Antique postcard - a PSA for women born in August.

I decided that the first day of August was as an appropriate time as any to post this.  This is about the only time ever that I've been anything close to topical in any way, shape or form.

This is an early 20th century postcard & I suppose it qualifies as a comic.  I sure it was intended to be humorous.  And it does, in its way, illustrate one of the larger conundrums of life.  You make a life choice & chances are down the road you'll wonder what things would be like had you chosen differently.  Frequently people think a different choice may have been better, but there's just as much chance it would be worse.  You don't know.  That's life.

A deceptively heavy comic postcard.

I'm sure there's one of these for every month of the year, but this is the only one I have.

U.S. Navy Sailor, Early 20th Century, Ralph V. Clark

This is a photo of Ralph V. Clark, a sailor in the US Navy.  It was taken by R. Yamamoto of Yokohama, Japan.

I cannot date this precisely, but I believe it to be early 20th century, pre-WWI.    It is interesting that the photographer information is displayed using the Latin alphabet - I imagine it was a busy port and they learned to cater to their visitors.

Someone has written on the back - "Ralph V. Clark, brother of Frank B. Clark".  It's a nice example of what a Naval uniform looked like at the time.

I also have a photo of his brother Frank, same era, but it's not as good and there is no photographer information.

Sold!

An Ellen Clapsaddle Thanksgiving Turkey Postcard

OK, I'm a couple of months and at least 3 holidays late on this one.  I'll try to be more timely.  Or maybe not.

This an "artist signed" postcard by Ellen Capsaddle.  Her signature is near the bottom, next to the "A" in A Happy Thanksgiving.  Obviously her signature was reproduced with the postcard, it is not an original autograph.

Ellen Clapsaddle was born in Herkimer County, New York, and lived from 1865 to 1934.  She became very well known for her illustrations on greeting cards and postcards in the late 19th & early 20th centuries.

This particular card is from the early 20th century.  It commemorates Thanksgiving with a very nicely detailed (and embossed) drawing of a turkey. 

On the front of the card is the following information: printing only copyright by S. Garre, 1909.  On the back is the information that is was printed in Germany.  Many early 20th century postcards were printed in Europe, most in Germany.

The card has been mailed - it was postmarked in Little Rock, Arkansas, Nov 23 - unfortunately because of the embossing, I cannot read the date. 

Ellen Clapsaddle cards are generally pretty nice - even the very common ones.  She is very collectible, and prices for her cards range from a little to a lot more than I'd like to pay.

A Mysterious Antique Photo of a Young Woman

I don't really know what to say about this photo - it's just something I find visually interesting.  

It's not large - just over 5 inches tall and 4 inches wide, and there is no writing or photographer information on it.

The clothing and the mounting date this to the early 20th century, but I can't really say how early.  I assume, because it's mounted on cardboard with gold trim, that it was taken by a professional photographer.    Amateur snapshots started showing up in the early 20th century, but I think this is more professional than that.

Everything about this photo seems somewhat unique, to me. 

Starting from the top - she's wearing some kind of cap or hat that you didn't see many women wearing, at least in photos.  Most women's hats of the era were big, elaborate, flowery, feathery things.  This one is hard to make out in any detail - there is a band of cloth going around it, and I can't make out a brim or bill or anything else.  It looks almost like a pillbox hat.

She's wearing a tie, and what looks like a white vest - quite masculine - with hands either in her dress or jacket pockets.  My wife would be able to tell you what kind of sleeves those are on the jacket, but I don't dare even conjecture.  She's wearing a long ankle length dress, and I cannot make out her shoes in any kind of detail.  I suspicion they are lace up boots, but that's but I have no way to prove it.  She's probably wearing a corset, but who knows.  Her hair appears short, and she's looking slightly away from the camera.  The background is a plain wall, no chairs, plants, statues, pedestals or props of any kind.  That, all by itself, is interesting.

I don't know if anyone else sees what I see in this photo or not.  To me, the whole thing pretty mysterious.   A young woman was photographed 100 to 110 years ago, and that's about all I can  say about it with any kind of certainty.

She's young, late teens or early 20s.  Is she dressed stylishly for the time, or did she just get off the boat from some eastern European country?  I don't know.   

Black Americana Postcards - Detroit Publishing - Early 20th Century

These are two "Black Americana" postcards by Detroit Publishing, dating from the early 20th century. 

