Category Archives: Postcards

Jolly Jumping Jack

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Divided back postcard. Postmarked December [?] 1919 from Sacramento, California. Copyright 1915. Publisher:  P. F. Volland & Company, Chicago, Illinois. Series or number 807.

Price:  $2.00

One more for now from The Alice Ellison Collection; our card shows an illustration of a child’s toy drum and jumping jack – in this case a monkey in a clown outfit.

“Jump, jolly jumping Jack;

Beat, booming drum;

Tell my little friend that

I wish I could come

To say to him gladly:

‘May Christmas for you

Be cheery and merry and

Jolly all through.’ “

Addressed to:   “Henrietta Ellison, 1314 F. St., City.”

“City,” of course is Sacramento, CA.

The sender wrote:   “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Miss Johnson.”

See Wikipedia’s entry for publisher P. F. Volland & Co. 

But what I really like about this card is the publisher’s Santa on the reverse (cleaned up in Photoshop). He with his handlebar mustache, holding the little candlelit tree…and that pointed beard, or is his beard tucked into his coat? (Your choice 🙂 )

Sources:  P. F. Volland Co. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._F._Volland_Company (accessed December 24, 2023).

Jumping Jack. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_jack#:~:text=%22Black%20Jack%22%20Per shing%2C%20who,when%20the%20strings%20are%20tugged. (accessed December 24, 2023).

Poinsettia Christmas Wishes

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Divided back postcard. Postmarked December 17, 1923. Publisher unknown. Series 1013 B. Made in U.S.A.

Price:  $2.00

Christmas Wishes

“My wishes for your

Christmas hours

Are just as bright as

these gay flowers.”

Yet another card from The Alice Ellison Collection. Poinsettias in the foreground and behind, we looking out on some evergreens and a winter scene. The publisher on this one is unknown. Maddeningly, I’m without access to the best postcard i.d. reference – Walter E. Corson’s Publisher’s Trademarks Identified. (My only copy got water damage and mold – it’s a long story – and in a fit of disgust I tossed it out along with a bunch of other stuff. Definitely, the letting go of “things” is a heavenly feeling of freedom but I probably should have made an exception on that one.) One presumes that the publisher name starts with “S” since that letter appears in the oval underneath the lovely back header, rather fancy with its scroll-y curvy lines.

Addressed to:   “Mr. & Mrs. J. M. Ellison, Sacramento, Calif, 604 N. St.”

The sender wrote:   “Many good wishes to all The family as ever your sister Annie.”

A Christmas Wish From Wallace Stoebe

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Divided back postcard. Postmarked December 20, 1916 from Alta Loma, California. Publisher:  F. A. Owen Company, Dansville, New York. Series or number 444D.

Price:  $5.00                                 

Here’s another Christmas card from The Alice Ellison Collection. This collection is from a good friend’s husband’s family, so we won’t trace Alice but in this case we’ll put up a little info on the sender, Wallace, who sent this winter countryside scene with the following sentiments:

My Christmas Wish

“May the Good Luck Fairy

Knock blithely on your door

And into your household

Countless blessings pour.”

Addressed to:   “Miss Henrietta Ellison, 1415 G. St., Sacramento, California.”

The sender wrote:   “Dear Henry, I wish you a Merry Xmas Happy New Year. Wallace Stoebe.”

Wallace Theodore Stoebe was born February 10, 1908 in Humboldt, Iowa, the son of Charles A. Stoebe and Emily Laura (Fry) Stoebe. So, he would have been eight years old when he made sure to remember his friend, “Henry” in Sacramento.

Sources:  National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1743. (Ancestry.com).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136389147/emily-laura-stoebe: accessed 23 December 2023), memorial page for Emily Laura Fry Stoebe (9 Mar 1879–17 May 1930), Find a Grave Memorial ID 136389147, citing Bellevue Memorial Park, Ontario, San Bernardino County, California, USA; Maintained by Chloé (contributor 47159257).

Merry Christmas From Lentie

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Divided back postcard. Postmarked December 22, 1923 from Fresno, California. Series or number 30, publisher unknown.

Price:  $4.00

Another from The Alice Ellison Collection.

A Merry Christmas…..

A very nice scene on this one:  Partially framed with snow covered holly, a mother and son walk back from church. (We’ll take liberties with interpreting.) But there’s the church in the background, and the artist has conveyed, on this very small scale, a moment in time between mother and son.

Addressed to:   “Mrs. J. M. Ellison, Sacramento, Calif, 604 N. St.”

The sender wrote:   “Fresno – Sat.    Dear Aunt:-  Loyd is better today & sitting up. Oh we sure have had a time with him, as he certainly has been a sick child. He looks so bad but I feel now that the worst is all over. Cordie gets no vacation. Lots of love Lentie.”

We’ll trust that Loyd made a full recovery and was soon out playing in the Fresno sunshine!

Merry Xmas From the Harms Family

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Divided back, embossed postcard. Postmarked December 23, 1921 from Sacramento, California. Publisher unknown. Series C-368.

