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

B. J. Stone Trade Card, New Haven, CT

Posted on August 12th, 2013 by

B. J. Stone Trade Card

Trade card, circa 1882 – 1883.  Printed by Donaldson Bros., Five Points, New York.

Price:  $10.00       Size:  About 4 and 1/2 x 3″

“Celluloid Waterproof Collars, Cuffs and Shirt Bosoms for sale by B. J. Stone, 352 Chapel cor. of Church St., New Haven, Conn.” B. J. Stone appears in New Haven city directories, under the heading of “Gents’ Furnishings Goods” and “Shirt Manufacturers.” The 1882 city directory, in particular, has an ad showing “B. J. Stone (successor to Smith & Stone) Men’s Fine Furnishings, 352 Chapel St., cor. Church, New Haven, Ct., Shirts made to Order a Specialty”  This card is probably from around 1882 or ’83 as some of the other city directories (1884 – ’86) show 870 Chapel as the address. Notice how the canopy of the umbrella and soles of the girl’s shoes are a shirt collar and cuffs – waterproof!

The 1880 U.S. Federal Census for New Haven shows that B. J. is Benjamin J. Stone, born about 1839 in Connecticut, and shows him on this census living with his parents, Benjamin W. Stone, and Elizabeth J. Also in the household is brother George, his wife Mary, and their son George.

Sources:  New Haven, Connecticut city directories, for years 1882 – 1886 (1821 – 1989 U.S. City Directories, Ancestry.com)

1880 United States Federal Census for New Haven, Connecticut (Ancestry.com)

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Categories: Trade Cards and Advertising, Umbrellas and Parasols

Le Palais de Justice et le Nouvel Hôtel de Ville, Tours France

Posted on August 11th, 2013 by

Tours France pc1Tours France pc2

This is one of those postcards that come in a set. You can see the perforated edge. On the back is scrawled, “Got at Tours Nov 9th 1918” which of course is during WWI, so it could have been brought home by someone who served in the military. And according to a Wikipedia entry, “The city was greatly affected by the First World War. A force of 25,000 American soldiers arrived in 1917, setting up textile factories for the manufacture of uniforms, repair shops for military equipment, munitions dumps, an army post office and an American military hospital at Augustins.” The description on the front of the card is “46. Tours (I-et-L) – Le Palais de Justice et le Nouvel Hôtel de Ville – A. P.

I et L stands for Indre et Loire, a department in central France, of which Tours is the capital city. The department was named after the Indre and Loire rivers.

Divided back, unused with writing postcard. Circa 1918. “Imp. – Phot.  A. Thiriat & Cie, Toulouse”  (Imp from the word imprimer? to print. Cie is the abbreviation for compagnie – company)

Price:  $6.00

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Categories: Postcards Unused With Writing

Academy of Music Chicago Trade Card

Posted on August 11th, 2013 by

Irish Girl tc1Irish Girl tc2

A charming drawing of a rosy-cheeked girl wearing what seems to be a handkerchief for a head-covering. Published by the Sunshine Publishing Company of Philadelphia. The flip side shows that this is sort of a playbill type of trade card for the play “Garry Owen” starring the “Famous Irish-American comedian and vocalist Barry Conlan as Shaun O’Reilly.” According to The New York Clipper Annual, this play, also called “Labor, Land and Liberty,” first appeared at the Academy of Music, Chicago in May 1883. The Academy of Music was leased by Daniel Shelby in about 1881, according to The History of Chicago, Volume 3, but Shelby is listed on the card as sole proprietor, so possibly meaning it was just the building that was leased, and he was sole proprietor of the production company. Daniel Shelby (Daniel is written as “Dan’l” on this trade card and also in the History of Chicago book) had a long and varied career in the entertainment business as singer, actor, circus clown and tumbler, manager and proprietor. Born Daniel Macher January 11, 1838 in Gettysburg, PA, Daniel moved with his family, before his first birthday, to Dayton, OH. At age fourteen, he was already popular with the locals as a balladist. When a traveling minstrel show (Sam Wells’ minstrels) came to town he got his shot on a professional stage and promptly joined up with that company.

