Happy in Winter

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Annieoakley

Real Photo postcard, unused. Cyko stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1920s.

Price: $4.00

No name or location on the back, as you can see, and I think I just bought this one because the card made me happy. An older gentlemen in either a fur hat or a black sheepskin hat, (it looks kind of wool-y) and wool turtleneck sweater and jacket. A strong, handsome face with a fairly hefty mustache, and he’s standing outside, looking off to the distance; for me, his expression a mixture of kindness, satisfaction, warmth. The phrase, “a satisfied mind” comes to the forefront. A man of integrity that’s worked hard at taking care of the land and his family, maybe an emigrant to this country many years prior.

The estimated date for this postcard comes from Playles.com, (1904 – 1920s). But our 1907 start estimate is because both sender’s note and addressee info would have gone on the reverse, and postal regulations didn’t allow for that until the end of 1907. (Assuming Real Photo Postcards went by the same general rule, and I’ve never seen anything to the contrary.)

Source: “Real Photo Postcard Stampboxes – C.” https://www.playle.com/realphoto/photoc.php (accessed December 23, 2022).

Smiling Young Man in Shaped Border RPPC

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Annieoakley

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. Circa 1920s. AZO stamp box.

Price: $7.00

A happy guy, great pose for the camera, wearing a large-check patterned suitcoat, pencils in the pocket (maybe he was an accountant, an architect, an artist….), tie, hat pushed back, and glancing up and left. He chose a nice, diamond-shaped border to frame the image, it might remind you of a Native American (i.e. design on a Navajo blanket). See our category “Shaped Borders” from the Home page for more.

Country Meets City

Posted on September 15, 2018 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, used postcard. Postmarked March 26, 1908 from Chesaning, Michigan. Publisher: E. B. & E. Co.

Price: $12.00

A slightly comical card of an illustrated older couple, maybe they live in the country or city outskirts, and have come to downtown Detroit. Within their outline is a photo (slightly distorted probably to fit in the frame, in a fun-house type of way 😉 check out the tower) of the old Federal Building and Post Office at the Northwestern corner of Shelby and W. Fort streets.

Addressed to: “Mrs. Floyd Walworth, Fergus, Michigan”

Where is Fergus?

Fergus, Michigan is a “locale” located north of Chesaning, in St. Charles Township, Saginaw County, in the vicinity of Fergus and McKeighan roads (purple marker on map below). It was a station on the Michigan Central Railroad and had a post office that closed in 1933.

The sender writes: “Josiah and Samantha are both recovering from their colds. Hope to be able to go sight seeing soon. This is not very warm weather but expect better some time. Are you well? Lovingly Aunt Minnie.”

Floyd and Myrtle

Without a doubt (we got thrown off track at first by another possibility) the recipient of this postcard was Myrtle G. Spencer, daughter of G. H. Spencer and Emma Burrows, who had married Floyd E. Walworth on August 1, 1907 in Corunna, Saginaw County, MI. Myrtle was about age 22 when she married Floyd, but was first married to John R. Wegert (June 18, 1902 in St. Charles, MI). Floyd was about age 29 at the time of marriage and both he and his bride were residents of Fergus, MI and native Michiganders. His parents were Matthew Walworth and Lucy Merrill. Floyd’s occupation was live stock shipper and Myrtle’s was music teacher.

Aunt Minnie, a mystery

The sender of this card, Aunt Minnie, was not yet found in records. She mentions family members Josiah and Samantha, names which we expected would jump out at us from old records, but no; a more time-consuming search would be needed as far as who’s who for Myrtle or Floyd’s possible aunts.

Publisher i.d.

Last but not least, according to Publishers’ Trademarks Identified by Walter E. Corson, the postcard publisher E. B. & E. Company was Ely, Boynton & Ely of Detroit.

Sources: Austin, Dan. “Federal Building.” historicdetroit.org. (accessed September 15, 2018).

St. Charles Township, Michigan. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Charles_Township,_Michigan (accessed September 9, 2018).

Chesaning. Google Maps. google.com (accessed September 9, 2018).

“Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQQ4-2ZB : 9 July 2018), John R. Wegert and Myrtle G. Spencer, 1902.

Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Film: 93; Film Description: 1907 Montcalm – 1907 Wayne.

Corson, Walter E. Publishers’ Trademarks Identified. Ed. James Lewis Lowe. Norwood, PA: 1993. (print).

Sidewinders

Posted on July 22, 2018 by Annieoakley

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

Price: $3.00

I couldn’t get the title of this post out of my head for possible names. Not to liken the two beautiful ladies to rattlesnakes (of all things!) And then not to say that rattlesnakes are not beautiful (though understandably not wishing to encounter one, except for maybe at a nice distance) but it’s their hairstyles: the hair wound into a side bun for each, and a very elegant style it is. Both have a glittering hair clip as an accent. Guessing the two women might be sisters.

Anna Flottman’s Cousin Ed

Posted on June 30, 2018 by Annieoakley

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. Circa 1910 – 1918.

