Real Photo Post Card Man Framed with Leaf Shaped Border

Real Photo Post Card

Real Photo Post Card Man Framed with Leaf Shaped Border

Blog post by Mary Katherine May

     An interesting variation of the Real Photo Post Card is the photo portrait with uniquely shaped borders.  The one shown here is of a handsome, clean-cut man with classic features from the sometime during the first two decades of the twentieth century.

According to a MetroPostcard Guide (highly recommended site) the border shapes were created by using stencils:

LINK The most common exception to this were cards shot through a stencil to provide a decorative white border. These stencils were usually cut out of tin or heavy paper and would be sandwiched between the photo paper and negative during exposure to the sun. While these stencils could be purchased in stores and came in various designs, many forgoed the expense and made their own. Homemade stencils were rarely perfectly symmetrical and are a tell tale sign of non-commercially printed cards.

     The attractive shape, such as a leaf, apple or scroll, immediately draws the viewer's curiosity to look inside as though peering through a window.

For the collector of real photo post cards acquiring a group using different shapes might be an interesting subset group.

This particular post card has no message on its divided back, yet I feel drawn to wonder about what kind person this man was--tall or short? professional or dressed up for the photo? quiet? happy? a loner?

Details
Unused
Divided Back
Real Photo Post Card: People
AZO Stamp Box: 4 Triangles Pointing Up
Post Card as Two Words
Leaf-shaped Border

Rick and Mary May operate the webstore Quality Music and Books, and also the GrandmaHen Shop on Etsy.com. 

RPPC 1918 The Betrothed Stewartville Minnesota Miss Clara Radam

The Betrothed

A Stewartville, Minnesota, woman wearing spectacles, with a sense of humor and of a more mature age, most likely never married, who identifies herself only as a Hayseed writes to her friend, Miss Clara Radam, in Rochester, Minnesota, about her betrothed. 

Hello Clara:
Well I must send you the picture of myself and my Betrothed you see I think quite a little of him. I hold him in my hand so no one can get him away from me.  As you send me the picture of you and your beloved I think I would have to return a picture of the same order.  From a Hayseed.

Unfortunately for dating purposes the the last number of the year is not clear, and thus the closest I can get is March 16, 191?.  Stewartville is south of Rochester, Minnesota, and an active community.

Stewartville, Minnesota was founded by Charles Stewart (1816-1886) of New York state who came to Minnesota in 1857, building a mill in 1858, the year of Minnesota's entry into the union.  It was first incorporated in 1893.   Charles served as the village's first postmaster, as in the Minnesota Legislature in the 1860s.

Lastly, although the stamp was removed for some reason other than collecting and not done well, it does reveal the stamp box, which contains CyKo, place postage stamp here. This stamp box was in use from 1904 to into the 1920s.

This postcard is currently in auction on QualityMusicandBooks.com.

Uncle Henry Elias and Horse RPPC Real Photo Postcard

Uncle Henry Elias and Horse

AZO Stamp Box Dating 1904-1918

Photo Enhanced to Show Features

 



Who Was Uncle Henry?

Horses that were put to good use on farms were a valuable asset to the business of agriculture even for years after time-saving machinery was available.  This postcard, with identifying Uncle Henry Elias and horse, written long after the actual photo was taken because of the kind of ink used, is the reason the horse's name is not known.  Even so, the horse was important enough to the family or Uncle Henry for this photograph to be taken. Who knows? Maybe the horse was for sale? 

Although we don't know more about Henry Elias other than his name, we can see from the picture that he had a mustache and overbite, and that perhaps the photo was taken in the early morning due to the foggy mist in the background--but more likely the light area is due to overexposure.  By using editing the features of Uncle Henry and the horse can be enhanced to see the detail better.

This postcard has been sold.

1905 RPPC Undivided Back View Montgomery Ward Tower Chicago

The Montgomery Ward & Co. Building
Chicago
One of the Largest Commercial Buildings in the World

by Mary Katherine May of Quality Music and Books

Real Photo Postcard
Undivided Back Era

This postcard example offers many details that can be pointed out for the collector of topicals, postcards, and stamp collecting, as well as the possibility of identifying the person to whom it was addressed.

The Montgomery Ward building in Chicago, complete with tower, was the "talk of the town" in its day. When completed in 1899, the 25-story structure at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Madison Street was the tallest building west of the Allegheny Mountains. Aaron Mongtomery Ward, known as Monty to his friends, was a creative innovator. Ward and his well-known rival, Sears & Roebuck, also centrally located in Chicago, took their retail goods to the whole of America through catalogue offerings.

The postcard, dated in the message on Sept. 25 1905, 1 PM, shown here displays a clear date of Sep 26 1905, 7 AM, arriving in Rockford, Ill. (see next paragraph) on its way to Versailles, Ohio, R.D. No. 2. Marked upon arrival to its destination city, the stamp is faint but still mostly readable: Versailles Ohio, Sep 27 1905, 8 AM.

Also of interest will be the stamp, Scott No. 300, Benjamin Franklin 1¢, which very nicely has the plate number 2258 attached below the stamp. And, to top off delightfully for the collector, the back is stamped MISSENT TO ROCKFORD ILLINOIS.

The paper used for the postcard itself, though looking a bit soiled because it is, is a rough-to-the-touch, non-white card stock. The brief message below the Montgomery Ward building shows that Amanda Miller, the sender, had a playful side to her character.

The Message

This is written in the sky to let you know I am living high. ... Amanda Miller

The postcard recipient: Miss Beth Maurer, Versailles Ohio, R.D. No 2.