A rotograph was a photograph printed by a process in which a strip or roll of sensitized paper was automatically fed over the negative so that a series of prints are made, developed, fixed, cut apart, and washed at a very rapid rate.—usps.com; wikipedia.org.
Real Photo Postcards (RPPC) seem to have started in general use in the first few years after 1900. In 1903 Kodak introduced their No. 3A Folding Pocket Camera designed for postcard-size film. The photographs could be printed on postcard backs.
Other cameras were also used to make Real Photo postcards. Some used old-fashioned glass plates that required cropping the image to fit the postcard format.
It was 1907 before the Post Office would allow a postcard to have a message written on the same side as the address.
Also, by 1907 European publishers began opening offices in the U.S. for their millions of high quality post cards. Their cards made up 75% of all postcards sold in the United States. Germany’s printing methods were the best in the world.—usps.com; wikipedia.org.
I thought Halfway Brook readers might enjoy this photo of Pond Eddy, PA, contributed by Dennis C. Pond Eddy, PA is south of it’s New York name twin.
In December 1904 my uncle Raymond Austin turned 4. A couple stories are told about Raymond and his grandfather Henry Austin who lived with the Austin family: Mort and Jennie, and their sons: Raymond, McKinley, and Will.
When Raymond was very young, before he could read, he evidently had a good memory of what he heard read. His father [Mort] got the newspaper—either when he went to the village in the afternoon, or it came in the mail. Mort would often read some of the items from the newspaper to Jennie.
Raymond would listen carefully and later, with his grandfather, Henry Austin, would hold the paper up as though he was reading out loud from it. His grandfather would always comment, “It is a caution how that boy can read!”
One day the report was about a serious railroad accident. Raymond read, with his grandfather Henry marveling—until Raymond read, “A number of people were ‘conveniently’ killed.”
His grandfather said, “What?” and took the paper and noted some other discrepancies, as well. The deception was over. Continue reading
One of the major contributors to Echo Hill and Mountain Grove has listed his house in Eldred for sale. Please email me at info [at] halfwaybrook [dot] com if you are serious about the house and I will get you more info.
$275,000
Ranch Home, 2000 sq.ft. (+/-); full walk-in basement
Built in 1977 on 2-1/2 acres of prime land
3 Bedroom; 1-1/2 baths—both recently modernized
24 X 14 Living room with blue stone fireplace
24 X 12 Family Room with brick fireplace
13 X 12 Kitchen; all new stainless steel appliances (Kitchen Aid and Maytag)
15 X 12 Dining room
12 X 6 Laundry on main floor; new Maytag washer and dryer ‘Bravo’ models
24 X 6 Front porch with all new white vinyl
Outside covered parking is 700 sq. ft.
1-1/2 car garage; Garage has 100 amp service.
10 X 15 Lawn equipment shed w/electric
36 X 48 garage/workshop interior total 1400 sq. ft.; 1000 sq. ft. heated
Full walk in dry basement; plenty of storage
Slop sink in basement
50-foot rear deck, tropical hard wood, IPE, approx. 460 sq. ft.
Continue reading
If you are a fan of the Flatiron Building, you will enjoy the variety of images on Shorpy.com
Considered to be one of the first skyscrapers to be built, it was completed in 1902.
The Flatiron Building was designed by Chicago’s Daniel Burnham. Its facade was limestone at the bottom and changed to glazed terra-cotta as the floors rose.
It had a steel skeleton, a construction technique familiar to the Fuller Company, a contracting firm based in Chicago with considerable expertise in building such tall structures. At the vertex the triangular tower is only 6.5 feet wide; an acute angle of about 25 degrees.
—wikipedia.org.
There is another postcard of the Flatiron building in the Austin collection which I will post soon.
I found the building so fascinating that I will also post 2 photos of the Flatiron building from the Library of Congress Collection.
Recently a Halfway Brook reader sent me this delightful 1913 photo of her mom (the little girl in the center) at The Arlington boarding house mentioned in the previous post.
The two boys in the picture are most likely my mom’s brothers—Frank and Frederick. The other two girls in the picture may be cousins. I don’t know if the Wolff family owned the house, but they ran the boarding house for two years and then returned to the city.
I know that my mother visited Eldred sometime in the 1960’s, and the house was still there. However, when she went back—maybe ten years later—it was no longer there. That’s about all the information I have.
Louise: At one time the Onderdonck’s owned The Arlington which may have originally been Twin Lake Farm owned by J.P. Gallagher in 1885.
I haven’t researched the Arlington in the years from 1920 to 1950. Does anyone have more information about it?
I pieced together possible earlier information on The Arlington in Eldred (there were other Arlington Hotels in Sullivan County) that you can read here if you are interested. Continue reading
