Laurel Cottage Genealogy
Genealogy Services, Old Photos, Postcards, Trade Cards, Etc.

Mamie And Dorothy Elizabeth Richards, July 1905

Posted on April 18th, 2015 by

Mamie And Dorothy Richards July 1905 p1Mamie And Dorothy Richards July 1905 p1a

“This [is] Dorothy E. Richards. This is where she looks natural. July 30th 1905. To Mama From Mamie & Dorothy. 4 months old lacking 1 week.”

Mamie And Dorothy Richards July 1905 p2Mamie And Dorothy Richards July 1905 p2a

Price for the pair:  $5.00      Sizes:  Top photo:  2 and 1/4 x 3 and 1/2″    Bottom photo – About 2 x 3 and 1/4″

“4 months old, lacking 1 week. This [is] Dorothy Elizabeth Richards in her Mama’s arms. She looks a bit hunch-backed in the picture. But she isn’t. July 30 – 1905. To Mama From Mamie & Dorothy.”

Awww! These photos of a proud mama and her baby girl are so sweet! It’s funny how Mamie is stressing that Dorothy is not hunch-backed. I don’t think we would even think that in looking at this second photo. And Mamie’s comment on the top photo, about Dorothy looking “natural” – this is interesting. We might be thinking, “Huh? Well, of course she looks natural.” But this was just an expression of the day. The next post will show another example of this.

No records were found that matched for Dorothy and her mother, Mamie, but we’re happy to have the photos. And it’s always nice to have a dated example of women’s clothing and hairstyles.

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Categories: Children, Old Photos, Photos With Names

One Of The Krantz Boys

Posted on April 18th, 2015 by

One Of The Krantz Boys pc1One Of The Krantz Boys pc2

Divided back, used Real Photo Postcard. Postmarked date and city unreadable. Circa 1909 – 1914.

Price:  $12.00

Here’s a another RPPC with a little boy, this time standing on a wrought iron “ice cream parlor” chair, and with a nice fake backdrop of foliage and sky. (So dramatic! Imagine him at the prow of a ship!)

The sender wrote:   “If not called for return to William Krantz, Clinton, R-R-33, Wis.”  The card is addressed to:   “Mrs. John Wuhrman, Whitewater, Wis. R-R-2.”

The WWI Draft Registration shows William Krantz, born March 15, 1876 in Germany, with an address of 34 Clinton, Rock County, Wisconsin, and “nearest relative” his wife, Etta Krantz. So, this address is almost an exact match to the postcard address given for the sender. The 1910 Federal Census was not found, but the 1920 census for Sharon, Wisconsin, shows William and Cora E. Krantz and family. (The town of Sharon is about 10 miles southeast of Clinton.) Their children on the 1920 are Ruby, Roy, Donald and Wesley, ages 15 – 10. Also living with the family is William’s brother Otto. The postmarked date on this card is unreadable but we’re probably safe to assume it’s pre-1920. The boys’ ages are so close together, so this is likely a photo of either Roy, Donald or Wesley, at about age three, though it’s always possible that it’s none of them.

Sources:  Year: 1920; Census Place: Sharon, Walworth, Wisconsin; Roll: T625_2019; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 154; Image: 1095. (Ancestry.com)

Registration State: Wisconsin; Registration County: Rock; Roll: 1674978; Draft Board: 2. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

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Categories: Chairs, Children, Photos With Names, Postcards, Postcards Used, Real Photo Postcards

From Lloyd To Mrs. Ralph

Posted on April 16th, 2015 by

From Lloyd To Mrs Ralph pc1From Lloyd To Mrs Ralph pc2

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

Price:  $5.00

“From your little friend Lloyd to Mrs. Ralph.”

Here’s a precious photo made into a Real Photo Postcard of a little boy named Lloyd, about four or five years old. He’s dressed up in white shirt and short pants with white leggings. He wears a dark-colored, satiny type bow or cravat, and notice how his shoes (wearing out at the toes) have decorative bows on them. He was posed by the photographer to stand with hands resting on the back of a child’s wrought iron “ice cream parlor” chair, with heart-shaped design.

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Categories: Chairs, Children, Photos With Names, Postcards, Postcards Unused With Writing, Real Photo Postcards

Selma, Blanche And Maggie

Posted on April 15th, 2015 by

Selma Blanche And Maggie pc1Selma Blanche And Maggie pc2

Here’s a portrait of three beautiful young ladies, probably sisters. The sender, one of the three, wrote a nice long and funny message to her cousin Henry:

“My Dear Cousin, this is my Postal, how you like me, I look like a Pickle, it is so say yes, Henry ask your Pa if he knows about that farm what it is near Sweda[?] …and remember me kid dont show this postal to George because I look so homely and if you will than remember what will I do with you I will kiss you to [?] …excuse my writting…Good Bye  xxxx, xxxxx.”

