Postcard Talk Morris Illinois 1903 McNeil Refugator Shot Himself Did a Clean Job

History Documented in Postcards from the Past

by Mary Katherine May
of www.QualityMusicAndBooks

This past weekend I was out perusing the antique stores in Anoka, Minnesota. Jam-packed to the point of usually allowing only one person being able to pass through an aisle at a time, there I stood examining postcards. It is absolutely true that it takes me much longer to go through old postcards than most collectors, because I am generally looking at the written message and postmark date first, and the image or photograph and condition second.

Originating in Morrison, ILL on September 2 at 9:30 AM,
I cannot be certain that the year was 1903.

The posted message I offer here today originated in Morrison, Illinois, on September 2nd, possibly in 1903. The last number is only a partial. Due to part of the back address on this undivided back postcard being partially scribbled out with pencil, I can glean only that the recipient was a woman (Miss), and that she lived at 839 North 2 St. West, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. On the front, where the message on an undivided back postcard had to be written, we discover that Floyd was writing to his sister, though still no name.

The postcard itself would be interesting because it shows a large amount of lumber being floated down the Mississippi River. This is called a "log raft." The information about the actual postcard is as follows.

No 8. Log Raft on the Mississippi River, Clinton, Iowa.
C.D. Hurd, Publisher, Books and Stationery. Made in Germany.
(back) 84878; This Side Is for the Address.

The initial message, on the side of the front is fairly short.

Dear Sister--Mother received letter we are all well, hope you are the same. will answer your letter in a day or so. Floyd

What makes this particular postcard so exciting is the LATE BREAKING NEWS--almost like a new flash on television today.

McNeil Refugator(?) book keeper shot himself. did a clean job.

I am assuming that this happened in Morrison, IL, and that Floyd was adding something that his sister would want to know. We don't know if McNeil, who did a clean job, at the point of writing was alive or dead, and if alive whether or not he survived. What we do know is that it was important to both sender and receiver of this card.

PostCard Talk Blog Manda and Emanda by Mary Katherine May

Manda & Emanda
by Mary Katherine May
of Quality Music and Books

On today's post I would like to step back from postcards for a moment and look at this photograph. It came to me, if I recall correctly, in a box on which I bid at an auction several years ago.

As a matter of fact, that auction was rather funny. I was bidding on a box of wood blocks for our grandchildren, and won the bid for a small amount of money--$7.

In the back of the auction room was an area with an outside door where merchandise was picked up, and after I was through bidding for the day I went to pick up my box.

Box? How about SEVEN boxes? Boxes full of who-knows-what, but they were mine. A buck a piece. It was an adventure going through them, and some of it I threw out, while some "artifacts" (in my mind only) had a value that negated them being tossed out even though no one wanted the stuff, then or now, and it is still here at the house getting dusted every few months.

Here are Manda and Emanda, surname unknown. Location unknown. It does look like the condition of the grass and garden along the wall would place the photo in late spring or early fall, though without coats or jacket my conjecture is that it was a nice, warm day to take a picture. Manda and Emanda were neat and tidy--their yard has no leaves to be raked, at least in the spot where this snapshot was taken. The hose is hooked up to the outside spigot, so the outside water valve was open for the season.

Manda and Emanda were most likely sisters, maybe twins. They aren't smiling, but that doesn't mean that they weren't happy. There dresses look to be of the everyday variety, their hair not well done enough to be the weekly beauty parlor route--most likely pincurls. Judging from their long-stem roses, I also would speculate that they were born in the late 1800s or thereabouts, when foundation garments didn't maintain the "status quo" as they do today.

The house appears to be a rambler style, and those shingles! Remember how hard it was to paint those shingles? Now I am speaking about this from observation. In our house girls didn't paint shingles. We cleaned inside and washed and dried dishes, swept floors and the like. Outside work was for men.

That was the 1950s.

How about that? All from a snapshot.

PostCard Talk by Mary Katherine May Fern Brugger Austin MN

Posted by Mary Katherine Mayof Quality Music and Books

Chimney Rock
Dells of the Wisconsin River

Postmark
NOV 13 1913
8 AM
PLATTEVILLE, WIS

Published by
E. A. BISHOP PUB. RACINE, WIS
Made in U.S.A.

Postcards were often written with pencil rather than ink, and without being protected from contact with other papers and handling, the pencil markings begin to fade. This postcard is difficult to read for this reason. I needed to put on my 10X magnifiers, and then darken the photographic image to make this message readable.

It must be so that the common courtesy of inquiring as to the well being of those with whom we communicate without regard to the situation is not a situation new to the era in which we live. Here is a message letting Fern know that someone has died. This message is blunt, yet given the fact that we don't know what kind of relationship there was between Fern Brugger and Clara Schlater who received the message of Fern's death, we will never know how bluntly it was received.

