Category Archives: RPPCs

High Above Cleveland

High Above Cleveland. RPPC. Private Collection.

High Above Cleveland. RPPC. Private Collection.

I absolutely love this funny and interesting picture. The composition is great, showing a real view of Cleveland on the bottom half with the ‘plane’ on top. The loose wheel and the feigned expression of concentration on the gent holding it made me laugh. And the smiling one on the left getting into it, pointing down to the ‘city below’. Too much.

Only one sitter is IDed: Sam Hulting on the right. I found out a bit about him. He was born in 1894 in Sweden and was a first generation immigrant who settled in Gary Indiana. He married a lady named Amanda a year his junior, and in 1923 he would have an only child, a daughter he named Eleanor. This picture was taken in the 1910s when Sam was in his early twenties.

Photographer: Pinch’s Novelty Photo Postals. 226 Superior N. W., Cleveland. Ohio.

RPPC: AZO 1904-1918


A buddy at arm’s length

RPPC. Private Collection.

1920s boys in cap. RPPC. Private Collection.

These teens in newsboy caps look like they were a close knit group, the two sitting in the front may have been brothers. The pose of the two in the back is an interesting choice too.

RPPC: ARTURA 1910-1924


The smiling two on rowboats

Two gents on rowboats. RPPC. Private Collection.

Two gents on rowboats. RPPC. Private Collection.

Under his cap the poor gent to the left is scarily all skin and bones. Either he was naturally lanky or he was sick; his wedding ring is loose on his finger. His more healthy-sized buddy (or brother – he looks like him) is holding the rowboats together for the picture.

RPPC: AZO 1904-1918


You’ll get yours, cheat!

Oh, the violence! You wonder if those two teens saw beer bottle fights with their own eyes to stage this one (the answer is probably yes). I love the details like the cards tucked into the trousers’ cuffs on the second one, and the sign on the first. The teen on the left is giving the camera a knowing look as if saying “he thinks I didn’t see him…” He is casually dressed with his white tie over a long-sleeved polo, and he’s wearing white laced sneakers high school basketball players wore too.

RPPC: NOKO 1907-1920s


Eight Ohio Edwardian gents lounging in nature

Gentlemen in nature with a tin of Bagdad tobacco. RPPC. Private Collection.

Gentlemen in nature with a tin of Bagdad tobacco. RPPC. Private Collection.

This gorgeous group picture is my very favorite in this collection of RPPCs.  What was in the water of that small town? I want to know. :)

These gents are surrounded by nature and a tree in full blossom, with a bouquet of white flowers to the front center. Removed hats, coats and shoes lay on the ground too. This RPPC was sent from Ada, Ohio on May 21, 1911 to a lady named Florence in Elmira, New York, and talks of a double wedding.

rppc-lounging-in-nature-back

Hello Florence,

Glad to hear that you are coming to the double wedding. You’ll have to hurry though, if Foster keeps progressing as fast as at present maybe he’ll take warning and tie the knot [sic] before you get here. Harry.

Foster just couldn’t wait to get married, could he? (I think we all know what Harry meant by “progressing” ha ha). He,  Harry and the second groom-to-be are most likely on this picture. Who’s who though? Close ups:

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