If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 658

 

 

 

 

 

Cattedrale di San Giusto: Piazzale 1898   Cathedral of San Giusto, Trieste, Italy

[Fototeca Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte di Trieste]

 

My friend who lives in Trieste recently sent some postcards with old vintage photos on them.  This card features the Cathedral of San Giusto, Trieste, Italy and the square in front of it.  This is a modern card with a reproduced photograph from 1898.  The old pictures are like looking through a window into past times.  The faces, poses, and clothing all provide a rare, wonderful glimpse into life as it was.  In the foreground of this one we see a mother carrying a baby and a young girl at her side.  There is a man in uniform standing by the column. 

 

According to my friend the amazing thing is that the buildings and the appearance of scene has not changed except for the addition of automobiles. 

 

At the bottom left corner of the reverse side of the card is:  Comune di Trieste; Museo del Castello di San Giusto; Piazza della Cattedrale, 3 – 3421 Trieste.  There is also this link:  www.castellodisangiustotrieste.it

 

The cathedral is located on the top of a hill overlooking the city.  It is the main Catholic religious building and cathedral in the city of Trieste.  Two older churches, Santa Maria and another dedicated to the martyr San Giusto were incorporated under the same roof by Bishop Rodolfo Pedrazzani between 1301 and 1320 to provide one imposing cathedral.  It has a large rose window, just behind the tree at the right side of the card.  Both the bell tower and the façade of the church contain finds from the Roman period.  As an example, the entrance portal was from an ancient funeral monument.  The bell tower has 5 large bells.  Much of the interior has been demolished and rebuilt as time and use had caused significant damage.  However, some Byzantine apse mosaics have survived.  Following WWI and WWII restorations were necessary to the organ with the sound of the instrument adapted to the taste of the time after WWII.  The organ has three keyboards of 58 notes each.

 With many thanks to my friend who shared the cards and wrote comments on the back of each card.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattedrale_di_San_Giusto_(Trieste)

[note:  there is an option for an English translation]

www.castellodisangiustotrieste.it

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 655

 

 

 

 

 

Palazzo Municipale, Trieste, Italy, 1880

[photo:  Giueppe Wulz]

 

This is another postcard with a reproduced vintage photo on it.  This one features the town hall with merchants, their carts and stalls in the square in front of the building.  This amazing picture was taken in 1880 by Giuseppe Wulz.  Wulz was an Italian artist/photographer born in 1843.  He died at age 75 in 1918.  His works have been offered at auction multiple times.  The card is a product of the Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte.  According to my friend, the building and square have not changed in more than 140 years, except for the addition of cars. 

 

One of the things my friend and I both noticed immediately were the carts that are not horse drawn but pushed or pulled by people.  Some of them, such as the cart at the upper right, are two wheeled, while others like the one in the middle, have four wheels.  Canvas sheets stretched across poles provide shade for the merchants selling their wares.  The carts appear to serve two purposes, one to transport the goods and second to display and act as a "shop" to sell the wares. Different views of the canvas shades can be observed.  Ingenious, simple covers to offer shade and its coolness during the long hot days.  Trieste is a port city, so there would be some sea breeze down by the water but perhaps not so much in front of the building and in the square where there do not seem to be any trees.

 

Before 1919 this square was known as Piazza Grande or the Great Square.  Today it has been used as a concert venue with an attendance of 12,000 people for the 99 Revolutions Tour in 2013.  The square is also used occasionally for visits of foreign heads of state and meetings.

 

Many thanks to my friend who sent the card, with comments!

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_Unit%C3%A0_d%27Italia

 

https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Giuseppe-Wulz/957D02E79F935C01#:~:text=Giuseppe%20Wulz%20was%20an%20Italian,Photograph%20on%20albuminised%20paper

 

http://biblioteche.comune.trieste.it

 

www.fotoecatrieste.it

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 539

 

 

 

 

 

Wright Brothers glider flight, 1902, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

 

The two postcards shared this week feature the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, on flights in glider and powered aircraft.  The black and white pictures from 1902 and 1903 are historical photographs that were made into postcards and distributed by the Eastern National Park Monument Association in 1984. 

