George Paden, Sardis OH

Old photograph, white border, circa 1920 – 1921.

Price:  $8.00            Size:  2 and 1/2 x 3 and 3/8″

We’re estimating George was four or five years old here, so cute in his double-breasted checked coat and white hat. The house across the “street” is likely George’s paternal grandparents’ George E. and Catherine (Kate) Paden’s house, per the 1910 and 1920 Federal Census records for Lee Township, OH. Sardis is in southeastern Lee Township, Monroe County. George is the son of Clyde Paden and Martha (Mattie) Dunn.

Sources:  The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Pennsylvania, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1896. (Ancestry.com).

Marriage Records. Pennsylvania Marriages. Various County Register of Wills Offices, Pennsylvania. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1920; Census Place: Lee, Monroe, Ohio; Roll: T625_1419; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 52. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Lee, Monroe, Ohio; Roll: T624_1219; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0155; FHL microfilm: 1375232. (Ancestry.com).

Mrs. Monika Urbanski and Grandaughter Mary Ann Ferguson, 1942

Vintage photograph, white border dated November 8, 1942

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

“11-8-42    Mrs. Monika Urbanske      granddaughter Mary Ann Ferguson. Now Mrs. K. Shiflett.”

I thought I had a Thanksgiving card waiting to get put up for this year. Hmmm, well, no – but I like this grandmother/granddaughter one for the holiday. It reminds me of baking pies for Turkey Day (it’s probably the apron that does it) and then just being with family. Mary Ann would have been eight years old when this picture was taken. The photograph seems vivid even though in black and white (love b & w photos!) with those expressions, and then the patterns – plaid (hair bow), stripes, flower prints….the tree branches in the background.

Mary Ann Ferguson, born August 1934 in Washington, DC, was the daughter of James Scott Ferguson and Mary Elizabeth Urbanski. Mary Ann’s second marriage was to Kenneth Shiflett.

Monika (Lubiewski) Urbanski, born in Poland, about 1867, was the daughter of Joseph Lubiewski and Francisca Buszkiewcz. She married Boleslaw William Urbanski.

Sources:  Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia, Marriages, 1936-2014; Roll: 101168604. (Ancestry.com).

Ancestry.com family trees. (accessed November 25, 2020).

 

Young Woman With Bow, Circa 1900 – 1910

 

Small photograph, circa 1900 – 1910

Price:  $7.00          Size:  About 1 and 5/8 x 1 and 5/8″

It was so distracting to look at this original because the cropping of the actual photo was so off-kilter, so I cropped it and then ended up cleaning it up, somewhat, in Photoshop. This would be a really nice one, if professionally re-done. There is no name on the back, just evidence that it came from someone’s old photo album. And who was the lovely young woman? We’ll probably never know but we get a sense that she was bright, maybe working-class, a teacher perhaps, or maybe this was a school (or school-era) picture and she was in college. The camera seems to have caught a little sadness or perhaps it’s wistfulness in the look. She wears her hair up, in a style common in the Edwardian Era, and wears a large, dark bow, a brooch at its center, and a round pendant or locket suspended from a chain.

Dutch Woman In Traditional Headdress

Postcard, unused. Photographer:  A. W. Verschoore de la Hoiussaye. Lange Vorststraat – Goes. Telf 44. Platen blijven voor nabestelling bewaard. Circa late 1910s – 1920s.

Price:  To be determined

That last line above, in the photographer’s information on the reverse, translates to “Records will be kept for reordering.” Lange Vorststraat, is the name of the street (literally translating to “long frost street”) in the city of Goes, province of Zeeland, Netherlands.

Photographer Adriaan Willem Verschoore de la Hoiussaye (sometimes spelled Houssaije) was born November 18, 1896 in either Middelburg or Den Bosch, Netherlands and died August 10, 1981. As of the date of this web post, we’re seeing only one other possible postcard (a digital) example from the website, Saving Photography (wonderful photos on this site, see link below in Sources) but we’ve just reached out to someone who will hopefully be able to help determine this postcard’s potential value.

We see a beautiful young woman (love that direct, soul-searching gaze) in short sleeves with a shoulder wrap of gingham and embroidered border; a carefully arranged bolero necklace fastened with a small, perhaps silver or gold medal; seven strands of possibly coral beads covering her neck; and a white cap fanning out into a grand display of starched lace, framing the subject’s face, and extending all the way past her shoulders – as if the head covering could have been worn down and flowing but, of course, is pulled up and starched to show off the work and identify the location that this young lady was from (or was modeling for). The lacework is gorgeous, no surprise, but click the image twice to enlarge, and you’ll notice some parallel lines running out toward the border on our left, and more lines on our right. Looking at the artist’s patterns – something about them reminds me of angels’ wings or maybe feathers.

I have no idea what the small flag-type things are, one dark, and one light, that are on each side of the woman’s forehead – some part of the traditional costume, it would seem, and maybe they help to fasten the headdress. An expert in the field of traditional folk wear could give us a much better description than I’ve attempted to do here, but I have to say that, were I twenty again (sorry, not trying to cop out on the age thing) I would love to take up this field of study. Maybe as a hobby in upcoming retirement, though!

Sources:  A. W. Verschoore de la Hoiussaye, Dutch Photographer. https://peoplepill.com/people/a-w-verschoore-de-la-houssaye/ (accessed November 17, 2020).

