MABELLE ADAMS: A PRETTY BROADWAY ACTRESS

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This vintage real photo postcard features actress Mabelle Adams (1880-1935). Mabelle Adams was her stage name but her real name was Mabelle Humberstone. She is known for her stage career but also for being the mother of director Bruce “Lucky” Humberstone whose work included Film noir “I Wake Up Screaming” (1941) as well as some “Charlie Chan” and “Tarzan” films. Interestingly, Mabelle was a niece of Edwin Booth. She was the understudy on Broadway for actress Maude Adams in “Peter Pan”. She was in a number of Broadway productions including occupying a starring role in “Two Orphans” (1933). Adams was an active member of the Stage Women’s War Relief which raised money for medical supplies for Allies wounded in World War I. A brief biography of Adams can be found in “The Stars of Hollywood Forever” (2014), This postcard was published pre 1907 by the Rotograph Company and part of a series (no. B1998). Rotograph was located in New York City.  (SOLD)

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Published in: on December 26, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  

CUTE LITTLE GIRL SITTING BESIDE HER DOLL IN IN A TOY STROLLER (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This is an unusual vintage real photo postcard featuring a young girl and her doll. The relatively unique aspect of this portrait is that the doll is sitting in a toy stroller. The child in this photograph is well dressed and well coiffed but appears either fatigued or none to happy to have a camera aimed at her. She holds the handle of the cart-like stroller in one hand and steadies the stroller with her other hand. Note the design of the stool that she is sitting on. This postcard has an AZO stamp box which indicates that it was produced sometime between 1918 and 1930.

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Published in: on December 24, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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YOUNG BAREFOOT BOY IN INDIA WORKING AS STREET VENDOR (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This is a very interesting vintage real photo postcard that gives us a look at a young boy selling his wares on a street somewhere in India. Note that the lad is barefoot on a stone paved street. Ouch! The young entrepreneur is selling Wellington knife polish. He also has a hanger holding some type of material. I can not identify the item and hopefully a cabinet card gallery visitor can shed some light on the matter. I can tell you a little bit about the knife polish that is for sale on this Indian street. John Oakey (1813-1887) was an inventor and he established a company (John Oakey & Sons Ltd) which manufactured sandpaper and other polishing materials. Oakey began his interest in sandpaper while working as a piano maker. He then set up a manufacturing business in London in 1833. He later moved the business to Wellington Mill. Among his products was Wellington Knife Polish. See second scan below for a photograph of an antique can of Oakey’s knife polish. Advertising for this product was commonly seen on buses and trams in the early 1900’s. His sons took over the company after his death and took it public in 1893. This postcard was published by Thacker & Company of Bombay, India and manufactured in Great Britain. . It was part of a series (#122). Thacker, Spink, & Company (1853-1960) was a major Indian book publisher of literature guides, history and almanacs. They were also an early publisher of photo postcards. They had a distribution office in London, England.

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Published in: on December 8, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (3)  
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SWEET PHOTOGRAPH OF A LITTLE BOY RIDING A ST. BERNARD (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This vintage real photo postcard features a sweet little boy dressed in winter clothing riding a large St. Bernard dog. Of course the dog is a stuffed toy but it sure looks realistic. In fact, the dog may actually be a stuffed “real” dog. This winter scene photograph is a rare find. The image was produced by a private studio. There are two photographer stamps on the reverse of the postcard. One stamp is from “Le Bon Photographe” (The Good Photographer?) which was located in Ostende, Belgium. Ostende is a coastal city in West Flanders. The second stamp states “Studio Universele” which was located in Brussels.   SOLD

