Western Americana

WA 085WA 085

Photo album with 75 photos of mining in Northern Mexico in 1903. The album belonged to a Frenchman. Unfortunately, I have not managed to find out the exact location of the mine but there are a few clues in the album that clearly point to the North West corner of Mexico: Baja California / Sonora. The first is a photograph of the famous Spanish bullfighter Juan Antonio Cervera Ruano "El Cordobes" who went to Mexico in 1900 for 5 years. The text below his portrait reads "Plaza de Toros, Agan, Prieta, Sonora, Juillet 1903". In addition there is a very unusual photograph in the album of a large number of dead rats strung by their tails. The lintel on the wall reads "Chasse du 11 Novembre. Tires de la Tienda de San Jose" which roughly translates as "Hunt on 11 November 1903. Taken in the store of San Jose". Two other images in the album are photographs of a locally made, hand written newspaper. The paper is titled San Jose Nouvelles. Les francais a la France" and dated September 1903. It contains news stories In French and Spanish from France but also some local news. One of the articles refers to a series of 'catastrophes' on the line of Mina-Molino as well as Apache Indians.. WA 085WA 085The other newspaper, bearing a photo of a General R. Vion, again speaks of San Jose and Mexico. It also contains a number of names which could offer some insight into the exact location of the buildings and mine shown in the photos. With a little more effort it should be possible to identify the mine and the name of the people on the photos. The album owner also visited Puerto Rico as there are photos of carriages with Ponce registration. The album also contains images of local miners, family members, mining equipment, the village store, the camp, the interior of the house, locals, etc. The photos vary in size and technique. The largest being approx. 6 x 5 inches, the smallest carte-de-visite size. There is one cyanotype. The images are in fair to reasonable condition. The album itself is approx 15 x 10 inches. B

Price: $350.00

WA 085	WA 085	WA 085	WA 085
WA 085	WA 085	WA 085	WA 085
WA 085	WA 085	WA 085	WA 085

WA 082

Mexican comic book titled Suter, Emperador de California. 1960. BB

Price: $90.00

WA 081WA 081

Collection of 12 early 20th century postcards on American Indians. One of Geronimo and his nieces. B

Price: $300.00

WA 046WA 046Complete sets of 64 cards of El Coyote, a 19th century Zorro, born outside Los Angeles and champion of the Spanish community. In all, 6 card sets were published in Spain in the 1940’s and 1950’s: El Coyote, La Sombre del Coyote, La Vuelta del Coyote, Hurracan Sobre Monterrey, El Valle de la Muerto, El Coyote Accorralado. I have one complete set and am working on completing the others. M BBBB

Price $800.00 each set

Note: (from Wikipedia) El Coyote (The Coyote) is the name of a fictional character very similar to Zorro, although acting 100 years later. He first appeared in the novel El Coyote (1944) by Jose Mallorqui. Between 1944 and 1953 El Coyote appeared in 192 pulp-like novels. El Coyote's real name is César de Echague and he is a rich man living at a ranch called San Antonio outside of Los Angeles. The novels cover adventures from 1846 until circa 1875. Cesar was inspired by a masked female actress and by the Zorro legend when he started operating as El Coyote in 1846. Coyote protects the original Spanish community of California from the Anglo Americans. He was born in Los Angeles between 1826 and 1830. He left for Havana as a youngster (around 1845) and "officially" returned in December 1851 (although operating as Coyote in California several times before that). Cesar's sister Beatriz was born in 1833 - she married ex-Washington resident Edmond Greene (both knew of Cesars double identities). His first wife, - Leonore de Acevedo (1832 – 1857), gave him a son Cesar Jr., (nicknamed El Cuervo - The Raven - from 1873) in 1851, after which time Cesar left Los Angeles again, for several years, but returned in 1865 (although he secretly worked in America as Coyote after only a few years abroad). The wealthy Guadelupe - Lupe/Lupita Martinez - later de Torres (in 1872), was born around 1835 and married Cesar in 1870. Their child Leonorin as well as foster child Eduardito (Gomez de la Mata) were born in 1871. Ricardo Yesares (Coyote's helper for many years from 1865) was born in 1834. The Lugones brothers and the Indian woman Adelia helped Coyote from the very beginning. Coyote's closest friend from 1865 was Cesar's servant, the deaf Indian Matias Alberes. In later novels gunman Mario Lujan helped Coyote several times. From around 1873 the skilled Indian Pedro Bienvenido became Coyote's foremost friend and Cesar's servant.

WA 079

QSL 1940 Idaho Camp Minidoka (Japanese Internment site) CCC radio card. G M

Price: $25.00

Complete set of 57 cards by Helmar Turkish Cigarettes on Seals of the United States. This is part of a larger set of 150 cards including the Coats of Arms of All Other Countries of the World. The set in hand covers the USA and includes the Hawaiian Islands, the Virgin Islands and several Indian nations such as the Choctaw, Seminole, Cherokee, Pawhuski and Muscogee. Produced in 1910-1911 in New York. B

Price: $1540.00

WA 075

WA 075

WA 075

WA 065WA 065

Six back covers of Rice Crispie cereal boxes in the 1950’s with famous cowboy and indian themes. Black Hawk, General John Stark, Little Turtle, Davy Crockett, Red Cloud, King Philip. Size mostly 16.5x23.5cm. B

Price: $600.00

WA 065

WA 065

WA 065

WA 065

WA 062WA 062

Complete set of 25 British trade cards titled Prairie Pioneers by Colinville. Produced in 1959, all the famous as well as some obscure people are shown. Nice artwork with description on reverse. An almost impossible set to complete. B

Price: $900.00

WA 059

Complete set of 10 stamp albums titled OUR AMERICA by the Coca Cola Bottling Company. They were distributed, along with a teacher’s manual, to public schools throughout the USA from 1942-1949. Each album contained spaces for 20 picture cards, which were pasted along the top edge to allow students to lift the card and read the description underneath. The albums were intended to promote the development of key industries and their byproducts affecting Americans. The artwork is excellent, full of detail and its colors are vibrant. The history of the albums began in 1942 when a teacher and author, Frederick Houk Law, composed four visual instruction booklets (later the teacher’s manuals) on the subjects of cotton, oil, steel and electricity. Coca Cola became interested and hired famous artist W.C. Wyneth (1882-1945) of Massachusetts to illustrate several striking posters and drawings to create Our America school booklets. Six other picture card sets followed. The albums came in two sizes: 20x28cm and 18x26cm. The complete run of 10 albums offered here are complete with 20 picture cards each. An interesting piece of American popular culture spanning WW2 and the early post-war years on America’s developing economy and affluence. mB

Price: $800.00

WA 059

WA 059

WA 059

WA 059	WA 059	WA 059	WA 059
WA 059	WA 059	WA 059	WA 059
WA 059	WA 059	WA 059	WA 059

WA 051WA 051

Complete set of German cigarette cards issued during the early Nazi period entitled In Prarie un Urwald, by Gold Dollar Zigaretten. Complete set of 100 cards. Rare. B

Price: $490.00