Cina’s Hat

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Divided back, unused with writing, Real Photo Postcard. AZO stamp box. Photographer:  Clement F. Kaylor of Mishawaka, Indiana. Circa 1910 – 1915.

Availability Status:  SOLD

“How do you like my Merry Widow. I think it is great (big) Cina.”

Addressed to:   “Mrs. M. E. Battees, Gladwin, Mich.” 

Yes, that is quite a hat! and a wonderful photo of a beautiful young woman posing for a studio photo, in dark skirt and tailored jacket with satin trim, dark gloves and white blouse with high-necked ruffle, and of course, that gorgeous hat; a large brimmed straw, we presume, with two or three layers of artificial leaves and flowers on top.

I couldn’t resist to add in the hubby’s comment as he walked by  “Holy smokes! Looks like she’s got the garden on her head.”  Very true by today’s standards.

The lady in the photo turns out to be Mrs. John L. Battees of Mishawaka, Indiana, and she sent this card to her mother-in-law, Mrs. Mary E. (Richards) Battees.

Lucina Belle “Cina” Freeman was born in Ohio, September 1889, the daughter of Charles C. Freeman and Jennie Henry. John Louellen Battees was born in Jackson, Paulding County, Ohio, February 11, 1872, the son of John Casner Battees and Mary Ellen Richards. The application for their marriage license shows that John L. was a widower, and had been twice previously married. He was doing general farming, and Cina was working in a factory in Mishawaka.

See Clement F. Kaylor for the photographer’s information.

Sources:  “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZ66-Y8G : accessed 31 January 2015), John C. Battees and Mary E. Richards, 08 Jan 1871; citing Union, Ohio, United States, reference P 491; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 573,777.

“Ohio, Births and Christenings, 1821-1962,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XDB3-6NL : accessed 31 January 2015), John Luellen Battees, 11 Feb 1872; citing Jackson, Paulding, Ohio, reference v 1 p 56; FHL microfilm 925,298.

John L. Battees. Year: 1880; Census Place: North Baltimore, Wood, Ohio; Roll: 1078; Family History Film: 1255078; Page: 41A; Enumeration District: 090; Image: 0311. (Ancestry.com)

“Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZCP-Y3J : accessed 31 January 2015), John L Battees and Lucina Belle Freeman, ; citing county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 1,503,526.

Clement F. Kaylor, Photographer

Clement F. Kaylor was a photographer from about 1910 – 1930 in Mishawaka, Indiana; possibly starting prior to 1910 but not earlier than 1906. (The 1906 city directory shows he was working for the M. W. Manufacturing Co.) Born February 9, 1868 in Huntington, Indiana, he was the son of Harmon Kaylor and Eliza Forst. His father’s occupation was Blacksmith on the 1880 Federal Census which was taken in Warren, Indiana.

Clement or “Clem” was first married to Cora Bell Dinius, who died in 1890. Findagrave.com lists a son for the couple, Eldon Edward Kaylor, born 1888. On September 7, 1898, in Fort Wayne, Clem married Agnes C. Kelley. The 1910 census shows Clement, Agnes and their nine-year old son Marvin, born Indiana, about 1901. Also on this census is Clem’s sister Clara, working for him at the photography studio.

The 1910 city directory gives Clem’s studio address of 116 E. 2nd. In 1916 the address given was 116 Lincoln Way E. (This may have been the same location but renamed.) About 1920 he had moved his studio to 112 N. Main St. The 1923 directory gave some additional information showing Clem F. Kaylor, “Photographer, Framing, Kodak Finishing.” Clem died in Mishawaka, January 14, 1931.

See our Cina’s Hat post for an example of the photographer’s work.

Sources:   Year: 1880; Census Place: Warren, Huntington, Indiana; Roll: 285; Family History Film: 1254285; Page: 515C; Enumeration District: 193; Image: 0372. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1910; Census Place: Penn, Saint Joseph, Indiana; Roll: T624_377; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0155; FHL microfilm: 1374390. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1930; Census Place: Mishawaka, St Joseph, Indiana; Roll: 627; Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 0075; Image: 1010.0; FHL microfilm: 2340362. (Ancestry.com)

South Bend Directory Co.’s Directory of South Bend, Mishawaka and Rural Route Lists of St. Joseph County, Indiana. 1906. p. 826. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Hibberd’s City Directory of South Bend and Mishawaka, Indiana. 1912 – 1916. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

R.L. Polk & Co.’s City Directories for Mishawaka and South Bend, Indiana. 1919 – 1930. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Clement F. “Clem” Kaylor. Findagrave.com. Memorial #115943847. (Accessed January 31, 2015.)

Harmon Kaylor. Findagrave.com. Memorial #19551530. (Accessed January 31, 2015.)

Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition

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“Hello Bill! Meet Me on the Pay Streak at the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition. June 1st – Oct 16th. Seattle USA. 1909.”

Here’s a beauty in fairly good condition. Love all those colors and the jam-packed visual info:  The oval inserts tell us to come by ship or train to celebrate the Yukon and the Pacific Northwest. There’s a depiction of an Alaskan totem pole, musher and his sled dog team, a north woodsman felling trees, and a broad-range expo scene with the sun setting behind Mount Ranier.

