This vintage lithographic printed postcard features a a view of the St. John’s Evangelical Church and Parsonage located in Kenton, Ohio. The church remains active in Kenton today. This postcard was published by Curt Teich and distributed by the Wagner Post Card and Novelty Company. The firm’s home was Delphos, Ohio. (PAID)
This vintage postcard features Schine’s Kenton Theatre, located in Kenton, Ohio. The Kenton Theatre was built in 1929 and joined the Schine’s theatre chain. The theatre was built in a Spanish Colonial style. It had murals painted on the auditorium and lobby walls. In 1993, the theatre was purchased by M. E. Theatres and the building was remodeled. The renovation included the construction of a new marquee modelled after the original (1930’s style). This postcard depiction of the Kenton Theatre shows the marquis advertising a film starring Greta Garbo. The sign states “Garbo Talks”. This reflects that transition from silent films to “talkies” which occurred between 1926 and 1930. Greta Garbo (1905-1990) was a Swedish American actress who was active in films between 1920 and 1941. She played many tragic characters in her career and is considered by many to be one of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood movies. This postcard was published by the Wagner Post Card and Novelty Company. The firm was located in Delphos, Ohio. SOLD
The children featured in this vintage photograph are absolutely adorable. The oldest child is a frizzy haired little girl and her younger sibling’s gender is indeterminable. The baby’s outfit looks feminine but baby boys and girls wore similar gowns during the cabinet card and early post cabinet card era. The children are sitting on a fur draped chair.This wonderful portrait was taken by Samuel Mitchell John (1860-1935) who operated a photographic studio in Kenton, Ohio. John was born in Ohio. John is mentioned in the Photographers’ Association News (1916) and his address is listed as Detroit Street. The 1910 US census reveals that John was a photographer who operated his own studio. In addition, we learn that he was widowed (after a 21 year marriage to Florence Almeda Larue John 1867-1892) and lived with his son Gala (age 20) and his daughter Rhea (age 18). He was also listed as a widowed photographer in the 1900 US census. He appears in the Hardin Business Directory (1916) as a photographer in Kenton. At the time of his death, he was married to Lydia Matilda Lesher John. His obituary appeared in the Lima News (1935) and points out that his wife found him dead in his studio after he failed to come home for dinner. Clearly, he was still working as a photographer at age 75. He is buried in Grove Cemetery in Kenton, Ohio. SOLD
A fashionable couple poses for their portrait at the Sharp studio in Rensselaer, Indiana. It is possible that this image is a wedding portrait. Joseph A. Sharp (1846-1903) was born in Frankfurt, Kentucky. He married Martha (Mattie) Stively (1849-1936) in 1874. Sharp’s obituary appears in the Semi Weekly Rensselaer Republican. The article states that Sharp began his photography career at age 21 while living in Ballfontaine, Ohio. He later lived in Kenton, Ohio and moved to Rensselaer in 1877. He worked about a year as a travelling photographer but the rest of his career he operated a studio in Rensselaer. The obituary asserts that one of the reasons he chose photography as a career was because at a young age he developed a hip disease which left him lame and unable to pursue a more active occupation. Sharp is buried in the Weston Cemetery in Rensselaer. Look below to see a photographic portrait of Joseph Sharp as well as an image of the tombstone he and his wife share.
A well dressed and intense looking couple pose for their portrait at the studio of I. N. Hays in Kenton, Ohio. They do not look like they are having fun. The woman his holding flowers, a hat, and a handkerchief. The gentleman is holding his straw hat. Magnify this photograph and you will see the gentleman has a very interesting mustache. The photographer who produced this photograph was Isaac Newton Hays. He was born in Ohio in 1835 and operated studios at various times in various towns in Ohio. He was active in Greenville from about 1865 until 1870. He left there for Kenton between 1875 and 1879. He later returned to Greenville and also did business in Wapakoneta. He returned to Kenton where he ran his studio from 1891 through at least 1898. At one time, his Kenton studio was located at the corner of Detroit and Columbus Streets. Isaac Hays left the photography studio and entered the recording studio to become a celebrated soul singer and song writer. He won two Grammy awards and wrote the “Theme from Shaft”. Just kidding! Obviously Isaac Hays, the photographer, and Isaac Hayes, the musician, are two different people from two different eras.
This cabinet card features a fox hunter, posing in his hunting clothing, and his double barreled shotgun. He is also posing with his pet fox and his bounty from his hunt, a dead fox. He is holding the pet fox by a chain. This is a very ambivalent hunter. On one hand, he hunts and kills foxes, and on the other, he keeps a fox as a pet. The hunter appears to have been a very conflicted young man. The photographer of this cabinet card is Frank D. Sullivan of Kendallville, Indiana. The Bulletin of Photography (1922) announced the purchase of Sullivan’s studio to A. D. Conkle, “formerly of Kenton, Ohio. The journal also reported that Sullivan and his wife had moved to Portland Oregon.
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