Needham Mass, Ice Storm, Nov. 28, 1921

Posted on December 11th, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, unused, Real Photo Postcard. Cyko stamp box. November 28, 1921, Needham, Massachusetts.

Price: $10.00

Here’s another weather-related post, and well, someone thought this storm newsworthy, to make a postcard from their photo; we just didn’t see anything in historical newspaper accounts (online anyway). Probably there would be something in a local library about this ice storm. That’s a 2-story wood-shingle siding house there on our right, with another house next to it, which we barely glimpse through the trees. What a beautiful place to live this must have been, in any weather.

Categories: Disasters and Weather, Postcards, Postcards Unused, Real Photo Postcards

Me In 1915

Posted on December 11th, 2016 by Annieoakley

Undivided back, used, artist-signed postcard. Postmarked April 6, 1906 from Waltham, Massachusetts.

Price: $12.00

This 1906 postcard shows off the 1891 popular watercolor and gouache work, The Music of the Dance, by Philadelphia-born artist Arthur Burdett Frost (1851 – 1928). Funny that we have three dates here: The date on the original artwork, 1891, that we see in the left corner of the “tableau” next to the signature; the postcard date of 1906; and the date projected into the future by, likely the sender of the postcard, who wrote, “Me in 1915”. Was the sender joking that he would be reduced to….or projecting his hopeful success of being elevated to the life of a traveling musician (in nine years time)? Interesting question!

And though the postcard is not in good condition, it’s the only one we see at this time online, and definitely a nice part of artist, postcard, and African-American in art history, not to mention significant for anyone doing any Rumrill family research.

The card was mailed to: “Mr. F. P. Rumrill, Hillsboro Br., N.H.”

The abbreviation Br. is probably for Borough. And there are some possibilities but we didn’t find any “no-doubters” (as in home run baseball lingo) for F. P. Rumrill. But there were definitly Rumrills in Hillsborough (also written Hillsboro) notably a Frank G. Rumrill, born in NH December 1866 who appears on the 1900 Federal Census.

Sources: Gouache. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouache. (accessed December 11, 2016).

“Arthur Burdett Frost (1851 – 1928) The Music for the Dance.” Copley Fine Art Auctions. (auctions.bidsquare.com) Accessed December 11, 2016.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Hillsborough, Hillsborough, New Hampshire; Roll: 947; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 0084; FHL microfilm: 1240947. (Ancestry.com)

Tags: artist A. B. Frost, New Jersey artists and art history, painting of four musicians traveling in snow, Rumrill family history and old postcards, traveling musicians old illustrations, winter travel on foot

Categories: African, African American, African Roots, Humorous, Men, People, Postcards, Postcards Artist Signed, Postcards Used, Snow, Undivided Back

Mrs. Thysell Restored

Posted on December 11th, 2016 by Annieoakley

Mini-photo, circa 1890 – 1910.

Availability status: SOLD

Size including matting: 2 and 1/2 x 4″

Well, we appreciate whoever it was that wrote the name of this beautiful young woman on the back, even though it was only the married surname. I feel compelled to say thank you, too, to the unknown pencil-scribbler for at least limiting the scribbling to the background! And for sure, a more professional restoration could be done, but she turned out pretty good, after some time spent in Photoshop. Love the flowers added to her Gibson Girl hairstyle. Reverse below:

As to the origin of the surname Thysell, this name comes up most often in Sweden, and we find several possibilities from Minnesota records for our subject: Was she Emma Roberts, born 1877 in Norway who married Carl John Thysell….or the Caroline E. Nelson born about 1880 in Minnesota who married Nels Albert Thysell….or the Emilia, born 1874 in Sweden who married Albin Gustav Thysell….or the Helen Nelson, born 1880 in Sweden that married Emil Theodore Thysell….or none of the above?

Update! Mystery solved thanks to contact (see comment) from a granddaughter: The woman in the photo is Caroline E. Thysell, maiden name Nelson, wife of Nels Albert Thysell.

Tags: antique photos of the Thysell family, origin of the surname Thysell, Sweden and Norwegian immigrants to the United States

Categories: Mini Photos, Old Photos, People, Photos With Names, Women

Funny Guy In Top Hat

Posted on December 4th, 2016 by Annieoakley

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

Price: $15.00

Another great comic one, this time of the chuckle and guffaw variety. And at first I thought that this might be the same man as in the last post, but no.

