Abraham Lincoln Assasination

Even though his presidency was cut short, the United States would likely be a very different place today if Abraham Lincoln had not been president. On April 14th, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth as the President was watching a performance of play called Our American Cousin. Lincoln died early the next day.  Although Lincoln was unaware of a specific danger on this evening, he had received threats and was aware that his life was in danger.

This is a view of the theater where it happened. The car and its passengers seem to have been added to embellish a postcard that might otherwise have been regarded as stark and boring.

This postcard that shows the Lincoln residence in Springfield, Illinois on the day of his funeral. Lincoln's body was brought by train from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois with several stops along the way where he lay in state. The train arrived in Springfield on May 3, 1865. This was the first national commemoration of a president's death by rail.

It was just a few weeks earlier that Lincoln went to meet General Grant in Virginia to discuss the final stages of the Civil War. General Grant and his wife might well have accompanied the President to the performance that fateful night if Mrs. Grant had not insisted on leaving that evening to visit their children in New Jersey.

And here are the backs of the cards in the same order.

 The text of the card, sent to Mrs. Pharis Luckey of Cromwell, Indiana, reads:

Goshen, Ind.

3-26-14

Dear Ma:-

Aunt Sue had to have the Dr. come to the house for Grandma this morning she has congestnig of the lungs. he thinks she will be all right in a short time but Ma she is pretty sick - sicker than she lets us know so if you want to come down you can.

Minnie

Tell Jim

Clinton Burnett Died

I am sometimes surprised by the casual death announcements that are transmitted on an otherwise cheerful postcard - especially when the card has cute little Easter chicks on it.

Here's the back of the card, sent to Mrs. E.B. Spoor c/o Geo. Snyder in Delanson, New York.

The message reads:

Dearest Mother.

Hope this will find you all well. Clinton Burnett died this morning I have not been down home this week there has been some thing all the time Miss Fancher is going to be here to supper to night Well good by love to Florence and George and yourself. Carrie

Walter, I Need to Warn You...

Young Walter Gemmill received these cards in 1907. Based on what I found on the Family History Library and Census records, Walter was born in 1904. Later Census records show him working in a clerical position and then as a purchasing agent in 1930. Walter was three years old when he received these cards. I would like to have added a note on the cards, a word of caution for Walter. It might have saved him a lot of grief.

It seems that at the age of eighteen Walter started working as an office boy for the Milton C. Johnson Company, a New York corporation that printed and supplied stationery for banks. Over the years he worked his way up the corporate ladder to become president.

At some point in about 1960 the company made an investment of three or four million dollars in new equipment. As a result, the company was a little strapped for cash, and Walter started factoring accounts. In other words, as soon as the company submitted bills to its customers, a factoring company would advance Milton. C. Johnson Co. 85% of that amount, so the company could meet payroll. When the customers paid their bills, the factoring company received the full amount, i.e. a 15% fee. However, in October, 1970 the factoring company notified Walter that they would not meet the day's payroll, nor would they do so in the future. They had no contractual obligation, so there's not much Walter or Milton C. Johnson Co. could do.

Walter himself hadn't received a salary in over a month and was owed back wages. He called the employees in and told them the company was out of business and that there was no money to pay their wages.  A lawsuit followed, which held Walter, as an office of the corporation, liable for putting the employees at risk and violating the Labor Law.  I don't know what became of Walter after that, although he died in 1988. It would appear that he never married or had children. It's sad to think that the company was his life. To read the text of the legal case, click here.

Here are the backs of the cards, missing the note that I would have added.

What's Up in Punxsutawney?

This is sort of an odd combination Memorial Day/Groundhog Day postcard. Anyway, it's as close as I get to a Groundhog Day postcard, because it was sent to someone in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, home of the Groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil. The front of the postcard is about remembering soldiers who died in combat, specifically in the Civil War.
 

The card was sent to Mrs. Sarah Malone in Punxsutawney in 1909.
The message reads:

Seattle Wash

4-21-09

Dear Sister Why don't you write

Was to Bremerton navy yard 17th

(????)

goodbye AHS

I don't know much about Sarah Malone, except that she was born about 1851 and was married to James Malone, who is listed as a farmer in the US census.

It really is Groundhog Day today, so if you want to find out more about the tradition or watch the live webcast of Phil, you can take your own virtual trip to Punxsutawney here.

The New Year and Clocks

There are a number of symbols that are associated with the New Year. One of my favorites is the image of a clock striking midnight. Here are some classic examples.

These cards were all produced by Raphael Tuck & Sons. Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.

 

Dutch Christmas

I love the graphics and the colors on these--and any picture with ices skaters wins my favor.
Have a very merry Christmas.

 

The backs of the cards all look the same, though only one has any writing on it.

Christmas Shadow Cards

I don't usually post anything on the weekends, but I am swimming in Christmas postcards, so I thought I'd post some extra ones today. These are from an interesting series that emphasizes the larger-than-life shadows cast by the figures. Mistletoe is also featured prominently.

 

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.

The message to Mrs. Sarah C. Becker in Valatie, New York reads:

December 13, '10

Ideas are O.K. Size 10 1/2 (all black). Thermometer crawling slowly upward. This is a picture of a "suffer-yet" Dutch Lady (Old Dutch Cleanser)

The message on this card to Mr. Henry Grimes of Grand Meadow, Minnesota reads:

If you have a class reunion remember me to everybody. I could spend two months very profitably visiting you. As it is I'm going back where I was born so long ago and expect everyone to know me from the family resemblance. Clara Parker

Le Clou Du Voyage

I hope no unfortunate circumstances like this interfere with your weekend travels plans.

