PORTRAIT OF STAGE ACTRESS: MISS MABEL DARK

This vintage real photo postcard features stage actress Mabel Dark. She is quite pretty and is wearing a dress exposing her bare shoulders. This image was produced by the Dover Street Studios. The postcard was published by Raphael Tuck & Sons and is part of the “Celebrities of the Stage Series (no. T 1141)”. Raphael Tuck and his wife started their photography business in 1866 in London. Their store sold pictures, greeting cards, and in time, postcards. Their success came from the sale of postcards during the late 1890’s and early 1900’s. In the early 1900’s the firm conducted postcard competitions for collectors of Tuck postcards. These competitions offered cash prizes and they were very popular. The winner of one of these competitions had a collection consisting of over twenty-five thousand cards. Three of Tuck’s four sons participated in the business. The company was devastated by German bombing during World War II. In 1959 the company merged with two other printing companies.   SOLD

PORTRAIT OF FOUR MEN MAKING HAY AND LOADING IT ON THEIR HORSE DRAWN WAGON

This vintage real photo postcard features four hard working men gathering hay and loading their horse drawn wagon. The wagon is chock full of hay. It is hard to imagine that the wagon can fit much more hay. The AZO stamp box on the reverse of the postcard indicates that the card was published sometime between 1904 and 1918. This occupational postcard is in very good condition (see scans).

Buy this original Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #2510

To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below

$25.50

 

Buy this original Real Photo Postcard (includes International shipping outside the US) #2510

To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below

$33.50

Published in: on August 27, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , ,

A PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN IN A PRINT DRESS AND A CLOCHE HAT

A pretty young woman poses for her portrait in this vintage real photo postcard. The young woman appears to be in her teenage years. She is wearing a very busy print dress and a cloche hat. What is a cloche hat? A cloche hat is a woman’s close-fitting, bell-shaped hat. Printed on the reverse of the postcard are the following words, “Hemetmair’s Wtw. Wels”. Hemetmair is a last name and it is possible that it is the name of the photographer. This postcard portrait appears to be from the 1920’s. The postcard has excellent clarity and is in very good condition (see scans).

Buy this original Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #2509

To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below

$34.00

Buy this original Real Photo Postcard (includes International shipping outside the US) #2509

To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below

$42.00

HANDSOME DEVIL IN PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

A handsome dapper man, exudes a cool confidence as he poses for his portrait at White’s Postals, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has a well groomed mustache and sits with his bowler hat on his knee. The gentleman in this photo is wearing a suit that appears to be quite baggy. It is possible that the suit was borrowed from the studio’s prop room, and doesn’t actually belong to the subject. Preliminary research found little information about White’s Postals except that at least one of their postcards is part of the collection of Temple University’s digital library. This real photo postcard has excellent clarity and is in very good condition. The card’s AZO stamp box indicates that the postcard is from sometime between 1904 and 1918.  SOLD

THE GYPSY LADY OF BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK

This vintage real photo postcard features a long haired young woman dressed in an ethnic costume. She is wearing gypsy attire in this studio photograph by S. Vaineikis. Vaineikis’s studio was located in Binghamton, New York and the business is listed in the 1920 Binghamton business directory. This postcard was produced by AZO sometime between 1910 and 1930 and is in very good condition.        SOLD
Published in: on August 23, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
Tags: , ,

ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL AND HER FANTASTIC PULL TOYS

This vintage real photo postcard features an adorable short haired little girl posing between two pull toy animals. The toy elephant and lamb are larger than most pull toys I have seen in other vintage photographs. Note the girl’s piercing eyes. The history of pull toys is interesting, It is believed that the earliest wooden toys appeared sometime during the Stone Age.Wooden toys were produced during the Middle Ages and were manufactured by industry in the 1800’s, especially in Europe. Steiff was a manufacturer of pull-alongs. The toys were described in advertising as “High Class Riding animals”. In 1880, Margarete Steiff, a German seamstress, founded the stuffed animal company that bears her name. Interestingly, a bout of polio limited her sewing to using just one hand. Her nephew created the first soft bear for his Aunt. When an American wholesaler saw the bear at the Leipzig Toy Fair in 1903, he ordered three thousand of them. By the time of World War I, Steiff had sold millions of these toys in Europe and the United States. Perhaps the toys in this photo postcard were made by Steiff. Producers of early pull toys included Fisher Price and Lego. This photo postcard was produced by the Foto Luz studio, located in Bucharest, Romania. The studio’s name is embossed on the lower right hand corner of this scallop edged postcard. The postcard is from the 1940’s and is in excellent condition.  SOLD

