This vintage real photo postcard features a portrait of three visitors to Coney Island. Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in New York City’s borough of Brooklyn. The postmark on this card was stamped in 1908. By that time, Coney Island was well known for it’s amusement parks. In fact, between 1880 and World War II, Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States. The city of New York built a boardwalk to be utilized by visitors. Where there are boardwalks and amusement parks; there are photo studios. One of these studios was the “Dream Studio” and the threesome seen in this photo found their way there to create a souvenir memory. The “Dream Studio” was operated by Mr. H. Tarr. It was located on Surf Avenue at West 6th Street. The 1911 Dreamland Fire burned down Mr Tarr’s photo studio, but in a short time, it was reopened. SOLD
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 
Hi,
I recently came across an old photo postcard among my parents’ collection of photos. I can’t seem to attach the photo, but I’m wondering if it might be from the same studio. The card is undated. The card is slightly damaged, so the name of the studio is missing, but it says Surf Avenue, Coney Island, which I see is where your website says Dream Studio was located. The people in the photo are in a staged automobile, but the backdrop looks a little different from the one on your website. This could be because the photo was taken from a different angle (the side of the car instead of the front), or perhaps the studio changed backdrops.
In any case, I was wondering whether my postcard was also taken at Dream Studio, or if there were any other photo studios on the same street. What is puzzling is that the back doesn’t say Dream Studio in large letters, as your example does. It just has the address in small writing on the side. (It presumably had the name, but in small letters on the side. And this is exactly where the damage is, so the name no longer shows.) Did Dream Studio always have the name in large letters on the back? OR, did they change the back over time? I don’t have a date for this card, and if they made some changes, it might help me pinpoint the date.
I would be happy to share a scan of both sides of that card with someone if you send me an email address privately.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
G. Marcus
I would be happy to have a look at both sides of your postcard and see if I can be of some assistance in identifying the studio. Thanks for your comment. You can email me at historypeddler@gmail.com.