So, the set up for this photo reminds one of the “head-in-the-hole” type, sometimes called “end-of-the pier” painted board photos, but it’s not the same thing. For this one, it looks like there was the board or sheet with the painting on it, and our subject with top hat and cigar put his chin over the neck area, and then another sheet, or board or what have you, was placed behind him, the photo was taken and then any needed touch-up work was done by the photographer. You can see that the area under the cigar and just above his collar on our right, looks like it’s been painted in. The cigar and smoke seem to have been enhanced a little, too.

Tags: AZO stamp box postcards all triangles up, funny novelty antique and old postcards, pocket watches and men's attire, top hats, trick photography

Categories: Hats, Humorous, Postcards, Postcards Unused

Double Trouble

Posted on December 4th, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard. Stamp box: unknown company. Photographer: Movex Fotos, 38 Regent St. Circa 1930s.

Price: $15.00

This is great – what do you see at first glance? Two men who look like brothers or identical twins, or…….do you see the same man, in two different poses, one with hat, one without? I think definitely the latter. The gentleman’s attire is the same – the suit, tie, shirt, watch and chain, pipe – all identical. He must have been a guy with a great sense of humor; just picture him having a bunch of these made and sending them out to family and friends!

As for the time frame, we’re thinking possibly the 1930s. The stamp box design of a triangle with small circle in the center is a mystery, and the same for “Movex Fotos. 38, Regent Street” but our best guess at the moment is that this postcard was made somewhere in the U.K.

Tags: black and white photos and RPPCs of men, England, mens suitcoats neckties pipes, newsboy style caps vintage photos and postcards, trick photography, unknown stamp box manufacturers tringle with circle in center Real Photo Postcards RPPCs

Categories: Humorous, Postcards, Postcards Unused, Real Photo Postcards

Ezra, about 1907 – 1918

Posted on December 3rd, 2016 by Annieoakley

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

Price: $3.00

In honor of another Ezra I know (EZ-E, Double E !) Ezra – a great name for a great boy. This one shows a cropped oval image of an adorable little boy, maybe about age four, in coat and billed cap, standing outside in a rural setting. That looks like a barn or some type of outbuilding behind him, and a taller building behind that, maybe a house. His last name is unknown, but at least we have the first. And as for popularity of the name, from the 1910 U.S. Federal Census there were over 1400 boys with this name, that were born between about 1903 to 1907. Contrast that with the common given name John, and we get over 250,000 within the same general parameters.

Tags: AZO stamp box Real Photo Postcards, uncommon names for boys

Categories: Hats, Photos With Names, Postcards, Postcards Unused With Writing, Real Photo Postcards, Shaped Borders, Unusual First Names

Los Banos, California, Waterfowl Scene

Posted on December 3rd, 2016 by Annieoakley

Divided back, unused postcard. Publisher unknown. Circa 1920s – 1930s.

Price: $12.00

This is a seemingly rare postcard; old Los Banos area postcards seem to be few and far between, though there are some vintage ones out there at the moment…..A trip back to the beautiful San Joaquin Valley is now shimmering on the immediate horizon….But this wetland area is beautiful, especially in the early foggy mornings….The description on the back is:

San Joaquin Valley Water-Fowl Group. Donated by Mrs. Delia Fleishhacker to the Museum of the California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley has long been noted for the great variety and abundance of its water fowl. A few species, such as the Cinnamon Teal, Mallard, Spring, Redhead and Ruddy duck, breed in the Valley, and may be found there in limited numbers throughout the year. The principal breeding grounds of most of our ducks and geese are north of the United States, in Canada and Alaska. After the breeding season, when the young are able to fly well, these northern breeding species come southward to their winter feeding grounds, one of the greatest of which is the San Joaquin Valley. This group shows a typical scene on the grounds of the Los Baños Gun Club, in February, just as the sun is setting beyond the Coast Ranges at Pacheco Pass, and just as a flock of white-fronted Geese is arriving.

At first it was unclear exactly what was donated according to the back of the postcard (a painting?) but the following newspaper clipping from 1936, appearing in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle points to the postcard showing off (though obviously not in the best detail) one of the museum’s displays of stuffed birds, part of a group of San Joaquin waterfowl exhibits.

As to the donator, Mrs. Delia Fleishhacker was a well-known San Francisco philanthropist and mother of eight, who also was distinguished through her poetry and travel journals. Maiden name Stern, she was born 1839 in Albany NY and at the age of seventeen, married German immigrant Aaron Fleishhacker. The Fleishhacker name figures prominently in both the history of San Francisco and Jewish pioneers in the American West. Below, Delia’s obituary from the Oakland Times, September 23, 1923:

By steamer, mule and wagon

The following excerpt is from Jeanne E. Abrams Jewish Women Pioneering the Frontier Trail: A History in the American West (2006).

