The Falveys Get Back to the Country, 1929

Old photo, white border. Dated July, 1929.

Price:  $15.00            Size:  About 6 and 3/4 x 4 and 1/2″

Sláinte!………..Some glasses are raised in salute here – in celebration of something, maybe just in the happiness of getting back to the ranch.

The Falvey Family lived in San Francisco, but it seems likely they owned some property outside of the city. Indeed, a 1905 newspaper article in the San Francisco Chronicle, mentions the family,  “preparing to go into the country for the summer.”  

Falvey is an Irish surname, and one we hadn’t come across until now. From Wikipedia:

“Falvey is a surname which is an anglicisation of the name Ó Fáilbhe:  in the Irish language Ó means “descendant” [of] and “fáilbhe” literally means “lively, pleasant, sprightly, merry, cheerful” or, according to another historian, “joker”. Other anglicisations include O’Falvie, O’Falvy, O’Failie, O’Falvey, Falvey, Fealy and Fealey.”

From the photo:

Arthur Falvey, born February 17, 1877 in San Francisco, California.

Gertrude (Green) Falvey, born November 9, 1879 in California. Daughter of James Green and Annie Ryder, both born in Ireland.

Son, Jack Falvey, born September 29, 1913 in San Francisco.

Jamie(?) and Evelyn, surnames unknown.

Sources: Year: 1920; Census Place: San Francisco Assembly District 27, San Francisco, California; Roll: T625_142; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 329.(Ancestry.com).

Year: 1930; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0237; FHL microfilm: 2339938. (Ancestry.com).

California Birth Index, 1905-1995. (Ancestry.com).

San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985. Microfilm publication, 1129 rolls. Researchity. San Francisco, California. (Ancestry.com).

Falvey. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falvey. (accessed September 22, 2022).

“Jumps From Roof After A Robbery.” San Francisco Chronicle. Friday, April 21, 1905. p. 16.

The Peter Odenbrett Homestead

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).

In a Field of Cabbage

Vintage photo from film reel, circa 1940.

Price:  $2.00         Size:  About 2 and 1/2 x 2 and 3/8″

I picked this photo up at the same time as the one in the previous post. Presumably, they came from the same person or family. This is an odd one, though. And I’m not sure if that’s really a cabbage field, just my best guess. This group sure seems pretty intent on looking down at….something. The soil, insects? No idea. I pictured maybe the guy in the foreground, in the white sweater, might be the younger guy from the prior post at Treasure Island. (Maybe.) Then pictured he and his uncles (not in this picture, and just my imagination from the Treasure Island one) are sightseeing and ended up in the Salinas Valley or the Central Valley or somewhere else in California, south of San Francisco. (It probably is California.) Was there a “U Pick” kind of thing going on back then, like apples or pumpkins? But nothing shows in old newspapers for advertisement. Or, maybe they were a college group. The one guy does have a college sweater on, hard to tell from where, though. So, maybe they’re all “ag” students and this is a field trip. One thing’s for sure (and I love it), they certainly are all well-dressed!

Cutting Wheat

Cutting Wheat p1

An old photo, circa 1900s to 1920s, of a farmer behind a team of four (hard-working!) horses pulling a grain cutter-binder machine. That’s a riding crop the farmer is holding. And that looks like a lot of heavy equipment the horses are strapped into, but the fringed-type back covers are fly nets, to help keep the flies off of the sweating horses. From the 1901 newspaper ad below, it appears that the leather strips in the netting were called lashes.

Horse Goods Items Ad

Here’s a YouTube video of a tractor-pulled McCormick Deering Antique Wheat Binder in action. The machine cuts the grain, gathers it, and binds the bundles with twine, leaving the bundles to be picked up later to be taken off for the threshing process.

Price:  $10.00

Size:  About 5 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/4″     Condition:  Good except there is a small tear at the top.

Sources:  “Horse goods items.” Chicago Daily Tribune. June 30, 1901. Sunday, p. 49. (Newspapers.com)

Taylor, C. [ctaylor9919]. (July 3, 2009). McCormick Deering Antique Wheat Binder. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubG4YVzyzOE.