Comic Donkey and Couple Circa 1940’s

Old photo, circa 1940’s.

Price:  $6.00              Size:  About 2 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/2″

These type seem to be generally referred to as “face-in-the-hole-board.” Other names include photo cutouts, Aunt Sallys, peep boards, character boards, fat-lady-on-the-beach boards. This handsome and fun, young couple (out for a drive in the surrey – yep, surrey with the fringe on top 😉 ) look to be from the 1940’s era. 

Sources:  Photo Cutouts. https://photocutouts.co.uk/blog/peep-boards-face-in-the-hole-boards-cutout-boards-what-should-they-be-called/ (Accessed June 10, 2023.)

The Surrey with the Fringe on Top. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Surrey_with_the_Fringe_on_Top#:~:text=%22The%20

Surrey%20with%20the%20Fringe,jazz%20musicians%20to%20play%20it. (Accessed June 10, 2023.)

James A. Anderson, Maumee, Ohio

Divided Back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. AZO stamp box. Circa 1914 – 1917.

Price:  $15.00          Size:  3 and 3/8 x 4 and 3/4″

Always charming – these photos and cards of children on donkeys and horses – a donkey in this case. And this particular postcard is a little off from the standard size in length (length of card as viewed from the reverse with writing side).

James, dressed up in wool hat, suit coat and knickers and wearing button, high top boots, was a Maumee, OH native, born October 26, 1909. The son of Charles E. Anderson and Julia “Jewel” Elnora Wise/Weis, James’ middle name was Arnold, according to the 1910 Federal Census for Maumee, Ohio, which flipped the names and lists him as “Arnold J.” (Note the stirrups are a little too long for him in the photo.)

Sources:  Ancestry.com. Ohio, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1774-1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Maumee Ward 2, Lucas, Ohio; Roll: T624_1210; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 0163; FHL microfilm: 1375223. (Ancestry.com).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112621700/james-arnold-anderson: accessed 24 September 2022), memorial page for James Arnold Anderson (26 Oct 1909–29 Jan 1956), Find a Grave Memorial ID 112621700, citing Calvary Cemetery, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, USA; Maintained by TAYLOR (contributor 47701928).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119834096/julia-eleanor-anderson: accessed 24 September 2022), memorial page for Julia Eleanor “jewel” Weis Anderson (2 Aug 1891–27 Aug 1980), Find a Grave Memorial ID 119834096, citing Calvary Cemetery, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, USA; Maintained by M_artin S_chauder (contributor 47780256).

Stereograph of Portobello Beach, Scotland

Stereograph, Portobello Beach, Scotland, circa 1860s – 1890s. Possibly 1860s.

Price:  $20.00        Size:  About 6 and 3/4 x 3 and 1/4″ including matting

Bathing machines at Portobello Beach, Scotland

Portobello was a coastal town situated three miles east of Edinburgh’s city center, and today is a suburb of that city.

Here’s two of the same image mounted on cardboard to make a stereograph, also commonly called stereo view, the type used for 3-D viewing (or an approximation of) that was popular “in waves” (per Wikipedia’s entry and no pun intended 😉 ) from around 1870 – 1920.

Various historical notices and letters can be found in The Caledonian Mercury (Edindburgh, Scotland) on the subject of bathing at Portobello. A little background info:  Men had been used to bathing in the nude, both sexes used the bathing machines, women were segregated from the men, and bathing laws were changing in the 1860s. Here’s a few newspaper clippings – below left, appearing July 17, 1851 and on the right, dated June 23, 1862:

Below, another letter to the editor, dated April 4, 1863, and signed “Common Sense.”

Forsyth

Note the surname Forsyth on a few of the conveyances, which we discovered was one of the rental companies at the time the photo was taken. (Could the W. F. in the 1862 letter to the editor have been a Forsyth?) Other machines in the photo show different company names, but they’re too blurred to make out.

Below, a Forsyth’s baths ad clipped from The Caledonian Mercury, August 21, 1861, which leads one to think that our stereograph photo may have been from the 1860s, though more research would need to be done to hopefully find how long the company was in the machine rental business.

High topper gents

Also notable, are two men gazing back at the camera, sporting high top hats. Note that the hat on the right is what we think of as “stovepipe” as in Abe Lincoln, but the other (or maybe too much imagination in play here) looks like it might be of the variety that was more rounded on the sides and top. The term “chimney pot” was also used, but it seems both nicknames have come to be used interchangeably, and understandably so, because one can find photos of chimney pots that have either straight, convex or concave sides. But we’ll stop ourselves here from going off on a hat tangent, (a whole other realm….hat history, hats and public opinion, hats and politics, how fashion influenced politics, etc.)

