Saturday's postcard: The Old Half House

I'm not sure if the The Old Half House still exists, but here's what I know about it.

1. The sign on the left states: "H. Riggs Half Way House, R. Fry & Cos., High Class Mineral Waters"

2. The sign to the right of the gate states: "TEAS"

3. The house was located on Wishing Tree Road in St Leonards-on-Sea, Borough of Hastings, County of East Sussex, England.

4. St Leonards-on-Sea, under the direction of Decimus Burton, came to build such locations as The Cottage, Maze Hill House, The Mount (13 houses), and The Lawn in the mid 19th century, but I find no reference regarding the construction, existence or fame of Old Half House.

5. You can see additional views of Old Half House here and here on Flickr. That first one, especially, shows the wonderful oddness of the land and structure. It must have an amazing story!

This postcard appears to have been mailed in August 1910 from Hastings. It went to Bow, London.

Per my deciphering skills, the note states:

Dear Lily,
We are enjoying ourselves very much. Are having fine weather except for occasional showers. Grandma sends best love & hopes you will all be able to come to Southend with us. Hoping you will enjoy your holiday.
From your loving friend Gladys

Note: This was the 800th Papergreat post with the "Postcards" label.

Another round of pruning family photos, Part 5

Final installment!

1. The cursive writing on the back states Dorothy Spring on the top line and Buck on the second line. This raises a number of possibilities:

• A person named Dorothy Spring Buck
• A person named Dorothy Spring and a second person named Buck
• A person named Dorothy Buck, shown in the Spring

The third one is admittedly farfetched, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

I do believe it's about 80-90% likely that the woman on the right is my great-grandmother, Greta Miriam Chandler Adams (1894-1988).

2. The woman is Emily Elliott Simmons (1856-1928), who is from a side branch of the family tree. Given her age here, we can guess this photo is from the late 1910s or the 1920s. The identity of the child is not clear. But the photo caption notes that he/she is 5 months old.

3. Caption on back: "Here I am in my fishing rig under the banana trees in the back yard. Return it if you don't want it."

I know nothing else about this photo. Nor do I know who to return it to.

4. This one just says "Auntie Simmons" on the back, which is not terribly helpful in a family tree full of people named Simmons. The 2½-inch-wide photo card is from A. Gawthrop & Co. of Wilmington, Delaware (John Curtis, operator).

5. And, finally, this CYKO real photo postcard, which dates to between 1904 and 1929, features Estelle Chandler Wilmot (1866-1956). She was one of Greta's aunts. Having been the primary individual in charge of cleaning out the house on Oak Crest Lane, I can tell you I never saw that hat.