Category Archives: Real Photo Postcards

Ethel (Lewis) Kelly

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Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. CYKO stamp box. Circa 1915 – 1925.

Price:  $15.00

There are two names on the back of this card:  Ethel Lewis Kelly and Bertha Tufford. Presumably they are cousins, or Bertha could be a cousin-in-law, though records were not found as proof, either way.

A description…..

Ethel, with a thoughtful, agreeable expression, wearing wire-rimmed eyeglasses, head tilted slightly, dark hair parted on the side and pulled back. Rings on both hands, one a possible wedding ring, and an interesting dress style:  light material with small diamonds, dark satiny fabric for the upside of the collar, the same fabric around the waist and for the diagonal accent under the bodice buttons. Lace running up one side from buttons to collar, and then lace around the cuffs, continuing up to the elbows. The carved wooden chair is also gorgeous – one of the nicest we’ve seen. The “ears” of the chair resemble something between a fish and a seahorse.

Ethel Lewis, born August 1890 in Oregon, is the daughter of Timothy Ambrose Lewis and Louise Serrell Crawford. Ethel married Thomas Leo Kelly in about 1923. He was born in Maine 1887. He was first married to Frances Jane Chisholm.

Researching this postcard threw me for a loop for awhile, because there’s a town called Bridge in Oregon. But, there’s another town called McKenzie Bridge, which is an unincorporated community in Lane County, OR, and shows up on Thomas Kelly’s death certificate. So, there’s no “Cousin McKenzie” at all. Thank goodness, as it wasn’t making too much sense that way.

As to the “addressee,” there’s a Bertha Mae Tufford, born January 19, 1892 in Portland, Oregon, who marries Frederick Sylvester Huit on March 10, 1917. If she’s the correct person then we’re led to believe that this postcard photo was taken before this marriage date, when Bertha was still single, still a Tufford, and that would mean that Ethel wasn’t married yet, and the ring on her left hand was not a wedding ring. Or, it could just be that the person who wrote in pencil on the reverse wasn’t aware of Bertha’s marriage or didn’t know the name. But as previously stated, no records were found to verify a “cousinship.” 😉

Sources:  Year: 1900; Census Place: Cottage Grove, Lane, Oregon; Roll: 1349; Page: 15; Enumeration District: 0120; FHL microfilm: 1241348. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1920; Census Place: Elmira, Lane, Oregon; Roll: T625_1496; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 229. (Ancestry.com).

The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (4th Registration) For the State of California; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147. (Ancestry.com).

Oregon State Archives; Salem, Oregon; Oregon, Death Records, 1864-1967. (Ancestry.com).

Ancestry Family Trees for Thomas Leo Kelly and Frances Jane Chisolm. (Ancestry.com). Accessed February 18, 2023.

McKenzie Bridge, Oregon. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKenzie_Bridge,_Oregon (accessed February 18, 2023).

Young Woman Wearing Striped Sash

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Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, wide border. Unused. Circa 1910 – 1920s.

Price:  $6.00

A dark-haired young woman with bangs and hair pulled up in a top bun, wears a loose-fitting white blouse and…..are those trousers? Possibly, but more likely the question’s come up just due to the way the skirt is hanging. Not that trousers would have been unheard of, especially with and after WWI (the vacated jobs being filled by women, the practicality of pants, etc.) But to continue – around her hips is a wide, striped cloth accessory, pinned in place, giving the outfit a nice bohemian look. (The “belt” in the limelight reminds me of the Ceinture fléchée, the cloth, arrow sash that the French-Canadian voyageurs used, though there is no arrow design in this one.) And she’s posed at the foot of a flight of wooden stairs – the setting is rustic, working-class, we see an opening to maybe a store or warehouse on the ground level behind her. Maybe the building housed a flat above a shop or was a two-story business. Also of note, the young lady’s jewelry – earrings, a bracelet of (presumably) gold or gold-tone, and two rings, one a possible wedding ring.

Dating the card:  The reverse of this Real Photo Postcard – no stamp box, with its simple lettering style and “Correspondence Here,” “Name and Address Here” and its very short Divided Back line doesn’t, as far as I’ve seen, and according to Playle’s, have any verified to-and-from dates, (that’d be a time-consuming project, for sure) so we’re just estimating by general experience with clothing style and RPPCs.

Sources:  Ceinture fléchée. n.d. See link for URL. Accessed February 16, 2023.