Well, this is a needle in a haystack type of search – without a location it proves to be very tedious to look for three sisters, close in age, somewhere in the U.S. (chuckle) probably in farm country, maybe the Midwest, who knows? It looks like the sender was writing off the page at the bottom left. Is that the town she’s talking about or is that her signature in the form of a nickname? Anyway, it’s a great postal, to use the term from back in the day.

Divided back, unused with writing, Real Photo Postcard. CYKO stamp box. Circa 1910s – 1920.

Price:  $4.00

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Categories: Photos With Names, Postcards, Postcards Unused With Writing, Real Photo Postcards

Girls And Doll

Posted on April 14th, 2015 by

Girls And Doll pc1Girls And Doll pc2

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

Price:  $5.00

Awwww! A Real Photo Postcard showing two little girls, sisters no doubt, standing just inside the doorway to their house. Maybe they were at the side or back door because the entrance way seems a bit narrow. We can see the flowered pattern of some curtains in the background. And notice the rustic look of door and frame – hopefully, that door is still intact somewhere….But, back to the girls – they can’t be any cuter. The older one, age maybe about age five, holds her dolly and smiles into the camera. Her younger sister, maybe about two or three, gazes off to her left, and is holding her baby bottle.

The date of the postcard can be estimated with help from the AZO stamp box that shows all four triangles pointing up, which Playle.com estimates 1904 – 1918, and the fact that it’s a divided back which puts it at least at 1907. But for me, I get the feeling that it may have been taken in the latter half of the 1910s.

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Categories: Children, Dolls, Photos Without Names, Postcards, Postcards Unused, Real Photo Postcards

Esther Jacobson

Posted on April 13th, 2015 by

Esther Jacobson pc1Esther Jacobson pc2

This Real Photo Postcard, along with several others, was found at an antique fair in Watsonville, California. They were previously written on by probably another dealer. But wonderfully, the name of this beautiful girl appears on the back, along with her (we presume) married name. So she was Esther (Jacobson) Bolin, and looks to be about sixteen to eighteen here; posed in profile, in white skirt and blouse, with her dark brown hair pulled up and full on the sides and with a bow showing at the back. She’s looking at a newspaper and if you enlarge the image you can see that the back of the paper shows the business section and want ads. (Was this paper the Chicago Daily Tribune? You can almost read a title in Old English Style lettering.) And notice the bench she is seated on is draped with a gorgeous white Battenburg lace cover.

To identify the girl in the photo, various sources were checked, but only one seemed to match. So, it appears that this Esther Jacobson, was born in Chicago in 1893; the daughter of Adolph Ludvig Jacobson and Matilda Karolina Engstrom; and that she married Emil Bolin in Chicago in 1923.

Divided back, unused with writing, Real Photo Postcard. AZO stamp box. Circa 1909 – 1911.

Price:  $15.00

Sources:  “Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878-1938,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPC-ZJW8 : accessed 13 April 2015), Esther Jacobson in entry for June Marian Bolin, ; citing Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference , Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm .

Year: 1910; Census Place: Chicago Ward 15, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T624_257; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0716; FHL microfilm: 1374270. (Ancestry.com)

Ancestry.com public member trees (various). Web accessed April 13, 2015.

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Categories: Photos With Names, Postcards, Postcards Unused With Writing, Real Photo Postcards

Fred Demmel In About 1912

Posted on April 12th, 2015 by

Fred Demmel About 1912 pc1Fred Demmel About 1912 pc2

Divided back, unused with writing, Real Photo Postcard. CYKO stamp box. Circa 1912.

Availability Status:  SOLD

This postcard was addressed to,  “Mr. Albert Beardsley, 100 Empire St., Freeport, Ill.”  and the sender wrote:

“Hello Albert. How are you. we are all well. Hope you the same. I promised you a picture long ago. I did not have any taken until now. I go to school. I like it out here. write to me. My address is now, with love Fred Demmel. Humphrey Nebr. R.R. No. 1.”

An Albert Beardsley was found at the address given on the 1912 city directory, and listed as,  “Beardsley Albert, paint I C, rms 100 Empire st.”  I. C. stands for the Illinois Central Railroad. Now, whether this is Fred’s friend Albert or Albert’s father perhaps, is unknown.

Fred was then found on the 1900 Federal Census for Ridott Township, which is about ten miles east of Freeport, Illinois. He appears there at about age three, with his parents Phillip and Maggie Demmel; boarder Archie Hockman; and Maggie’s father, Alexander Pierce. The WWI Draft Registration card shows Frederick Edward Demmel, born February 20, 1897, Ridott, Illinois. So, if this postcard was written in 1912, Fred would have been about 15 in this photo.