Zeeuws Archief; Den Haag, Nederland; BS Birth. Ancestry.com. Netherlands, Birth Index, 1784-1917.

“Portrait of an unknown lady.” Saving Photography. https://www.nl12.nl/saving-photography/#jp-carousel-3107 (accessed November 17, 2020).

Pornic – Coiffure de l’ancien Temps

Divided back, unused postcard. Series or number 81. Photographer or printer/publisher:  L.L. Circa 1920.

Price:  $7.00

Addressed to:   “Mrs. Alex. Martin. Paris.”

“Dear Mrs. Martin, Many thanks for the lovely card and those you gave to Maman. The old women here are like this one. I will look for some others costumes for in Bretagne there are numerous. Best love from your very affectionate Jeannette.”

By coincidence, the prior post was also signed with “Best love.”  Notable also is the unusual way that Jeannette writes the capital letters M and P. And this card had apparently come from another collection, before making its way to ours, as evidenced by the handwriting “638.  Headdress of older time.”  There’s another postcard site that also has a card of this same design right now, and that one has a particular date in 1920, hence the circa date for ours.

Last, but certainly not least, and without going into great detail, the beautiful woman from Pornic, Brittany, France, featured on this card is decidedly someone you would want to have a conversation with – kind and with a great sense of humor. Which brings up the question – who were the individuals that came to be featured as “types” from a certain area on the numerous cards that had circulated at one time? How did they come to have their photographs taken, and were they always paid for their time by the photographer? Looking into these questions might involve heavy research so we’ll not jump at this bait (tempting, though), but it would be nice to happen across the info at some time or another.

Source:  Pornic. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornic (accessed November 14, 2020).

Paris-Plage, La Chapelle Jeanne d’Arc

Divided back postcard. Postmarked July 3, 1917, Army Post Office. Stamped:  Passed Field Censor 2289. Publisher/printer:  Neurdein & Co., Paris.

Price:  $10.00

Plage is beach, so….beach in Paris or Paris Beach? Ahhh, so the full name of the town is actually Le Toquet Paris-Plage, which is located in northern France, on the shores of the English Channel. Le Toquet was, at one time, known as “Paris-by-the-Sea.”

Addressed to:   “Master J. Obery, Polkyth, Saint Austell, Cornwall.”

“Dear Frank. How are you. I saw a little boy who has had a bad throat – how is yours. Keep smiling. Best love   Daddy”

J. Obery was Francis John Patrick Obery, born East Ham, Essex, London in 1910, son of Edward Richard Hooper Obery, born about 1879 and Kate Hooper, born about 1876, who had married on August 5, 1905, in St. Austell, Cornwall. The parish marriage register shows the groom’s occupation as schoolmaster and that his father’s name was John Edward Oliver Obery. (Two middle names were seemingly a tradition.) Kate’s father was Francis Hooper. Edward’s address at the time of marriage was 141 Milton Ave., E. Ham, London and Kate had been living in Watering Hill, Cornwall.

It’s hard to write about some of these cards and photos sometimes. Maybe because there’s that familiar feeling of being able to walk over to the next block and find the Obery Family, or a sense somehow of a trillion points in a person’s life with connections back to ancestors, and forward to their descendants, an overwhelming fullness you can feel but that’s difficult to translate…..

That said, a quick look at the 1911 census shows Edward, Kate, Francis and Edward’s widowed mom, Phillipa Obery, all at 141 Milton Avenue. We later picture the Oberys, minus Edward, locating to Cornwall to stay with Kate’s family, for hopeful safekeeping, while holding Edward in their constant prayers. For context re the move to Cornwall, the month prior to this card being written, 162 civilians were killed in a German daylight air raid on London, June 13th. Another 57 civilian lives were lost in another raid July 7th, just four days after the postmarked date on the card.

Edward served in the Army Veterinary Corps and yes, thank God, he did make it back to his family.

A little about the postcard image:  So, this would have been produced from a photo, not necessarily true to the original, as sometimes the printer or publisher removed or added things (according to what they felt was needed). Anyway, there are some nice details to pick out within the full scene. (The whole is maybe reminding you of a bunch of miniatures set up in a reproduction.) We notice that the road’s edges must slope downward, since the car’s on an angle, driving “in the ditch” some would call it 😉 ; there’s one of those wooden pole fences held together by wire, leaning a little this way and that, as they are wont to do, the fence looking out-of-place with the very stately 4-story building behind it (Or vice-versa!) Moving to our right, we can partially read a sign for an Auto Garage; sweeping further, we pick out three buildings that have half-timbering on a portion of their facades (the vertical stripes with some diagonals) and then of course there’s the church, Saint Joan of Arc, which is not very old at all at this time, having first opened July 14, 1911. (Incidentally this church sustains damage in the Second World War, but is then, thankfully, able to be restored.)

Sources:  Le Toquet. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Touquet (accessed November 11, 2020).

England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. (Ancestry.com).

Class: RG14; Piece: 9565; Schedule Number: 88. 1911 England Census. (Ancestry.com).

“The First World War. Spotlights on History. Long Range Bombers.” nationalarchives.gov.uk. (accessed November 14, 2020).

The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO). Ancestry.com. UK, British Army World War I Service Records, 1914-1920.

Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995.