Sorry, I was detained for a bit in Forest City

No, I wasn't actually detained in Forest City by a throng of adoring women. I've just been dealing, like everyone else, with the holidays (safely) and the horror novel that is 2020, and I was looking for something silly to get back into the Papergreat swing.¹

This postcard was never mailed and no publisher is listed, so I can only guess what decade it dates to. Straw hats for men began to surge into popularity late in the 19th century, so this could really be from just about any time early in the 20th century. The back of the card is "split," allowing for both correspondence and an address, so that would put it after March 1907, when the U.S. postal regulations changed.

And what Forest City is this? There are four significant places called Forest City in the United States: in Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa. Additionally, very small "Forest City" locations exist in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Minnesota and South Dakota. "The Forest City" is a famous historical nickname for Cleveland. But it's also been used for other cities, including Atlanta. So we can only speculate which place this postcard is referring to.

On the back, in cursive, someone has written just this: "Would ent mind being a lad like this." (Interesting linguistic use of "ent" there!) 

Dreary footnote

1. For posterity, and to keep up the practice of documenting "signs of the times" headlines throughout this COVID-19 year on Papergreat, here is a collection of some I came across this morning:

• Covid Fighters Run Out of Weapons With Virus Spreading in Homes
• Sun-Belt Return Targets Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas 
• CASES, HOSPITALIZATIONS HIT HIGH... DEATHS SET RECORD, AGAIN...
• Doctors Ration Intensive Care 
• Vaccine Side Effects Risk Sidelining Health Workers While Cases Surge
• California to be locked down for 3 WEEKS 
• BUST: Food Pantries Reach 'Crisis Level' 
• BREAKING: For the first time, CDC advises everyone to wear masks indoors when not at home
• U.S. added just 245,000 jobs in November, a worrisome sign
• Pandemic is pushing America’s 911 system to ‘breaking point,’ ambulance operators say
• Employers start preparing for the coronavirus vaccine with a question: Can we require it?
• Report: Center City retail is being decimated by the pandemic. ‘It’s horrible.’
• Biden says he will ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days as cases surge in Pa. and nationally; Philly airport coronavirus testing to open
• Pa. reports 11,000 new cases of COVID-19 in one day, and asks public to help protect hospitals from filling

THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT SOCIAL DISTANCING!

Pittsburgh newspaper clippings from 147 years ago

 A three-legged cat, an "ancient-looking" revolver and more.

Here are some clippings from the August 4, 1873, edition of the The Pittsburgh Daily Commercial that you might find intriguing on this Saturday night.

Friday's mostly mystery photo

This is Ray.

That's all we know beyond what we can see here. His name is written on the front and back of the 3½-inch-wide photograph. The snapshot was once pasted into a photo album, the kind with the black-paper pages. (It's kind of odd, and certainly I've been guilty of this at times, to think about all the modern folks who has meticulously removed pasted photographs, one by one, from old albums and scrapbooks. Sometime it's to preserve them in better or easier ways. Sometimes it's to save just a few pieces of ephemera from an otherwise mundane repository of memories. Sometimes it's so that those snapshots can be sold individually in flea markets and antique stores.)

Ray is certainly cleaned up real well for this photograph. Shirt, jacket, pants and a nice belt. Face scrubbed and hair combed. Would he rather be wearing jeans and a T-shirt and climbing that tree behind him?

If we had to guess a time period based on his clothes, this might be a little bit after World War II, right? 

Is Ray still around? How about those houses and that tree? What were his family's plans on this day? What were the other photos once surrounding this on the page of the photo album? Siblings? Pets? Birthdays? Vacations? 

And who ultimately removed it from the photo album? A family member? A stranger? 

Thursday's mystery photo

Today's snapshot is 2⅝ inches wide, was once pasted into a scrapbook/photo album, and is slightly out of focus. A young woman with short hair and a necklace looks into the distance — not at the photographer — as she casts a shadow onto what appears to be a well-constructed barn complex. That's it. That's all we know. Was another photographer taking a straight-on shot of her at the time, and this photographer decided to document it from the side? Or was "moody" the intent of the photo? Am I wrong to say that her shoes do not seem to be proper footwear for someone who might spend time around this barn? Is that a ring on her finger? 