The first shows a young woman with the caption "Polly in the Peanut Patch"; the second is an old man with a watermelon with the caption "The Melon-Cholic days have come, the gladdest of the year".

Black Americana is a postcard collecting category, and for some people that's what they collect.  In the early 20th century (and in fact much later) most postcards depicting African Americans would be considered anything from mildly to blatantly racist by today's standards.  Possibly by the standards of the time too, I don't know. 

Anyway these are neat cards - not only because of the subject matter, but because of the publisher.  I've written about Detroit Publishing before, so I won't repeat everything in this post, you can click on "Detroit Publishing" in the labels and find another post I wrote if you want more info about them.  They used a special printing (or coloring) process which I think they leased from a European company and called "Phostint", and as a result their graphics are a higher quality than most other cards printed at the time. The coloring on "Polly's" card is very nice.

These are divided back cards, so that dates them to March 1907 or later - my feeling is that they are pre-WWI.

Update:  Both Sold!

Bamforth & Co Postcards - After Marriage Her Husband Will be Different

 

This is an early 20th century postcard by Bamforth, a British company with a long history in the postcard & film business.

 

This card is poking fun at several things, but in the end it displays a succinct understanding of the human condition.  (I mostly wrote the previous sentence to see if anyone was paying attention). 

 

Most people who do not live together do not really know each other.  If the only place you see someone is at work, or behind a counter,  you don't really know them.

 

If you don't live with someone, you don't experience the undesirable sights, smells, stains and/or bodily fluids that can no longer be hidden.  Humans are a biological species and as such are a messy sort, but that can be hidden or diminished UNTIL you live with someone. 

 

After marriage, a husband (and wife) with almost certainly be different than he (or she) appeared before.

 

I suppose.

 

Anyway, that's what I think.  Bamforth is a great company that produced thousands of postcards - many slightly (some more than slightly) risque.  And a lot that are just a little odd.

 

Update: Sold!

Hammon, Mabel and Annie

Sometimes postcards are interesting because they show a slice of life - and this is one of those.  It is more interesting because of the message on back, and because it is one of a series of postcards we have that were addressed to either Mable Norwood of Battle Creek, Michigan, or Hammon Marshall, sometimes of Battle Creek, other times of Detroit.

This one was addressed to Hammon Marshall from someone named Annie, and Annie is a little upset and none too subtle about what her intentions toward Hammon were.  The text on back reads as follows:  "I'm very sorry I did not see you when you were in BC.  I heard today you came to see that Mabel N.  You know what you promised me. I never thought that of you.  You promised you would love me forever.  But never mind. XXX Annie."   Then in the margins she wrote "Let me hear from you some".

BC = Battle Creek, and "that Mabel N." is Mabel Norwood.

This is postmarked Battle Creek, Michigan, Feb 18, 1916. 

96 years later, I can feel Annie's pain, sense of betrayal, and a bit of denial, very common emotions for someone in her position. Annie probably thought that she and Hammon Marshall would eventually be married, she'd keep house and raise a family, and it's possible Hammon mislead her.  That's all conjecture on my part though. 

Most likely Hammon had a decent job and was considered a catch.

But as it turns out Hammon Marshall married Mabel Norwood.   Mabel was born in 1886 and died in 1974 - I believe Hammon died some years earlier.  As far as I can tell they only had one child, a daughter, who was born in 1923 and lived until 2007.   I expect there was an estate sale sometime after that point and that is how these series of postcards addressed to Mabel and Hammon (mostly from relatives) eventually ended up our possession.  

This was a little poignant slice of life, a little bit of early 20th century romantic struggles, and Annie went through a very painful but ultimately very common experience.   Most likely she found some one else, kept the house and raised a whole passel of children.

These events were very important in these people's lives - but everybody involved has lived their lives, raised their families, had their careers, did whatever they're going to do and have been dead for quite awhile now.  These postcards and old photos we list & sell on eBay make me realize just how short life is.  And they also make abundantly clear (to me at least) that these were real people with real emotions.  Nothing abstact about them.  There was real pain in the words written on the back of this postcard.

Update:  Sold!

Fortune Teller Postcard, copright 1910 - Real or Repro?

This is a neat early 20th century postcard (I think).  I have to explain the I think part.  

