A Boy And His Wagon

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A Real Photo Postcard, VELOX stamp box this time, (they seem to be not as common as AZO) showing an image, a little blurred and the worse for wear, of a boy about age three, with wagon in tow, heading up the walkway to his house. Maybe he is coming home for lunch. We have no major clues to the location, somewhere in the U.S. we presume; the houses are pretty big, with nice big front porches. Is that a flag pole in the photo?

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused. VELOX stamp box. Circa 1907 – 1917.

Price:  $2.00

Eva Blasdale’s Party, April 3rd 1901

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Hand-drawn party place card. April 3, 1901.

Price:  $12.00    Size:  About 3 and 1/4 x 2 and 1/4″

Here’s a wonderful hand-drawn, hand-colored place card made for one of Eva Blasdale’s party guests, Russell Doughty. It shows an elf holding reigns of silver ribbon which is trailing up to the sky; the elf is being led by a chick. Lovely details on the elf – you can see the buttons on the tailcoat; love the yellow pantaloons  and the curly shoes and hat. The party date is April 3, 1901, which was a Wednesday.

Easter Chick For Lily V. Herrling

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“Easter Greetings”

Here’s one more official Easter postcard for this year and it’s of another chick, so adorable, wearing her little shell hat with pussy willow decoration, and carrying a little bouquet.

The sender writes:

“April 4, 1914. Fort Pierre S. Dak. Dear Miss Herlling. I will drop you a few lines this tues[?]. we all well hope you the same. the snow is all gone now and we have a nice bit of water in the…?…now. it has bin dry all winter but we will have a lot of it now for this summer & yes nellie has got a little colt one week old but lily…?…is the same color she was when you saw her. good by, by for now[?] …and…?  L. E. Datts. I will write a letter in a few days. Wishing you a joys Easter.”

Sent to:   “Miss Lily V. Herrling. Walton, Neb. % Geo. Wilson. R.F.D.”

Lily was a public school teacher who was born in Wisconsin, about 1885. The 1920 Federal Census for Sheboygan finds Lily and her sister, Elsa May, living with their brother R. B. Herrling. Various short newspaper clips can be found online, like the two below, which show that Lily traveled to various locations to teach:

From the Lincoln Daily News (Lincoln, NE) 11 June 1915:

Lincoln Daily News Jun 11 1915

From the Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI) 17 August 1916:

Sheboygan Press Aug 17 1916

Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked April 13 (or 3rd?) 1914, Fort Pierre, South Dakota. Publisher:  James E. Pitts. Series 42 F.

Price:  $12.00

Sources:  Year: 1920; Census Place: Greenbush, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Roll: T625_2016; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 116; Image: 1042. (Ancestry.com)

Lincoln Daily News (Lincoln, NE) 11 June 1915. (Ancestry.com)

Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, WI) 17 August 1916. (Ancestry.com)

Easter Joys Be Thine

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Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked in Homer, New York on March 27th, year not readable. Publisher unknown. Series or number 155. Circa 1910.

Price:  $15.00

This is a really cute one. A chick (chicks are ruling this Easter) in a large eggshell cart that is equipped with flowers for wheels, driving two white bunnies who are harnessed with pink ribbons. The chick’s riding crop is a sprig of lily of the valley. And the colors are a little unusual in the card:  The grass is more blue than green; the colors are muted but sort of like “dream” colors, not just understated but sort of “off” like you’re looking at a replay of a dream, or a badly tinted old movie or something similar. It’s very cool. Anyway, the sender writes:

“Wed. Morn. Dear Lucy. Your Aunt Martha says she will come over and stay with you for 2 weeks and do light work if you want her too. So write back soon if you want her. Pa is not feeling good, got the blues. Hope you are all well, Mother.”

Addressed to:   “Mrs. Lucy Sears, McGraw, Cortland Co. N. Y., R.D. #3.”

