A Merry Christmas from "Genealogy in Hertfordshire"

Hi All

Enjoy your Christmas and keep up your own researches into family and local history.

Yes I am still here even if my web site and blogs have been rather inactive during 2018 Other matters have meant that I have not been as active on line as I would like. My top priority has been to keep fit and over the year I have relaxed by doing more walking in the wonderful countryside around Tring - and have lost over 10 kg. 

To remain mentally active I have been continuing to work on local history. I have been trying to identify the artist who published the "Karaktus" comic cards in St Albans 110 years ago. The story involves a young and highly innovative artist who sometimes signed his cards "F S" and a whole networks of mainly small short-lived companies (such as the Crown Publishing Company of St Albans). 

Recently I came across firm evidence that "F S" also published some comic cards (such as the one above) under the pseudonym "Dauber" and was also responsible for the Infantastic series of cards of round-faced children. Certain details make it virtually certain that "F S" is Fred Spurgin, who was one of the top comic card artists of the 1910s and 20s.

Over the holiday period I will be actively updating (and correcting) the information I have on the "F S" related comic cards in the light of the latest discoveries. Of course you are welcome to enter the world of Edwardian comic post cards by "F S" at any time as long as you don't mind the occasional "work in progress" warnings.

So relax and enjoy the Christmas break.

Chris

A humorous look at supplying milk to St Albans 100 years ago.

The Milkman who supplied families daily - probably by "F S" circa 1907

My Great Grandfather, Jacob Reynolds, ran Heath Farm Dairy which supplied milk to St Albans. He had a great sense of humour and his scrapbook contains many jokes about milkmen.

Some time ago I came across a comic post card by Karaktus showing a milkman which had been published in St Albans and I decided to investigate. I have still not traced who the artist was but the other artist was one who normally signed himself "F S". Recently I have spent far too much time tracking down "F S" and will be reporting on his probably identity later.

Unfortunately "F S" did not sign all his post cards but I am sure Jacob would have liked the above - where the grin on the face of the milkman makes one wonder whether he "supplied" the families who are following him down the road!

Milkman post card currently on sale on ebay

One issue that often came up was the quality of the milk, and the second card (no connection with St Albans) shows why people were worried.

The issue of whether the milk had been tampered with came up in 1881 when the St Albans Town Clerk, Issac Newton Edwards, (Featured in Hertfordshire Men of Mark) arranged to milk to be sampled and the test- as published suggested that some of the milk from Heath Farm Dairy had been tampered with. However it turned out that the town clerk had recently acquired a herd of cattle and was supplying milk to the town himself - and it was the tests that were suspect ond not the sample! MORE

Who was "F S" and did he work in St Albans with "Karaktus"?

Sometimes when you are doing research you get carried away with a side issue - and my recent investigation into the identity of a post card artist signing himself  "F S" is a good example.

Card by Karaktus

Some years ago I discovered some unusual comic cards published around 1908  by the short-lived Crown Publishing Company of St Albans and drawn by "Karaktus." As a result I have so far identified almost all his designs (I have details and in most cases copies, of 28 out of 30 different cards) However I made no progress in discovering the identity of "Karaktus."

Card by "F S"

In my research I discovered that the Crown Publishing Company also produced cards in the "Crown Series" some of which were signed "F S" and it seemed likely "F S" and "Karaktus" knew each other (unless they  were the same artist using two different pen names,) Perhaps, I thought that if I could identify "F S" (who I now realized has some links with the St Albans company) it would lead me to "Karaktus".

"FS" card from USA

My first online searches showed that the majority of post card sellers made no attempt to identity "F S," while those who did came up with either "F Stone" (who signed a small number of cards published in about 1906) or "Fred Spurgin." (a very well known post card artist whose cards started to appear in about 1910, including many produced in the First World War). However the work of these two artists were stylistically quite different to that of "F S."  In addition "F S" cards involved many different named publishers (or none), and were not always signed - although in some cases the same card was issued, with  or without signature, by a different publisher. In many cases the cards were not used (so no postal date), and often the publisher information on the back was not immediately available.

What was going on? I started a comprehensive search over a number of months and have now identified well over 100 different images - and I am still no wiser as to who he is - except that based on style of artwork and subject treatment I think "F S" is unlikely to be "Fred Spurgin".

Unsigned card probably by "F S"

What I guess happened is the "F S" was a freelance artist, who started to produce comic postcards for the London View Company in 1906 - shortly before the company closed down. Following the closure of LVC he was probably involved in setting up the short lived Crown Publishing Company in St Albans in 1908-9. By about 1910 some of his cards were being published in the USA and the same images also turned up in the UK at about the same time - often with no publisher name..