The sender dated the card and it was postmarked the same day, July 10, 1909. If you look closely the signature appears to be “Paul.”  The card was addressed to:   “Mr. Joseph Norsen, Wheaton, Minn.”

Joseph Norsen would have been about thirteen years old when this card was sent to him. He appears with his family on the 1910 Federal Census for Lake Valley, Traverse County, Minnesota, which is about four miles northeast of Wheaton. The record shows:  Head of household John A. Norsen, age 53; his wife Johanna, age 55, both born in Sweden, emigration year about 1882; and eight of their ten children, Ruth, age 27; Hanna, age 26, Jemimah, age 23; Ester, age 22; Philip, age 18; Marie, age 16; Joseph, age 14; and Martha, age 12. John Norsen is employed as a farmer, and all eight children on this census were born in Minnesota.

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked July 10, 1909 from Seattle, Washington. Publisher:  Edward H. Mitchell, San Francisco. Made in America. Number or series 1853.

Price:  $12.00

Source:  Year: 1910; Census Place: Lake Valley, Traverse, Minnesota; Roll: T624_715; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0175; FHL microfilm: 1374728. (Ancestry.com)

Seven Women In Alaska

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A blurry but interesting Real Photo Postcard that was marked  “Alaska”  on the little sticker on the plastic sleeve, showing a group of seven smiling ladies posing in front of what might be a wooden train depot or station of some type. That looks like a set of tracks on our right. All the ladies wear hats (nothing unusual) but three of the hats have an upright feather in the hatband. It looks like it’s summer or spring; they are dressed for mild weather, and there’s a couple of umbrellas in the group. Their skirt hemlines vary slightly above or below the ankle, except for that one daring lady in the back with the hemline just below the knee! The AZO stamp box with all four triangles pointing upward, and the fact that it’s a divided back, places the date at about 1907 – 1918.

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

Price:  $3.00

In Northern Seas

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From one end of the country to the other:  We were on the coast of Maine in the last post, and this one looks like it might be Alaska, but there’s no information under than the caption,  “In Northern Seas”  appearing at the bottom, with the series or postcard number 3416, from the unknown publisher. The artist’s name is not appearing either, but it’s a beauty, showing what must be a summer scene:  rugged mountains with very little snow, a beach, a small fishing village and a boat out on the calm water. I like how the suns rays are depicted and the haziness off in the distance at the mouth of the inlet. This one is from the Lena Davis Collection, and the sender wrote:

“July 20 1910. We are all well hope this findes you the same. We are all done harvesting going to thresh next week. I have him[?] working for Charley for $2 [$12?] a day. I am home now will get done laying by corn in a day and a half. It is pretty dry now corn look wilted. how is the fruit out their. haven’t got any bear [beer?] had a fine time the forth they have had a dance in the grove since then. P.C.[?]   Answer sooner than I did if you have time.” 

Addressed to:   “Miss Lena Davis, Ceres, Calif., R.R. Box 67 [?]”

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked July 21, 1910 from Arapahoe, Nebraska. Unknown artist and publisher. Series or number 3416.

Price:  $10.00

 

Doris Louisa Diefendorf

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Divided back, unused with writing, Real Photo Postcard. AZO stamp box. Circa 1915.

Price:  $15.00

“Doris Louisa Diefendorf   I year old   Lubec, Maine”

How nice to have both a name and a location (!) for this Real Photo Postcard.

Everything about this photo takes us back to (what we think of now as) a more romantic time:  of course, there is the beautiful Doris Louisa in her white cotton or linen gown, wearing a little necklace for the photo, but also the wood and wicker chair (possibly a rocker) with beautiful scroll work and design that she’s seated upon; the flowered wallpaper behind her, showing large blooms of the type that’s so back in style today for that vintage look; and the gorgeous lace window curtain to her left.

Lubec, Maine has the distinction of being the easternmost town in the United States, and is located on a peninsula on Passamaquoddy Bay. It was settled in 1785 and incorporated in 1811. The population was recorded as 1,359 for the 2010 Federal Census.

Maine Map

The 1920 census for Portland, Maine shows George A. Diefendorf, born about 1886 in New York; Lillian E. his wife, born about 1889 in New York; and their daughter, Dorris L., about 5 years old, born in Illinois about 1915. George’s occupation is factory superintendent. A combination of two separate index’s for Cook County births, gives us the confirmation for Doris’ parents being George Adelbert Diefendorf and Lillian Elizabeth Froschauer, and give Doris’ date and place of birth as July 15, 1914, Chicago. In 1930 the family is living in Rotterdam, New York. George is a superintendent for a steel construction company at this time. Just in adding all the info together it’s seems likely that Lubec, Maine was a vacation spot for the Diefendorfs in the summer of 1915….and it must have been heavenly.

Sources:  Lubec, Maine. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubec,_Maine (Accessed January 29, 2015).