Sources:  Stereoscope. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereoscope (accessed August 31, 2019).

Bathing machine. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathing_machine (accessed August 31, 2019).

“Portobello – The Bathing Machines” The Caledonian Mercury, July 17, 1851. Thursday, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).

“Letter to the Editor” The Caledonian Mercury, June 24, 1862. Tuesday, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).

“Bathing at Portobello” The Caledonian Mercury, April 6, 1863. Monday, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).

“Baths” The Caledonian Mercury, August 21, 1861. Wednesday, p. 2. (Newspapers.com).

Top hat. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_hat (accessed August 31, 2019).

Another TJ Tourist RPPC

Another TJ Tourist RPPC pc1Another TJ Tourist RPPC pc2

Divided back, unused with writing, Real Photo Postcard. Circa late 1940s or 1950s.

Price:  $7.00

“See my Straw Mule. Wellie look like he was drunk but he wasn’t. J.T. is about ready to take off. ha ha.”

A group of four tourists in sombreros and serapes, the one gentleman is astride a donkey (no stripes this time) wearing a sombrero. I don’t get the reference to the straw mule. Maybe somebody out there does and can comment. The younger woman holds a woven straw doll, though. Click on the image to enlarge. And how do you like the use of “wellie” for “well he” or is Wellie a nickname for either of the guys in the photo?

Tourists In Tijuana, 1955

Tourists In Tijuana 1955 pc1Tourists In Tijuana 1955 pc2

Divided back, unused, Real Photo Postcard. Circa 1955. Kodak Paper stamp box.

Price:  $7.00

An African-American couple (presuming couple and presuming they’re from the U.S.) posing for a photo wearing tourist sombreros, seated on a platform behind a “Tijuana Zebra.” That’s a depiction of the Legend of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl as the photographer’s backdrop, and at the top of the backdrop we can see “1955” and what looks like the suggestion of “Mexico” to the right of the year. The photo does seem unmistakably 1950’s with those pedal pushers the beautiful young woman is wearing. Just behind the donkey we can see the start of the word “Tijuana” that’s painted on the platform.

Sources:  Tijuana Zebra. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana_Zebra. (accessed April 22, 2016).

Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popocat%C3%A9petl_and_Iztacc%C3%ADhuatl. (accessed April 22, 2016).

The Lehmann Family With Ikey And Buster

Buster And Ikey And Family pc1Buster And Ikey And Family

At first, we were just willing to place a heavy bet on the identity of the people in this Real Photo Postcard, but then after a little more research….

John M. Lehman or Lehmann, born Illinois about 1868; his wife Malvina V. (Allen) born Kansas about 1875 and most likely their oldest daughter, Florence, born Kansas about 1905; rather than younger daughter, Neva, born Kansas about 1909; and of course, the donkeys, Ikey and Buster.

The sender signs the letter “Mal” and she mentions John, and as for the child’s name mentioned, it looks more like Jennie or Jessie that a possible Flossie or Florrie but maybe whatever is indicated there was Florence’s pet name. By 1920, the family is living in Burrton, Kansas, which is about eleven miles northwest of Halstead.

Eva Gressinger, mentioned below, was the first key to solving the postcard’s mysteries:  Eva’s name turns up in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas on the 1910 Federal Census, which confirmed the cancellation place for the postcard. The sender writes:

“This is ‘Ikey’ and ‘Buster’ with the family. Dont know who that is peeping thro the trees. Muriel, what is the new doctor doing for you? Hazel, how did you get home from the depot? John is sick again to-day. Guess his trip was too much for him. [ ? ] all in today too. Too much Fair last week. ‘Every body’ asks ‘how the sick cousin is.’ Eva Gressinger was asking about you yesterday. Saw her at [ ? ]. Write! write!   Mal.”

Addressed to:  “Misses Muriel & Hazel Church, Pueblo, Colo. 1217 Spruce.”

Eureka:  Postcard i.d. confirmed!

As for the cousins, Muriel and Hazel, they are two of the children of Russel Jobe Church and Viola Castillo Stout. The “cousin” relationship is confirmed with Viola – she shows up on Ancestry trees as a relative of Malvina. So, for sure, in the photo, this is John and Malvina Lehman and likely Florence (and of course Ikey and Buster).  🙂

Divided back, used, Real Photo Postcard. Postmarked September (year unreadable). Circa 1908, from Halstead, Kansas. AZO stamp box visible underneath the stamp.