This card was sent to Mr. Jimmie Kearney in Washington D.C. from his sister in Switzerland in 1932.

The message reads:

Le Clou du Voyage - "The Cloud on the Trip" - or in other words - "the fly in the ointment." These babies are having a hard time. they have had a puncture! Today was Palm Sunday + tomorrow we are on Easter vacation. Miss Bahr (?) has to work part of the time tomorrow but we are going riding in the P.M. Wish you were here to go with us Jimmie - we would have such a good time. I will send you a picture of us soon. Hope you and Baby Brother are well + happy - much love from Lalla(?) Palm Sunday March 20

Greetings from the Seaside

The card and the message are not particularly well matched, but I think that's part of the appeal. The front of the card shows a very British or European looking beach scene.

 

The front and the back of the card both evoke the joys of summer; they just do it a little differently. Here's the back.

The card was sent to Gilbert Grinley of Warwick, North Dakota in July, 1909. Warwick currently has a population of 65, but back in 1909 the population may have been as high as 300. The message is priceless:

 July 18, 1909

Dear Cousin, How are you getting along? have you killed many gophers this summer? I wish you was here to help me pick strawberries the sloughs are chuck full of them this year. From your cousin Allfred

Veterans Day and Ghost Towns

I had the best intentions for a Veterans Day post focusing entirely on military and veterans, but I can't help what's written on the back of the card and where it leads. I certainly couldn't ignore the message sent to J.J. in Lucky Boy, Nevada. Actually, it seems very fitting, since today is not only Veterans Day, but also 11/11/11, a date some consider to be very lucky. It's also the 100th week of Sepia Saturday (more on that below.)
Here we have two pre-WWI American officers wearing Army and Navy military uniforms.

The first picture may be a likeness of Rear Admiral Caspar F. Goodrich.

And then there's the back of the first card. First of all, the message is written in French. Secondly, it's addressed to someone in Lucky Boy, Nevada, a place I had never heard of - and it was sent in 1911 from Goldfield, Nevada. One of the reasons I've never heard of Lucky Boy is that it's a ghost town. You can see current photos of it here. There was a lot more action there in 1911 though, after silver was discovered in 1907.  Gold and silver prospectors came from all over the country and from abroad to seek their fortune. Lucky Boy appears to have had a post office, since the card has a Lucky Boy cancellation.

I have trouble deciphering the message, but it was sent to J.J. Cousol from his mother (Julietta?), who reports that Mr. Murphy visited Doty and it was very nice. She also says that there's something in it for the son - something about Horn Silver. Horn Silver, as I just learned, is silver that is formed on the desert surface from weathering silver sulfide. You could come along with no experience and a shovel and easily haul away a fortune. But when the surface silver was gone, that was it. There wasn't more below.

J.J. Cousol's mother was writing from Goldfield, which by then was at the tail end of its Goldrush. At one point Goldfield had been the largest city in Nevada, all due to gold prospectors. Now it is also a ghost town, with many old buildings remaining. The famous brothers, Wyatt and Virgil Earp, came to Goldfield in 1904, and Virgil was hired to be the Goldfield Deputy Sheriff shortly thereafter. Poor Virgil died of pneumonia within six months of taking the position though. By 1911, when this card was sent, the population of Goldfield had declined to about 4,800. Now it has a population of about 440. You can see some great Goldfield photos past and present here.

I can only guess that J.J.'s parents came to Nevada as part of the Goldrush and that when things started to get tough, J.J. ventured out and looked for better prospects in other parts of Nevada. And since we're talking about seeking fortunes, I should point out that the back of the postcard informs us that Senior Rear Admirals earn $8,800 a year when at sea and $8,000 a year when on shore.

Here's the back of the second card.

Apart from my other intentions, I had also in mind to post something separate to celebrate the 100th Sepia Saturday. After I wrote this post, I decided that it was really meant for Sepia Saturday, with a card that takes us back 100 years. Going back 100 years, we are suddenly in a time where people were prospecting for gold and silver, where World War I and World War II had not yet been imagined, and where communication from afar was primarily through the postal service.

For more ways to celebrate the auspicious 100th post, be sure to visit Sepia Saturday.
Thanks to Alan and Kat for dreaming up the idea.

To My Love

Here's the back of the card.

The message to Master B. best reads:

S. Valentine's Day

Just got back from London. Daddy gone to Hereford again. This is a picture of you at the dance

Mother.

Master B. best must have been a boarder at St. Cuthbert's Prep School, Malvern Link.

All the Nice Girls...

It's fun to find two postcards with the same title, especially All the Nice Girls Love  a Sailor. Do you know the song?

The song was written and composed by A. Mills, but it was made famous by Hetty King (1883-1972) who sang it in 1905. Hetty was a male impersonator. You can hear a version by Ella Retford here.


Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.

Tram Tuesday - Philadelphia

This card has a lot to offer. It has the full names and mailing addresses of both the sender and the recipient. Although there is no stamp or postmark, it appears that the card was sent in 1910. Nettie Smith of Philadelphia sent the card to Miss Julia Schneider in Los Angeles. Maybe they were in secretarial school together, because Nettie seemed to be confident that Julia could read her shorthand.  Does anyone still read (or write) shorthand?

It's a little sad to see those old Philly streetcars, because the extensive system that Philly once had is no longer there. I think that there is a greater sense of loss in Philadelphia than in some of the other places where streetcars have been replaced by buses. I hope they make a comeback.

Here's the back of the card.

If you want to read more about the current issues regarding Philadelphia's streetcar system, you may want to check out Eric Miller's The New Colonist.

St. Patrick's Day

Here to brighten up your St. Patrick's day - Shamrocks, pipes, harps and green everything.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.