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Food, sports, and canoodling in the water
Katheryn McMahon Newton album, cards 76-79 In a bit of a switch, the two cards from Fred in today’s post have lengths in reverse to what one might expect: the card from 1907 has the longer inscription and the 1908 the shorter. First the older card (comparatively speaking). A lovely image, and very nice coloration (even though someone wrote 27 upside down in the lake). Fred was evidently in a sentimental mood, based on the inscriptions on both sides of the card. The reverse has a longer meditation on the evening. Dearest: Had a dance + chicken Frye here last night After I got back from Lake Geneva in Auto…
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The trimmest little boats to take you over
Katheryn McMahon Newton album, cards 71-75 Today’s cards are a bit of a grab-bag variety. They do continue the water theme from the last post. First up, a fairly characteristic post from Fred while in Seattle. Once again he lauded the attractions of the West in general, in this case Seattle, as incentive for Katheryn eventually joining him, gave her an idea of what he does on his weekends, regretted she wasn’t there to enjoy it with him, and reminds her to write to him. Dearie: This is a beautiful country for scenery. They claim in summer it is a regular Paradise on earth. We are enjoying early easter styles…
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In the best of health but working like a beaver
Katheryn McMahon Newton album, cards 64-65 More ships, albeit not naval cruisers. Both of today’s cards, as usual, went from Fred to Katheryn. First up, a rather pretty view from northern Oregon versus northern Washington. Fred posted it in Seattle, so either Oregon views were for sale up in Seattle or (equally likely) he picked it up while down in Portland (or Astoria, for that matter). In this case, he’s tossing a bunch of different topics into the message–writing a postcard instead of sending her a letter because he’s tired. Seattle Apr. 3rd 1908 Dearie: Just in from Green Lake a small town about 18 miles from here. Made a…
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A great coaling station
Katheryn McMahon Newton album, cards 60-63 First a card from Europe without a message–or is there one after all? This card, by the way, I do not think comes from Billy. Based on the handwriting, there were at least two people in Europe sending postcards back to one or another Miss McMahon in Chicago. (They may have traveled together–the lack of information leaves that a possibility.) Given the absence of an explicit message, what might the implicit message(s) be? For one, that the sender is/was alive and well on the date when the card was sent. But what about the image and poem on the front? The image I don’t…
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This is no place for me–alone
Katheryn McMahon Newton album, cards 54-56 We’re basically skipping #54. It’s another card from Europe to an unspecified “Miss McMahon” at the State Street address. Probably from Billy, and offering a different view of Llangolen. Last time I mentioned the issue of the postcard order in the book, and the possibility the cards were arranged by theme. It’s hard to tell for certain, since the album was picked over. Who knows what is missing? That said, I have come to the conclusion that at a minimum a goodly chunk of the cards at some point were arranged in topical order. While you won’t see that in today’s cards necessarily, keep…
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One of the most aristocratic little resorts
Katheryn McMahon Newton album, cards 50-53 First up, two more cards from Europe. I’m only sharing the fronts here. Based on the handwriting on the back, I’m guessing these also came from Billy (who’s so far been responsible for most/all of the foreign cards–and no I still don’t know his last name). As is quite typical of Billy, there’s no message. That said, these differ from several of the most recent cards in that, as with a few earlier ones, they’re directed to “Miss McMahon” at Shields Ave rather than State St, and thus were likely intended for Katheryn rather than Anna. With respect to the images themselves, note that…
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Not setting the world on fire with orders
Katheryn McMahon Newton album, cards 44-45 Fred Newton was in sales, although we still don’t know what business. The first card for today provides a little more information about his operations, although it doesn’t change the “don’t know” side of the equation very much. The card itself is a view of one of Seattle’s parks. In fact, both of today’s cards are of Seattle parks–originating with the same firm, Paul C. Koeber out of New York and Kirchheim, Germany. Fred might have purchased them at the same time but, given the amount of time separating the postmarks (over two weeks), it’s just as likely he acquired them separately. The lines…
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Make short work of the “tall + uncut”
Katheryn McMahon Newton album, cards 40-43 I originally intended to focus on one card at a time. That didn’t last long! It proved much easier to spend extensive time on the initial cards I presented, both because I was starting to figure out what to do with this blog and because each was selected for one or more iconic qualities which rewarded in-depth examination. With this album, the attractions for me include seeing how the cards fit together–how Fred (and others, especially when we move on to add other albums) uses the cards. What information he includes, where he’s open versus coy and allusive. TLDR: I’ll share however many cards…
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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…
