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

To Ethel From Annie

Posted on January 1st, 2015 by

To Ethel From Annie pc1To Ethel From Annie pc2

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked December 31, 1908 from San Francisco, California. Printed in Germany. Publisher unknown.

Price:  $5.00

“A Happy New Year”  is the caption on this 1908 postcard printed in Germany. It shows a pink rose and green leaves above a pineapple-shaped outline (for a vase perhaps) and a burgundy background fading to a lighter color at the bottom. It’s another in the Ethel Main Collection. The sender writes,  “Dear Ethel – Wishes for a Happy and prosperous New Year from Annie.”  The card is addressed to:  “Miss Ethel Main, 2319 Folsom St., City.”  We know “City” in this case refers to San Francisco, since this appears on the postmark.

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Categories: Flowers, Holidays, New Year, Postcards, Postcards Used, Printed in Germany, The Ethel Main Collection

Another For Alma Johnson

Posted on January 1st, 2015 by

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“With songs so gay let’s greet the Year,

That Time will stay his flight to hear.”

I had almost forgotten that I had another one addressed to Alma. The street is spelled correctly on this one but the year of the postmark did not get stamped completely. Based on the research for the prior post, January 1st Greetings, the postmark year is probably 1915, although the same card design shows up online in another postcard that is postmarked 1911. But this is a nice one with a court jester playing the lute, and Father Time with wings carrying a scythe, a globe, and an hourglass. It’s signed,  “from Ted & Enice”  and addressed as,  “Mrs. Alma Johnson, Wadsworth St., Hartford Conn.”

According to the excellent website Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City, the publisher L & E would be Lubrie & Elkins, of New York City. Lubrie & Elkins produced all the postcards holding the H.B. Griggs illustrations. The front of this card is signed with the initials “H.B.G.”

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked Dec. 31, likely year 1915, from New Briton, Connecticut. Artist:  H. B. Griggs. Publisher: Lubrie & Elkins. Series 2266.

Price:  $15.00

Source: “Lubrie & Elkins.” (Publisher – L).  Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City. Web accessed January 1, 2015. [http://www.metropostcard.com/publishersl.html]

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Categories: Court Jesters, Holidays, New Year, Postcards, Postcards Artist Signed, Postcards Used

January 1st Greetings

Posted on January 1st, 2015 by

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I’m always amazed at how the senders were generally so on time with their holiday greetings. (This from one who is usually late in sending hers.) This one is stunning, and rather out of the ordinary, showing a beautiful design of a very fashionably dressed young woman who is smiling and throwing snowballs. A wrought iron fence is behind her, and in the far distance a house. The caption  “January first Greetings”  appears in a cloud, and there are also a couple of evergreens. The sky and border are done in silver-tone. I love the young lady’s expression, her chic winter coat in white with black and red trim, and her red hat. The silhouette of her shoestring bows are a nice touch. The sender wrote:

“Dear Alma, we both wish you a very Happy New Year – Mary.”

The street name on the address seems to have been misspelled; it may have been meant to be addressed as:   “Mrs. Alma Johnson, 33 Wadsworth St., City.”  It’s postmarked December 31, 1915, from Hartford Connecticut. A 99 year old card, almost to the day!

There are a number of Mrs. Alma Johnsons for this time period on census records in Hartford. The address of 33 Wadsworth St. does not show in the Hartford directory at all in 1915. The 1914 and 1916 directories show the address but different people are living there.

The 1910 Federal Census shows a married Alma Johnson, with husband and children living at 32 Lawrence Street, at the cross street of Ward, which would be a close walk to the address on the card. This census shows head of household Otto A. Johnson, born Sweden, about 1882, occupation Packer in an iron foundry; wife Alma, born Sweden, about 1875; their daughter Esta, age about 1 and 8/12[?]; Alma’s children by her first marriage, Carl, Hilda, Rhiner and Anna Sherman, ages 11, 10, 7 and 5 respectively. All the children were born in Connecticut, and the year of immigration for Otto and Alma shows 1895. This could be the correct record but it’s not for certain. The 1920 census shows the address of 33 Wadsworth St., but a different family is there by this time. The 1910 census doesn’t show the exact address, at all. So, this turns out to be kind of a funny conglomeration of a search – involving a common name, a seemingly incorrect street spelling and missing records. We’ll leave this one then, and move on, as to really try to verify the identity of the addressee would be too time-consuming.

See Another For Alma Johnson for the second postcard we have that was sent to this same person.