For more Information see

Comparison of "F S" images with other artists

A summary of "F S" post cards. (link from above)

Unsigned - by F S ?

If you have any information which would help me identify "F S" or "Karaktus" or the subjects, publishers and earliest postal dates of their cards I will be grateful. If there is sufficient interest when I have time I will add a catalogue of card series, individual card titles, publishers and dates, for the benefit of other collectors.

Note on images: Many of the images come directly from the web (particularly auction sites) and I have deliberately reduced the image size to thumbs 250 pixels wide. (If I already own a copy clicking a blue edged image will give a much larger image). For cards currently on sale you could start by searching ebay collectibles using:

postcard ("F S", "F Stone", "Fred Stone") (comic, artist, social) 

At the time of posting this search identified 22 "F S" cards with a typical price of about £4.00

Another sexist comic card published in St Albans circa 1908

 This is another example of one of the rather strange and often sexist "comic" post cards published around 1908 by the Crown Publishing Company.  These cards take a very different view of women to the suffragette inspired cards that were also circulating at the time.

A typical card by Karaktus

One series of 30 cards is by an unknown artist who signed himself Karaktus (I am still trying to identify Nos 19 and 21). Some of the unsigned cards may have been by an artist who signed himself "F S" (said by some to be someone I haven't traced called Fred Stone). "F S" cards were published by the London View Company. often in a special "F S Comic Series" until 1908  - when the LVC company closed down.

See other Crown Publishing Co. Cards

Any help in identifying the artists Karaktus and "F S" - or further cards by the Crown Publishing Company would be appreciated.

More about comic post cards published in St Albans

In 1908 a company called Crown Publishing Co appeared in St Albans and published some very distinctive comic post cards by an artist using the name of Karaktus. In addition they published a number of unsigned cards in the "Crown Series" by an unknown artist.

I have still not succeeded in identifying Karaktus, but have found some earlier history for the company - and the other unidentified artist could well be a known comic card artist called Fred Stone.

In 1905 the London View company was established in London and while it concentrated on view cards it also produced a number of comic cards, many of which were signed "F. S." (for Fred Stone) - and most of the rest were stylistically by the same artist. In 1908 the company closed.

Comic cards have been identified in the "Crown Series" numbered 1008 and 1009 which very closely resemble those of the London View Company - and one carries the signature "F. S."  The cards are not labelled "London View Company" but may have been produced by them as it seems that a number of their cards did not carry their name or any logo. [I will be monitoring ebay for other examples - and earliest posting dates.]

Towards the end of 1908 The Crown Publishing Co. of St Albans started to publish cards in the "Crown Series" with the earliest sequence number so far identified being 1026. These are similar to the cards published by the London View Company - and are probably by the same artist. At about the same time they started publishing the Karaktus cards. The company appears to have published no more cards after 1909.

For more information see the bottom of the Karaktus page on the Genealogy in Hertfordshire web site.

Another Karaktus (St Albans artist) card found

See other post cards by this distinctive artist

Post Cards

St Albans

With the purchase of two more examples I have now identified 27 of the 30 distinctive post cards by Karaktus, published by Crown Publishing Ltd, of St Albans, in 1908/9. The missing numbers are 19, 21 and 22 and any help in locating copies will be appreciated. Details of any of the other cards published by the company at the time are also wanted.

However the big mystery remains - Who was Karaktus?

Another unusual Post Card from St Albans artist, KARAKTUS, c1909

St Albans

Post cards

During 1908/9 The Crown Publishing Co., St Albans, published 30 unusual "comic" cards by the artist Karaktus. I now have identified 26 different cards and would like to identify the cards numbered 6, 12, 19, 21 and 22. In addition I am looking for any clues as to the identity of Karaktus.

See all the cards so far identified HERE

Brief Notes on Other Activities in September

Fewer posts upfront last month - but over 6,400 page views on the Newsletter and while the number of visitors to the main site is less than in September 2013, the number of pages views was higher. I was involved in a lot of activity in the background (see below), including some computer problems with upgrade to Windows 8.1 and entertaining our Australian visitor - with visits to Bletchley Park and the British Schools Museum.

Karaktus. I have acquired another card in this distinctive series by an unknown St Albans artist but half a dozen of the series still escape me.

Ben Tomlin discovered the page on the photographer Samuel Glendenning Payne, and we discover we share Rolls family ancestors, starting from William Rolls (1726-1798) and Mary Devonshire (1729-1804) of Bicester, Oxfordshire.