Price:  $20.00

Sources:  Year: 1910; Census Place: Halstead, Harvey, Kansas; Roll: T624_441; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0035; FHL microfilm: 1374454. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1910; Census Place: Halstead, Harvey, Kansas; Roll: T624_441; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0035; FHL microfilm: 1374454. (Ancestry.)

Year: 1920; Census Place: Burrton, Harvey, Kansas; Roll: T625_534; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 44; Image: 123. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1900; Census Place: Pueblo, Pueblo, Colorado; Roll: 128; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0094; FHL microfilm: 1240128. (Ancestry.com)

Halbert Kids, July 1918

Halbert Kids July 1918 p1Halbert Kids July 1918 p2

Old photo, dated July 1918.   

Availability status:  SOLD           Size:  6 and 7/8 x 4 and 1/2″

On the back, it looks like the location was written as  “Greenhorn Mts”  and there is an Ed Halbert reference showing up in a Google eBook snippet view that also has an entry for Greenhorn Mountain (A Modern History of Tulare County by Annie Rosalind Mitchell). This is the best guess so far for the photo’s location. (There are towns named Greenhorn in Grant and Baker Counties, Oregon, and also one Plumas County, California, but the writing on the back of the photo does not look like either of these two states.)

The photo, found at an antique store in Monterey, California, shows five children, ages from about three thru ten or twelve, posed in a buggy pulled by two donkeys. They’re on a dirt trail out in the country; it may be farm country, and we see that the terrain is a little hilly.

We’ll look a little further for Ed Halbert and Tulare County in the next couple of days.

Update: The most promising Halbert – Greenhorn Mountains connection is the above-mentioned possibility, Edward D. Halbert (1846 – 1885) who owned a sheep ranch on Deer Creek, six miles south of Portersville, Tulare County, California. He married Ellen Rhodes and they had four children:  Lois (married L. N. Sperry), Edward Fay, Roy Dent and Ernest Sherrill. The children in the photo, if the connection is correct, would likely be grandchildren of E. D. Halbert, and possibly cousins rather than siblings.

UPDATE and CORRECTION:  This is the WILSON HALBERT family. See the comments from Carrie. The oldest boy in the hat is her grandfather, born 1905. But we’ll leave the other Halbert family info in this post. Just in case anyone is searching for them, as well.

Sources:  Mitchell, Annie Rosalind. A Modern History of Tulare County. 1974. p. 190. Google Books snippet view. (Web Accessed April 10, 2016).

Guinn, J. M. History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the San Joaquin Valley, California.  Chicago:  The Chapman Publishing Co., 1905. p. 561. Google eBooks. (Web Accessed April 10, 2016).

Deer Creek (Tulare County, California). n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_Creek_%28Tulare_County,_California%29. (accessed April 10, 2016).

Giddy Up

Giddy Up pc1Giddy Up pc2

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

Price:  $6.00

Here’s a great “photo day” shot of a little girl, about two years old, perched on the back of a donkey. She looks like an old hand up there holding the reins, and the donkey’s expression is so sweet.

Little Girl And Donkey

Little Girl And Cow c1

Old card, circa 1890s.

Price:  $4.00   Size:  3 and 1/2 x 2 and 5/8″

Adorable small print of a little blond girl and her donkey. At least I think that’s a donkey. The girl wears a red dress and has her white apron extended for holding the greenery that the animal is eating. The donkey in particular has such a sweet expression. There is nothing on the back except for the markings of the scrap book glue, but someone surely appreciated this image since it’s survived for so long. Estimated date 1890’s.

Kids And Donkey Picture Day

Kids And Donkey Picture Day pc1Kids And Donkey Picture Day pc2

Real Photo Postcard. Divided back. Unused with writing. Circa 1907 – 1918.

Price:  $16.00

An ever-so charming Real Photo Postcard of five beautiful children, and one beautiful donkey. The four youngest kids are lined up astride the animal and the oldest, a girl, stands with her arm gently draped over the donkey’s neck. That looks like the seat of a bicycle just behind the girl’s arm, so there must have been a bike on the porch. There is some writing on the back of the postcard, along with part of the black photo page that the postcard was glued on. The writing shows the same name written a few times; maybe one of the girls was practicing her penmanship; and the name looks like it could be Maria. The divided back plus AZO stamp box, with all four triangles pointing upward, indicates an approximate date for the postcard of 1907 – 1918.