Real Photo Postcard Stamp Backs:  Unknown Manufacturers. Playle.com. (Accessed February 16, 2023).

Jorgen aka Jergen Vind

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard. AZO stamp box. Circa 1922.

Price:  $15.00           Size:  5 and 1/8 x 3 and 1/8″

This one was slightly cropped it seems, but it’s almost full size for an RPPC. And a very cute portrait of one Jorgen Vind, age about five. Let’s see how many Jorgen Vinds there might be in records:

After a little searching, we can confidently say this is Jorgen aka Jergen Paulson Vind, born September 19, 1917 in Crockett, Contra Costa County, California. Crockett is located about 28 miles northeast of San Francisco. The 1920 Federal Census for Contra Costa shows parents, Jerry Vind, born about 1868 in North Schleswig, Germany, (now part of Denmark) native language Danish, and Elizabeth, born about 1885 in Ireland, and children, nine-year-old Anna and two-year-old Jorgen. From the CA birth records we learn that Elizabeth’s maiden name was Kerr.

Jergen P. Vind married Pat A. Peters, November 6, 1954 in San Francisco, California.

Jergen died in Reno, Nevada, January 21, 1998.

Sources:  State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.(Ancestry.com).

Year: 1920; Census Place: Township 12, Contra Costa, California; Roll: T625_95; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 26. (Ancestry.com).

Schleswig-Holstein. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schleswig-Holstein (accessed February 15, 2023).

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: 1872. (Ancestry.com).

Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1949-1959.

Nevada State Health Division, Office of Vital Statistics. State Death Index. Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, Carson City, Nevada. (Ancestry.com).

Young Woman With Horse

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Real Photo Postcard. Unused. Circa 1907 – 1909. AZO stamp box. 

Price:  $5.00

No writing on the back, so no way to offer up a great find for any potential descendant on this one. But, sometimes you’re just drawn to a photo or postcard image, and I think this one is beauty in its simplicity:  Girl and horse, part of a barn, a couple of trees, wooden fence, rolling hills – a nice blast back to our rural American past.

Looking off to her left, the young woman in skirt and blouse, hair pulled back in a bow, holding the rope halter of her horse, the animal’s expression faces the camera. (The nuances are lovely – who is looking where.) And first impressions are always interesting. To me, the girl’s skin coloring appears to be a trifle dark; she strikes me as being part Native American or having gypsy background. Of course, that’s only an impression on my part, and not meant to be taken as anything, really – only to share the thought. Do you think she wears wire-rimmed eyeglasses or is that a trick of the light? The horse (no horse expertise here on my part) looks young, and I like the square “star” appearing on his forehead. (Apparently the white markings, other than the vertical blaze, are called stars, no matter their shape.)

Per Playles, this particular AZO stamp box (on reverse) with diamonds in corners is dated from 1905 – 1909. We presume Real Photo Postcards followed the same U. S. postal regulations regarding “Divided Back,” the ruling for which started March 1, 1907. So, the date, at least, can be happily narrowed down to 1907 – 1909.

Sources:  Sanderson, David. “Naming Head Markings on a Horse.” Dallas Equestrian Center, May 13, 2015, http://www.dallasequestriancenter.com/naming-head-markings-on-a-horse/#:~:text=Star,of%20whether%20it%20resembles%20one. Accessed February 11, 2023.

Playle’s:  “Real Photo Postcard Stamp Boxes, A – B.: https://www.playle.com/realphoto/photoa.php. (accessed February 11, 2023).

Marie Rubens, Circa 1913

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Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box. Circa 1912 – 1914.

Price:  $15.00

Most likely the young lady in this postcard photo is Marie Cecilia Rubens, born May 13, 1897 in Gervais, Oregon, daughter of Joseph Rubens and Matilda Vanderbeck. We’re estimating Marie was about fifteen or sixteen when this was taken. She’s shown in a  white, long-sleeved dress, the collar gathered in ruffles under the chin, hemline just below the knee, hair pulled back in a dark bow. She stands behind a wooden folding chair, in front of a photographer’s backdrop of wooded hills.

Marie’s given this postcard to:   “Gertie Bowley, Gervais, Oregon.”

Gertrude Bowley, from the 1910 Federal Census in Gervais, was born about 1895 in Oregon, daughter of William and Barbara Bowley. Also on this census are Gertie’s younger siblings, Joseph, Mary, William and Florence. Barbara Bowley’s maiden name was Ferschweiler per Gertie’s marriage record (to Luther Garrett).