 

Oriville Wright was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1871 and died in 1948 in Dayton.  Wilbur Wright was born 1867 in Millville, Indiana, an died in 1912, in Dayton, Ohio.  Neither brother married.  Both brothers attended high school but did not receive a diploma.  Orville dropped out of school in his junior year and started a printing business in 1889.  He ha designed and built his own printing press with help from Wilbur.  Wilbur joined the print shop and the brothers first printed a weekly newspaper, the West Side News and converted that to a daily paper in 1890 but it only lasted 4 months.  They then switched to commercial printing projects.  In 1892 they opened a bicycle repair and sales shop and in 1896 began manufacturing their own brand.  Their work of many years with printing presses, bicycles, motors and other machinery convinced them  that just like balancing on a bicycle it should be possible to build a flying machine that could be controlled and balanced with practice.  Beginning in 1900 until the first powered flight in 1903 they tested the idea with glider flights.  One of their shop employees, Charles Taylor, became an important part of the team and helped build the first airplane engine with the brothers.  

 

 The Wright brothers made approximately 1000 glider flights in 1902 that provided knowledge and experience leading to successful powered flights.  In the card above we see Orville Wright on the glider with Wilbur Wright at the left and Dan Tate on the right assisting in the glider lift off.  Dan Tate was a fisherman who was a part-time general helper for the Wright brothers.  The photograph was taken 10 October 1902.

 

 Powered aircraft flight, 1903, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

 

The first successful powered flight was captured in this postcard photograph above that has Wilbur Wright watching his brother, Orville, lifting off, 17 December 1903.  The aircraft went 120 feet in 12 seconds. 

 

The community of Kill Devil Hills did not exist until 1953 but Kitty Hawk, 4 miles north, did so these first flights are usually identified as being at Kitty Hill, North Carolina.  The location was chosen for good winds that would help with the gliders and later with the powered airplanes.  The Wright Brothers National Memorial, dedicated in 1932, is found in the town of Kill Devil Hills. 

 

Thanks to K and J for sharing the postcards.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Hawk_North_Carolina

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Devil_Hills,_North_Carolina

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 502

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zürich, Switzerland

 

This is an unused postcard printed in Switzerland by Verlag Beringer & Pampaluchi.  It has the identifier:  Z417, printed at the lower left corner on the reverse.  No photographer credits were given on the card.  The picture shows the city of Zürich, Switzerland, the Alps in the far background, and the River Limmat.  The card was found and purchased at a local antique mall.

 

Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland and is the capital of the canton of Zürich.  It is located on Lake Zürich.  The Limmat river commences at the outfall of the lake and flows in a northwesterly direction where it joins the river Aare just north of the town of Brugg.  The card shows a picturesque city with multiple bridges crossing the river.  Like many rivers in Switzerland the Limmat is used for the production of hydroelectric power.  It was also an important navigation route in the 12^th and 13^th centuries.  Today much of the river can be used by only by small craft because it has many locks or boat lifts associated with the power plants. 

 

 

 

 Photo from:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zürich, ca 1900

[credit:  Anonymous, Public Domain, Zentralbibliothek Zürich--Zürich Bahnhofplatz-000006617 1.jpg]

Since I am partial to vintage postcards, I could not resist including this additional postcard with a public domain picture of the Zürich Train station plaza taken after 1882, possibly around 1900, that was included in the Wikipedia article. 

 

Although the Romans founded the city and called it Turicum more than 2,000 years ago, evidence of some human presence can be found as early as 6400 years ago.  In 1519 Zürich became a primary center of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. 