S. W. COHEN’S BIG CANAL STORE: (SELLING PROVISIONS ALONG THE ERIE CANAL)

This vintage real photo postcard features a view of Cohen’s Big Canal Store. The store was located on the edge of the Erie Canal. The location provided an efficient way to move goods from the store to the buyers location. The store was a large general store. Note the advertising signs outside the store. Signage indicates that among its products, the store sold ground feed, cut hay, Harter’s iron tonic (beautifies the complexion), and Dr Harter’s little Liver Pills, and Cohen washing machines (“sold on it’s merits”). S. W. Cohen & Brothers was located in Sprakers, New York. Sprakers is a hamlet in the town of Root, New York. It is in the eastern central part of the state. General stores like Cohen’s were quite common along the Erie Canal. These stores had a “captured” customer base; where else could the boats go. Many of the business’s customers came on barges and packet boats. Some of their customers would charge their purchases on the first leg of their trip, would sell their load when they reached their destination, and would pay for the charged goods on their return trip from proceeds of their sales. Some of the stores would be open for business in the middle of the night if there was traffic (potential customers) on the canal.  The stores sold a wide range of products for people, mules, and boats. This photo postcard has a Belgian stamp and is postmarked in Liege, in 1909. Liege is a city along the Meuse River in Belgium’s Wallonia region. It would be interesting to know how this postcard found it’s way to Belgium. The postcard was published by Silas W. Cohen & Brothers and is part of a series (no. A 4484). The postcard was printed by a German company (Excelsior).   (SOLD)

GORGEOUS WEDDING PORTRAIT OF A GERMAN COUPLE

This vintage real photo postcard features a very handsome looking German wedding couple. The bride and groom look very serious on their special day. They are both very well dressed. The bride is wearing a beautiful veil and note the lovely bouquet of flowers that she is holding. A faint embossed stamp gives a clue concerning the photographer. The word “Birkenfeld” is visible. “Birkenfeld” is the name of the location of the photographer’s studio. The photographer’s name is Stadelmanz. The message on the reverse of the postcard appears to be written to Fritz, the signer’s friend. Hopefully a cabinet card gallery visitor (the vast unpaid research department) can leave a comment with a translation of the message.This vintage postcard portrait is most likely from the 1920’s or 1930’s and is in excellent condition.

Buy this original Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #2487

To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below

$40.00

 

Buy this original Real Photo Postcard (includes International shipping outside the US) #2487

To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below

$48.00

 

PORTRAIT OF A FRENCH BOY AND HIS BICYCLE

This vintage real photo postcard features a well dressed young boy posing with his bicycle. The boy is wearing a black armband. Black armbands were first utilized as a sign of mourning in 1770’s England. This postcard is of French origin and was published circa 1910. This postcard is in very good condition (see scans).  (SOLD)

Published in: on August 6, 2018 at 3:07 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: ,

FRAT BOYS FORM A 10-PERSON PYRAMID IN OLD TOWN, MAINE

This vintage real photo postcard features ten well balanced young men standing in a pyramid formation. The guys on the bottom of the pyramid seem surprisingly relaxed. It is apparent that they have performed this act before. The postcard has a postmark and an address from Oldtown, Maine. The town is best known for being the home of the Old Town Canoe Company, a manufacturer of canoes and kayaks. The company was born there in 1898. Old Town is located near the University of Maine’s Orono campus (established in 1865). It is likely that the fellows in this photograph were students there. Perhaps they are all members of the same fraternity and this the pyramid is a fraternity stunt.   SOLD

Published in: on July 30, 2018 at 9:03 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , ,