Laurel Cottage Genealogy
Genealogy Services, Old Photos, Postcards, Trade Cards, Etc.

Monthly Archives: November 2013

Austen’s Forest Flower Cologne Trade Card

Posted on November 10th, 2013 by

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Someone had evidently cropped and saved this trade card just for the charming girl in the straw hat drawing. At the time of posting this entry, the whole card comes up for sale on eBay, and that one shows that above the drawing are the words “Perfumed With Austens” and below the drawing “Forest Flower Cologne.” The address on the back of the card shows up under a list of druggists on a website regarding old bottles (cool site.) The address is for W. F. Phillips & Company, wholesale druggist….And what an intriguing name for a perfume, “Austen’s Forest Flower Cologne.” This cologne was manufactured by W. J. Austen & Company, of Oswego, New York, and as evidenced above, was advertised as “The Most Fashionable Perfume of the Day.” (Some cards show “The Most Fashionable and Lasting Perfume of the Day.”) The word and symbol for “Forest Flower” was registered by W. J. Austen in September of 1878, according to an entry in “New Remedies, An Illustrated Monthly Trade Journal,” a publication of the day for American druggists.

Sources:  http://www.bottlebooks.com/Wholesale%20Druggists/WD%20P.html

http://books.google.com. New Remedies, An Illustrated Monthly Trade Journal of Materia Medica, Pharmacy and Therapeutics. Vol. 7, page 370. Fred’k A. Castle, M.D., Editor and Charles Rice, Associate Editor. William Wood & Company, Publishers, New York 1878.

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Categories: Hats, Trade Cards and Advertising

San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge

Posted on November 8th, 2013 by

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According to a Wikipedia entry, this bridge (known locally as “The Bay Bridge”) still has one of the longest spans in the world. Construction started in 1933, and the bridge was opened to traffic on November 12, 1936. Since this postcard states this was the longest bridge in the world, it brought up the question:  What is the longest bridge in the world today? This depends on how you look at it. Do you count from beginning to end, or just the part over the water if water is involved? But just for contrast to the 8 1/2 miles listed for The Bay Bridge, the DanYang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China, according to another Wikipedia entry, is 102.4 miles long, 5.6 miles of which is over open water.

Divided back, unused linen postcard. Circa 1936 – 1945. Publisher:  Scenic View Card Co., 667 Mission St., San Francisco, California. “Nature Tone Views.” #43.

Price:  $7.00

Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco%E2%80%93Oakland_Bay_Bridge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danyang%E2%80%93Kunshan_Grand_Bridge

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Categories: Bridges, Linens, Postcards Unused

Trying to Smile

Posted on November 8th, 2013 by

Old photo, circa 1910s – 1920s, white border.

Price:  $3.00

Old photo from about the 1910s or ‘1920s found in an antique store in California, of adorable child in a pull-type wicker stroller or cart, holding his or her stuffed horsie. It looks like this was taken in a city park, or perhaps on the front lawn of the child’s house. It had been removed from an old photo album. The caption on the left says “Trying to smile -” Part of the back has the old black photo album paper still glued to the photo. There were some marks in red showing, and I scraped off more of the black paper, only to find that this was just a number, looks like 3155. Was hoping for a name, date or location. Drat! Still, this is a beauty.

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Categories: Buggies Carts Carriages Wagons and Stagecoaches, Children, Old Photos, Photos Without Names

Columba Margerine Trade Card

Posted on November 7th, 2013 by

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Belgian Dutch trade card advertising Columba margerine. Columba vervangt boter translates as “Columba replaces butter.” Front shows a drawing with a caption in french, “Chasseur de la Garde-Grenadier Napoléon, 1810.” The term chasseur translates as “hunter” and grenadier refers to a type of soldier in Napoléon’s Grand Army, originally specialized in throwing grenades. There were various sections (divisions?) in Napoleon’s army and changes occurred in the terms used for the soldiers; it’s very possible that the French phrase on the card may refer to two types of soldiers rather than one. Of course, this rendering is obviously a “cute” version of a few of these soldiers, and probably not meant to be 100% historically accurate.

The back of the card translates loosely as:  “Margerine Factory. Ch. Vanden Bussche. Merxem-Antwerpen. Requests in all Grocery-shops. Columba replaces cream butter for all use. Zoo healthy and nutritious as cream butter. 50 per 0/0 better buy than cream butter. Replaces butter.”

Merxem is a district in the city of Antwerp, in the Flemish region of Belgium.

Price:  $5.00

Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenadier

http://theminiaturespage.com/news/943139/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merksem

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Categories: Trade Cards and Advertising

Dark-Haired Boys

Posted on November 6th, 2013 by

Dark Haired Boys

Old photo, white border. Circa 1910s – 1920s.

Price:  $2.00

Old family photograph from around the 1910s or 1920s, of two boys, most likely brothers, posing for the camera. The photo looks to have been taken in their (or somebody’s) backyard. Up against the wood house you can see a trellis with some type of climbing plant (behind the older boy). You can see lace on the window curtain. The backyard is dirt, and this brings up the question, just out of curiosity:  When did people start planting grass in their backyards? It seems that many photos from this era show similar type of yards….I went browsing (briefly) online, and while I didn’t come across the answer to this specific question, I did find an interesting article (The history of the American backyard) regarding the topic in general. The author explained that the backyard of old was not the type of place that we think of today. It was primarily for work, not play; it was to help support the upkeep of the family. Often there was a vegetable garden, many families kept chickens and other farm animals. Anyway, this photo was found in an antique store in Salinas, California, but whether it is local to that area, there is no way to know. There is no identifying information on the back, but it’s a lovely photo.