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked December 31, 1915 from Hartford, Connecticut. Publisher:  The Fairman Co., Cin. & N.Y., “The Pink of Perfection.” The design on the front was copyrighted by the G. A. Company, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Price:  $20.00

Source:  Year: 1910; Census Place: Hartford Ward 8, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: T624_133; Page: 34A; Enumeration District: 0191; FHL microfilm: 1374146. (Ancestry.com)

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Categories: Holidays, New Year, Postcards, Postcards Used, Same Family Postcard Groups, Snow

Holiday Wishes From The Holtorfs

Posted on January 1st, 2015 by

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Here’s a personalized holiday greeting card, with two deckled edge sides, the printed message,  “With the best of Holiday Wishes”  and a small design of probably a poinsettia. It’s signed,  “The Holtorfs”  and shows an older couple with their two grown sons, (note the strong family resemblance) posing in front of their home.  If you look closely at the street address on what appears to be a Corinthian style porch column, you’ll see the street number 77 with a mark just to the left. So, it looks like the address might have been 177 or 477, or even 777, but searching the U.S. City Directories under these numbers and the family last name, did not bring up any possible records (without doing an extremely extensive search.) Though we see a basement window, it’s still possible that this is a California home (the card was found in that state) as there were some Californian homes built with basements, even though most were not, due to the ground not freezing; builders therefor not needing to dig below the frost line. I’m guessing that this style might be a Craftsman; we don’t see the whole house so that makes it a little more difficult to determine. As far as the clothing worn by the four individuals in this photo, I think the most striking style detail we see is the double-breasted suit of the man on our right. The other two men are possibly in the same style, though it’s harder to tell. I would estimate this photo to have been taken in the 1930s.

Personalized holiday greeting card with black and white photo and two deckled edge sides. Circa 1930s.  Full size of card:  About 5 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/2.”

Price:  $5.00

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Categories: Christmas, Holidays, Houses, Mysteries, Photos With Names

The Old Wish At Christmas

Posted on December 27th, 2014 by

The Old Wish At Christmas c1

Ahhh, another Christmas card from my favorite unknown artist! Again no date, jeesh! This one is signed  “Mildred & Meade.”  Yep, one might think this couple’s name would help narrow down the date, since Meade is not a common first name. But as it turns out, there are quite a number of “Mildred and Meades” showing up all over the United States. Anyway, this is a beautiful little card. The small design at the top is done in red, gold and black. It shows a partial scene of a stone cottage, with red roof and rounded door. Birds are in flight, and if this is a seaside cottage then we’re seeing golden waves in the background. In the foreground we see a woman in mid-19th century dress hurrying toward her destination, with her long scarf flying behind her. The scene is bordered with a sort of Art Nouveau styled red line which mimics the line of the cottage. The verse states:

“THE OLD WISH AT CHRISTMAS

No words can keep our hearts as young

As these which ring on every tongue,

MERRY CHRISTMAS”

The other two similar cards that we have on this website are listed under the Charles Jarchow and May Your Christmas Be Merry posts.

Christmas card, circa 1910s – 1930s. Artist unknown.  Size:  About 4 and 7/8 x 3 and 7/8″

Price:  $15.00

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Categories: Christmas, Holidays

God Jul!

Posted on December 27th, 2014 by

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Well, it’s two days after Christmas but it’s still the holiday season. Here’s a vintage Whitney Made postcard in Swedish showing (after the phrase God Jul! – Merry Christmas!) the verse from a song, along with a Christmas tree and an evergreen in the moonlight scene.

“God Jul!

Var hälsad sköna morgonstund,

Som af profeters helga mun

Är oss bebådad vorden!

Du stora dag, du sälla dag,

På hvilken himlens välbehag

Ännu besöker jorden!”

The song is attributed to German Lutheran pastor, poet and composer Philipp Nicolai (1556 – 1608.)  This information was found thanks to the website Projekt Runeberg, which has a page showing the sheet music and additional verses. A simple online translation will not do the verse justice. We’d be happy to get a real translation from someone!

Divided back, embossed, unused postcard. Publisher:  Whitney Made, Worcester, Mass. Circa 1910s – 1920s.

Price:  $6.00

Sources:  “Svenska Missionförbundets sängbok.”  Projekt Runeberg. Web accessed December 27, 2014. [http://runeberg.org/smfsang/0038.html]

Philipp Nicolai. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_Nicolai. (accessed December 27, 2014).

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Categories: Christmas, Holidays, Postcards, Postcards Unused

Merry Christmas To Grace Baldwin From Irene Ockerson

Posted on December 26th, 2014 by

Merry Christmas To Grace Baldwin From Irene Ockerson pc1Merry Christmas To Grace Baldwin From Irene Ockerman pc2

Here’s an absolutely wonderful Christmas postcard from 1906 that has a good luck theme. It’s not the first that we’ve encountered having what would today seem to be the unlikely combination of yuletide and luck:  Here’s another great example. Anyway, I guess we could describe the central design of this card as a Christmas ornament:  It’s of a silver four-leaf clover suspended inside a round flattened silver piece that has a horseshoe design imprinted on it. Fastened at the top is a long red ribbon done up in a bow, unfurling and artistically framing the ornament. The cursive “Merry Christmas”  greeting is embossed in green, and the background in tan with a greenish hue shows a subtle diamond-shaped or lattice-work style pattern. A very elegant card! The clover is the most heavily embossed and is especially beautiful. The postcard is signed on the front by the sender, Irene Ockerson, who mailed it from Red Oak, Iowa, to  “Miss Grace Baldwin, Santa Cruz, California.”

