Meet Little Martha Sharples, 1892-1926.

This is little Martha Sharples - a bit larger normal Cabinet Photo with 3 views of the little girl. 

I know this is Martha Sharples because it says so on the back - and it also gives her married name (Hess), and her parents names - David T. & Adeline Sharples.  With that information you can find out a lot about this little girl.

She was born Nov 22, 1892 in Elgin (Kane County) Illinois, which means this photo was taken in 1897-98, give or take.   She married a Henry Lawrence Hess in on April 26, 1916 in West Chester, Pennsylvania - their 96th anniversary is coming up.  I have no idea of the events surrounding a move from Illinois to Pennsylvania, but apparently it happened.   She had two children in the next couple of years, and then a daughter on May 28th, 1926.  She died about a week later, June 2, 1926, at the age of 33 at Media (Delaware County) Pennsylvania.  Although I can't say with 100% certainty, it seems pretty obvious she died from some complication arising from giving birth, probably excessive bleeding or infection.   Both of her parents, David & Adeline Shaples, outlived her.  I believe she was their only child.

I suspect there is no one alive now who ever met or knew Martha Sharples.

Martha's daughter, the one born in 1926, died in 2010, at the age of 84. 

  

I look at these old pictures, and sometimes I find myself mourning for these people, who are for the most part long gone. I actually feel sad for them.  In this photo, Martha is a little girl.  She seems happy and well cared for, and I'm fairly certain no one expected her to die as a result of child birth.  Everybody expected her to get married, have children, become a grandmother and so on.  But fate had something else in store for Martha Sharples Hess.  She never saw her children grow up.

Update:  SOLD!

A bit of Fashion - Antique Photo

I love this photo, and it's mostly because of the clothes the woman is wearing.  The odd hat with super long feathers, a beaded dress & boots (perhaps lace up, not sure).  I also love the sepia tone.  This photo screams 1920s.

It comes in a large folder, which frankly, has seen better days.  The photo is in great condition, however. 

Other than the woman's display of fashion, it's not particularly remarkable.  There is no photographer information, no names or date, no clue as to who these people are or where they came from.   Doesn't matter, it's a lot of fun to look at.

Old Photo of a man in a dress uniform

This is an antique photo of a man in a uniform of some sort, probably early 20th (maybe late 19th) century. 

I'm not sure what kind of uniform it is, but it has a military look about it.  Having a military look doesn't necessarily make it military, but on the other hand, there is a good possibility.  The overall appearance is right - a man with short hair standing more or less at parade rest.   Also there are shoulder epaulets, the "U.S" insignia on the collar, plus what looks like crossed swords behind it.   I can't see that clearly, so I could be wrong, but if it is crossed swords, then this is most likely an early military dress uniform of some sort.

The photo is mounted on dark cardboard, and embossed in that cardboard is "Monroe Ft. Sheridan".  I believe Monroe is the photographer & Ft. Sheridan is the location - specifically Illinois.

But I don't know for sure, so I hope someone who is expert in military uniforms (specifically US Army) will jump in and straighten me out if I'm wrong. 

Anyway, it's a neat photo.

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). 

A House on Austin Avenue, Barrington, NJ - early 20th Century Photograph

This stark photo is obviously a picture of a house.  What's interesting about it is that the exact address of the house is written on back, and that's unusual, at least for me.  I can tell that it had at least two fire places (very likely more), probably did not have electricity, telephone, or indoor plumbing.  There are other houses in the area, but none seem to be close by and there are no trees, so I suspect it is a fairly new construction.  It could be that it wasn't complete when this picture was taken, but I don't see any evidence of construction going on. 

I used google earth to try to look a the exact location (give or take), and none of the houses looked anything like this.  Austin Avenue today is still a residential area, with modest houses & large trees all fairly close together.  It seems to also be very close to an interstate highway.   I'm pretty sure the building in this photo no longer exists and has been long forgotten.

We've listed several pictures on eBay related to Oliver Phillips & his wife's family (the Hackners) and the house on Austin Avenue in Barrington was referenced several times.  And it was referenced in such away that could lead a person to believe that it was not the family's primary address, but I don't know for sure.

Update:  Sold!