 

There are many museums, art galleries and theaters.  German is the official language.  Zürich was ranked among the ten most livable cities in the world in 2019.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zürich

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limmat

 

Update: Harry Oliver & Sigrid Landaas and others …

 

 

 

From time to time I get questions concerning the extended family groups and this post will not address all of those but will attempt to add information and pictures as an update to a previous post about Harry Oliver and Sigrid Landaas.  In that post there was a photo of Harry with one of his Belmont Dye Works delivery cars.  A request for more information about the delivery cars arrived about the time I was already reviewing material for the next volume of the Family Gathering books.  As it turns out there are a number of old photographs in Dick Thompson’s Scrapbook Collection that are not found in the Petra Landaas Lee Trunk Collection or the Lorig Picture Box.  The delivery car question prompted a second look at Harry and Sigrid as well as a couple of other people in the Landaas, Lee, Lorig and Thompson family groups. 

 

 

 Sigrid Landaas, ca 1907

Harry Oliver, ca 1907

To recap, in the early 1900s, and at least by 1910, Harry owned and operated Belmont Dye Works, a dry-cleaning business located at 508 East Pine Street in Seattle.  After they married in 1908, Sigrid worked as the bookkeeper for the company.  This was a position she kept until they retired around 1950.  Harry’s younger brother, Walker, worked for him as a presser in the 1920s and 1930s.  It is also possible that his older brother, Johnny, worked there as a driver for a short period of time.  In later years, Johnny was a coal and oil truck driver for a fuel company.  However, it is likely Johnny’s wife, Lena, worked in the laundry section of the Dye Works for several years.  James was a farmer in the Walla Walla area of Eastern Washington.  Lenard owned and operated a café in Seattle.  Lenard worked in the shipyards beginning in 1942 and probably as long as the military needed him there during World War II. 

 

The five Oliver brothers from the left:  Lenard [Leonard] born 1896, James born 1892, John born 1885, Walker born 1894, Harry born 1888, ca 1908.

 

As I was looking at the pictures of the Belmont Dye Works delivery cars, I noticed some differences.  My youngest son is a mechanical engineer and I showed him the photos and a couple of other earlier delivery wagon pictures to see if he could help identify improvements that were made in the designs. 

 

 I.C. Lee with City Laundry delivery wagon, before 1905

 

In this photo, taken before 1905, I.C. Lee is the policeman helping the pedestrian cross the street.  Just behind him is a horse drawn City Laundry delivery wagon.  Notice the design of the wagon cab, the overhanging roof and the protective barrier in front of the driver, and the lack of a door for easier access.  Part of the laundry load is stored on top of the wagon.  We can tell that this picture was prior to 1905 because I.C. was promoted to Sergeant in that year and here he is shown as a patrolman.

 

Star Bakery horse drawn delivery wagon, 1905

 

This next photo, above, dated 1905, shows a horse drawn Star Bakery delivery wagon with a similar design to the laundry wagon.  It is not possible to see the access way into the wagon but the overall design is almost the same as the laundry wagon.  In the scrapbook margin in addition to the date, Dick Thompson noted: “$2.00 a day, those were happy days.”  He arrived in Seattle in 1903 from Bergen, Norway and this was one of the first jobs he had here in America.  

 

 

 

Harry Oliver standing by his #2 delivery car, ca 1910-1912

 

Here we see Harry Oliver standing beside his No. 2 delivery car.  The cab looks remarkably like the horse drawn cab with the horse replaced by an engine, the metal or wooden wagon wheels replaced with rubber wheels.  It is probably a 1910-1912 version model T Ford.  The model T was introduced in October 1908 as a 1909 model.  Since only a limited number of unsuccessful model C and model N delivery vans or cars were made and sold prior to the model T, it is unlikely that Harry’s delivery cars were something other than a model T.   In the earlier post the photo was a faded sepia tone but I have changed the color to black & white to increase the definition. 

 

Some things to notice about the car include the manual, bulb operated exterior horn.  Harry has his arm resting on the bulb.  Brass tubing curves under the door opening to the horn mounted on the side of the hood just above the fender.  Brass was needed in World War I efforts; therefore, this type of tubing was not used after about 1915/1916.  There is a vertical double canister, called a Prestolite tank, attached to the running board that contained water and gas for the acetylene powered head lamps.  These tanks were either installed by the dealer or sometimes by the factory, 1909-1912.  The model Ts in 1913/1914 had a horizontal tank divided into three compartments and color coded that held, gas, oil, and water.  The fenders were designed to prevent mud splatter at a low speed.  The windshield is a simple small pane held in place by rods and mounted at eye level.  Since the car is numbered 2 it suggests that he had at least two of the vehicles.  

