1907-1910 Weiser Wonder - Walter Johnson PC, new to the hobby

[prewarsports]

Hank

I respectfully disagree. I dont think there is any way this was made in Idaho. I collect Idaho postcards and they almost all have Idaho postmarks, people bought them locally and mailed them from the area they bought them. These were tiny rural and mining areas and before mass transit there is not really any way someone buys a Walter Johnson postcard in Weiser, Idaho in 1907 and then somehow gets it to Chicago to use three years later. To my knowledge not a single one has a Wesier postmark or Fruitland or Payette or ANY of the other towns in the area. I dont even know off hand of a single one with an Idaho postmark at all (there could be though).

There are literally thousands of paostcards issued in the 1910's and 1920's that harken to the roots of famous people, especially politicians and celebrities like Lindberg etc. It would not be at all unusual to make a postcard of Walter Johnson touting his humble beginnings in Weiser to sell to the people around the World that were fascinated by star power.

I know you have been to Weiser, but to those that have not, you have to understand how rural and how isolated these little towns in Western, Idaho are and to get there in 1907 was no small feat and I can absolutely promise you that if these were made locally, they would have been mailed locally, and if they were mailed locally the vast majority would have Western Idaho or Eastern Oregon postmarks and they simply dont. The example posted here is the only one I know of with an Idaho postmark.

Just my opinion from the resident Weiser, Idaho area amatuer historian.

Rhys

[Leon]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

Hank

I respectfully disagree. I dont think there is any way this was made in Idaho. I collect Idaho postcards and they almost all have Idaho postmarks, people bought them locally and mailed them from the area they bought them. These were tiny rural and mining areas and before mass transit there is not really any way someone buys a Walter Johnson postcard in Weiser, Idaho in 1907 and then somehow gets it to Chicago to use three years later. To my knowledge not a single one has a Wesier postmark or Fruitland or Payette or ANY of the other towns in the area. I dont even know off hand of a single one with an Idaho postmark at all (there could be though).

There are literally thousands of paostcards issued in the 1910's and 1920's that harken to the roots of famous people, especially politicians and celebrities like Lindberg etc. It would not be at all unusual to make a postcard of Walter Johnson touting his humble beginnings in Weiser to sell to the people around the World that were fascinated by star power.

I know you have been to Weiser, but to those that have not, you have to understand how rural and how isolated these little towns in Western, Idaho are and to get there in 1907 was no small feat and I can absolutely promise you that if these were made locally, they would have been mailed locally, and if they were mailed locally the vast majority would have Western Idaho or Eastern Oregon postmarks and they simply dont. The example posted here is the only one I know of with an Idaho postmark.

Just my opinion from the resident Weiser, Idaho area amatuer historian.

Rhys

Rhys- You did see this one with the Weiser postmark, correct?

[Hankphenom]

The only two examples I'm aware of--Leon's and the one from Walter's scrapbooks, came from Weiser. There is another style of this postcard, by the way, sepia with cursive writing at the bottom, that I've seen auctioned recently, perhaps a couple of different examples. I wonder what the postmarks showed on those?

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

The only two examples I'm aware of--Leon's and the one from Walter's scrapbooks, came from Weiser. There is another style of this postcard, by the way, sepia with cursive writing at the bottom, that I've seen auctioned recently, perhaps a couple of different examples. I wonder what the postmarks showed on those?

Hank,

The WaJo you pictured in your post appears to be from the White Border Era (1915 - 1930.) It was quite common during the earlier part of this range of dates for postcards to be released which were reprints of earlier Divided Back Era cards, easily distinguished by the white border around the image, and typically of inferior quality.

I would likely be able to dig up a bit more info regarding postmarks if I had an idea of what auction it was featured in. If you would please let me know, I would greatly appreciate it.

Best Regards,

Eric

[Jlighter]

Mr. Perry

Here's one

http://www.legendaryauctions.com/Lot...entoryid=84539

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Jlighter

Mr. Perry

Here's one

http://www.legendaryauctions.com/Lot...entoryid=84539

Jake,

Many thanks.

At first blush, this makes perfect sense to me:

White Border Era Postcard (1915-1930)
Postmark of 1918





Definitely a different card than the one Leon posted, which I firmly believe was issued between 1907-1910.

The one pictured here in my post (not my card...from the auction link provided by Jake) was issued between 1915-1918, in my humble opinion.

Best Regards,

Eric

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Jake,

Many thanks.

At first blush, this makes perfect sense to me:

White Border Era Postcard (1915-1930)
Postmark of 1918





Definitely a different card than the one Leon posted, which I firmly believe was issued between 1907-1910.

The one pictured here in my post (not my card...from the auction link provided by Jake) was issued between 1915-1918, in my humble opinion.

Best Regards,

Eric

Since the outer limits of your guesses are the dates of the postmarks I would say you have solved half the equation.

[Baseball Rarities]

My understanding is that postcards began to be produced with white borders during the WW1 years in order to cut down on the consumption of ink.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Leon

Since the outer limits of your guesses are the dates of the postmarks I would say you have solved half the equation.

Leon,

If I may be so bold, please allow me to disregard (for a moment) the white bordered postcard and focus solely on the one you originally posted. As it pertains to that example, I believe the outer limits of my guesses to both be reasonably solid dates.

The postmark of November 30, 1910 is clearly the latest date the card could be issued. Additionally, in my estimation, March 1, 1907 is the earliest it could have been issued. The U.S. Postal Service did not relax their regulations regarding the inclusion of correspondence on the back of a postcard until that date...nor were divided back postcards able to be used in the U.S. until then.

So, with the utmost respect for you and everyone here, I propose the following:

I believe that the Walter Johnson postcard you posted was issued between March 1, 1907 and November 30, 1910.

Should I happen to have erred somewhere in my line of thinking thus far, please let me know. I do believe that I have come to a reasonable conclusion; however, do welcome feedback on this.

Additionally, I plan to research the WaJo further, in an effort to narrow this range as much as possible. Along the way, I will be more than happy to share my findings with this board.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

Eric