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Berlin, a Terrace, and Mental Telegraphy
Katheryn McMahon Newton Album, cards 27-29 First a card not from Fred but with a message. One “Billy” (last name unknown) is in Berlin (Germany) and moved to send a postcard to Katheryn–whom he (or she) addresses as “Kitty”–and ask forgiveness for not writing before. This dates to 1907, i.e. before most of the cards from Fred. Without more information about the individual, there’s fairly little to say as regards sender. Or is there? This does provide an inscription to compare with Fred’s. First off, it’s shorter–or rather, Fred’s are longer. I’ve acquired enough postcards, and particularly enough batches of postcards sent by one person, to say that Fred is…
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Good Company and Weather; Bad Connections and Mail
Katheryn McMahon Newton Album, cards 25-26 This first card is not in particularly good condition. There’s a notable fold down the middle–almost a tear. Most of the cards from the album are in better shape, so my guess is that this card got bent when being mailed from Seattle to Chicago. When it happened doesn’t really matter–it’s unlikely to make a difference in any particular way except that the notable damage would likely reduce the price were it to be sold on it’s own. Then again, as with so many of these cards, their value is not so much in the images as their contents–particularly their collected contents. The image…
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Where the Birds are Better Than Alarm Clocks
Katheryn McMahon Newton Album, cards 10-12 The next card in line lacks any inscription whatsoever. Whichever postal station marked the card managed to add wavy lines canceling the stamp without including anything to indicate when or where it was posted. The where probably Portland, Oregon, given that the front bears glittery letters offering “Greetings” from there As for the rest? My guess: Fred Newton at some point in 1907. Fred, because it’s his handwriting (or a very close approximation) and he passed through Portland at various points. 1907 given the address specified for Katheryn McMahon: the Atlas [School] Supply Co. on Wabash Ave in Chicago. A cursory review of the…
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Tennis, Hammocks, and Young Love
Katheryn McMahon Newton Album, cards 8 & 9 These cards offer a second instance (so far) where Fred Newton sent Katheryn more than one postcard on the same day. These are dated to 22 March 1908, by which time he reached Seattle. Combined with the previous cards’ postmarks and the date and location inscribed in the album, he’s traveled quite a bit in three months’ time. Chicago, Colorado Springs, Portland (OR), and Seattle. Plus, I peeked ahead and he was also in Salt Lake City long enough to send at least one card in February. I haven’t figured out what he did just yet, but I’m guessing some kind of…
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Well? Happy Birthday, New Year, and A Swell Postal Album
Katheryn McMahon Newton Album, post 3, cards 4-6 In my last post, I indicated Fred sent Katheryn two postcards on her birthday in 1908 (along with a letter and box). Correction: he sent at least three. Someone tucked the third into the album a little further along (#6). Under normal circumstances, I’d have processed the whole album before posting anything here and thus I’d have presented all three together, probably as part of a chronological arrangement. You’re getting the “in the weeds” version instead, where I post as I go along. History in the writing! (Or at least in the research.) Let’s jump to the third birthday postcard, aka card…
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Birthdays, Happy Faculties, and Dental Fillings
Katheryn McMahon Newton album, post 2, cards 2 & 3 I selected a birth announcement postcard to open this blog. Coincidentally, the first two postcards in this album are for Katheryn’s birthday. Which one? Unknown, as of yet, but we do know the day: 15 January. So I’m posting this blog entry a little less than two weeks before the date. Both cards are from Fred Newton, who dated and posted them on the 15th of 1908 in full expectation that they would arrive that same day. This was quite possible in the early 20th century, when the mail was sometimes delivered several times a day in cities. Perhaps not…
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Dearie: Introducing the Katheryn McMahon Newton Album
With the start of the new year (2021), each blog post will focus on one or more postcards from the Katheryn McMahon Newton album. This post will introduce you to the main “characters” we’ll meet in the postcards going forward, offer an overview of the cards and album, and set forth rules about my posting. Lets start with the album, actually. I consider this one of the best deals I’ve made. I’m not going to specify the exact amount I paid, but it was one of the lowest amounts even before taking into account the number of cards the album contained. Of equal or more importance, at a guess (i.e.…
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Real Photo of Man in Fallen Tree, Per Promise
Real Photo Postcards (RPPC) are pains and joys in collecting early postcards, at least from my perspective. On the good side: they show “real” people and scenes as their name indicates. Many are posed (hence the use of quotes above) but they’re also often intended to be shared between families, friends, and acquaintances, particularly RPPC of people. Those may represent intricate networks of connections. Frustratingly, such cards also frequently lack sufficient information to tease out the networks. My collection contains more RPPC than I like with nothing written on the front or back. Whomever gathered the cards and placed them in albums knew the subject and/or meaning and didn’t need…
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Remembered Love: Death and Real Photo Post Cards (RPPC)
First post – birth; second post – marriage (proposal); so, yes, this third post is about death. More specifically, it’s about sharing news of death. Yet in sending this card, Angus M. Baker memorialized his late wife Rosa E. Merly/Merley/Mesley Baker–and tells us quite a bit about life, death, and postcards. Let’s start with the card itself. Angus Baker provided his wife’s vital dates: birth, marriage, and death. Rosa married at age 28 and died seven years later. He doesn’t tell us what she died of, merely that it was “[a]fter a short illness.” This information survives by way of a Real Photo Post Card (RPPC) which presumably shows Rosa…
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“How would mine suit you?”: Proposing Marriage by Postcard
Since the first post centered around a birth announcement, today we’re moving on to another key life event for many (not all) people: marriage. As with the birth announcement, this is a semi-random card. I admit that I picked it up largely for the text–but I have no other cards sent to or from the recipient and sender. It’s a lonely-only. By lonely-only, however, I mean strictly in terms of sender/recipient/inscription. The card itself was mass-produced, after all. I have at least one other instance of this same card sent by someone else to someone else. I might even have two. I remember many of my cards, but not all–I’ve…
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