 

 

 The two newer Belmont Dye Works delivery cars, ca 1915 and later

 

These are newer model Ts, most likely 1915 and later.  The one on the right does not yet have a door, the bench is a basic flat seat, the fenders are similar to what is shown on the 1910-1912 model.  The horn and headlights have been electrified.  Beginning in 1913/1915 the horns were mounted under the hood with louvers in the hood added to help amplify the sound of the horn.  The windshield has been enlarged in size but is still held in place by rods that extend to the floor of the cab. The car is numbered 2 and most likely dates around 1914/1915.  Harry has added more advertising information on the side of the cab including a phone number and the words, Cleaning and Pressing.

 

The still newer car at the left, 1915/1916, now has a door and an improved, more comfortable looking padded bench for the driver.  The fenders have been changed to prevent mud splatters at higher rates of speed than the older models were capable of doing.  The windshield has been further improved and is attached at the hood level.  The bigger windshield protected the occupant(s) better at increased speed levels.  The roof of the cab is slightly more curved than the earlier model.  This is the newest delivery car that Harry owned at the time. The business design has added a line in back of the bell and placed the address at the left and the phone number at the right.  

It appears from these pictures that Harry must have had a schedule for replacing his delivery cars, probably every three years or so, alternating replacement between car #1 and car #2.  Both of the pictures with Harry’s delivery cars were made into postcards, a popular option for pictures during this time period. 

 

As general interest, Ford had manufacturing plants in Seattle beginning in 1914 that closed in 1932.  The first plant building was a 5 story structure located in the South Lake Union district of Seattle and the second plant was on E. Marginal Way South Seattle.  The plant on E. Marginal Way was added to the National Register of Historic Places in October 2013.  The South Lake Union plant was purchased by the W.P. Fuller Paint Company in 1936.  It changed hands a couple more times and most recently was used by Public Storage, a self-storage chain.

 

For additional information about the delivery cars, see:

 

http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/4902

http://www.mtfca.com/discu/messages/118802/179303.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Motor_Company_Assembly

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1903-1919-ford-trucks1.html

https://www.historylink.org/File/875

https://www.cogapa.com/history.html

https://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Vehicle_horn

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 469

 

 

 

 

Three Brothers, chiefs of the Kagwantan, Tlingit, Southeastern Alaska, 1906

[photo:  Case and Draper]

 The Case and Draper photographic studio of Southeastern Alaska is credited with the 1906 picture of three brothers on this unused Garfinkel Publication postcard.  At the bottom center of the reverse is:  FPC28.  The card was printed in Canada.

The three brothers in the photo are not named but were chiefs of the Kagwantan, or burnt house people, one of the Tlingit clans, and are each holding a raven rattle.  Two are wearing “Chilkat blankets, highly esteemed robes of nobility,” according the blurb on the reverse of the card.  Chilkat weaving uses one of the most complex weaving techniques and a blanket like one of these could take a year to make.  Today sheep wool might be used but when these blankets were woven the primary materials would have been mountain goat wool, dog fur, and yellow cedar bark.  The designs are traditionally in ovoid, U-form, and S-form shapes, highly stylized and contain clan crests, figures from oral history, and often animals.  Dominant colors are yellow and black with blue as a secondary color.  The weavings are done on looms that have only a top frame and vertical supports.  Vertical sections are completed instead of moving horizontally from end to end.  This system tends to break the designs into vertical columns.  Northwest Coast art is mostly bilaterally symmetrical.  Fringes and buttons are sometimes added decorations.  In addition to blankets the weavings are used for robes, dance tunics, aprons, leggings shirts, vests, hats, and wall hangings.  The blankets worn in the picture would traditionally be used at potlatch ceremonies.