Some woman traveled by land, some by sea, and many combined the two modes of transportation. In 1857, Delia Stern Fleishhacker traveled to Virginia City, Nevada, from Albany, New York, with her husband Aaron, first by steamer and mule through the Panama route, and then by wagon from California. The discovery of the rich Comstock Lode in the area would for a time make Virginia City a bustling metropolis. Aaron and Delia operated a grocery and dry-goods store in the mining town, and the energetic Delia helped deliver babies born to miners’ wives. Before long, the couple, who would become the parents of eight children, moved to San Francisco, where Aaron Fleishhacker opened a thriving box company with a windfall from a miner he had grubstaked.

A very worthy restoration

Besides contributing to the West’s pioneer history, another of the Fleishhacker family’s historical legacies is The Mother’s Building, which was part of the former Fleishhacker Playfield and Pool complex, and now stands in need of some definite t.l.c. It was built in 1925 on land donated by two of Aaron and Delia Fleishhacker’s sons, Herbert and Mortimer, to honor their mother. (Herbert was the founder of what became the San Francisco Zoo.) And in viewing the photos of the grand and beautiful building we wonder what it was like exactly back when it was in use. What did they call it? (Nothing found in newspaper accounts.) And maybe this is romanticizing the past, but from our vantage point, it seems to have been such an oasis of beauty and spaciousness, compared to today’s pool and beach changing areas – struggling to change out of the wet bathing suit, in a small space where you’ve just discovered the door latch doesn’t work and you’ve got a million bags and your bigger kid in the next stall and a younger one crammed into the one you’re in, and oh by the way, there’s the toilet to contend with, too. (Weren’t there actual changing rooms here last time?) As for the Fleishhacker Pool – it was huge, accounts say it held six or 6.5 million gallons of filtered, heated sea water (heaven) and had a tall diving platform for the brave. The pool, it’s stated now, would not be feasible to re-build, but the Mother’s Building, when it’s restored (let’s say when) in our fast-paced, multi-tasking-is-the-norm world will, I like to imagine, restore a little bit of our sanity. 😉

Sources: “Museums and Monuments.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 21, 1936. Sunday, p. 50. (Newspapers.com)

“Mrs. Delia Fleishhacker.” Oakland Tribune, September 23, 1923. Sunday, p. 20. (Newspapers.com).

Abrams, Jeanne E. Jewish Women Pioneering the Frontier Trail: A History in the American West. New York University Press, 2006. (Google eBook).

Pon, Elton. “Hope for Historic Mother’s Building.” March 23, 2016. (San Francisco Recreation & Parks).

“Tag Archives: Mothers Building.” July 27, 2016. The Living New Deal. (accessed December 1, 2016).

Historic Sites, Fleishhacker Pool. San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. (accessed December 1, 2016).

Tags: architecture, art restoration, George. W. Kelham, historic San Francisco, Jewish pioneers in America, largest outdoor pools, old postcards Los Banos CA and San Joaquin Valley CA, women artists and the WPA

Categories: Birds, Ducks, Geese, Postcards, Postcards Unused

Norbert George Moser (1885 – 1970) Photographer and Publisher

Posted on November 24th, 2016 by Annieoakley

N. Moser of “Copyright N. Moser, N.Y.” was Norbert George Moser, photographer, electrician, sailor and publisher of Real Photo Postcards, most noted for his naval views. And, though certainly Moser would not have taken all the photos that show his copyright, one assumes he would have taken quite a few, since his time in the U.S. Navy numbered about twelve years. Below, a brief time-line:

1885 – Born September 17, 1885 in Pierceton, Indiana, son of Gabriel Moser and Mary Palmer.

1910 – A crop from the 1910 U. S. Federal Census showing Norbert G. Moser, born Indiana, father born Germany, mother born Illinois, occupation chief electrician, sailor, serving on the U.S.S. Virginia, Hampton Roads, Virginia (the naval base).

Circa 1913 – 1919, could be December 1913, per prior post. Above, an awesome view, entitled “Quarter Deck Seas” one of many photos to also appear as a Real Photo Postcard, copyright N. Moser, N.Y. Did Norbert Moser take the actual photo? Probably his navy service record would need to be ordered to get a full timeline of what ships he served on and when, in order to get a better idea. This one is described as: View looking aft on the main deck of USS Vermont (Battleship # 20), while she was steaming in heavy seas during the Nineteen “teens”. Note man standing by the ladder leading to the quarterdeck whaleboat.

