Three Men in Top Hats, from Wenatchee, Washington, and Coldwater & Saginaw, Michigan

 

This is an interesting photo.  There are 3 men, all dressed to the hilt, including gloves.  They look to be in their 30s, the one sitting on the left maybe even a little younger.  The clothing indicates they were doing well for themselves and had (or at least aspired to) some social standing.

 

What makes this really interesting though is what is written on the back. 

 

The man sitting on the left is identified as F.W. Baker, Medical Arts Co., Wenatchee, Wash.  There is also a PHC - 90 in the description, but I don't know what that means.

 

The man sitting on the right is identified as W.H. (Belva) Lockwood, 41 Hull Street, Coldwater, Mich.

 

Whoever wrote this was not sure who the man standing is, but it is either a  Dr. Parkinson, or a Dr. A. S. Rogers, both from Saginaw, Mich.  Whoever the man standing is, he was described as "now dead".  

 

I have no idea who wrote this information, or when they wrote it.

 

So if you like to search out people in old photos and find their stories, there is a lot here to go on.    Just a note - there was a Belva Lockwood who was woman involved with women's rights in the 19th century.  I don't know if that Belva Lockwood has anything to do with the "Lockwood" in this photo.

 

This is a cropped portion of a cabinet card - the mounting is not in great shape, tho the photo itself is just fine.  The phographer's name was Gibson, of Ann Arbor, and I'm assuming it is the Ann Arbor in Michigan, but the state is missing.

 

The person who wrote all that info neglected to put a date on it, but we're pretty sure this photo is from the 1890s.

 

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!