Lucy E., according to the 1910 Federal Census for Homer, New York, was born about 1885. She is married to George F. Sears, born about 1881. He owns a dairy farm, and the couple have two boys, Floyd A., born in 1908, and Roy L., born in 1909. Living with them and helping with the farm is George’s brother, Erastus, born about 1887. All are natives of New York. The town of Homer is about five miles northwest of McGraw, as the crow flies.

The year is not readable or didn’t get stamped when postmarked. It wouldn’t be surprising if it’s 1910, since Lucy at this time has two boys under two years old, and she could definitely use a little help.

Source:  Year: 1910; Census Place: Homer, Cortland, New York; Roll: T624_934; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0127; FHL microfilm: 1374947. (Ancestry.com).

Compliments Of Your Bro, M. M. Miller

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Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked March 25, 1912 from McDowell, West Virginia. Publisher unknown. Series or number B53.

Price:  $5.00

“A Happy Easter”

A beautiful postcard of – I think these are supposed to be – Easter Lilies along with a cottage scene, a gold ribbon and dramatic rays of light surrounding all. And the capital “A” in the Easter wish some shadow behind it, giving it kind of a 3-D effect.

This was sent by M. M. Miller, the same person in the prior post, and he writes:   “Compliments of your Bro. M. M. Miller to J. M. Ellison.”  

Addressed to:   “J. M. Ellison, 26 St. & Cheyenne ave, Pueblo, Colo.”

Happy Easter From Uncle M. M. Miller

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Three Easter chicks and flowers, in a basket that has a nice sunshade of a leaf with a pussy willow border. So cute!

This card and the next one to follow, were sent by the same person, for the same Easter, and to the same Ellison household. This one is addressed to:

“Bessie Ellison, 26th St. & Cheyenne ave., Pueblo, Colo.” 

And the sender wrote:   “Compliments of your uncle m. m. miller, to Bessie Ellison.”

See The Alice Ellison Collection on this website for more.

The postmark appears to say  “McDowell, W. Va.”  which seems unusual, as McDowell is a county in WV. A town by that name can be typed in to Ancestry.com (if you’re familiar with the search format) as in “McDowell, McDowell, West Virginia” but nothing shows up in an actual search for anyone at all in this supposed town, and nothing was found online naming a town as such, so maybe it was a county-named post office?

Divided back, used, embossed postcard. Postmarked March 25, 1912 from McDowell, West Virginia. Publisher unknown. Series or number 618.

Price:  $3.00

A Glad Eastertide

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Divided back, unused postcard. Publisher unknown. Series 1168 B. Circa 1923 – 1928.

Price:  $5.00

“In Easter

Blessings you may share,

And peace be yours

Beyond compare.”

A beautiful Easter card in the Alice Ellison Collection of a green cross covered in pansies. The message on the back is simply,  “To Ma from Doss.”

There are seven or eight others from this unknown publisher in this same family collection of cards. The dates on those range from 1923 – 1928, with the back header, the card stock and the gold-tone border being common to all.

Kindest Greeting From Mrs. Burger, Hardtner KS

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Divided back, embossed, used postcard. Postmarked April 13, 1911 from Hardtner, Kansas. Publisher:  The American Art Production Co., Series 680/6.

Price:  $4.00

From our Alice Ellison Collection…..

“A Peaceful Easter”  is the wish that adorns this 1911 embossed postcard done in muted gold and gray tones, showing a pretty girl in an egg-shaped “window” with three chicks. (So cute the way the one chick is standing on the girl’s shoulder!) The egg is flanked by lilies of the valley. The note from the sender states:

“Kindest greeting to All. Mrs. Jennie[?] Burger.” And the card is addressed to:   “Mrs. Alice Ellison, 26 & Cheyenne Ave. Pueblo, Colo.”

For more about the publisher see our post:  American Art Production Company, S. M. Salke – A Mystery Solved.

Ushering In Easter

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Trade card, lithograph for The Fleischmann Co., Form No. 910A. Made in Germany. Circa mid-1880s – 1890s.