Price:  $1.00

Greetings for Christmas

“I wish you a bright Christmas:

May gladness, like a sail,

Carry your ship through happy seas,

And joy and hope prevail.”

Addressed to:   “Mrs Ellison, 1314 F. St, Sacramento, Calif.”

The sender wrote:   “We wish you a very Merry Xmas and Happy New Year. The Harms family.”

A one hundred and two year-old card this time, almost to the day, and it’s another from The Alice Ellison Collection. Nice calming sailboat scene, draped with holly and a peach-colored ribbon. Nice sentiments in the verse, too. (Ditto from Laurel Cottage to you all.)

Merry Xmas From Frank Bennetts

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Divided back, embossed postcard. Postmarked December 18, 1917 from Sacramento, California. Publisher unknown.

Price:  $1.00

Friendly Greetings…….To you my friend, All joy at this happy season.

Addressed to:   “Miss Ella Ellison, 1314 – F St., Sacramento, Cal.”

Signed:   “Merry Xmas. Frank Bennetts.

Christmas season is upon us again! Time has done its usual trick – lots of time, lots of time, then wham, you’re running behind. We have a number of Christmas postcards that belong to The Alice Ellison Collection. None of these Ellison cards that will be put up this year are particularly spectacular, many are beat up, but up they will go anyway, and we’ll see if we come across anything interesting in them. Personally, I will always find something….It’s a hundred and six year-old item….Enlarging the scene and getting lost in it….That bell with the holly laying in the snow – ha, somebody dropped it, I guess. And, if anyone is looking for anything from Frank Bennetts (likely of Sacramento) well, here is something – not much but it does tell us he was friends with the Ellisons, and if you’re searching it’s always nice to get another small piece of the puzzle.

And in enlarging the card to, indeed, get lost in the scene, we see an odd combo for that church – with its castle-like tower topped with the onion-like dome, and an onion dome in the back, too. So……a Russian emigrant was the artist for this one? Yeah, we think this crazy stuff. 😉

A Mom and Two Daughters

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

Price:  $7.00

No i.d. for this one. Why did I buy it? I like the contrasting fabrics, the plaid and the stripes – all that cotton. Refreshing to see in our day and age of synthetics. The girls’ expressions are so sweet, and there’s the mom’s narrowed (maybe a vision thing) but steady gaze, she’s slouched in the chair (a little unusual but that could have been according to where the photographer wanted her to appear, with the girls standing taller). The mom is wearing wire-rimmed spectacles, a watch and chain and a flat-topped hat. (There seemingly were no end to hat styles.)

One thing of note is the pattern on the younger girl’s dress, (click twice on the card image to enlarge). They’re a little hard to make out but those are (not pinwheels) but swastikas – the original meaning of this ancient symbol represented good luck. For more on that subject see the BBC article link below in “Sources”.

Since old newspaper articles and ads reveal a lot we always like to check them for proof of what was actually going on at the time; pretty enlightening in this case, as they do indeed confirm the swastika as a phenom and the time-frame that it had become popular (again). From Newspapers.com, starting around 1899 with 126 search results for “swastika” in the U.S., ads start appearing for products such as Swastika Stationary. (Bear in mind that many of these are instructional articles and, of course, there are always duplicate articles that appeared in multiple newspapers.) From 1899 through 1905 the results are in the 100 or 200 range. Then in 1906 it jumps to 787 results, and in 1907 it has skyrocketed to 9,875.

Below, a portion of a long article that appeared in the Washington D.C. Evening Star, September 1907, stating the then-current fad in the U.S. came from across the Atlantic, France actually. Caution:  Don’t take this as gospel – it could certainly be correct but we wouldn’t want to say for sure without extensive research.

There is also the probability that the symbol’s popularity was influenced by author and poet, Rudyard Kipling:  The author had requested previously (year unknown) that his father (an artist) design an emblem for him for book covers. See the images in this link of the elephant, lotus flower and swastika design (and subsequent image, minus the swastika). Kipling, in 1899, filed a lawsuit (which he lost, but that’s another story) against some publishers for copyright infringement (lower left from the Chicago Tribune, April 1899). Later in 1899 we see ads appearing nationwide, like the article on our right from The Los Angeles Times, August 1899:

One last note:  After readily falling down the rabbit hole for most of this post, we don’t want to forget to mention that the end date for our postcard is from Playle.com regarding the AZO stamp box, with all four triangles pointing upward.

Sources:  “How the world loved the swastika – until Hitler stole it.” October 23, 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29644591. (Accessed December 4, 2023).

“Swastikas vs. Corbetts For Today’s Game.” Arizona Daily Star, March 22, 1908. Sunday, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).

“The Filigree Swastika Latest Form Of The Emblem.”  Albuquerque Journal. June 25, 1906. Monday, p. 4. (Newspapers.com).

“The Latest Out.” The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. (Fort Wayne, Indiana).December 3, 1899. Sunday, p. 3. (Newspapers.com).