Irene Ockerson was born in Iowa, about 1878, of Swedish-born parents Daniel J. Ockerson and Christine (Olsen) Ockerson. The 1880 Federal Census for Red Oak shows Daniel, age 42, occupation Laborer, Christine, age 34; their children Carl L., age 10, Florence, age 8, Irene, age 2; and sister-in-law to Daniel, Hannah Olsen, age 24, born in Sweden. Carl, the oldest child, was born in Illinois, while the girls were born in Iowa.

So, Irene would have been about 28 years old when she sent this postcard to Grace who would have been age 31. The 1900 census for Santa Cruz, shows Grace, age 24, born in California, November 1875, occupation School Teacher, living with her parents and brothers at 155 Locust St. A quick look at city directories shows Grace living at this address at least through 1917. The ’17 directory shows she was teaching at Mission Hill School. The 1900 census shows her living with her parents, who are age 53, born in Massachusetts, Fred D. Baldwin, occupation Farmer, and Mary A. Baldwin; and younger brothers, Arnold M., age 17, occupation Messenger Boy, and Rosco R. Baldwin, age 16 and in school.

From the multilingual back header, and the fact that it’s a divided back in 1906, we see that this card was not printed in the United States. Stamped in blue, above the header, is  “Stone Lithograph.”  What a wonderful thing to have a description of how the card was made actually included on the card; this is the first postcard, marked as such, that we’ve come across. See this Wiki entry on lithography for a detailed description. The publisher initials on the bottom left appear to be “B.K.W.I.” However, according to the excellent website The Postcard Album, this is publisher Brueder Kohn of Wien (Vienna, Austria). What appears to be the initial “I” is actually the Latin “1” which indicates the downtown Vienna postal district.

Lastly, we won’t go into any searching for a prior owner of this card, but we see that it was once in the collection of a Mr. Peter Barrale, who must also have treasured it.

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked December 19, 1906 from Red Oak, Iowa. Publisher info:  B.K.W.I. No. 2651. (Brueder Kohn, Vienna, post office 1.)

Price:  $20.00

Sources:  Year: 1880; Census Place: Red Oak, Montgomery, Iowa; Roll: 357; Family History Film: 1254357; Page: 310C; Enumeration District: 145; Image: 0621. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1900; Census Place: Santa Cruz Ward 3, Santa Cruz, California; Roll: 112; Page: 20B; Enumeration District: 0090; FHL microfilm: 1240112. (Ancestry.com)

Santa Cruz County Directory, 1916-1917. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989.

Lithography. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography. (accessed December 26, 2014).

“Postcard Printer & Publisher Research.”  The Postcard Album. Web accessed December 26, 2014. [http://www.tpa-project.info/html/body_identification.html]

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Categories: Christmas, Four-Leaf Clovers, Holidays, Postcards, Postcards Used

A Merry Christmas To Mr. Frank Paul

Posted on December 25th, 2014 by

A Merry Christmas To Mr Frank Paul pc1A Merry Christmas To Mr Frank Paul pc2

Here’s a lovely card with Christmas bells and holly, and “framed” scene of a home at sunset in winter. I like how the greeting is two-toned in red and gold, and the rustic (this word is starting to be used a lot here at Laurel Cottage) gold border, which does not appear to be meant to represent birch bark, but reminds me of it nonetheless. The card is addressed to:  “Mr. Frank Paul, Kimbal & Wabansia Ave., Chicago Ill.”

The sender wrote:  “Merry Xmas and a happy New Year to you and the bunch. A. F. Kreft. P.O. Box 1414. Vancouver B.C.”

A.F. Kreft was found on the 1911 Canadian Census for Vancouver:  Albert F. Kreft, born in the United States, November of 1878 or ’79, year of immigration 1910; wife Martha, born December 1884, also in the U.S., year of immigration the same. Arthur’s occupation is difficult to read (photo bug? ha ha, nooo…photo eng? Yes.) The 1910 U.S. Federal Census for Sheboygan, Wisconsin shows this couple, both born in Illinois. Albert’s occupation is listed as Photo Engraver, and he is working for a photo engraving company. His WWI Draft Registration card (1918) shows that at that time he and Martha were living in Chicago, his middle name is Frederick, and he was working for the Columbian Engraving Company. Martha’s maiden name is Laser per an Ancestry.com family tree reference, which is funny since decades later engraving is often done with lasers.