1914 – May 23, 1914, Chelsea, MA, married Julia R. Hall, a Medford MA dressmaker, born about 1889 in Gardner, MA, daughter of Stephen A. Hall and Clara P. Adams. Norbert Moser’s residence address at the time of marriage was the U.S. Naval Hospital, where he is listed as an electrician.

1916 – Above, a clipping from The Topeka Daily Capital. August 5, 1916, Saturday p. 5. (Newspapers.com)

1917 – Served as chief electrician at the Naval Recruiting Station for a few days, and then on board the U.S.S. New Jersey, April 9 and discharged October 15, 1917 at Yorktown, VA.

1918 – WWI Draft Registration Card shows wife Julia, residence 1088 E. 36th St., Brooklyn NY, occupation self-employed electrician and photo work, and work address room 406 of the World Bldg., NYC.

1920 – U.S. Federal Census for N. Hempstead, Nassau County, NY. Photographer, own business. Wife Julia, born MA about 1888, children Robert, born KS about 1916; Mary, born MA about 1918; Ruth born NY about 1919.

1921 – Above, three of Moser’s ads, including one showing the well-known Vermont in Storm view, from a May 1921 publication of Our Navy. (Great reading if you have the time!)

1930 – U.S. Federal Census – single, living in Chicago, agent of commercial photography.

1940 – U.S. Federal Census – divorced, still living in Chicago, listed as a photographer and employer in the commercial photography field.

1942 – WWII Draft Registration Card – own business, 180 W. Washington St., Chicago.

1970 – Died in Los Angeles (county if not city) December 26, 1970.

Update March 2026: Incoming comments prompted me to add in a couple of links regarding Moser’s photography also showing under the publishing firm, Underwood & Underwood. Here’s one example from a Feb 1917 publication of Sea Power, a monthly military magazine, taken of Santa Claus at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Dec 1916. (From a Google book search).

Sources: Year: 1910; Census Place: USS Virginia, Hampton Roads, Virginia, Military and Naval Forces; Roll: T624_1784; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0123; FHL microfilm: 1375797. (Ancestry.com)

NH 101060 “Quarter Deck Seas” Vermont (BB-20). Naval History and Heritage Command. Catalogue #NH 101060. From the album of Francis Sargent, courtesy Commander John Condon, 1986. (web accessed November 24, 2016).

“Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4XQ-VFP : 17 February 2016), Norbert G Moser and Julia R Hall, 23 May 1914; citing Chelsea, , Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,409,948.

Ancestry.com. New York, Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Registration State: New York; Registration County: Kings; Roll: 1754497; Draft Board: 58. (Ancestry.com)

Year: 1920; Census Place: North Hempstead, Nassau, New York; Roll: T625_1128; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 60; Image: 1009. (Ancestry.com)

Our Navy, the Standard Publication of the United States Navy, May 1921. Volume 15. (Google eBook).

“United States Census, 1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XS5N-RBP : accessed 20 November 2016), Norbert J Moser in household of Mae B Reeck, Chicago (Districts 1751-1976), Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1808, sheet 21A, line 11, family 224, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 491; FHL microfilm 2,340,226.

Year: 1940; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T627_1019; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 103-3100. (Ancestry.com)

“United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V1KC-YV3 : 7 April 2016), Norbert George Moser, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publication M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

“California Death Index, 1940-1997,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP28-K2X : 26 November 2014), Norbert G Moser, 26 Dec 1970; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.

Underwood & Underwood. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwood_%26_Underwood (accessed March 18, 2026).

Sea Power – The Nation’s Defense, Sea Power Publishing Co., Inc. February 1917. Page 57. (google.com/books).

Tags: genealogy and family history Norbert George Moser and Julia Hall, Indiana born photographers, lifeboats, stormy seas antique photos, U.S. battleship history, U.S. Navy

Categories: Photographers, Publishing Companies - M

A Heavy Sea

Posted on November 19th, 2016 by Annieoakley

Real Photo Postcard, unused with writing. “A Heavy Sea.” Circa 1914. Photo Roto, Inc. stamp box. Photographer: unknown.