Marie Rubens married Lawrence Ferschweiler, so there’s a family connection between the subject of this card and its recipient, though we won’t spend time pinpointing the exact relationship.

Sources:  Oregon State Archives; Salem, Oregon; Oregon, Birth Records, 1842-1902, 1917. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Gervais, Marion, Oregon; Roll: T624_1284; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0210; FHL microfilm: 1375297. (Ancestry.com).

Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013. (Ancestry.com).

Oregon State Archives; Salem, Oregon; Oregon, Birth Records, 1842-1902, 1917. (Ancestry.com).

Black Hills Wholesale Grocery Company

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Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO Stamp Box, circa 1913 – 1918.

Price:  $20.00

Addressed to:   “Ollie M. Chester, Rapid City, SD.”

Caption:   “C. E. Gray, wholesale Merchant, Rapid City, and his officers. C. E. Gray.”

You can read  “Wholesale Grocery Co.” on the building, above the man on our left. Which gentleman is C. E. Gray is unknown. Here’s an ad from February, 1914 showing they were located at Seventh Street between Omaha and Rapid (Rapid City, South Dakota):

From city directories it appears C. E. was Claude E. Gray. He shows up in 1918 as vice-president of the business. And on the 1920 Federal Census for Rapid City, we have Claude, born 1880 in Iowa, occupation grocery man; his wife, Florence L., also born 1880 in Iowa; and their daughters, Miriam, Marjorie and Helen. Also in the household is domestic servant, Ida Printz.

We’re guessing this card, like the one in the prior post, is a rare find for anyone looking for either of the two businesses. The earliest mention we found for the Black Hills Wholesale Grocery Co. is January 1913, in the Custer Weekly Chronicle. On March 3, 1914, the company published a trademark, described as “Black Hills” and a mountain scene that, barring any objection, would have been registered thirty days later. The AZO stamp box with all four triangles pointing upward, is estimated to be from 1904 – 1918, hence our card’s estimated date 1913 – 1918.

Ollie is Olive M. Chester. Could she be one of the young women in the postcard? Maybe. Or maybe just a friend or relative of C. E. Gray. Olive is found on the 1915 State Census for South Dakota, born 1899 in Nebraska.

Sources:  Year: 1920; Census Place: Rapid City, Pennington, South Dakota; Roll: T625_1725; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 155. (Ancestry.com).

Simmons’ Spice Journal, April 1914, Volume 37, no. 4. Page 410. (Google.com/books).

Rapid City Journal. February 1, 1914. Sunday, p. 7. (Newspapers.com).

Keiter Directory Co’s Rapid City and Pennington County, South Dakota City, 1918-1919. p. 43. (Ancestry.com).

“Notice of Hearing Petition for Letters of Administration.” Custer Weekly Chronicle, January 18, 1913, Saturday, p. 6. (Newspapers.com).

South Dakota, U. S., State Census, 1915. (Ancestry.com).

Jerome Drug Company, Jerome, Idaho

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Real Photo Postcard, unused. Circa 1911 – 1920. Kodak stamp box “Velvet Green.” Diamonds in four corners.

Price:  $20.00

The stamp box on the reverse of this card, and described above, is one I’ve never seen before. It’s not listed on the wonderful Playle’s website, either. (Very surprising.) Often the stamp box helps to narrow down the date on a Real Photo Postcard, but luckily we get help elsewhere:

One of the keys to the location of this card are the names advertised on the second-story windows, Dr. L. G. Phillips, Dentist and Dr. Schmershall, especially the latter, of course. They were found in the 1920 Jerome County City Directory:  Leon G. Phillips and spouse Madeline and John F. Schmershall, county physician, and spouse Agnes.

Leon G. Phillips and Madeline are on the 1920 Federal Census in South Jerome. He was born in Illinois, about 1882, she in Illinois, about 1889, and sons, Leon G., about 1914 and Robert Ridgeway Phillips, about 1916, both born in Idaho. Leon Phillips and Madeline Ridgeway married in Lincoln, Idaho on August 22, 1911.

John and Agnes are also on the 1920, in Jerome, with son, Peter Clark Schmershall, along with boarder, Leland S. Johnson. John was born in Pennsylvania about 1877, Agnes in Colorado about 1889, and Peter in Idaho, about 1913. John Schmershall and Agnes Miller were married April 6, 1911 in Jerome.

