Monthly Archives: March 2014

Picnicking On The St. Joe River, Idaho

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“Ustick Ida. Feb 25 ’12. Dear Ms Baker we are well and like our home all o.k. We are having beautiful[?] weather jist like [?] With love to all from us. M F Rice” [?] (or with love to all from Ms [and] Mr Rice)

This one’s pretty hard to read, and yes, that really is Ustick, Idaho. An unusual name for a town, at first glance. There is a Martin and Annie Rice (married) living in Ustick in 1920, who could be the senders. I looked at the next U. S. Federal Census after 1912, as the note makes it sound like the couple or family had just moved there. The card is addressed to:

“Mrs. [or Mr?] W. D. Baker, 315 So. Bleaker, Lead, So. Dakota”

I then checked the 1910 in Lead, SD, thinking that the Rice family had been neighbors of the Baker family, and did find Martin and Anna Rice living at 302 Prospect Avenue in Lead. Martin was born about 1850 in Pennsylvania, and wife Anna, born about 1857 in Illinois. Martin’s occupation appears to be Assessor for either the county or city. The difference in the Lead addresses in 1910, for the Bakers and Rices, is only about a half mile.

While I think we can be relatively certain of the sender, the receiver of this postcard was identified for sure, in census records. William D. Baker was born about 1869 in Missouri. His wife, Annie E., was born about 1879 in Vermont, and their daughter, Ruth, was born about 1901 in South Dakota. They appear on the 1910 Federal Census at the same address as on this postcard. (So. Bleaker is S. Bleaker Street.) William’s occupation is Blacksmith in a gold mine.

This was an interesting card to research; unusual in that both the sender (well, certain enough to bet on it, if we were betting) and the receiver were found. As to the front of the card, it’s a great hand-tinted photo of a group of people, including some children, so maybe it was a family group, having an outing (or picnic!) on the banks of the St. Joe River. Moored next to them is a houseboat.

Ustick, Idaho, a town no longer in existence, was named after Dr. Harlan P. Ustick. There  is also a Ustick Township, Illinois.

Divided back, used, hand-tinted postcard. Postmarked in Boise, Idaho on February 25, 1912. Publisher:  Edward H. Mitchell, San Francisco, California. Made in the U.S.A.

Price:  $8.00

Sources:  Year: 1910; Census Place: Lead Ward 3, Lawrence, South Dakota; Roll: T624_1483; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0046; FHL microfilm: 1375496. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1910; Census Place: Lead Ward 4, Lawrence, South Dakota; Roll: T624_1483; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0048; FHL microfilm: 1375496. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1920; Census Place: Ustick, Ada, Idaho; Roll: T625_287; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 29; Image: 571. (Ancestry.com)

http://localwiki.net/boise/ustick

Henning Brandon

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Studio portrait, circa 1924, likely taken in Washington, North Dakota.

Availability status:  SOLD

Studio photo of handsome little boy in sailor-type outfit, identified on the back as Henning Brandon or Brondon. Nothing concrete was found under the last name of Brondon, while an entry has been found for Henning Brandon in the 1925 North Dakota state census records. I’m not sure what the image is on the right-hand side of the photo. Maybe it was from something that happened in the studio or later, as in, if the photo was laid underneath another photo and this sort of blurry image appeared. Henning appears to be about four or five years old here, so this photo would have been taken around 1924. According to the 1925 census record, taken in Washington, Grand Forks County, ND, Henning was born about 1919, the son of Clarence and Esther Brandon. The record shows he had a younger brother, named Carsten, born about 1924.

Looking a little further, we find some other census records indicating he had been born in North Dakota, (as one might have guessed) and a record with a gravestone photo for a Henning G. Brandon, born August 20, 1918 in Findagrave, showing that he was a veteran of the U. S. Army, died August 29, 1966, and was buried in Washington Prairie Cemetery, Grand Forks County, North Dakota.

Sources:  Ancestry.com. North Dakota, State Censuses, 1915 and 1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: North Dakota. 1915 North Dakota State Census and 1925 North Dakota State Census. State Archives and Historical Research Library, State Historical Society of North Dakota, Bismarck, North Dakota.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, Grand Forks, North Dakota; Roll: 1736; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 0057; Image: 340.0; FHL microfilm: 2341470. (Ancestry.com)

Find A Grave Memorial No. 21398791 (www.findagrave.com)

La Jetée Promenade

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“Collection Artistique. 98 – NICE – La Jetée-Promenade et les Palmiers.