Search results for “swastika” from years 1898 – 1907. (Newspapers.com).

Watkins, Jake E. “Swastika, World’s Oldest Symbol Is Latest Fad. Modern Use Of This Ancient Good-Luck Sign.” Evening Star. (Washington, D. C.). September 7, 1907. Saturday, p. 21. (Newspapers.com).

“Tells of Kipling Books.” Chicago Tribune. April 28, 1899. Friday, p. 5. (Newspapers.com).

“Books.” The Los Angeles Times. August 24, 1899. Thursday, p. 9. (Newspapers.com).

“Kipling Loses His Suit Against The Putnams.” The Publishers’ Weekly. No. 1616. January 17, 1903, pp. 80-81. (Google.com).

“Real Photo Postcard Stamp Boxes. A – B.” playle.com. (accessed December 7, 2023).

Another Unusual House

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1910’s – 1930’s. 

Price:  $12.00

The overexposure in this one makes it easy to miss at first, but there’s a chimney in our top right-hand view. (Click twice to enlarge.) And see how oddly it’s placed, cutting into the second-story roof eave? Probably the second floor and porch were later additions, right? Not that that would be unusual; it’s just the strangeness of how and where the chimney and roof intersect that gets us. (Maybe other examples are out there online but I didn’t see any). Then specifically it’s that very small overexposed bit (where the edge of the porch roof and chimney corner intersect) that tricks the eye so that the top portion of the chimney looks like it can’t meet with the lower portion (a fun-house-Alice-In-Wonderland-Dr. Seuss effect) or as if the chimney starts on the second floor. (Really not!) What’s the home style? Definitely there’s a Craftsman element from those deep eaves and exposed rafters and I’m not sure if this is considered Arts and Crafts but how about the charming wooden railings and those “rays of sun” extending up under the porch roof on the sides? Really, thumbs up on on the whole porch design. (The mind wanders….picturing the homeowners, admirers of Craftsman-style homes happily making requests of the builder……)

Kristofa and Baby

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Real Photo Postcard, unused. Circa 1910’s.

Price:  $12.00

The sender wrote:

“Mrs. Hanna[?] & Hubby. Dear friends, hope you feel better today. [?] yourself for going home & see your mother before [?]. I vish I had a change, I vould like to come over next veek sometimes if the veather permits, hope you Hubby is working now. I send you a card vith the House & the old vomen on. Vhat do you think of it. I can not see[?] a day but hope to see you soon. Vith best regards to yourself , Hubby & Baby from us all. Kristofa.”

This house is really interesting with its entrance on the second floor – after some online searching I’ll admit I’m still lost on the style. My field guide to houses got water-damaged and I had to toss it (the answer probably was in there, rolling eyes) and I’m sure I’ll order another, but meanwhile I posted a query at an architectural site – hopefully they get back to me.

Another great aspect of this card is that it invites us, in a way, to share part of Kristofa’s Scandinavian-American life – just in hearing the accent that so nicely prevails in her note. But there she is, posing herself and her young son, he standing atop the wooden railing, safe and secure in her arms (note the tight grip on the trousers!). Note also the beautiful lace curtains in all the windows. If we were invited in, there would undoubtedly be coffee (Scandinavians love their coffee) and most likely an accompanying cake…..

Mary Kottmyer in Chicago

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, used. Circa early 1910’s.

Price:  $15.00

The smartly-dressed Mary in suit and ostrich-plume hat. We’re guessing she’s in her early twenties…..

As you’ve noticed, this card was postmarked but the date and location stamp portion didn’t make it, though odds are it went through Chicago. The sign under Mary’s left hand, when darkened in Photoshop, shows “Chicago Express.”  That being said, this is a photographer’s set up (albeit a nice one) as the scene behind her looks a little too clean and contrived. Indeed, the iron railing has the same look, and note the lack of space someone would have had to exit that door. (Rather amusing and obvious once you notice it!) Mary’s surname we’re basing on some online searches for similar possibilities and looking at the rest of the writing (the “e” in particular). But the correct spelling could just as easily be Kottmeyer, with the person who penned it just being unaware. One gets the impression that the handwriting on our left is much later, as if Emaline was going through a group of old cards and photos and adding names and locations.

Addressed to:   “Emaline Keebler, 1304 Prichard St. Pittsburg Pa.”

Emaline M. Keebler was easily found in census records at this address. Per the 1940 Federal Census in Pittsburgh, she was born about 1897 in PA, single, occupation teacher at a public school. Further info was found on Find A Grave:  born November 15, 1896, daughter of Emil Andrew Keebler and Clara Olga (Kirbach) Keebler.

Sources:  Year: 1940; Census Place: Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03670; Page: 63A; Enumeration District: 69-589.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/109707824/emaline-m-keebler: accessed 26 September 2023), memorial page for Emaline M. Keebler (15 Nov 1896–21 Jul 1984), Find a Grave Memorial ID 109707824, citing Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Mount Lebanon, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by texjenn (contributor 48885098).