Marriage, etc:  Daniel was married twice. His first marriage shows him as Daniel J. Macher, marrying Agnes Blanche Cartland, March 12, 1874 in Buffalo, NY. They had one son, Roy Daniel, born April 2, 1876, who sadly, died young, July 4, 1881 in Chicago, at the age of five. The 1880 Federal census for Buffalo, NY shows the family under the last name of Shelby, so it seems that Dan changed his last name sometime after his marriage to Agnes in 1871 and before the 1880 census. His occupation is listed there as “theatrical manager.” Daniel Shelby married Nellie Hatfield Pennock of Altoona, PA on March 23, 1882. Nellie was an opera singer and prima donna, and went by the stage name of Helen Rainsley. Nellie and Dan had two children, Daniel, born January 9, 1883 in Chicago, and Medinah Temple (named after the lodge that Dan was a long standing member of) born in New York, January 5, 1894. The 1900 federal census for New York City, shows Nellie as widow, head of household. Daniel Shelby died of a heart attack in 1895. Nellie then married Edwin Lee Merwin, and they moved to California, where she went under the first name of Helen.

Son, Daniel died October 1, 1922 in San Francisco. According to the funeral record, he was single, occupation stock manager, at the National Ice Cream Co. (of San Francisco) Daniel had taken his stepfather’s last name of Merwin, so the funeral record shows his name as Daniel S. Merwin. (S. for Shelby). Daniel S. Merwin’s residence at time of death was 2063 Larkin St., San Francisco. Attached to the funeral record is a small obit which must have been taken from a newspaper. It shows Daniel as beloved son of Mrs. E. L. Merwin, and brother of Mrs. F. D. McCrimmon. A San Francisco city directory for 1924 shows Frederick D. McCrimmon, salesman, wife Medinah, residence 2285 Broadway. The McCrimmons had been living at 1815 Broadway at the time of Daniel S. Merwin’s death.

Daughter, Medinah married Frederick D. McCrimmon and had lived in San Francisco, but she had married a second time to a George R. Gallagher, and at the time of her death in Los Angeles, March 8, 1951 was listed as Jean Shelby Gallagher.

Much of the information on this post has come to me from Angie Hoskins, who contacted me after finding this website. (Thanks ever so much, Angie!) Angie has done extensive research, the Dan Shelby family being on her family tree. In addition to the invaluable information, she has also provided wonderful tidbits such as, Daniel Shelby did a Shakespearean clown and a clown that was half-man, half-woman, and was very, very funny. Nellie had a beautiful singing voice. Dan changed his name from Macher to Shelby so it would sound better on posters, having been at that time part-owner of the Shelby, Pullman and Hamilton Circus. When Dan died, Nellie was a prima donna and singer with the Robin Hood Company of Canada, but living in New York. Daniel’s first wife, Agnes Blanche Cartland died in England. It is unknown whether she remarried.

Back to the subject of the trade card and regarding the term “olio” on the back of the card; some definitions for olio are:  A mixture; a medley; a heavily spiced stew; a collection of various musical, theatrical or artistic works. This was good advertising here on this card, I think. One wonders what was the brilliant olio and how exactly was it going to “serenely bob up” ?

Trade card, circa 1881.   Size:  About 4 and 1/4 x 2 and 7/8″

Price:  $20.00

Sources:  The New York Clipper Annual, Containing Theatre and Sporting Chronologies…And Best Performances in All Departments of Sport. Published by Frank Queen at the office of The New York Clipper, 88 and 90 Centre Street, New York. Page 3 for year 1883. (Google eBook showing Stanford University Library collection of various years for this publication)

History of Chicago, Volume 3 by Alfred Theodore Andreas. A.T. Andreas Company, Publishers, Chicago, 1886. Page 664. (Google eBook)

“New York, Marriages, 1686-1980,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F6SY-KH7 : accessed 20 Aug 2013), Daniel J. Macher and Agnes Blanche Cartland, 12 Mar 1874.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Buffalo, Erie, New York; Roll: 828; Family History Film: 1254828; Page: 137A; Enumeration District: 123; Image: 0629. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line].

“Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878-1922,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NQ5P-HV3 : accessed 20 Aug 2013), Daniel Shelby, 09 Jan 1883.

“New York, Births and Christenings, 1640-1962,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FDRM-82V : accessed 20 Aug 2013), Nellie H. Pennock Shelby in entry for Medinah Temple Shelby, 05 Jan 1894.

Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Roll: 1113; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0722; FHL microfilm: 1241113. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Find A Grave Memorial# 54880585 (www.findagrave.com)

Find A Grave Memorial# 54759640 (www.findagrave.com)

California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985 (Ancestry.com)

U. S. City Directories, 1921-1989, San Francisco 1924 (Ancestry.com)

California, Death Index, 1940-1997 (Ancestry.com)

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Categories: Children, Trade Cards and Advertising

Lump of Sugar

Posted on August 11th, 2013 by

Lump of Sugar

Old arcade card from about 1922, produced by the Exhibit Supply Company. ESCO was based out of Chicago, Illinois, and made hundreds of arcade games and produced thousands of cards. This one obviously is of the scientific variety, but other themes include sports, western, pin-up girls, jokes, tv and movie stars, fortunes, and fighter jets, just to name a few. Names of old arcade games include wonderful ones like:  The Enchantress, Kiss-O-Meter, Braying Jackass, Personality Register, Radio Love Messages, and (my favorite) License To Do Any Old Thing.

Sources:  www.arcade-museum.com

imageevent.com

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Categories: Vintage Arcade Cards

Foster’s Molasses Candy Trade Card

Posted on August 8th, 2013 by

Fosters tc

Victorian Era trade card

Price:  $15.00        Size:  2 and 5/8 x 4 and 1/16″

Foster’s Un-X-Ld Old Fashioned Molasses Candy. Made Daily at 244 Essex St., Salem, Mass. Nothing has been found online so far regarding this company. Perhaps a Salem, Mass library has information. The subject matter is a little unusual, I think:  A compact beautiful little lady kissing a doll. Due to the size of the flowers she wears, and the leaves at the bottom of her dress, it’s possible that she is supposed to be a flower fairy. But whatever the artist had in mind, this is a really cool trade card. The term “un-x-ld” stands for unexcelled, as in none better!

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Categories: Disasters and Weather, Flowers, Trade Cards and Advertising

Photo of Anna

Posted on August 5th, 2013 by

Girl Standing pc1Girl Standing pc2

A non-studio portrait of a young woman, not smiling, but beautiful, standing in front of a plaid backdrop. Note the curly hair with what may be one large bow, showing on either side of her face. Note the beads, (or possible rosary?) the bracelet and what looks like a ring on her left hand. The book title is unreadable. The oval style of the photo is nice. The back of the postcard appears to have her name, and it looks like Anna Tea but it could be Anna Lea with just a mark across the L. Both last names come up in census records. If it’s Lea that could be a middle name or a last name.

Real Photo Postcard, divided back, unused with writing. AZO stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1918.

Price:  $8.00

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Categories: Postcards, Postcards Unused With Writing, Real Photo Postcards

Congo Girl

Posted on August 4th, 2013 by

Congo Girl

Real Photo Postcard. Black and White. Circa 1957. Photographer:  Casimir Zagourski.

Price:  $45.00

This is a postcard that was sent from Saratoga, California, postmarked October 29, 1957. To protect the receiver’s privacy, the back of the postcard which shows the address, is not included here. The sender’s writing on the side states,  “One type of hair dress in the Congo.”  It is assumed that this photo was taken in the Congo, because of the sender’s remarks, but there is no description on the back of the postcard. It is possible that the sender had traveled to the Congo and sent the postcard upon his or her return to the United States but we would not know that for sure; there is no indication in the writing on the back, and no way to research the sender as it is signed with  “love from a friend.”  The photographer’s stamp on the back appears to read as:  “C. Zagourski   Photographie. Léopoldville – Congo (Belge) Reproduction Interdit.” (Most of the stamp is readable)