Postcard from a photo likely taken by photographer Jean Giletta (1856-1933). Born Jean-Baptiste Gilletta in Levens, France; at some point Giletta dropped the Baptiste and the second letter L in his last name. Known as the photographer of the French Riviera, he is credited with taking over 8,000 images. Giletta got started in his career as an assistant to photographer Jean-August-Théodore Walburg de Bray, and it is said that, without a doubt, some of the work attributed to Walburg de Bray, was actually done by Giletta, likely at the end of Walburg de Bray’s career. In 1889, Giletta went into business for himself, and then in 1897, he was joined by his brothers, Joseph and François. These three brothers created the company for producing postcards from Jean Giletta’s photos, such as the beauty we have here. It is unclear in reading up on this photographer, whether absolutely all of the cards would have been originally from a Jean Giletta photo, but they could have been. But, not being there at the time the photo was taken, we could not know for sure.

This postcard shows a walkway lined with palm trees, and in the background is La Jetée Promenade. This was the jetty walkway of Le Casino Jetée Promenade. The original structure was envisioned as a “floating glass palace” by the Marquis d’Espouy de St. Paul, after the Marquis visited the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, England. The casino and jetty walkway were built in 1882. Re-construction was done in 1900 after a fire. Sadly, the structure was demolished in 1944, during WWII, by German troops, and parts taken by them for scrap metal.

Divided back, unused, hand-tinted postcard. Publisher:  Giletta Frères, Nice, France. No. 98. Date unknown, possibly circa 1900-1910.

Price:  $10.00

Sources:  http://www.tpi-nice.org/expo/gilletta/index.htm

http://www.voyagesenphotographie.com/detailsSK08396_200px.shtml

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet%C3%A9e-Promenade_de_Nice

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jet%C3%A9e-promenade_de_Nice.JPG

Rags, The Baby Burro

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Beautiful linen postcard of adorable baby burro, named “Rags.” The caption on the back states,

“N-4 – I WANT MY MAMA. When the photographer found this baby burro and its mother out on the hot desert – it was an effort to separate them. The baby would call pitifully for its MAMA.”

This is one I’d purchased years ago, before the collecting craze hit, as I love donkeys. Burro is Spanish for donkey. Don’t you just want to hug him?

Divided back, linen, unused postcard. Distributed by Southwest Post Card Co., Box 685, Albuquerque, N. M., Genuine Curteich. “C. T. Art-Colortone” Post Card (Reg. U. S. Patent Office.) Series or number N-4.

Not available for sale, in web author’s private collection.

City of St. Louis Mississippi River Steamboat

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“Dear Beatrice, I am nearly home again. had a nice visit with Susie lots to tell you. Will be up to see you soon. Love to all – Danille Ina [Indianapolis?]   Vera [Vena?] #5”

Postcard addressed to:   “Miss Beatrice Boyd, 3523 W. Michigan, Indianapolis, Ind.”  Dated August 5, 1910, and postmarked the same day in St. Louis, MO.

Postcard’s caption states “Typical Mississippi River Steamboat” but you can see the steamer’s name appearing on the box housing the paddle wheel. According to research, City of St. Louis was built in 1883, at Howard Ship Yards in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and was a sidewheel packet that operated on the Mississippi River. The term “packet” refers to steamers that were dominant on the U. S. rivers in the 1800s, that were designed to carry people and trade goods. City of St. Louis had five different owners during her short lifespan. She was “laid up” at Carondelet, Missouri and burned there on October 29, 1903. (We wonder what happened but this would require further research.) Carondelet is a neighborhood in the southeastern portion of St. Louis, and borders the river. There was another steamer, not to be confused with this one here, called City of St. Louis that was formerly Erastus Wells, but that ship was still operating in the 1940s.

It was a little bit of a surprise to find that Beatrice Boyd was only about nine years old when she would have received this postcard. She is found in the Federal Census record for Indianapolis in 1910, at the address on the card, with her parents, George W., born about 1874, and Minnie, born about 1878. All three were born in Indiana, and George’s occupation is listed as Moulder, working in a foundry. The sender of the card is a bit of a mystery. At first glance, one might take the writing there as several girls’ names, Danille, Ina and Vera or Vena, but this really doesn’t make much sense, and now seems a little comical, as with some additional thought, the more likely possibility is that it was from Vera or Vena, whose normal residence was in Danville, Indiana (about 20 miles away). Perhaps the #5 was part of Vera’s residence address. Or, perhaps even more likely, “Ina” was short for Indianapolis, and the address was 5 Danielle or Daniel.

