAQs about the 1930 Census.” (archives.gov). Accessed December 25, 2022.

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Leavenworth (and county) City Directory, 1928. p. 439. Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995.

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Leavenworth (and county) City Directory, 1934. p. 388. Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995.

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Leavenworth (and county) City Directory, 1936. p. 407. Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995.

Linenberger, Shawn. June 9, 2016. “Chief Tonganoxie:  The man who shaped us.” tonganoxiemirror.com. (accessed December 25, 2022).

A Happy Yuletide to Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Bowyer

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Divided Back, embossed unused postcard. Made in the U.S.A. Series W-72.

Price:  $7.00

A Happy Yuletide

“Merry Christmas to you and yours

Kindest thoughts from me and mine

May nothing happen that obscures

Your fullest pleasure rich and fine!”

The senders wrote:   “Dec 17 1927. Dear Friends we are all well. A Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Mr. & Mrs. A. J. Marine”

Addressed to:   “Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Bowyer, Kingman, Kan.”

From the 1915 State Census, J. W., his wife Hattie, and their daughter, Anna are in White Township, Kingman, Kansas.

On the 1930 Federal Census, this is James W. Bowyer, born about 1860 and wife, Hattie J. Bowyer, born about 1868, living in Kingman City, Kingman, Kansas. Both born in Iowa. Per Find A Grave for the couple, James’ middle name is Warren and Hattie’s maiden name is Fowler.

And A. J. and Florence Marine are listed in the city directory for 1920, farming at their residence of 909 Santa Fe Trail, in Dodge City, Kansas. (Pretty surprising to be able to read the writing well enough and find the Marine family right off the bat in online records.)

The publisher is unknown (as is often the case) but it’s nice to have a dated card for future reference, if anyone’s looking for this postcard back. (I like the hand holding the torch.)

Sources:  Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; Roll: ks1915_116; Line: 7. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1930; Census Place: Kingman, Kingman, Kansas; Page: 23B; Enumeration District: 0016; FHL microfilm: 2340440. (Ancestry.com).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91867759/hattie-josephine-bowyer: accessed 24 December 2022), memorial page for Hattie Josephine Fowler Bowyer (27 Mar 1868–17 Oct 1954), Find a Grave Memorial ID 91867759, citing Walnut Hill Cemetery, Kingman, Kingman County, Kansas, USA; Maintained by Betty Rose M. (contributor 47456505).

Etrick’s Directory of Ford County,1920. Pg. 80. Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995.

A Joyful Christmas To Ida Thorstensen

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Divided Back, embossed postcard. Postmarked December 24, 1914 from Brooklyn, N.Y., Station G. Series 347.

Price:  $7.00

A small insert of Santa in his sleigh. He’s looking over his shoulder at us, surrounded by a spray of holly and berries.

“Best Wishes From The [?]”

Addressed to:  “Miss Ida Thorstensen, 8 Helen ave, So. Ozone Pk, L. I.”

Ida was found on the 1910 census, born in New York, about 1893. Daughter of Ferdinand and Julia Thorstensen, both born in Denmark. So, she’s about twenty-one when she receives this card. Charles, Frederick and Agnes are her older siblings.

Source:  Year: 1910; Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 25, Kings, New York; Roll: T624_974; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0714; FHL microfilm: 1374987

A Very Merry And A Bright And Happy

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Christmas Card, circa 1920s – 1930s. Made in U.S.A.

Price:  $4.00        Size:  4 and 15/16 x 3 and 1/2″

“To wish you a very Merry Christmas and a bright and Happy New Year”

Signed,  “Emma & Will.”

Lots of snow in this picture isn’t there? The hidden-in-plain-site sort 😉 that the holiday wishes are carved into. And, in the foreground are holly branches with their bright red berries; in the distance a red house (the elongated – somewhat anyway – type as mentioned in the last post) with its snow-covered roof and then some evergreens. A common scene, but still charming. And fun to imagine for a second, the unknown artist in Manhattan dashing this one off, (they were often in Manhattan – you can notice lots of artists there in the census records). And if something strikes you as odd about the house – the chimney seems unfinished – it’s white and the house is red, or it’s sides are snow-covered but that doesn’t equate, and then the trees near the house have no snow. It’s like one of those puzzles where you need to find what doesn’t match in the second drawing.

Merry Christmas To One And All

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Christmas card, circa 1920s – 1930s.

Price:  $5.00           Size:  4 and 7/16 x 3 and 7/16″

On the reverse,  “From Bessie & Dickey. To the Jones family.”

Let’s see….in researching all the Joneses on the census records with a Bessie and Dickey in the vicinity…..(totally kidding, of course)…..But, you know, if there was just one out-of-the-ordinary name there, I would. Anyway, this is a nice, Art Deco style, we presume, card, and I’ll confess that I find Art Deco not always easy to identify, other than the more obvious. I love the old holiday cards that have that elongated look to the houses, and true, this one only borders on that, but it’s got that upward flow to it from the rising smoke and tall tree trunks.

Easter Greeting Lilies And Cross

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Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked March 25, 1910 from Santa Clara, California.

Price:  $2.00 or contact us for pricing on the set

From The Ethel Main Collection

Addressed to:   “Mrs. B. F. Main, 253 – 14th St., San Francisco Cal.”

The sender wrote:   “Dear Grandma, Have a boil on the side of my cheek. Girl bit me when I was dancing. Hate to see her do that. Easter greetings to all. Elmer W. Main  Top heavy.”

This guy was quite the card, or is he being serious about the girl? No, don’t think so. But either way 🙂

Forget-Me-Not Easter Greetings

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Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked March 24, 1910 from San Jose, California

Price:  $2.00 – Or contact us for price on the whole set.

This is part of our Ethel Main Collection……Ethel’s nickname was “Tottie.”

Addressed to:   “Mrs. L. Main, 253 14th St., San Francisco Cal.”

The sender wrote:   “Dear Ma, Will you please put my postals in my album and look at my post card and photo album to see that that mouse don’t eat them. Love to all, Tottie.”