Year: 1920; Census Place: Portland Ward 9, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: T625_640; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 60; Image: 946 (Ancestry.com)

“Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878–1922.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. Illinois. Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878–1922. Illinois Department of Public Health. Division of Vital Records, Springfield. (Ancestry.com)

Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, 1930-1960. Cook County Clerk, comp. Cook County Clerk Genealogy Records. Cook County Clerk’s Office, Chicago, IL: Cook County Clerk, 2008.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Rotterdam, Schenectady, New York; Roll: 1644; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0014; Image: 389.0; FHL microfilm: 2341378. (Ancestry.com)

Vera Grace Schollian

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Divided back, unused with writing, Real Photo Postcard. AZO stamp box. Circa 1911 – 1913.

Price:  $15.00

Vera Grace Schollian, daughter of Fred Elmer Schollian and Daisy May (Moreledge) Schollian, was born December 3rd, 1907, in Page County, Iowa. County records show Buchanan Township but per Findagrave she was born in Braddyville, just a little southwest. There are actually two separate county birth records, one showing 1907 and the other 1908, however her marriage record confirms the 1907 date. She was 35 when she married Maynard Neil Thomas on July 17, 1943 in Washington County, Arkansas. She died August 3, 1908 in Fairfax, Atchison County, Missouri. Findagrave shows a wonderful photo and obituary.

Vera Grace appears to be about four or five years old in this photo, wearing a gingham dress with short puffy sleeves, a little necklace of faux? pearls, a bracelet and hair bow. It’s interesting to me that she’s seated on a little child size wrought iron chair. We have two other Real Photo Postcards that will go up later, of children shown with the same type of beautiful little “kiddie chair.” They must have been pretty common back then. Of course, this is an adorable photo of Vera Grace, and it is most striking that her photo, taken many years later and posted on Findagrave, is so instantly recognizable as the little girl in this photo, and that coincidentally the angle in the two are nearly identical.

Sources:  “Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935”, index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XV6F-1Q7 : accessed 28 January 2015), Vera Grace Schollian, 1908.

“Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935”, index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V461-4LL : accessed 28 January 2015), Vera Grace Schollian, 1907.

“Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V4N9-5WV : accessed 28 January 2015), Maynard Neil Thomas and Vera Grace Schollian, 17 Jul 1943; citing , Washington, Arkansas, United States, county offices, Arkansas; FHL microfilm 2,020,347.

Vera Grace Schollian Thomas. Memorial #28812016. Findagrave.com. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28812016. (Accessed January 28, 2015.)

I Couldn’t Forget You…

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Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked February 14, 1920 from Fresno, California. Publisher:  Whitney Made, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Price:  $4.00

“I couldn’t forget you if I would –

I wouldn’t forget you if I could”

This is kind of similar to the prior post in the verse, and such a cute one with two baby birds (look at those faces!) in their apple tree nest, and cupid serenading them and playing the lute. The card has a blue and white checkerboard border. This is from Maebelle to her grandma, and she wrote:

“Hello grandma did aunt annie come wish we could see her love from Maebelle.”

Addressed to:   “Mrs. J. M. Ellison, 1314 F St, Sacramento, Cal.”

If You Are As Glad…

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Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked October 8, 1917 from Fresno, California. Publisher unknown. No. 1005.

Price:  $4.00

We’re finding the verse funny in this one…..

“If you are as glad to be remembered,

as I am to remember you,

We are both having a real good time.”

Here’s a spray of red poppies on a blue and white background with the above humorous verse. The poppy leaves look more rose-like than poppy-like, and it’s kind of different that the flowers are upside-down….The design of the background might remind you of water or the sky. This is in our Alice Ellison Collection, and the sender wrote:

“Dear Ma   I thought of you on your birthday but I was to busy moving to send you a card. How is Bessie. Our new add is 2610 Grant Ave. Write soon   Love from Dos.”

The card is addressed to:  “Mrs. J. M. Ellison, Sacramento, Calif, 1314 F st.”

Sailboats And Roses

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Here’s a gorgeous antique card, from around maybe the 1880s – 1890s, of a scene showing several sailboats; the one in the foreground shows the oars in operation. Semi-surrounding this tableau is an arrangement of roses in a horseshoe shape:  a multi-petalled rose in pink and one in burgundy, the pink being predominant and in full bloom, with buds and leaves, and beneath this a spray of white with gold center single-petalled blooms. The colors and design are wonderful on this card:  the pale green and lavender reflecting off of the water; the difference in the top and underside of the rose leaves; the light showing somewhat through the clouds in the sky; the blues on the boat in the background, almost silhouetted, and to balance this out, the little bit of blue on the roses on our right. I like the placement of the seagulls, (six of them) and we can see a silhouette of a person manning the boat closest to us. This is another one of these little scenes one can get lost in, like a mini-vacation.

This card happens to have a couple of names on the back, in beautiful handwriting:  “Lillian Kent”  at the top, probably the person the card was given to, and either a partial name that’s cut off or full name with location that’s cut off,  “Cora Brown Tea….”  I think whoever took the card out of the scrapbook probably did a great job considering it’s a delicate operation. Too bad we can’t read the last word though, as that would probably let us identify the person that was the likely sender.

Victorian era card. Circa 1880s – 1890s.   Size:  2 and 7/8 x 4 and 1/4″

Price:  $15.00