William Howard Case and H. Horace Draper formed a partnership in 1898 and had a photographic studio in Skagway, Alaska.  In the beginning they worked out of a tent that allowed them to travel and take photographs.  They became popular for “Documenting the unknown” and eventually had a store that sold curios, photographic equipment, and souvenirs and well as their own work.  

Case was born in Iowa in 1868 and lived in South Dakota and Oregon before going to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898.  His partnership with Draper was dissolved in 1907.  Case moved to Juneau where he opened his own studio.  He died in 1920 and was survived by his three children.  Case’s studio was taken over by E.C. Adams.  

Herbert Horace Draper was born 1855 in Rockford, Illinois.  His family moved from Michigan to Oregon when he was 19.  He also went to Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush.  He married a local school teacher.   After the partnership with Case was dissolved, he continued to run the studio under the name Draper and Co. until his death in 1913.  Draper’s studio was acquired by Keller Brothers Drug Company.

Digital images of their work can be found at Orbis Cascade Alliance and the Alaska State Library.  

For additional information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_&_Draper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilkat_weaving

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 433

Stone House, Manassas Virginia, 1862

[photo from the collection of Manasses National Battlefield Park]

This is an unused postcard with a hand-printed photograph taken in 1862 of the Stone House located on Warrenton Turnpike (U.S. 29) in Virginia.  The picture is from the Manassas National Battlefield Park and was published and distributed by Cards Unlimited, Inc. of Keysville, Virginia.  The code at the lower left corner on the reverse side is:  MB 001.  

The photograph is not large enough to see much detail but it appears that the man in the light colored long coat may be a Confederate soldier or officer, one other man has a light shirt or jacket, the other men are in dark jackets or coats with one having light colored pants.  The man closest to the house has a black stovepipe hat.  Photographs such as this offer a unique glimpse into the past.

Wormeley Carter inherited the tract from his father in 1801 and by 1805 had sold a substantial portion of the land.  After he died his son, Thomas, had the remaining property.  The first mention of a house on the land was when Thomas sold the house and 148 acres to John Lee in 1828. 

When the Frauquier and Alexandria Turnpike Company began constructing a 28-mile toll road from the Fairfax Court House to Fauquier Court House, toll stations were planned to be located every 5 miles along the route.  It is known as the historic Warrenton Turnpike.  The project was started in 1812 and took the company 16 years to complete the road.  One of the stops was where the Stone House would be built. The early toll stop was in operated by a Mary “Polly” Clark in 1828 but it is not believed the house at that time was the same one.  Travelers would pay a toll to use the road and could stop at the house for food, drink and possibly lodging.  From tax records and other documents Thomas O. Clark, the son of Polly Clark, probably built the Stone House in 1848.  Later, when the toll road traffic had diminished the property was sold to Henry P. Matthew where he farmed the land and his family lived in the house.

The house is primarily known for serving as a field hospital during the First and Second Battles of Manassas also known as the First and Second Battles of Bull Run.  It is part of the property of the Manassas National Battlefield Park listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The first major battle of the Civil War was called the First Battle of Bull Run by the Union forces and the First Battle of Manasses by the Confederate forces.  It occurred on 21 July 1861 extremely close to Stone House.  In the two hours between 10 am and 12 noon there over 1,000 mean were wounded. 

As the battle shifted away from the house surgeons and Northern soldiers began to seek refuge inside the house.  The strong walls made of stone provided some shelter, there was a well in the yard, and the main road to the hospitals of Washington, D.C. was not far away.  Control of the house shifted between the armies with the Union forces eventually settling in.  The house was under fire for the rest of the day as the battle raged on.  Flags were placed in the windows to indicate that it was being used as a hospital.  After a day or two the Confederate forces re-took the house and the Union troops retreated.  At the end of the fighting the house continued to be an army hospital with the Confederate forces occupying it until March 1862.  It is not known whether the Matthews family returned to the house at that time.

The Second Battle of Manasses or Bull Run was fought 28-30 August 1862.  This battle was much larger in scale and numbers than the First Battle held on the same ground.  Stone House was quickly reconverted to a hospital.  Some Union troops were buried in the Stone House yard.  Two wounded Union soldiers were taken to an upstairs room where they carved their names into the floorboards.  Those carvings are still visible today. 