Sources:  Freeport Journal Printing Co., The Annual Directory of the City of Freeport, 1912. p. 44.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Ridott, Stephenson, Illinois; Roll: 346; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0104; FHL microfilm: 1240346. (Ancestry.com)

Registration State: Iowa; Registration County: Pottawattamie; Roll: 1642992. (Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918)

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Categories: Photos With Names, Postcards, Postcards Unused With Writing, Real Photo Postcards

Man And Dog, Pendleton, Oregon

Posted on April 12th, 2015 by

Man And Dog Pendleton Oregon p1Man And Dog Pendleton Oregon p2

What a nice photo – a man and his dog interacting on a street in front of their home in Pendleton, Oregon. The dog, who appears to be a Fox Terrier (Smooth) is standing on his hind legs waiting to be rewarded with the treat the man is holding. The back of this photo shows the stamp:

“Economy Drug & Music Co., Pendleton, Oregon. Kodak Finishing, Copying and Enlarging.”   Thomas Young is listed as the proprietor of this store, according to a music trade journal entry dated July 23, 1923. Just the snippet version of the article appears, but it announces the store’s opening. Thomas Young appears with his wife and children, as a music store owner on the 1930 Federal Census for Pendleton. The census states he was born about 1888 in Wyoming, so he would have been about 35 when he opened the store in 1923. A 1928 city directory shows the store address at 604 Main St. By 1940 Thomas and family are living in Medford, Oregon; he is listed as being born in Oregon on this census, and proprietor of a drug store. So, checking the city directories for Medford, we find as early as 1937, Thomas and his wife, and the new store name of Young’s Cut-Rate Drug Store; with additional info given that Thomas Young is president and manager of Young’s Drug Co., Inc. So, this puts the Economy Drug & Music Co. store from 1923 to no later than 1937.

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Just the dog, posing sitting up on his haunches, with what might be a view of the dog and man’s home or a neighbor’s home, in the background. As to the architectural style of the house, it appears to be a Craftsman.

Two vintage photos, Pendleton, Oregon, circa 1923 – 1937. Size of man and dog photo:  About 2 and 1/4 x 4.”   Size of dog photo:  About 3 x 4 and 3/4.”

Price for the pair:  $8.00

Sources:  Music Trades, Vol. 66, 1923. p. 29. (Google eBook) Web accessed April 12, 2015.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Pendleton, Umatilla, Oregon; Roll: 1956; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0054; Image: 306.0; FHL microfilm: 2341690. (Ancestry.com)

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Buyers’ Guide of Pendleton City and Umatilla County, 1928 – 1929. p. 37. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

Year: 1940; Census Place: Medford, Jackson, Oregon; Roll: T627_3362; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 15-43. (Ancestry.com)

Polk’s Medford City and Jackson County (Oregon) Directory, Vol. II, 1937. p. 236. (Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989)

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Categories: Animals, Dogs, Houses, Old Photos, Photos Without Names

Bill, Freda And Anna

Posted on April 11th, 2015 by

Bill Freda And Anna pc1Bill Freda And Anna pc2

Hmmm, well do most people identify people going from left to right? Is it possible that the original image was reversed? (Yes.) But the long and short of it is we don’t know which lady is Freda and which is Anna. How wonderful though, that we do have the first and last names for this snazzy trio. They are identified on the back as:  Bill Hartwick, Freda Smith, and Anna Frank. The young lady in the front, Freda or Anna, dressed in a long skirt and matching jacket with wide plunging v-neck collar, wears a small animal fur (poor guy) fastened around her shoulders. Her hat is very elegant with a large brim that’s turned up on one side and with a feather (poor bird) jaunting out from the other. The lady behind her (Anna or Freda) looks to be a little older, and is also very chic, wearing a double-breasted coat with large buttons, and a high collar, possibly of fur. And her brimless hat (not a cloche) is the perfect compliment. Bill appears in a suit with double-breasted jacket, tie and derby hat, and carrying a small box-like object. (Whatever this is, it seems a might too narrow, too plain, and maybe too small to be any type of box camera.)

It would be doable – to narrow down and maybe identify where this photo was taken, and who exactly these people are. But, it would be extremely time-consuming to compare census records in various cities with the names, and estimated birth dates, so we won’t (alas) go there…but maybe someone working on their family tree will be able to recognize any or all of these three people.

Divided back, Real Photo Postcard. AZO stamp box. Circa late 1910s – early 1920s.

Price:  $15.00

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Categories: Hats, Photos With Names, Postcards, Postcards Unused With Writing, Real Photo Postcards

To Lena From Mamie

Posted on April 11th, 2015 by

To Lena From Mamie pc1To Lena From Mamie pc2

From The Lena Davis Collection, here’s a postcard showing an embossed “framed” scene of two figures in a rowboat on a lake, with the sun rising or setting behind purple mountains. This is probably from about 1910, as we know from another postcard that Lena was in Pomona at that time. This one is from Lena’s cousin Mamie. Mamie wrote:

“Dear Cousin Lena:  I recieved you post card and was glad to hear. Glad you like it here. I hope you don’t go any farther away, I wish you could come to the pie social. We are going to Vincent Sunday. Hope John is feeling better. Write soon. You’ll all owe me cards now. Coz Mamie.”

Ahhhh, a pie social. Imagine the pies they had, and likely all homemade!

Divided back, unused with writing, embossed postcard. Publisher unknown. Circa 1910.

Price:  $2.00

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Categories: Boats and Ships, Postcards, Postcards Unused With Writing, The Lena Davis Postcard Collection