When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
A 5.5x3.5" vintage RPPC photo postcard (NOT a modern reprint) from the estate of a vintage postcard collector. This was part of a huge collection of antique postcards.
* We always automatically combine orders for shipping, so add as many postcards as you’d like to your order!
Photo Overview
A charming and unusual real photo postcard captures Jim Ritter\'s dog mid-leap, clinging to a utility pole in what appears to be a small industrial American town, circa 1910s. The dog has apparently jumped an impressive 11 feet and 6 inches to snag a piece of meat hung on the pole - a feat remarkable enough that someone felt compelled to photograph and mail it as a postcard. In the background, a small outhouse or utility shed, a two-story frame building, industrial smokestacks, a bare winter tree, and a low warehouse-style structure are visible, providing a classic early 20th-century working-class neighborhood backdrop.
According to the handwritten note on the back, this is also described as a picture of the Nelson Grape Juice Factory, suggesting the industrial buildings visible in the background may be part of that facility. The image is dated 4/21/09 on the reverse - April 21, 1909.
Historical Notes
Grape juice factories were a thriving industry in the early 1900s, particularly in regions of New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania where Concord grapes were grown. The Nelson Grape Juice Factory referenced on the back of this card was likely one of dozens of small regional operations that supplied the growing demand for non-alcoholic grape beverages in an era of rising temperance sentiment. The Welch\'s company had popularized bottled grape juice in the 1890s, and by 1909 small independent producers were competing in local markets. Many of these small operations were eventually absorbed by larger competitors or closed during Prohibition and the Depression era.
As for Jim Ritter\'s remarkable dog - the handwritten inscription proudly records the animal\'s ability to jump 11 feet 6 inches and retrieve meat from a telegraph or utility pole, a feat that clearly made the dog locally famous enough to be commemorated on a postcard.
Print analysis
This is a Real Photo Postcard (RPPC), produced on photographic paper with a standard divided-back postcard format. The AZO stamp box (indicated by triangles in the corners) dates this postcard stock to approximately 1904-1918, consistent with the written date of 1909. This is a Type 1 original photographic print made at or very near the time the photograph was taken.
Condition
All postcards we sell are in fair to excellent vintage condition. Please see photos for any tears, folds, smudges, or other age damage that may be present.