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked in St. Louis, Missouri on August 5, 1910. Publisher:  V. O. Hammon Publishing Co., Chicago.

Price:  $10.00

Sources:  http://dixieboat.hspsi.org/html/terms.html

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu

http://www.steamboats.org/forum/steamboats-history/3038-two-stalwart-steamboat-survivors-2.html

Year: 1910; Census Place: Indianapolis Ward 15, Marion, Indiana; Roll: T624_369; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0259; FHL microfilm: 1374382. (Ancestry.com)

Birdies By A. Wagner

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Charming, artist-signed, vintage postcard of a painting by A. Wagner showing a couple of  colorful songbirds sitting on a tree branch with pink blossoms. In the vicinity is a meandering path through a meadow leading toward what looks to be a forest off in the hazy distance. As of the date of this posting, research regarding all the particulars appearing on the back of the card, isn’t bringing up a whole lot. Another postcard was found on eBay by this same artist, with the same publisher logo, (V & Co?) printing and importer info, and with said date for that postcard to be approximately from the 1920s. So, that is a possible time-frame for this one, but we will definitely be on the lookout for any others. In any case, this is a great card, and here’s a bit of springtime for all of you this year, in the Midwest and the East, that have been hit with yet another big snowfall.

Divided back, unused postcard. Publisher unknown. Series or Number 262/2. Printed in Switzerland. Imported by Europa Import Co., New York, NY. Date possibly circa 1920s.

Price:  $15.00

Teedler Toddler

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Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. The stamp box shows the outlined (rather than the filled in) Cyko logo, with the words “Place Postage Stamp Here.” Circa 1907 – 1920s.

Price:  $7.00

Sort of a funny photo of a beautiful baby, seemingly a little precariously perched on the chair for the photographer. Divided back plus CYKO stamp box logo dates this postcard approximately 1907 – 1920s. I would think this one would be closer to the later years time-frame, maybe the late teens to sometime in the twenties.

Erin Go Bragh

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Another beautiful old postcard for St. Paddy’s Day. This one, showing the Celtic Harp and some shamrocks on a green flag with gold-tone trim, and a white clay pipe in the foreground, is addressed to:

“Master Joseph Miller, 220 – 14th St., Oregon City, Ore.”

And the unknown sender wrote:  “Greetings from St. Patrick”  which is a little amusing (across the centuries from the blessed saint.) …The phrase Erin go Bragh is an English spelling for the Irish Éireann go brách (or go bráth) which is normally translated as “Ireland forever.”

The postmark year on this one is hard to figure out, but it looks like it could be 1900 or 1907. The use of the form of address, “Master,” indicates that Joseph was still a boy when he received this card. He is found in census records with his family. The 1900 and 1910 Federal Census show the street name and city as matching the address on this card. (The street number was not given on these census records for 14th Street.) Per the 1900, Joseph was born in Oregon, March of 1898 (March, a good month for St. Pat’s day!) His parents were Jacob Miller, born Kentucky about 1861, and Margaret, born Ohio, about 1870. The 1910 Federal Census shows the three Millers, and an additional family member, Joseph’s baby sister Margaret, age two.

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked from Portland, Oregon, March 16th, exact year unknown, possibly 1900 or 1907. Printed in Germany. Publisher unknown.

Price:  $6.00

Sources:  Year: 1900; Census Place: Oregon City, Clackamas, Oregon; Roll: 1345; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0088; FHL microfilm: 1241345. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1910; Census Place: Oregon City, Clackamas, Oregon; Roll: T624_1279; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0043; FHL microfilm: 1375292. (Ancestry.com)

Mary M. Purdy Calling Card

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Calling card, circa 1880 – 1910

Price:  $7.00

Victorian Era calling card for Mary M. Purdy. This is another we’ll be unable to pinpoint for identification as there are numerous persons showing under this name in census records. If we estimate that Mary might have been born around 1875, there are entries for persons born in Massachusetts, Illinois, Maryland and California; and if we estimate she was born about 1865, we find entries for persons born in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. This card was found along with several others in Watsonville, California, and the style of lettering is the same or very similar to the card we have posted for Isaac Sevier.