This early 20th-century post card is without a message or address yet at one time had a stamp removed. I suspect my grandmother removed it for her stamp collection. She kept several stamp books for a number of years before giving her collection to one of her great grand children. It is possible she was given this post card as a gift from a friend after their return from a trip to Milwaukee. Perhaps they placed a stamp on it intending to mail but never wrote the message. I doubt my grandmother bought the card on a trip. She was not a buyer of post cards unless she was going to send a message to someone. I doubt she would have bought the card, licked and placed the stamp on it if she wanted the stamp for her collection, either. Besides, she was a confirmed miser. Her frugal ways became an ingrained habit after living through the depression of the 1930's as a teenager.
The reverse side of this post card indicates it was published for Jno. T. Faber 9 (sic), Milwaukee, Wisconsin by A.C. Bosselman & Co. New York. It was printed in Germany. (To see another Bosselman post card image go here.) Many post cards during the first few decades of the twentieth-century were made in Germany for American companies because they were the leaders in quality image reproduction. The red print on the image says, "Interior of Conservatory, Mitchell Park, Milwaukee, Wis."
The image shown is of the original Mitchell Park Conservatory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The conservatory was designed by the local firm of H.C. Koch. Built in 1898, the original conservatory building, modeled after London’s world-renowned Crystal Palace, complete with a sunken garden, gave solace to the citizens of the Milwaukee, as the city began to flex its industrial muscle as a brewing and manufacturing center. The original conservatory was demolished in 1955 and eventually replaced by a grander and less conventional structure, consisting of three 85-foot high, beehive-shaped, glass domes. Designed by Donald Grieb, and built in stages from 1959 to 1967, each dome has plants from three distinct climates: arid, tropical and floral show.
I almost missed the red print on the front; I've only seen a few of this era in which the card went through the printing press twice.
ReplyDeleteRegarding stamp, maybe she took it off to use on another piece of mail.
ReplyDeleteI think most of my old view cards have this type of red caption, but it looks different on this card because there aren't any light and plain areas in the picture.
Chris and Postcardy,
ReplyDeleteYeah, the red print is a bit odd in that location. It was printed and not hand stamped or typed on.
Using Bosselman and the red print, would either of you made a stab at the date?
Grandma was a miser but I don't think she'd peel and paste. She was generally impatient and tended not to fiddle with stuff like that, but it's another possibility. Thanks.