Research shows this photographer is Casimir Zagourski. (1883 – 1944) Casimir, the son of a Polish nobleman, was born Kazimierz Zagórski, August 9, 1883 in Zytomierz, Ukraine. After serving in the military, he headed for the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo.) He established a studio in Léopoldville in 1924, and ran this until his death in 1944, selling photographic albums and postcards and making expeditions to photograph and record on film, other areas of Africa including Kenya, Rwanda,Tanzania (Tanganyika) and Uganda. He recognized that he was capturing a way of life in Africa that was disappearing, as evidenced by the title he gave to a grand body of work: L’Afrique Qui Disparait. His work was viewed in Paris at the Colonial Exhibition in 1937, and he won a gold medal, the grand prize at the 1937 International Exhibition at Brazzaville. These are just a few simplistic facts included here with this post, however the life of this influential photographer has been written about by author Krzysztof Pluskota, and appears in the book entitled In and Out of Focus: Images from Central Africa, 1885-1960 edited by Christraud M. Geary.

For this blog’s author, this postcard is yet another example of how research on one photo, one postcard, one trade card, one whatever, is like opening a door to a whole other world. Check out the incredible collections online in the Yale postcard collection and Gallery Ezakwantu.

Sources:  Geary, Christraud M. (Ed.) (2003) In and Out of Focus: Images from Central Africa, 1885-1960.  London:  Philip Wilson Publishers. (Googlebooks)

Gallery Ezakwantu (www.ezakwantu.com)

Yale University, Casimir Zagourski Postcard Collection (www.library.yale.edu)

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Categories: African, African American, African Roots, People, Postcards, Postcards Used, Real Photo Postcards, Women

Gilmore Blu-Green Gasoline Trade Card

Posted on July 27th, 2013 by

Gilmore Lion tc frontGilmore Lion tc back

Not being raised on the West Coast, and not being a collector of petroliana, I had never heard of Gilmore Oil until researching this trade card, (or possibly had but hadn’t payed enough attention) but have since discovered a lot of fascinating information. I am just including some things here that I’ve learned from other websites, to go along with this trade card post. The Gilmore Oil Company was based out of Los Angeles, California, and started by Arthur Fremont Gilmore. A.F. Gilmore owned and operated a 256-acre farm, near the La Brea Tar Pits and found oil (that makes sense) while drilling for more water for his dairy herd. A.F.’s son, E.B. (Earl Bell) joined his father, and became chief executive of the company, and a master at promoting and marketing. The company, among other things, sponsored race cars, airplanes, boats, motorcycles, had it’s own sort of traveling circus, a radio show, and a lion cub mascot named “Gilmore” who flew thousands of miles as “co-pilot” in a company plane. The pilot was Roscoe Turner (lots already written about Roscoe and Gilmore, the cub. See below for sources.) And Gilmore Oil was highly successful. According to the Farmer’s Market website (www.farmersmarketla.org) ” A.F. Gilmore and his son, Earl Bell (E.B.) turned their Gilmore Oil Company into the largest distributor of petroleum products in the Western U.S.”  Why does a farmer’s market website have facts about an oil company? Because the Gilmore land that was once dairy farm, then oil field, eventually became the site of a farmer’s market, and that is another whole story.

More interesting stuff:  Gilmore the cub logged over 25,000 air miles, and is said to have been the inspiration for MGM’s “Leo” the lion. E.B. Gilmore is said to have been the first to offer a self-service gas station. And the company’s radio show called “The Gilmore Circus” featured “Blu-Green, the longest song in the world.”  It was advertised as such since every week, a new verse on the excellence of Blu-Green gasoline was added, chosen from hundreds? that had been submitted by the public. Winners were awarded weekly and monthly prizes.