To
Miss Fern Brugger
Austin, Minn.
R.F.D.

Message

Just grand weather
Esthel

Dear Fern,

Grandma wants me to tell you that Clara Schlater's mother is dead. She died the 11th. How are you all. Why don't you write.

PostCard Talk by Mary Katherine May March 1914 Germania Life Building St Paul Minn LUNAR ECLIPSE

PostCard Talk by Mary Katherine May (babamarusia)
owner of Quality Music and Books

On March 10, 1914, there was a lunar eclipse, which the writer of this postcard in St. Paul, Minnesota, dated March 14, 1914, mentions in her note mailed to Chicago, IL. The sender says also that he (or she) will be going to a matinee to see Johnny Valentine. This would not be the famous wrestler of same name because he was born in 1928, and this postcard is from 1914. It may be John Valentine Eppel, who authored the melody used for the song, The Missouri Waltz.

Please continue on ...

The Germania Life (Insurance) Building
St. Paul, Minn.

Addressed to Mr. W. J. Remo
6122 Dorchester Pkwy (?)
Chicago Ill.
Postmarked & Dated 14 March 1914 1 PM
St. Paul Minn.

Dear Will--

Read some yesterday. Just have a few spare min & thot I'd drop you a card. Yes I saw the eclipse of the moon watched it from 8 till 10:30 when I got tired & went to bed. Weather here is dandy am going to the matine this P.M. to see Johnny Valintine (Valentine).

Ida

Postcard: Published by Weight, Barrell &Stilwell Company, St. Paul, Minn.
115.
Made in Germany.

On March 10, 1914, the New York Times ran an article about the lunar eclipse event that would happen on March 11, 1914. The eclipse was "visible from all points in Western Europe, North and South America and Western Africa, and ...more than nine-tenths in shadow. Astronomers went to work during the eclipse because clearer observations of objects in space are possible.

PostCard 1914 St Paul LYND MN City Hall Court House GAS by Mary Katherine May

Post Card
St. Paul City Hall& Court House

March 16, 1914
St. Paul, Minn
1-cent George Washington

written by Mary Katherine May of Quality Music and Books

This postcard was purchased to be used for a project in which I will write what I have about my Grandmother, Pauline Rychly Koshuba Haydak. Pauline arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on July 4, 1914, by train from New York.

Upon entering the United States, coming from Bila, Galicia, still for a few months part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She was processed through Ellis Island. This is one of the most humorous messages I have read on a postcard, though I doubt that was the intention of the writer.

March 16th is also our wedding anniversay, 36 years in 2010.

Addressed to:
C. H. Austin
Lynd, Minn.

Message:
Dear Henry

I am a little better. Eat a little more. Slept pretty well. The gas is the worst.
Clara B. Austin

WWII Postcard Dr Karl Moore Brownwood TX Thanked for Prayer by Mrs T R Havins

Thomas Robert Havins
Mrs. T. R. Havins (Mottie - Thomas Robert's first wife)
Dr. Karl H. Moore
First Baptist Church
Brownwood Texas
World War II WWII

Article by Mary Katherine May
of Quality Music and Books

World War II was personal. Pearl Harbor, like the tragedy of 9/11 was personal. Men and women signed up to serve, many didn't wait for the draft to be called to the military, and all knew what could be their outcome. Everyone was involved in the war effort. From Victory Gardens to saving scraps and women joining the work force, WWII was an event that changed the "fabric of our nation."

One man who served was Thomas Robert Havins (T R Havins), coming out of Texas. He would play a prominent roll in his state, living a life that involved public service. This postcard example is a 1-cent prepaid blank sent by Mrs. T. R. Havins to Dr. Karl H. Moore, thanking him for praying for her "boys" and all who were in the military.

Also of interest is the number of POWs interned in Texas, and in particular in Brownwood, Texas during World War II. There is very interesting detailed information about Camp Bowie that by may be accessed by clicking HERE.

Today, we are again praying for those who place themselves in harms way. It is a sad reality.

Postmark (front): MAR 26, 6:30 PM, 1943, Brownwood Texas

Postmark (back): Is in exact reverse. How does this happen? I would like to know.

Addressed to:
Dr. Karl H. Moore,Pastor First Babtist Church (sp)
Brownwood, Tex

Message: Mar. 26-1943

Dear Dr. Moore:-I want to express my appreciation for the Church Bulletin of Mar. 14. I am so happy to know that my boys name is on your Church Roll, and that you are interested in him as well as all the other boys of your church, who are in the armed forces. I will deeply appreciate your prayers for him.
Sincerely,
Mrs. T. R. Havins

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.