Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Portrait of a Little Boy




This real photo postcard of a happy little boy was mailed in 1910. I like the image, but I don't know who he is or were he lived. Possibly he is from Rowan, Iowa and is a relative of the addressee, Mrs. M. W. Shaner of Laurens, Iowa. I couldn't find a 1910 census record for her, but there is a 1930 census record of a Mollie Shaner (born about 1870), spouse of M. W. Shaner.



The back of the  postcard has a message that is somewhat puzzling. The underlined word must be important, but I am not sure what it is. It looks like cong to me. Apparently the boy is Irish., There is a village named Cong in Ireland. The only other meaning I could think of is an abbreviation for congressman. However, I couldn't find anything to support that interpretation.

Any thoughts about the underlined word?

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http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2016/01/sepia-saturday-313-16-january-2016.html


18 comments:

  1. A delightful photograph. I wondered if the place you interpreted as Cong could be Cobh, a port on the south coast of Ireland, formerly called Queenston. It was the place that thousands of emigrants passed through before embarking for America. It was also the last port visited by the "Titanic" before its fateful disaster. I hope that might help!

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    1. Apparently I forgot to upload the back with the message when I originally posted! It is on the post now.

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    2. My post should make more sense now.

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  2. Darling little boy. I like the man's foot stabilizing the chair.

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    1. Thanks for pointing out the foot--I didn't recognize it. I thought it looked like a cat's tail.

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  3. Perhaps the writer was sayng which side of the family they thought he would take after.

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  4. What a beautiful postcard. I thoroughly enjoyed this post--I'm curious to find out what that means, too. Hmmm...

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  5. One happy little kid who made it to the top of the hill. What a grin!

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  6. Happy days with a young family. Clever Helen noticing the foot. I thought the word was long, meaning he would be tall, but the grammar doesn't fit.

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  7. A bit of a detective story. Love this sort of investigation, as one clue leads to an other.

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  8. I also thought that it was long on first look but that does not make sense either.

    Congressman makes sense!

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  9. I certainly hope you post a followup if you learn what L.E. meant by "Cong."

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  10. The word has me stumped. He does look like he's having a good time.

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  11. A happy and mischievous little boy, standing there rather precariously - good thing someone's foot is holding that chair steady. The word 'cong' isn't capitalised, so it surely can't refer to a name or place. Maybe someone Irish can explain it to us!

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  12. He's a fine looking boy alright. All the other words beginning with L have a loop so I think cong is correct but it is still a riddle. I like Deb's idea of a short name for congregationalist, as the lad does look a bit like a preacher on a pulpit and if he's from an Irish family the joke is in the irony.

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  13. A perfect example of the delight of old postcards - they just provide you with enough half clues to make it interesting and to give plenty of opportunity for your imagination and detective skills to fill in the gaps. As for the word - I must confess I read it first of all as "Long".

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  14. What a cutie! I read it as "cong" and thought of Congregational also, but that's because my family was Congregational. I don't think it really meant that.

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