Laramie, Wyoming, Circa 1921

Laramie Wyoming 1921 pc1Laramie Wyoming 1921 pc2

Divided back, used Real Photo Postcard. Postmarked May 8, 1921 from Laramie, Wyoming. Series or number a[?] 6.

Availability Status:  SOLD

This commercial type Real Photo Postcard shows the east side of Second Street, looking south, in Laramie, Wyoming. The postmark is from May of 1921 so the photo may have been taken that year, or the year before, or so.

The businesses that are showing up in the photo are the First State Bank; above the bank is Dr. Sawyer, dentist – this building is at Thornburg (now Ivinson) and Second St.; next door is the clothing store of Frank J. Terry – the name at the top on this building is Simon Durlacher, a very prominent clothier who died in 1893; next to the clothing store is Bendt’s Bakery; next to the bakery is a business of unknown origin; next to them we can see a sign that looks like it might say Drugs. Further down and on the corner of the next block we can see a large Western Union sign.

A little more detail…

The dentist was Dr. Clifford J. Sawyer, his business address on the 1922 city directory is 202 Thornburg. Simon Durlacher died in June of 1893, but the building bearing his name  at 203 S. 2nd St. (built in the 1870s) housed clothing stores for almost a hundred years. Nels Bendt, a Danish immigrant, owned Bendt Bakery (205 S. 2nd St.) …Here’s a great virtual tour of historic downtown Laramie by the Albany County Tourism Board at VisitLaramie.org

We are right there…

The cars are wonderful to look at, are all of them Model Ts? There are a number of pedestrians, including a guy in a cowboy hat, and two boys who are hanging out at the corner on Thornburg. We see a couple of bicycles – one in front of the bank and the other across the street, on the bottom right of the photo. And at the bank’s entrance, tucked inside the protected entrance way, is a baby carriage – assuredly Baby is inside the bank with Mom! We also notice a couple of multi-globed street lights, and a globed traffic divider that says “Keep To Right” that is set up in the middle of the dirt road. The sidewalks are paved though. All in all a wonderful photo. Don’t you feel like you’re right there?

Cold as H…

Not to forget the sender’s message – it’s short but great:   “Cold as H and Snowed yesterday – J.”  Note that the card is postmarked May 8th. It was addressed to:   “Geo. Hume, Box 122, Sacramento Calif.”

Sources:  R.L. Polk & Co.’s Laramie City and Albany County Directory, 1922-1923. Vol. 6, p 94. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

R.L. Polk & Co.’s Laramie City and Albany County Directory, 1920-1921. Vol. 5, p 20. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Historic Downtown Laramie:  Wyoming’s Hometown. Albany County Tourism Board, 2008. VisitLaramie.org. Web accessed March 6, 2015.