I have added an attractive post card of the Old Red Lion public house, High Street, Bushey, from about 1910 by a Watford stationer, Jackson & Co.

I have had several queries recently where people have asked for help who appear to have never read a general guide on family history, have never brought a birth, marriage or death certificate to check details, and have limited their activities to the indexes on one or two web sites. As a result they had made a very elementary mistake of assuming that is a name and date are approximately right it MUST BE MY ANCESTOR!!!! Perhaps I should insist that everyone should look at Right Name, Wrong Body" before asking me a question.

I have added a post card from about 1910 showing two thatched cottages in Widford.

I have added information about Grove School, Watford, in  1932

Gatward Clock

I have added a note about the 250 years booklet about Gatward, Jeweller, of Hitchin.

John has written that he has some post cards written to Mary Burrage of Abbots Langley and asks if anyone is interested.

I have updated the link to FreeBMD (no longer part of Rootsweb) and also the link to the Football Club History Database on the Apsley Football page.

To see what happened I have pinned a picture of the Apsley Football team on Historypin. As the picture has Apsley parish church in the background the location can be identified to be in one corner of the car park attached to Sainsbury's supermarket. As expected Historypin insisted in moving the pin from the correct position onto the London Road - demonstrating that the package is unsuitable for accurately recording historical data on a map.

There have been some additional replies and retweets on @HertsGenealogy

I have had several requests for high resolution images, which have been supplied and I have sent about half a dozen other emails on minor points ...

Some more Karaktus humour - but who was he?

Another Karaktus post card

Recent Post Cards

Karaktus produced comic post cards in St Albans in 1908/9 and I have now posted three new examples of his work, and some other minor updates. However I have made no progress in discovering who the artist was. Has anyone any ideas?

Look out - There's a Husband About

 A Karaktus Post Card

Karaktus published some comic cards in St Albans in 1908/9 and as there is only a small number I am trying to identify all of them. I have just acquired a copy of No 7, and was amused by the message on the back. It was posted in February 1909 to a Mrs Gallop, of 4 Carlton Terrace, Hastings and reads:

I did not like to think you were disappointed so have sent this to show what will happen if I come to see you too often. 

Yours as ever, Bob

What did couples do before the back row at the Cinema was invented?

I have just added some new post cards by Karaktus to the Crown Publishing Co, St Albans,  page and the two illustrated here suggest that in the very early years of the 20th century a seat in one of the Victorian Public Parks was the place to go for a snog!

I am trying to identify all the comic cards Karaktus published - and ideally get good images of all. Can you help me fill in any of the gaps (titles in red are ones where I am looking for a better image).

01  It is better to have loved and lost, than to have loved and married
02  ??
03  Expulsion from Eden
04  Everything in the garden is lovely!
05  The early bird catches the worm but the late bird catches it from the wife
06  ??
07  ??
08  ??
09  Scotland! With all thy faults, I love thy still
10  Oh! Cheese It!
11  Money talks! but alas I'm speechless
12  ??
13  Who objects walking 6 miles for a drink? I'd walk 20
14  The Officer's Mess!
15  What's the use of all these things without a girl inside

16  Come off at once Jimmy" Do you want to get intoxicated
17  It isn't love that makes the world go round. It's Beer
18  Blow, blow, thou winter wind
19  ??
20  I don't care if there's a girl there
21  ??
22 ??
23  The Old Bachelor's Wish - Oh Heavens! That clothes would but make the woman
24  The Old Maid's Wish - Oh Heaven! That I but had the jewel that was in this case!
25  ??
26  Two pennyworth of dog biscuits, Please
27  Milkman - It looks very much like rain today
28  ??
29  I want you to see my girl
??   All Bachelors should be taxed £50 (probably one of the missing numbers)

In addition I have still made no progress in identifying Karaktus

Who was Karaktus, of Crown Publishing Co, of St Albans?

Karaktus, Card No 27, Crown Publishing Co, St Albans, 1909

Post Cards

St Albans

My great grandfather, Jacob Reynolds, was a major milk producer in the St Albans area and employed a number of delivery milkmen who went round the city supplying milk at the door. I was amused to see the following post card - especially when I discovered that it had been published in St Albans. So I decided to investigate and found a whole series of comic post cards by Karaktus from 1908-1909. I also came across a mystery - the company that published it appears to have only existed for a couple of years - and no-one knows who Karaktus was. See KARAKTUS, Crown Publishing Ltd, St Albans, 1908/9 for many more examples of his work - and some other comic post cards published by Crown Publishing. And please tell me if you have any information that could help to identify him.