Real-life postcards pose history mystery
Like today, people shot photos long ago, and didn’t say where, when or who
Today, few events anywhere in the world occur without a camera of some sort capturing on-thespot action.
A century or so ago, a special type of postcard performed a similar service. Known as “Real Photo Post Cards” (RPPCs to collectors), they are treasured because the images preserve unposed, slice-of-ordinary-life activities that would have slipped under the radar of professional photographers and postcard publishers.
Before the First World War, the popular Kodak Brownie had become affordable for most families and the camera was an essential part of all outings. When the film was developed there were two choices: regular snapshots or photos printed on heavy stock as postcards. The latter made it much easier to send a special photo to a friend or relative. Family events, accidents, community celebrations, disasters, pets — the range of RPPC topics was wide.
Because just a few copies of any one postcard were made, their survival rate has been much lower than regular postcards of the era. That makes RPPCs highly valued by modernday collectors.
RPPCs have a big drawback however — they were seldom captioned or explained in the message. The sender’s friend usually already knew the people or the scene. Thus many RPPCs in 2016 sit anonymously in collections and archives — subject, site and date lost.
Today’s Flash from the Past features three RPPCs which I obtained several years ago from Cambridge-Galt historian Jim Barrie. I would be happy to receive information on any of these.
The stone architecture of the street scene begs to be confirmed as downtown Galt c. 1910. Some of the store signs are Woods & Taylor, R. Struthers, M.L. Moore & Co and Briscoe on the left; far down the right sidewalk appears, vertically, The Hub.
The wacky musical band card has an almost-visible caption, printed in white on the nearwhite roadbed. It says “Galt Merchants Picnic Band 1912.” These wild-and-crazy guys are posed in front of a store numbered 105 which sells stoves and oil lamps, among other items. Amid the weird checks, Mexican florals and bizarre hats, a single Scotsman with kilt and sporran looks the most normal. Was this a oneoff performance for the band in 1912 or were they regulars at Galt events?
Because the car-in-the-river postcard was in this Galt collection, my initial reaction was to assume that in the background was the CPR bridge over the Grand River. However, I have also been told that even the first version of that bridge was not of the truss type. Hopefully, the driver was thrown clear before his car rolled over those rocks. I am sure someone will identify the car for me but I’d like to know the location of that bridge.
None of these cards was mailed but each is a good example of the loose ends that cannot always be tidied up when investigating local history. Please send any information or thoughts on these RPPCs to me and I’ll print any details in a future column.