After the Civil War the house was sold and changed hands a couple more times.  Today it is not occupied as a house but is part of the Manasses National Battlefield Park with various tours and programs offered.

For more information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stone_House_Manassas_National_Battlefield_Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Bull_Run
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bull_Run

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 409

Boxes of canned salmon

Both of the postcards shared this week are from Lantern Press Vintage Photographs.  The card above has the identification number of #1527 and has a vintage photograph of salmon boxes being loaded for shipment.  The card below is numbered #4136 and has a picture of some of the seiner fleet fishing boats that were used to catch the salmon.  Both postcards were purchased in Ketchikan and are scenes from that area.

Seiner Fleet Fishing Boats, Ketchikan, Alaska

The Alaska Packers' Association (APA) was the largest packer of canned salmon in Alaska.  It was based in San Francisco, founded in 1891 and sold in 1982.  In 1891 the Alaskan salmon industry was just beginning but already producing more canned salmon than they could sell.  The association was founded to organize and sell the surplus canned salmon and manage the salmon production more efficiently.  There were 31 canneries across Alaska in 1892.  The original APA is perhaps best remembered for operating one of the last fleets of tall sailing ships.  Part of the reason for using the sailing ships instead of steam was to economize.  The ships were part of The Star Fleet with each ship having Star in its name, such as Star of Bengal, Star of France, Star of Russia, Star of Alaska, etc.  By 1930 most of the sailing ships had been replaced by steam or diesel powered ships like the ones shown on the second card.

Canned salmon was the largest industry in Alaska from about 1900 through 1980 with some fluctuation due to the number of fish each year.  During that time canned salmon produced over 80% of Alaska's tax revenues.  

Many of our ancestors in the extended family worked in some capacity in or for the canneries of Alaska during the early 1900s up through the 1930s.  My Dad worked on fish traps and was hired to fend off salmon poachers.  This was at times a very dangerous job as the poachers were almost always armed and serious about stealing the fish.  He had some harrowing stories to tell about his time on the traps.  Walt Lorig, his dad Edd, and several others in the family worked in the canneries or on the fishing boats. 

Today the Seattle based trade organization "At-Sea Processors Association" uses the APA moniker.  The newer APA represents 7 companies and operates 19 vessels in the Alaska pollock and West Coast whiting fisheries.  The current APA has no connection to the earlier Alaska Packers’ Association even though it uses the same identifying initials.

For more information, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Packers’_Association

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 370

"Watching the Dancers," Hopi, 1906

[photo:  Edward S. Curtis]

When we were visiting the Redwoods I found the two postcards shared this week at the Trees of Mystery gift shop.  That shop also had a small museum with a very impressive collection of Native American photographs, artwork and jewelry.  Both cards are unused, published by AZUZA Publishing Co., LLC, Englewood, Colorado and have vintage photographs. 

The hairstyle shown on these two cards caught my interest and was the reason I purchased the cards.   A month or two after that trip Bob and I visited the Seattle Art Museum’s Double Exposure exhibition with photographs by Edward S. Curtis and a few others who specialized in Native American portraits and life scenes. 

The top postcard has a 1906 photograph by Edward S. Curtis titled “Watching the Dancers.”  It shows Hopi maidens looking out and down toward the plaza area where the dancers were performing.   The card below has a 1901 photograph by Adam Clark Vroman and shows the front view of a Hopi maiden with the same hairstyle. 

 

Hopi maiden, Hoo-n-ym-pka, 1901

[photo:  Adam Clark Vroman]

If the style looks a little familiar it is probably because a modified version of it was used for Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies.  Young unmarried Hopi women wore this style called Squash Blossom or Butterfly Whorl.  The hair is parted and wound around a U shaped wooden hoop in a figure 8 pattern, tied in the middle, then spread or fanned out to make the circle shape.  The description of how it was accomplished reminded me of making pom-poms out of yarn.  They are also wound around a shape, cardboard usually, tied off, and then spread out to make round balls.  The rather complicated hairstyle required a helper and presumably some time to get it just right.  I do not know how often it was unwound and redone but it would have needed at least some repair work after sleeping on it or following hair washing. 