Price: $10.00

” Cnell Ill. Dear Cousin, how are you I am fine and dandy. From your Cousin Ed Aleves.”

Addressed to: “Miss Anna Flottman. Burden, Kans.”

This one’s a bit of a puzzle. I had sworn during research for the last post (in Burden KS via internet) that I’d come across the correct surname for this handsome gentleman. (A subcategory, that will hopefully be adhered to 😉 is being filed away somewhere “up top” entitled, “The Importance of Writing Things Down”.) His last name is hard to read in the signature. Alives, Alves, Aleves, Aluves, Alires were searched and how very odd now to be not finding the reference just previously come across. And the location he has written appears to be an abbreviation, possibly for Cornell, Illinois.

If Ancestry.com trees are correct for the marriage of Anna Flottman to Reason Leslie Moore on July 7, 1918, that narrows down the postcard time frame a little, since she was single when the card was sent to her. And for more about the recipient of this card, see the prior post.

Young Man’s Dream, Circa 1910

Posted on July 1, 2017 by Annieoakley

Two pals in Newsboy caps, skinny tie, bow tie and sweaters

Our guy from the top left, looking distinguished and contemplative, with pipe

Divided back, Real Photo Postcards, unused. Cyko stamp box. Circa 1910.

Price for the set of two: $35.00

I had just spent a ridiculous amount of time comparing these two images to see how they were done. 🙂 Looks like the charming lake scene of an attractive young woman on a lake, with a partial border of lilies (very Art Nouveau) is the same size on both cards, one being just the reverse of the other. The shaped border, however, is slightly larger on the second postcard, so that part must have involved a separate process, then, of course, arranging the trimmed photos in the border would be next….but why dissect? The end result is beautiful and unusual, and possibly two-of-a-kind.

One can’t help but look for an artist name though, and in so doing might imagine seeing a signature (John something) in the shadow of the oar (top image) but a name glimmering on the water, so to speak, could just be coincidence.

As for time-frame, I’m guessing late 1900s to mid-1910s, in looking for men’s narrow necktie style, women wearing neckties, Art Nouveau, etc. There do not seem to be many examples of women in neckties in the 1900s – 1910s, and that was surprising. But here’s one below in the bottom right corner from a Google search for the popular British actress, Madge Crichton:

Mostly Madge

A 1910 advertisement from The Marion Star:

Sources: Art Nouveau. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau (accessed July 1, 2017).

“Images for old postcards Madge Crichton.” Google search, July 1, 2017. Google.com.

Marx Bros. & Hess collar and necktie ad. The Marion Star, (Marion, OH) May 14, 1910. Saturday, p. 7. (Newspapers.com)

The Road To The Dance

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Annieoakley

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. Velox stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1917.

Price: $4.00

The who and where are unknown in this RPPC (for some reason I keep thinking Oregon) of three young men and a young woman, dressed up for the evening, heading up the dirt road to….a country dance, we think. The young lady carries a parasol, and per the norm for the time-period, all four are wearing hats. That’s a wide hat band ribbon around the fellow’s hat, second from left: You can just barely discern the crown that’s blending in with the background.

Ezra, about 1907 – 1918

Posted on December 3, 2016 by Annieoakley

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

Price: $3.00

In honor of another Ezra I know (EZ-E, Double E !) Ezra – a great name for a great boy. This one shows a cropped oval image of an adorable little boy, maybe about age four, in coat and billed cap, standing outside in a rural setting. That looks like a barn or some type of outbuilding behind him, and a taller building behind that, maybe a house. His last name is unknown, but at least we have the first. And as for popularity of the name, from the 1910 U.S. Federal Census there were over 1400 boys with this name, that were born between about 1903 to 1907. Contrast that with the common given name John, and we get over 250,000 within the same general parameters.

Kids In Leaf

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. Circa 1914 – 1917.

Price: $5.00

A good one for a new category, which really should not be new (eee gads, will have to backtrack and see which ones I missed in the past) anyway…under the title Shaped Borders. This one looks like it could be a group of seven school kids, with a young school mistress in the back, or possibly just family members or a group of friends. The date is estimated from Playle’s for this particular style on the reverse, of unknown manufacturers with no stamp box. Check out the doorway: That’s an odd-looking door, we don’t see a handle, just wooden slats running horizontally, but maybe it was boarded up.

Source: Real Photo Postcard Stamp Backs, Unknown Manufacturer’s. playle.com. (accessed October 23, 2016).

Ship Ann?

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused with writing. CYKO stamp box shows “Prints at Night” and “Place Postage Stamp Here.” 1904.

Price: $4.00 Size: About 5 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/8″

I really do not understand the handwritten caption on this one which appears to say, “Ship Ann?” Was Ann the little girl in the photo? Did she like ships? But she’s adorable in her big hat, standing on the shore. This postcard was found along with the prior post entitled “One Of My Favorite Stunts” and most certainly appears to have been written by the same person.

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