Mystery photos contain so many mysteries!

Wednesday's semi-mystery photo

For today's camping photo, which is 3½ inches wide, we do have some caption information on the back. It states:

NO 47

OUR CAMP AT DORST CAMP, SEQUOIA, AFTER RETURNING FROM HIKE TO LITTLE BALDY SEQUOIA

This would be the Dorst Creek Campground at Sequoia National Park in central California. Their hike was the Little Baldy Trail (or Little Baldy Dome Trail). The peak of that trail is said to provide an amazing view, if there's good weather. The National Park Service website states:

"The Little Baldy Trail climbs along switchbacks to the top of a granite dome, passing an incredible variety of wildlfowers along the way. The trail starts from the highest point on the Generals Highway, winding 1.7 miles (2.7 km) and gaining 790 feet (241 m) in elevation. At the top, enjoy views of the Great Western Divide and beyond. You might rest and have a picnic while enjoying this 360-degree view. When you're done, return the way you came for a total of 3.4-mile (5.5-km) round-trip hike."  

The California Through My Lens blog has some nice photos of the hike.

I don't know anything else about this photo. Who these campers were, or even when they were camping. The car that's pictured might give us some hints as to the era, though.

Tuesday's mystery photo

Today's mystery photo features a dapper-looking young person standing on some very nice brick steps. Clearly, this family was not struggling financially.

The snapshot, which is 2¾ inches wide, was once pasted in a scrapbook and there is no identifying information that I can discern, although I can see small portions of the stamp from the business that processed the photo long ago.

I'm no expert on clothing, but this is certainly an interesting outfit, with the wide-collar shirt, double-breasted overcoat, cuffed pants and dress shoes. Spinning a (silly) modern context onto a vintage photo, I might say this kid is cosplaying as either Draco Malfoy or Tilda Swinton. 

Monday's mystery photo

Let's have some mystery snapshots as part of the mix this week. (Heck, I have enough to get through that I could probably post one per weekday through the end of the year.) 

This photo of a young girl measures 2⅝ inches by 4⅜ inches. It was important enough that it was once, long ago, pasted in someone's scrapbook. But it has been removed and there is no identifying information on the back. 

What can we know about this? We can only guess, as always. The girl's shoes and the quality of the small portion of the house we can see behind her would seemingly indicate the household was not poor.

Beyond that, it's all guesswork. When was this? Where was this? What kind of life did she have? I reckon it's possible that she's still alive, sitting somewhere with all her lifelong wisdsom and wondering what the hell has gone so wrong with the world in 2020.

Update on my dream house

In previous years, I have described elements of my dream house, which will require some magical realism, as it will be somewhat larger on the inside than the outside. The exterior will be modest and bucolic. There will be a goat on the roof. And plenty of other yard animals around. I plan to spend a lot of time in the yard.

But I will need somewhere to sleep. Enter the bedroom inn that Hutter retired to in 1922's Nosferatu. Cozy and perfect. (I'll have to add a ramp to allow cats access to the raised bed, though.)

The next most important thing is books. I have many. In my dream house, I will have multitudes. They need the perfect home. Ashar and I watched 1965's The Skull last night, and the study/library where Peter Cushing's character spent most of his time is perfect. Huge, but not overwhelming. Lined with bookshelves everywhere you turn. There are no great images showing the true extent of the room online; I included the best ones I could find in this post. But they don't really do it justice. So you'll just have to watch the movie, which is very good and which has plenty of tracking and lingering shots that luxuriate in the design of Cushing's study. I can only image how much fun it was for the set designer to put it together. 

I'd keep Cushing's desk, I think, but add a second one somewhere in the room, because I'm already committed to Chauncey Depew's desk being a part of my dream house. A room this impressive can certainly have two desks. 

I should probably start thinking about the kitchen soon, if this dream house is going to be viable. I'm thinking I might mix things up with some mid-century modern aesthetics...

P