Wild Postcards

Much of the US and the world has already gone back to school; those who haven’t will probably start by next Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. This young lad is no doubt posing for his back-to-school portrait. After all, he wouldn’t wear white after Labor Day, would he?

Based on the Artura photo paper stampbox on this postcard, I can definitively say that this postcard was produced between 1908 and 1924, so I split the difference and decided it was around 1915. This photo was taken at Ferguson’s Studio of Elkins, West Virginia.

Sadly, I am not able to find any historical references to the studio, save one: in 2003, an auction house (I won’t say which one) had a collection of 14 real photo postcards of the same (unknown) family, taken at Ferguson’s. They expected to fetch $300 for the lot. Ridiculous. I picked up this card as part of a lot of unrelated RPPCs, and the cost per card was far less than a dollar.

Be sure to check out the other little boys and girls celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday!

Much of the US and the world has already gone back to school; those who haven’t will probably start by next Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. This young lad is no doubt posing for his back-to-school portrait. After all, he wouldn’t wear white after Labor Day, would he? Based on the Artura photo paper [...]

“One of the most panoramic views of the entire Eastern section of the country is this Potomac Valley scene south of Hancock, Maryland. It shows portion of West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania and a great fruit growing section.”

This postcard bears a Curt Teich serial number indicating manufacture in 1943, but the publisher’s mark reads Marken & Bielfeld, Inc., Frederick, Md. From what I can tell, Marken & Bielfeld seems to have been (at least in the past) a publisher of local histories like this one of Carrollton Manor, Frederick County, Maryland. They are still in business in Frederick after over a century.

“One of the most panoramic views of the entire Eastern section of the country is this Potomac Valley scene south of Hancock, Maryland. It shows portion of West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania and a great fruit growing section.” This postcard bears a Curt Teich serial number indicating manufacture in 1943, but the publisher’s mark [...]