Price:  $45.00   AVAILABILITY STATUS:  SOLD – No longer available

Sources:  www.farmersmarketla.org

Images of America, Los Angeles’s Original Farmer’s Market by David Hamlin and Brett Arena. Copyright 2009 by A.F. Gilmore Company. Published by Arcadia Publishing. (googlebooks online)

Airspace blog post by Allan Janus, Dec. 27, 2010 (http://blog.nasm.si.edu/archives/lion-cubs-yeah-weve-got-lion-cubs-too/)

Another great post to read on the subject of Roscoe and Gilmore: “Rosco and ‘Gilmore the Lion’ – March 13, 2013” at Robert Novell’s Third Dimension Blog. (http://www.robertnovell.com/blog/roscoe-and-gilmore-lion-march-15-2013)

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Categories: Lions, Trade Cards and Advertising

Posing Pioneer Woman

Posted on July 24th, 2013 by

Woman at Cabin pc1Woman at Cabin pc2

Real Photo Postcard of unknown pioneer-type woman. The pose of this woman reminds me of a character in a play or a book. I thought at first I would turn the card over to the other side and see something about a re-enactment. It reminds me of the book Shepherd Of The Hills by Harold Bell Wright, which I read when about eleven years old, although why it should remind me of this book is unclear to me, as I don’t even remember all of the book’s characters. But, as you can see, there is no such explanation on the back, and nothing to indicate where this postcard came from. It was found in an antique store in California. I’m assuming it was taken somewhere in the United States, but don’t really know. Whoever this woman is though, she certainly looks proud and strong. She is standing in front of a building that has some brickwork and a rather tall set of wooden stairs. Was this her home, a relative’s home? Are we looking at the back of an old general store, or someplace she visited while on vacation? We could think of a million stories for her. And what was up with the really tall set of stairs? Was the building built on the side of hill?

Update:  Here’s a postcard of Old Matt’s Cabin, which I came across later, and just posted. There’s no connection between the two postcards, except for the memory it triggered for me. But not surprisingly, yesterday (at my regular customer service job) I happened to talk to someone from Branson, Missouri. This synchronicity type of thing happens a lot. Heck, maybe this woman here is from Missouri. You never know!

Divided back, unused Real Photo Postcard. Velox stamp box, circa 1907 – 1917.

Price:  $10.00

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Categories: Photos Without Names, Postcards, Postcards Unused

List of Detroit Photographers 1880

Posted on July 20th, 2013 by

  • Abraham, A.W.           187 Grand River ave
  • Allen, Frank W.           83 Michigan ave.
  • Bardwell, J.J.              120 Michigan ave.
  • Joseph Boivert            148 Dubois
  • Bradford, H.J.              257 Michigan ave.
  • Campbell, S.W.           134 Gratiot ave.
  • DeForest, D. A.            1 Larned w.
  • Eisendhardt, C.            204 Randolph
  • Forster, J.T. & Son,      180 Gratiot ave.
  • Hadstate, H.C.              227 Jefferson ave.
  • Hinchey, P. J.                500 Gratiot ave., h [home] same
  • Hunter Bros,                 131 and 133 Michigan ave.
  • Leonard, C.W.              231 Jefferson ave.
  • Levy, Charles               175 Woodward ave.
  • Lutge, Frederick           53 Monroe ave.
  • Marratt’s City Hall Photographic Gallery   131, 133 and 135 Woodward ave.
  • Millard, Charles A.  (Successor to Powelson & Millard)   222 and 224 Woodward ave. (See adv, p. 125.)
  • Randall, C.C.                220 Woodward ave.
  • Simonds, J.S.               149 Jefferson ave.
  • Taylor & Taylor               244 Woodward ave.
  • Tromblay, E.E.               59 Monroe ave.
  • Watson, J.E.                  41 and 43 Monroe ave.

This list of 22 photographers is from the Detroit City Directory for 1880, and includes their business addresses. The use of the small a for avenue or the small w for west, seems to have been the way it was done back then, as this has been noted in other directories, newspaper articles, etc. I found this list while researching Charles Millard, and just thought it was interesting, and that it may come in handy for someone searching for an 1880’s era Detroit photographer. Just as an aside, and by contrast to the number of photographers above, the next category is physicians, and that list holds 220 entries.

Source:  Detroit City Directory for 1880. Compiled and published by J. W. Weeks & Co. (Google books online)

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Categories: Photographer Names, Photographers