Price: $10.00

If the postcard image above was doctored somewhat before production, it would not have been unusual. (Would the smokestack stripes of the ship on our left be this clear from a distance?) On the reverse is written, “From Back U.S.S. Wyoming.” In checking online for same or similar postcards, we found one at Card Cow (among other sites) of a slightly different view of the sea and ships and titled “A Heavy Sea-Way” copyrighted by N. Moser, N.Y. On the back of that card is written “USS Vermont.” So, there’s no guarantee, but a chance that we’re looking at the U.S.S. Vermont from the deck of the U.S.S. Wyoming and from further research, the original photo may have been captured during the storm that damaged Vermont in December 1913.

A slightly earlier around-the-world detour…..

If our postcard photo’s vantage point from on board Wyoming is correct, then the photo would not have been taken during the around-the-world voyage of the Great White Fleet, as Wyoming wasn’t on that tour. Plus, per Playle’s, the stamp box on our card is circa 1910 – 1917. But if you’ve never heard of said fleet, check it out! Imagine, even knowing in advance that they were on their way to your area (there must have been a lot of hoopla)……you round a bend and get your first glance at the ocean and there, like some kind of magic conjuring trick…the impressive line of sixteen U.S. battleships with hulls painted white!

Getting back to the possible time-frame of our postcard…..

Public attention was caught by the report of heavy seas partially damaging the U.S.S. Vermont in December 1913 as she and other ships in the Atlantic Fleet, including Wyoming, were voyaging homeward.

Seeing triple….

The image below of Vermont’s battle with the elements, became well-known in its day, and was published in at least two magazines (The Outlook and Popular Mechanics) as well as being made into a Real Photo Postcard. The RPPC appearing online (various sites) shows copyright N. Moser. And Moser could have been the sailor that took the photo, or not. (Maybe his descendants have proof either way somewhere. We’ll put up a post for him next.) Anyway, you can see how the images below slightly vary, and one source (first example below) calls it a painting done from a photo. But maybe it was just that the publication and altering of the photo rendered something that looks more painting than photo-like.

Above, described as a painting from a black and white photo (courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command.)

Above, from Popular Mechanics magazine, March 1914, Page 372 (courtesy Wikimedia Commons).

Above, as appearing in the New York publication The Outlook on 10 January 1914. (courtesy Wikimedia Commons).

U.S.S. Vermont (BB-20) in calmer water (courtesy Wikipedia).

Sources: USS Wyoming (BB-32). n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wyoming_(BB-32) (accessed November 16, 2016).

U.S. Military: Great White Fleet (Atlantic Fleet bound for the Pacific, 16 December 1907) http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=5542. (accessed November 19, 2016).

Great White Fleet. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_White_Fleet. (accessed November 16, 2016).

Real Photo Postcard Stamp Boxes (P-Q). Playle.com. (accessed November 19, 2016).

USS Vermont (BB-20). n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Vermont_(BB-20) (accessed November 16, 2016).

“NH 60506 USS VERMONT (BB-20) – Painting of a ship In a storm.” Naval History and Heritage Command. (accessed November 19, 2016).

File: USS Vermont (BB-20) Returning home from Med Cruise 1913.JPG. n.d. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Vermont_(BB-20)_Returning_home_from_Med_Cruise_1913.JPG. (accessed November 19, 2016).

Tags: colors of ship hulls, dating stamp boxes, Real Photo Postcards U.S. battleships, U.S. battleship history, U.S. Navy history

Categories: Boats and Ships, Postcards, Postcards Unused With Writing, Real Photo Postcards

A U. S. Army WWII Veteran

Posted on November 12th, 2016 by Annieoakley

Photo, circa 1943. Possible surname on back: Wright.

Price: $3.00 Size: About 2 and 1/2 x 3″

We’re a day late this year for Veterans Day, which was yesterday, but still the sentiment was there, so to honor all veterans…..here’s a snapshot of a handsome African-American guy taken during what appears to be the WWII era. From a little research we think he’s wearing an M-1943 Field Jacket. And the hat, a garrison cap, which bears an insignia on the left-hand side but the design is too blurred to make out. No doubt there are military uniform experts out there who will know. The writing is rather scribbled on the back, but it looks like the young man’s last name could be Wright, and underneath a couple of words, “…..?….cook” or could that first word be an abbreviation of signal? which then makes one think it would be Signal Corps, though that’s probably stretching it.

Sources: M-1943 Field Jacket. Military Items.com (accessed November 12, 2016).

Garrison Caps. At The Front Shop.com. (accessed November 12, 2016).

Tags: African Americans in WWII last name or surname of Wright, U.S. military uniforms and gear snapshots, WWII snapshots

Categories: African, African American, African Roots, Men, Military, People, Photos With Names, WWII