When the drug store, or building that housed it, was built has proven hard to pin down, but mention in the local county paper was found starting in 1911. An ad for Dr. Schmershall, office above the store, was found for the same year:

Something different in a newspaper:  Interspersed throughout the town news are ads like these, in the Jerome County Times, from various businesses. Here are some from August 14, 1913, pertaining to the subject of this postcard:

That does sound good! And, one more. (I couldn’t resist.) This one from October 3, 1912:

Jerome Drug Co. is later listed in newspaper ads as “the Rexall Store.”

Lastly, if you’ve enlarged the image, no doubt something has struck you as odd, it’s in the block lettering for the doctors:  It’s rather funny, the “C” in Doctor (and in Physician, but not as striking) looking like a “G, ” so that we’re reading “Dogtor.”

Sources:  Year: 1920; Census Place: South Jerome, Jerome, Idaho; Roll: T625_293; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 183. (Ancestry.com).

Ancestry.com. Idaho, U.S., County Marriages, 1864-1950.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Jerome, Jerome, Idaho; Roll: T625_293; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 184. (Ancestry.com).

Ancestry.com. Idaho, U.S., Select Marriages, 1878-1898; 1903-1942. (Ancestry.com).

The Jerome County Times. August 14, 1913. Thursday, p. 5. (Newspapers.com).

The Jerome County Times. October 3, 1912. Thursday, p. 8. (Newspapers.com).

The Jerome County Times. March 16, 1911. Thursday, p. 4. (Newspapers.com).

Somewhere Out West

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Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. Kruxo “divider line” no stamp box. Circa 1911 – 1922. Number 4313 appears in bottom right, front of card.

Price:  $5.00

I found this Real Photo Postcard in Nevada, so it’s possible that the photo could have been taken there. The original image is rather dark, so the second view is a lightened version from Photoshop. These obscure, maybe somewhat forgotten, or seemingly easy to overlook images are a draw for me, for some reason. Or it may have appealed due to the similar scene out multiple windows that we see from our new home. (Just a girl from Detroit who moved out to the Central Coast in Cali, then retired and moved one state over. I suspect my perspective of “Out West” will always be that of a Michigander 😉 )

Anyway, it’s always possible that someone will recognize this particular view of our postcard’s mystery range. And, you’ll notice the house, outbuilding and barn (or three houses?) and fence. Wonder what the story was. Was it a ranch? Not an easy life, especially in winter. On a related note: On our property I’ve found lots of remnants of cowboy campsites, circa 1920’s and ’30s – pieces of charcoal; flattened tin cans and small buckets; broken cups, plates; (including purple carnival glass) Mason-type jars and bottles – one intact, so far, a small, amber Hazel-Atlas. This intact bottle, if you want to make a case for alternate realities, had shown up out of nowhere in an area I’d already trod multiple times, (always looking for that “glint in the sun”). The universe’s answer to a small request to find something unbroken (and it was much appreciated!)

Source for postcard date estimate:

“Real Photo Stamp Boxes. K – L.” (https://www.playle.com/realphoto/photok.php). Accessed December 28, 2022.

Of interest for identifying old bottles:

https://glassbottlemarks.com/ Glass Bottle Marks (glassbottlemarks.com).

Happy in Winter

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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).

Mrs. Levi Joshua Cheney, Dyesville, Ohio

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

Price:  $15.00

This is Charity (Chase) Cheney, born June 1868 in Ohio. The date estimate for the postcard is due to its being a Divided Back card and having an AZO stamp box, all four triangles pointing upward. This would make Charity around age 39 – 50 when the photo was taken, and it may have been a special occasion for her, per the flower corsage she’s wearing. This shot has captured some years of hardship, worry and grief in her expression. (It’s not an easy life we came here to live, is it?) But she’s still lovely in the long white dress (love the double row of buttons) and with the small puffed shoulders and her jewelry – the heart, the short necklace, and the other accessories – wide black belt, oblong box-style purse (I’m picturing alligator), and possibly a flower in her hair. It’s hard to tell on that one, even when darkening the image in Photoshop, it’s not definite.

Thank you to the person that identified person with place on the back. We appreciate them whoever they were. Dyesville is located in Columbia Township, Meigs County, Ohio.

Sources:  Year: 1880; Census Place: Columbia, Meigs, Ohio; Roll: 1047; Page: 36D; Enumeration District: 104. (Ancestry.com).