Price:  $10.00        Size:  3 and 1/2 x 5 and 1/2″

There’s the Easter Bunny and one Easter egg behind the young gentleman in the flared double-breasted coat with the wide lapels, checkered pants, top hat and walking cane, with gloves in hand. It’s a spring day, the lilies of the valley are in bloom, and the flowing red lines appearing from “underneath” the scene, as well as the flowing lines of the lilies of the valley, are very Art Nouveau; a beautiful advertising piece from the Fleischmann Company. A “Handsome Banner Picture” could be obtained in exchange for 50 Yellow Labels taken from the cakes of their Compressed Yeast.

Exactly what is meant by “banner picture” is not quite clear. And an internet search did not illuminate the answer.

As to the time-frame for the card, perhaps mid-1880s to 1890s.  An entry in New York City directories in 1886 shows,  “Fleischmann Maximilian, yeast, 701 Washn. & 219 E. 23d, h. 115 Madison av.”  which half-way matches the address given on the back of the card as 699-701 Washington St. The exact address given is proving hard to find in online sources, surprisingly. Newspaper ads show the 701 Washington address at least into the late 1920s. And numerous entries in various years show both “Fleischmann & Co.” and “The Fleischmann Co.”

Source:   Trow’s New York City Directory, Vol. XCIX, for year ending May 1,1886.  p. 606. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995).

Surname “Irishman” In Census Records

Can’t find your Irish ancestor in early (prior to 1880) census records? Try searching under IRISHMAN for the surname, whether male or female. (A quick search under IRISHWOMAN only brings up one entry.)

It seems that many families that had hired labor living or boarding with them, didn’t know or weren’t sure of the hired help’s last name, as evidenced when the census taker came ’round. In the case below, family research had already confirmed that Patrick Durning was living in the town of Springport, Cayuga County, NY in 1847, per his Declaration of Intent to become a U.S. citizen. Three months after the 1850 Federal Census for Springport was enumerated, Patrick was naturalized. This event took place in the city of Auburn, where his presence was required. (Auburn is located about ten miles northeast of Springport.) And yet, a search in the 1850, in all of Cayuga County, for Patrick Durning, Durnin, etc. brought up nothing. However, in trying just the first name of Patrick, born in Ireland about 1828, living in Springport….lo and behold, we get an entry recorded as  “Patrick Irishman.”

Patrick Irishman

Above, in the green highlighted entries, the Shoemaker Family on the 1850 Federal Census for Springport, Cayuga County, New York. Living with them, highlighted in yellow, is “Patrick Irishman” who, on my own family tree, is the person believed to be my great-great grandfather. His actual surname is DURNING.

Source:  Year: 1850; Census Place: Springport, Cayuga, New York; Roll: M432_483; Page: 215A; Image: 433. (Ancestry.com).

More examples:

One from a census-taker who was being “more precise”…

Here’s one that really brings home the point: This man was listed as “Pat An Irishman.” He was 36 years old, single, a laborer, and born in Ireland, and living in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1865.

Pat An Irishman

Source:  Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1865 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: ks1865_5; Line: 13. (Ancestry.com)

A Wild Irishman in Yuba County, California, 1852

Check out the great entry below for “Wild Irish Man” from the California State Census for Yuba County in 1852. His occupation appears to be Miner, from looking at entries for other persons on prior and subsequent census pages. The category headings (not shown) reveal that he was about 25, born in Ireland, last resided in Ireland, and was not a naturalized citizen. Just think…if this is your guy, that you’ve done the research on to hopefully trace back to, for this time and place, you not only have his whereabouts at this time but also, at least according to one person, his disposition. Rare for a census record!

Wild Irish Man

Source:  California State Library; Sacramento, California; 1852 California State Census; Roll #: 6; Repository Collection #: C144:6; Page: 62; Line: 11. A. (Ancestry.com)