This vintage real photo postcard features a father and son on a horse drawn wagon. This is no ordinary wagon. Instead, as the painted sign on the side of the wagon states; it is the delivery wagon for the McMullin Brothers furniture store. The business was located in Anthony, Kansas. Research reveals that one of the McMullin brothers was Joseph Franklin McMullin (1857-1914). He can be found in the US Census of 1910 and his occupation is listed as the proprietor of a furniture store. Ten years earlier, the 1910 US Census reports that Joseph McMullin was working as a farmer, despite the fact that in 1909, the local newspaper, “The Anthony Republican”, ran an ad for McMullin Brothers furniture store. This photo postcard represents a piece of both Anthony and Kansas history. It is also a record of the workings of small business at the beginning of the twentieth century. Note that there is no furniture in the rear of the wagon. It is likely that the wagon and its driver and young assistant, presumably father and son, took the wagon out for the specific purpose of being photographed. The father is wearing nice clothing, not work clothes, which supports the theory that he was not photographed while on the job. This postcard’s AZO stamp box indicates that it dates back to between 1904 and 1918. SOLD
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