I've seen other examples of this exact card for sale, but they were reproductions.   One card was printed in Hong Kong, another had info on the back indicating it was printed in 1989, and they were both 4 X 6 inches, or continental size.

It's not uncommon for old postcard to be reproduced at a later date - and usually there's no big secret about it.  Repros are usually larger than the original, usually look wildly out of place with modern times, and usually have information on the back (a zip code, area code in a phone number, a URL, a date etc) which tells you it's not an original. Frequently it'll even have the word "reproduction" on the back somewhere.  But in case it doesn't, an early 20th century postcard will not have publisher info with a zip code, and it is very unlikely to have been printed in China, it's not going to be continental size and so on.   Also, it is very unlikely that some one will have multiple copies of a really neat (and possibly rare) early 20th century card for sale.  That's a red flag for me. 

There's nothing wrong with selling a reproduction, as long as the seller is up front about it.  The other sellers who had this card did not hide the fact that they were selling a reproduction of an early 20th century card, so that's cool.  And it  leads me to question the copy of the card I have, especially since I've seen no other instances of this card claiming to be original. 

As far as I can tell, which means I don't have any evidence otherwise, the "Fortune Teller" postcard I have is original.  It is standard size (about 3.5 x 5.5 inches) there is a copyright date of 1910 in the lower left corner, the stamp box and everything else on the reverse looks correct.  Though I suppose I could be fooled, the printing on it does not have the look of the later "chromes".  There is no dates, publishing information or anything esle on the card to indicate it was a reproduction of an earlier postcard.  At least nothing I can tell. 

So, I'm calling it original.  For the most part I only sell original postcards, and I try to be careful about making sure they are originals.  I remember listing a couple of WW II era military aircraft postcards that had web addresses on the back, so they were reproductions, but I made that obvious in the title & listing.  But it is not routine (in other words almost never) for me to list a reproduction postcard.  As a rule, I don't like them, so I won't list them.

C. V. Muttich Art Postcard, early 1900s

This is an early 20th century art postcard of a painting by C. V. Muttich.  It's title is "Girl from Trentschin", which I believe is a city in Slovakia, or perhaps the Czech republic. 

I like art postcards, especially ones of artists I'd never heard of, like Muttich.  I still don't know much about Muttich, except he was Czech, and I've seen his firs name (Casimil) spelled with a "K" as well as a "C".  I suspect "K" is more correct.  He apparently did several of paintings similar to this one.

It's a pretty picture.  The girl is wearing a very elaborate dress & head scarf, very central European, and looks contemporary to the time of the painting (1914, give or take). 

Photograph of a Man with a very large Dog

This is an antique photo of a man with a very large dog, I think a Great Dane.    It was photographed by Renshaw, of 2718 Girard Ave in Philadelphia.  Writing on the back indicates the man is named Louis Haeckner, and that he was born in Germany.

We've listed a lot of photos of the Hackner's (sometimes spelled Haeckner) recently.  Margaret Hackner, who I suppose was a daughter, married Oliver Phillips, and we have a lot of photos of that side of the family.

This is an early 20th century Gelatin Silver photograph, and there is heavy silvering on the photo, so heavy that if you tilt it slightly one way or another, the silvering is all you can see.  Tilt it slightly toward you and you see a sharp photograph.   I don't know the exact date of the photo, but it is probably 100 years old or close to it.

It is an unusual studio photo - a man with a huge dog in his lap - and the type that many people find interesting.   At least I do. 

Update:  Sold!

Another Update - the dog may be a Presa Canario, not sure.

Chandler Motor Co. Light Weight Six - Early 20th Century Postcad

This is an antique postcard advertising an automobile made by Chandler Motor Company.  It is advertising a Light Weight Six for $1,295.00 - the Six referring to the number of cylinders. 

Chandler Motor Co. was in business from 1913 - 1929, and were considered a mid-priced & mid-level automobile, luxury wise. They were purchased by a competitor in 1929, and the brand was discontinued.

This postcard is postmarked, and though the date is hard to read, I believe it is 1915.   The postcard has the look and feel of an early 20th century card, that is pre-1918.  There is a cancelled 1 cent stamp on it, and postage rates were 2 cents from 1917-1919, and again from 1925-1928.  So I'm fairly confident the cancellation date is 1915.

This looks like a touring car, and even though it's "only" a light weigh six, it appears to have enough power to chase a bear up a steep hill.  And even though it's "only" a medium level automobile (performance & luxury wise), it is still elegant enough for a chauffeur to drive around a lady with a large hat.

It's a nifty bit of automotive and advertising history.

Update:  Sold!

Comic Postcard - The Whole Dam Family at the Beach

This is a comic postcard that was part of early 20th century popular culture.  It is a representation of the "Dam" family, from the patriarch (I.B. Dam) to the Dam dog, who is planting a big sloppy lick on the Dam baby.  There were posters, postcards, toys, music and two silent movies (The Whole Dam Family, The Dam Dog) based on this family with an unfortunate last name.


This particular card is hilarious - I laugh every time I look at it. I've even looked at it with a magnifying glass to make sure I caught all the nuances. 


Anyway, it's the whole Dam family at the beach.


Update: Sold!

Kansas City, MO. 50 years ago (from 1916)

This is an early 20th postcard showing "Kansas City 50 Years Ago".   It's almost certainly Kansas City, Missouri & not Kansas City, Kansas across the river.  I'm not 100% positive about that - I've only driven thru the cities on I-64 & that was a long time ago, and at least once it was as night.  But I'll bet anything it's Missouri. 

There is no indication of the actual date of the view in this postcard, but you can tell just by looking it was a while ago.  The city looks like a small to mid-sized town mostly crowded next to the water, and there are open fields behind it, and steamboats on the river in front of it.  I can tell just by looking at the front of the card that is early 20th century, made earlier than 1918 most likely.  But the biggest clue is that it has a postmark on back - it was mailed from Kansas City, MO. to Ipswich, South Dakota on April 9, 1916.  (To a Mr. Vick Olson, to be exact). So this card can be dated to 1916 at the latest, and probably a year or two earlier than that.   It's a divided back card, so I know it was created in 1907 or later.  So what we're looking at is an early 20th century rendition of a painting of the Kansas City skyline somewhere between the very late 1850s to mid 1860s.   In the 1860s, this would have been a major population center for that part of the country.

I get all giddy about stuff like this, can't help it. It's just cool.

I have this listed on eBay - if you want to go to the listing, click here.

Hello Ora, Where Are You - 1909 postcard

This is a strange postcard from the first decade of the 20th century.  It is a picture of clothing - looks to me like a skirt or dress draped over a chair and men's clothing of some sort hanging on a really neat coat hanger.  I originally thought it was a pair of pants, but heck I don't know.  Behind all that is a door with rather ornate handles.  Its a very simple drawing, as drawings go, but on the other hand it tells a story.

This card was postmarked Berne, Indiana, February 8, 1909.   It is addressed to Miss Ora Click of Berne (RR3 to be exact).  The message is printed and simply says "Hello Ora, where are you?"

That is possibly a very deep question, or maybe not.  I thought about it awhile, and decided to stop.  The physics of it is a bit more than I want to deal with.

At any rate, this little postcard is very interesting on a very subtle level.  The image, combined with the message leads me to believe that something was going on here, between Miss Ora Click of Berne, Indiana and whoever authored that question. 

Update: Sold!

Antique Photo Factory Workshop Man & Woman Workers Barrels Boxes Early 1900s

This is an antique photo of two people, a man & woman, in some kind of workshop.   No one wrote anything on this picture to identify the people or its age - we believe it is very early 20th century.  It is mounted on a larger cardboard backing & is a little faded.

There is some sort of light above the table, but I'm not convinced that it is electric.  The items on the floor near a table and a barrel look like nuts & bolts to me, but it could be anything.  It has an ornate, probably tin, ceiling.

I've gone over this picture with a magnifying glass looking for anything like tools or advertising I could identify.  Some of the items on the shelves have writing, but I could not read it.

I like pictures like this because of all the details in it - details no one gave a thought about.  This one is full of wooden barrels, boxes, shelves with cans on them, stuff piled on the floor, and on and on.  I have no idea what kind of work went on there, but it captures a fraction of a second of two people's lives.  Two people who are long gone, but who look quite healthy here.

Update:  Sold!

Detroit Publishing Postcard of Wallace Way & Fitchburg High School, Fitchburg, Massachusetts

This card was produced by Detroit Publishing, and I've always felt the "Detroit" cards were kind of special. 

Detroit Publishing started in the later part of the 19th century as Detroit Photographic Co., then changed their name to Detroit Publishing in 1905.   I believe they went out of business in 1924.   Detroit Photographic (later Publishing) apparently received the right to use a process called "Photochrome" in North America.  This was a process developed by a company in Zurich & it was used for coloring black and white photography.  I think.  On later "Detroit" cards they call the process "Phostint", and say they're the only one who use it.

This process is what makes these cards a bit special.  The color & image is sharper and more detailed than other cards, and they have a look to them I can recognize immediately.  All things being equal, I'll charge a little more for a "Detroit" card than I will for others.  They are better quality.

Detroit Publishing subjects are pretty much anything - this one is a High School in Fitchburg, Mass.  There are a lot of scenic cards, a lot of urban scenes and so on.  And like all postcards from this era, they document things and a way of living that no longer exist.  There are still many to be had, and they are relatively inexpensive.

I can estimate the age of this card within a couple of years - it is 104 to 106 years old.  Its an undivided back card - after 1907 the back of the cards were divided for an address & message.  Also the caption (which you can't see in the photo posted here) says "Detroit Publishing".  I know that name wasn't used until 1905, so this card was created in 1905 or 1906, perhaps early 1907 at the latest. 

I have no idea if the scene it captured still exists - my guess is that it doesn't. 

Update:  Sold!

RPPC of a Sports Team - Probably Basketball, circa 1920s

This is a Real Picture Postcard (RPPC) of what is probably a college sports team of some sort.  We're not 100% sure what kind of team it is, but we think it's basketball.  

There is no messages or other writing to indicate who these people were, so we're left to wonder.

There are several ways to date an RPPC, the most obvious one being if it has a postmark or if someone wrote a date on it.  This has neither.  Another way is by clothing, and the "coach" is wearing a suit with a white shirt that has a high rounded stiff looking collar, with a tie.  That seems to date it into the 1920s.  The stamp box is another indication - different companies used different paper and they tended to turn the stamp box into their logo.  You can get an idea of how old an RPPC is by that logo.  The stamp box on this one dates the card from 1918-1930 or so.  So 1920s is a pretty good guess.

So 85 to 90 years ago a group of now anonymous young men on what was probably a college sports team posed for a team picture, and through the randomness and vagaries of life, we ended up with it.  Stuff like this never ceases to amaze me.

The postcard is not in the best shape in the world, but it's still an interesting picture.

Update: Sold!

Castle San Angelo in Rome - Antique Postcard

This is an old postcard of the Castle San Angelo in Rome.   It is an undivided back card, which mean it was made in the very early years of the 20th century - probably before 1905.  This is an Italian card - all the captions and other information printed on it is in Italian, except for one French translation telling you that this is indeed, an Italian postcard.

I'm pretty sure the caption translates "Rome - Bridge and Castle San Angelo".  I've actually been there, and it still looks very much like this picture, except it's in color.

This structure was originally built about 1900 years ago as a tomb for Emperors of Rome, and was later fortified and used as a safe haven for Popes.  Its not far from St. Peters, and I believe there is a tunnel leading from the Vatican to the Castle.  When it was built, I'm pretty sure they didn't call it Castle San Angelo. 

Little Girl, Big Dog - Early 20th Century Postcard

For some reason people seem to like little girls with big dogs.  I can't blame them, I partial to the dogs, myself.  Just ask Pickles.

There is a whole series of these cards, and I have a couple of them.  Some of them have the same dog & girl, others are different.  But the background and scene are the same.

I've noticed that postcard publishers do that.  You'll see the exact same pictures in different formats sometimes.  Sometimes you'll see the same picture but with a different caption.  I think I have a postcard which somehow placed the Rocky Mountains in Kansas.  

This is a pretty postcard, early 20th century, divided back.  On the back the word "post card" is printed in about 20 different languages.

Not sure what kind of dog it is, but it's pretty good size.

Update:  Sold!

Swedish Easter Witches - Hildur Soderberg

This is a fun postcard from Sweden.  Glad Pask! = Happy Easter, and those are witches flying airplanes over a city.  Apparently Easter Witches are a part of Swedish folklore.

This card was signed by Hildur Soderberg, and I believe he did a series of these.  This is the only one I have, but I'm sure I've seen others.

I'm not exactly sure of the dating on this card, but it looks early 20th century - pre-1918 - to me.  There is a message on back (in Swedish I think), and it is addressed, but it was never mailed.

Update:  This one sold!