This 1918 letter, written by Charles M. Mitchell of The Portsmouth Golf Club, was addressed to Mr. Philo Clark of Portsmouth, Ohio. It provides a unique window into the challenges faced by social clubs during wartime. In the letter, the club acknowledges Clarkâs lack of participation that season and his Continue Reading
ephemera
Ephemera Friday #22: Glimpses of Life in a Southeastern Ohio Railroad Town
In this faded photograph, purchased from a vendor at Southbound Flea Market in Pike County, Ohio, we see a small gathering of young women outside a modest wooden building in a southeastern Ohio town, likely during the early 20th century. The three young women stand in the foreground, dressed in Continue Reading
Ephemera Friday #21: Photograph from Raven Rock Airport
For this week’s Ephemera Friday, we’re featuring a historic photo from Raven Rock Airport, taken on October 4, 1945. This small airstrip was located at what is now the site of Washington-Nile Schools in West Portsmouth, Ohio. In this image, a biplane sits on the field, with the hills of Continue Reading
Ephemera Friday #20: American Civil War Discharge
Another remarkable piece of ephemera in my collection is a folded document detailing the discharge of Joseph Gregory, also known as Josephus A. Gregory, a private in Captain James Cadot’s Company F, First Regiment of the Ohio Heavy Artillery. Enrolled on August 22, 1862, to serve for three years or Continue Reading
Ephemera Friday #19: Greenlawn Cemetery Receipt
One of the more intriguing pieces of ephemera in my collection is a yellow receipt, numbered 9310, issued from Greenlawn Cemetery on October 15, 1942. Signed by cemetery superintendent Arthur Mucha, the receipt was given to Reverend Emory Bracken Frye, a minister from the Stoney Run area of West Portsmouth. Continue Reading
Ephemera Friday #18: Grand Opera House Program
The four-paged paper program (Number 65. Friday, February 27, 1903) for Portsmouth, Ohio’s Grand Opera House for the 1902-1903 season. The first page includes advertisements for local businesses such as John Vetter, a tailor, and Haas, Schwartz & Co., a retailer of suits, overcoats, and trousers, and jeweler CH Harris. Continue Reading
Ephemera Friday #17: Child Naming Postcard
In February 2023, during a digitization project in Madison Township, Scioto County, Ohio, a postcard postmarked November 12, 1926 surfaced. Addressed by George Piersol Bennett, the township clerk of 22 years, it affirmed the birth of Harold Emerson Allen to Clarence Allen and Jennie Hosier on August 22, 1926. Signed Continue Reading
Ephemera Friday #16: Lehman’s Premium Card
In the bustling streets of southern Ohio, a tale of entrepreneurial spirit unfolds, woven through the decades by the hands of visionaries Joseph Lehman and Henry Richman. It all began in 1856 when they opened a modest clothing factory on the corner of Front & Market, laying the groundwork for Continue Reading
Ephemera Friday #15: Young Ladies’ Court of Allen Chapel
Today’s piece of ephemera is a program dated Thursday night, January 3, 1901, for the Young Ladies’ Court of Allen Chapel in Portsmouth, Ohio. It featured a recitation by Florence Farley, a solo by Mr. Clifford Peters, an instrumental solo by Miss Oddie Black, another recitation by Miss Bertha Warren Continue Reading
Ephemera Friday #14: Portsmouth Exchange Club
Today’s piece of ephemera is a certificate to Scout Howard Ramey who served with honor on the Boy Scout A, B, C, Traffic Safety Police at High School in Portsmouth, Ohio. This certificate was signed by the President of the Exchange Club, Dr. Charles Lee Ferguson, Chairman of the Club Continue Reading