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Published in: on December 7, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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PORTRAIT OF A FOOTBALL TEAM (1916 REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This vintage real photo postcard features a portrait of a football team. The player in the center of the front row is holding a ball which announces that the team is CHS and the year of the photo is 1916. It is likely that the HS part of CHS stands for “high school”. The previous owner of this image reported that it was found with a group of many other photographs and that many of it’s companions were from either Michigan or North Dakota. The three coaches and their players look very much like the way a high school football team looks today. A fashion update may be necessary but the players intensity and pride is evident in photos from the past and the present. This image is notable for it’s excellent clarity. The postcard was printed on AZO paper issued sometime between 1904 and 1918.   SOLD

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Published in: on December 2, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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PRETTY WOMAN AND A BUCKET: IT MUST BE LAUNDRY DAY (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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A pretty young woman squats down and leans over a bucket as she does her wash. Is she washing her laundry or is she performing some other household task? What do you think? She appears very focused on her work and is wearing an apron to protect her clothing from soiling. The woman and the location that this photograph was taken are unidentified. This vintage real photo postcard is an interesting and unusual image.

 

Published in: on November 30, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (2)  
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BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT OF A MENNONITE MOTHER AND DAUGHTER (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

 

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This vintage real photo postcard features an image that encourages conjecture. Therefore, I will conjecture. I believe that the photograph presents a mother and daughter (they display a family resemblance)  posing outside their front door just past their wood porch. Mom is sitting on a chair and her daughter affectionately rests her right hand on her mother’s shoulder. Note that the daughter is standing on and the mother is sitting on a pretty rug. They apparently brought the rug from inside the house for the purpose of being used in the photograph. Judging by the pair’s clothing, I believe that they are Mennonites. The stamp box on the reverse of the postcard indicates that it is printed on AZO paper which was issued between 1904 and 1918.  (SOLD)

Published in: on November 29, 2015 at 9:01 am  Comments (2)  
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TWO YOUNG WOMEN WITH BIG HATS (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This vintage real photo postcard provides a view of fashion sometime slightly after 1900. The ladies clearly dressed up for their visit to the photo gallery.  Note the women’s wonderful large hats. Be sure to take notice of the large pins extending from the hat on the right. This postcard is printed on AZO paper issued between 1904 and 1918.

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Published in: on November 25, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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THE MERCHANT OF THE MASKS (REAL PHOTO FRENCH POSTCARD BY ALBERT BERGERET)

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This spectacular vintage real photo postcard features a pretty young woman posed as a seller of theatrical masks.  Note the detail of the facial features of each mask. The masks are absolutely beautiful, as is their purveyor. This RPPC was produced by celebrated French artist Albert Bergeret (1859-1932) and published in Nancy, France. Included in Bergeret’s body of work is his series “Women of the Future”. In 1902 he designed a series of postcards depicting women at work in traditionally male professions. Seen below are some examples of these cards. We see a journalist and a soldier. Other cards included a physician, lawyer, and a military general. Bergeret was no feminist. In fact, many of his depictions in the series involved women in skimpy clothing. The pictures were more like pin-ups than a call for equal employment rights for women. Bergeret was a successful businessman. His studio became the leading postcard producer in France. In 1900 he produced 25 million cards and by 1903 he published 75 million postcards. He knew how to grow a business.

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REVERSE OF THE MERCHANT OF THE MASKS POSTCARD

Published in: on November 19, 2015 at 1:40 pm  Comments (1)  
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PRETTY WOMAN WITH A TERRIFIC SMILE (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This vintage real photo postcard features a very pretty woman with a wonderful smile and luminous eyes. She is beautifully dressed and adorned by a necklace and flowers. Note her attracive and very detailed headpiece. The image is colored (hand tinted) and numbered (23) so is obviously part of a series. The name “Watteau” is scripted on the bottom right hand corner of the postcard. My preliminary research could not ascertain whether “Watteau” is the name of the beautiful model seen in this image or if it’s the name of the photographer. My hunch is that it is the name of the model. The reverse of this RPPC is blank, save lines for an address. Therefore, the publisher of this postcard is unknown.  (SOLD)

 

Published in: on November 16, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (2)  
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