Edward Sheriff Curtis, 1868-1952, spent 30 years photographing and recording Native American people of the western United States.  He carried this camera, glass photo plates, and the tripod with him in his travels.  

With over 40,000 images he filled 20 volumes chronicling the Native Americans.  Many of the scenes were re-enactments staged for the pictures by people who were alive when the events were experienced and could remember the dances, poses, and costumes. 

Curtis’s work started in the 1890s and ended in the 1920s.  A sense of urgency accompanied him especially in the later years when the native people were adopting western European dress and life-styles.  He wanted to record a vanishing life and people before it became totally gone by assimilation into the new emerging American culture.   He used a variety of photo developing techniques and was criticized by some for doing too much manipulation of the images. 

Some of his ethnological ideas and stereotyping may seem odd or offensive to us today but his photographs are beautiful and without them much of the western pictorial history would not exist.  A comment from one man regarding the discovery of an unexpected picture of his grandmother at age 18 was that he had only known her as a very old woman who lived nearly 100 years, full of wrinkles and very tiny in size.  The picture of her as a young woman he treasures as he never imagined he would see her like that.  

Adam Clark Vroman, 1856-1916, took photographs of the Hopi, Zuni and Pueblo people from 1895 to 1904 and is sometimes referred to as the photographer of the Southwest.  His aim was to humanize rather than romanticize the people.  The most complete collection of his photographs can be found in the Pasadena Public Library.

Most of the images on this wall in the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) are part of the Curtis collection.

For additional information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_S._Curtis
http://www.masshist.org/photographs/nativeamericans/essay.php?entry_id=74
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi
http://www.whitewolfpack.com/2016/12/hopi-squash-blossom-story-behind.html
http://southwesternculture.weebly.com/hopi-indians.html

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 331 [a few days late]

 Snowy trees in front of the Harry Whitney Treat Home, Queen Anne and Highland Drive, Seattle, 

ca 1916

 [Note:  I was without a computer for a few days so this Thursday postcard is a few days overdue.]

Although this postcard looks more like a snapshot than a card it was printed as a postcard.  That was a fairly common way to share pictures of places, people and even pets in the early 1900s.  There has not yet been significant snow in the city this year but the photo was probably taken in 1916 when Seattle had a heavy snowfall.  The undated note on the back says:  “In front of Harry Whitney Treat’s Home, Queen Anne and Highland Drive.”  The Treat family lived in this 64-room home from the time it was completed in 1905 until his death in 1922 when it was sold to developers.  Then it was turned into apartments.  In 1975 it was modified into what is today known as the Gable House complex.  It is a Seattle Landmark building worth more than 11 million dollars.

I thought it interesting and amusing to think that someone took this picture showing the snow covered trees and not much of the mansion.

Harry Whitney Treat was a businessman and financier who originally came from New York and arrived in Seattle in 1902.  He formed a partnership in 1896 with the promoter, Ed Blewett, for whom Blewett Pass is named.  Together they formed the Van Anda Copper and Gold Company on Texada Island in the San Juan Islands.  They had three mines, the Little Billie, the Copper Queen, and later the Cornell.  Under Treat’s leadership the mining operations moved underground.  Blewett and Treat developed a narrow gauge railway to move the ore to dumps on Van Anda Bay.  By 1900 they had also constructed a smelter to service not only their mines but also other mines on the island.  Treat was called “The Magician” who waved an invisible wand and his caves produced copper, gold and silver. 

Locally Treat bought hundreds of acres of land in Ballard where he developed Loyal Heights and Loyal Beach, both named for his youngest daughter, Loyal Graef Treat.  Loyal Beach later became Golden Gardens Park.

For more information, see:

https://seattle.curbed.com/2014/9/3/10051856/treat-house-gable
Texada Island Heritage Society – Harry Whitney Treat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texada_Island