Source:  “The history of the American backyard” by Sharon Ferraro. http://www.mlive.com/homeandgarden/index.ssf/2010/09/the_history_of_the_american_ba.html

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Categories: Children, Photos Without Names

Child Sitting at Small Table

Posted on November 6th, 2013 by

Child (1)Child (2)

Old photo mounted on heavy cardboard. Circa 1900s – 1910s.

Price:  $2.00        Size:  4 x 2 and 3/4″

A cute photo of a dark-haired little boy. The photographer has him posed seated at a child’s table and chair set, pondering the toy he holds, which looks to be a little horse. The back of the photo has two words, which we presume to be the child’s name, but it’s a little hard to make out. The surname name might be Flud, which does come up in lots of Ancestry searches, and the given name may start with a K – Kovu, Kovd, Kovil?

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Categories: Photos With Names

Goosey Goosey Gander

Posted on November 5th, 2013 by

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“Goosey, goosey gander, whither shall I wander? Upstairs, downstairs, and in my ladies’ chamber.” Beautiful colors and embossing, note the heart shapes in the border, the detail evident in the shadows of the lady and the goose, and the fact that the goose wears a top hat. A lovely card!

“Nickerson Kans. Nov. 9 1918. Wishing you many Happy Birthday, the wish of your Friend. Lovingly, Aunt Deal McMillin”

Addressed to:  Miss Olive Bookless, Nickerson, Kans., R.R.#1. Postmarked November 10, 1918[?] – Appears to be year 1918. Of course, the sender wrote the year but that is equally hard to read (it figures!) I think that it is ’18 though, in looking at the curvature of the last number of the year in the postmark.

Olive Bookless shows up on the 1920 Federal Census in Salt Creek Township, Reno County, Kansas. In 1920 she is about 17, so she would be about 15 when she received this postcard from her aunt. Census states she was born in Kansas. Also on this census is her father, head of household, Ed R. Bookless, born Kansas, about 1878, widower; his sister, Katie Bookless, born Kansas, about 1890; Ed Bookless’ sons Ross, born Kansas, about 1905; Wiley, born Kansas, about 1911, and Ed’s widowed mother, Jennie Yaggy, born Indiana, about 1856.

The WWI Draft Registration Card shows Olive’s father, Edward Ross Bookless, born Aug. 19, 1877. Address:  1 [Rural Rte. 1], Nickerson, Reno County, Kansas. Nearest relative:  Jennie Elizabeth Yaggy, same address. So, this is just a little confirmation that the 1920 census is the right family for this postcard. The WWI Draft Reg Card is dated Sept. 12th. The year on Ed’s card is not written but is 1918 for sure, due to the card format; also one can just page over to the next entry which shows the full date for someone else.

Divided back, used, embossed postcard. Postmarked Nov. 10, 1918.

Sources:  Year: 1920; Census Place: Salt Creek, Reno, Kansas; Roll: T625_546; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 193; Image: 420. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

“United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K66J-34S : accessed 05 Nov 2013), Edward Ross Bookless, 1917-1918; citing Reno County, Kansas, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d); FHL microfilm 1643805.

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Categories: Postcards, Postcards Used

Best Wishes For A Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 5th, 2013 by

Best Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving pc1Best Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving pc2

Two turkeys wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving. Postcard says “To Mama” on the back. Artist signature is on the bottom left of the card but it appears to be somewhat cutoff. Unable to (as of yet) decipher the name, or find online.

Divided back, artist signed, unused, embossed postcard. Circa 1914. Publisher:  International Art Publishing Company, New York and Berlin. Printed in Germany.

Price:  $4.00

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Categories: Birds, Holidays, Postcards, Postcards Artist Signed, Postcards Unused With Writing, Printed in Germany, Thanksgiving

Tri-States Rock and Delaware River

Posted on November 5th, 2013 by

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Tri-States Rock and Delaware River (meeting point of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania States), Port Jervis, N. Y.

Divided back, unused postcard. Circa 1909 – 1914. Publisher:  The Leighton & Valentine Co., New York City, NY. Printed in the United States.

 

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Categories: Postcards, Postcards Unused

Handsome Sailors

Posted on November 5th, 2013 by

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Real Photo Postcard with white border, unused. AZO stamp box, circa 1918 – 1930.

Price:  $7.00

Great photo, a little blurry but really nice content of two guys on board some type of vessel, grinning for the camera. Both wear hats but the hat insignia is not very clear. You can see that the eagles’ heads are facing to the guys’ left, and the eagles’ outstretched wings are quite a bit lower than the heads of the eagles. I am not finding this same design in online searches. The insignia most closely resembles that of the U.S. Navy, but we wouldn’t want to assume that these guys were Navy, for sure. You can see the star on the jacket sleeve of the guy on the left; a good detail that should help in the i.d. process. For now we have more questions than answers, so this is one for the “needs more research” category.

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Categories: Boats and Ships, Hats, People, Photos Without Names, Postcards Unused, Real Photo Postcards, Women