The addressee was found on the 1910 census for Chicago:  Frank Paul and wife Rose, both born about 1844; and their children, Frank, Jr., Tony, Josephine and Joseph. All born in Austria, year of immigration 1888. Frank is a saloon keeper, Frank Jr. (age 22) is a bar tender, Tony (age 17) a bookkeeper, and Josephine (age 15) a milliner, working at a store. (Wow, every one is working except for the youngest, who is thirteen. Of course, Rose is working in the home.) The house number is not given but appears to have been on N. Kimball Ave. at the cross street of W. Wabansia Ave.

Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked December 19, 1912 from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Publisher unknown.

Price:  $15.00

Sources:  Year: 1911; Census Place: Vancouver City, Vancouver, British Columbia; Page: 5; Family No: 46. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1910; Census Place: Sheboygan Ward 3, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Roll: T624_1739; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0111; FHL microfilm: 1375752. (Ancestry.com)

 Registration State: Illinois; Registration County: Cook; Roll: 1504078; Draft Board: 84. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. (Ancestry.com)

 

Year: 1910; Census Place: Chicago Ward 27, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T624_271; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 1211; FHL microfilm: 1374284. (Ancestry.com)

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Categories: Christmas, Holidays, Postcards, Postcards Used, Snow

To Ella From Ed

Posted on December 23rd, 2014 by

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Divided back, artist-signed, used postcard. Postmarked December 23rd, year unknown. Circa 1915 – 1916 or 1919 – 1921. Publisher:  Stecher Lithograph Company, Rochester, New York. Series 726F.

Price:  $15.00

“Merry Christmas

Your Christmas be a happy one

Bestowing for your good

Much merryment and rare content

Just as a Christmas should.”

Here’s an adorable little lady in mid-19th century dress, carrying presents and a wreath made of holly. Besides the wreath’s berries, the ribbons and bows are in red, as is her bonnet’s ostrich plume, and the card’s border. Next to her, on our left is what appears to be the artist’s logo; it’s quite unusual, and is nothing resembling a signature. We’d presume it to be from the artist, as the publisher logo appears in the bottom left corner of the card, showing a copyright mark for Stecher Lithograph Company, Rochester, New York.

This is another card in the Alice Ellison Collection, and is addressed to “Miss Ella Ellison, 1314 F St, Sacramento, Cal.”  The postmark year got left off in the cancellation process, but shows it was sent from Auburn, California on December 23rd. We have others  that were sent to Ella at this address between 1915 and 1921, but since the stamp is a one-cent, the estimated date would be 1915 – 1916 and 1919 – 1921, as during WWI the stamp price had been raised to two cents.

Unknown artist logo for publisher Stecher Lithograph Company.

Artist Logo For Stecher Litho Co

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Categories: Christmas, Holidays, People, Postcards, Postcards Artist Signed, Postcards Used, The Alice Ellison Collection, Women

J. E. Allen & Sons Trade Card

Posted on December 21st, 2014 by

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“Compliments of J. E. Allen & Sons. No. 16 N. Third St., Harrisburg, PA.”

Here’s a beautiful trade card for the winter season:  a country scene in brown and white on gray; showing a man driving a two-horse drawn sled which is hauling some very large logs. They are driving past a large windmill, appearing on their left. The road is bordered by a rustic wooden fence, and there are some trees and buildings in the background; note the church steeple. The back of the card has a beautifully delicate design, which is a partial border around the message:

“Go to ALLEN & SONS. No. 16 North Third Street, Harrisburg, Pa. For Fine Confections, Fruits, Nuts, &c. ORDER YOUR HOLIDAY CAKES FROM THEM. A Specialty Made of Fruit Cake. The Largest and Finest Stock of TOYS in the City.”

Imagine being able to go back in time to this store, especially just before Christmas!

J.E. Allen & Sons was John E. Allen, and sons James C. and George. The 1880 Federal Census for Harrisburg shows:  John E. Allen, born about 1825; his wife Frances E., born about 1834; son’s George, born about 1856; James C., born about 1858; daughter Mary E., born about 1862; son Charles E., born about 1865; and Rosanna Paul, occupation servant, born about 1827. All in the household are Pennsylvania natives except for Frances, who is native to New York. Occupations for John E. Allen and sons George and James C. are listed as baker. City directories found online for this company are running from 1876 – 1882.

Trade card, circa 1876 – 1882.   Size:  4 and 1/2 x 2 and 1/2″

Price:  $15.00

Sources: Boyd’s Harrisburg City Directory, 1876 – 1877. p. 81. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Boyd’s Harrisburg “Telegraph” Directory, 1882 – 1884. p. 343. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Year: 1880; Census Place: Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1123; Family History Film: 1255123; Page: 193A; Enumeration District: 087; Image: 0389 (Ancestry.com)

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Categories: Snow, Trade Cards and Advertising, Windmills