Tag Archives: Florida Photographic Concern

“Just One Place for a Harbor”

September 22, 2024UncategorizedChancellor Jenks, Florida Photographic Concern, Harbor, Harry Lyons, Kennilworth, Sheet Music, Stuart FloridaSandy History Lady

The local dream for a huge deep water port within the St. Lucie Inlet has been the subject of previous blogs. Harry Lyons, the father of beloved longtime Stuart News editor, Ernie Lyons, has also been the subject of a blog; as has the Florida Photographic Concern. This blog ties all three together is a surprising way.

Harry Lyons dedicated his harbor song to Stuart, Florida because it was where his health was restored after he worked himself to exhaustion in real estate sales on Chicago’s North Shore.

Fifteen years ago, Juanita Brown Fisher and her husband Jack bought a box of old sheet music at Palm City Auction. “Just One Place for a Harbor” published in 1924 was in the box. The words were written by Harry Lyons and the music was composed by Harry’s brother-in-law Chancellor L. Jenks.

When I saw it, I could not believe my eyes. Juanita has a lovely voice and sang in her church choir. I twisted her arm and had her sing the song acapella for a September 9, 2009 Stuart Heritage program. Juanita has never completely forgiven me but she made herself my friend forever. I have had scanned copies of the sheet music in my computer ever since the program.

Those who know music say this song is “a challenge.”

Ernie Lyons’ sister, Isabel Williams, allowed me to make copies of her family photographs. Among them were photographs of Chancellor Jenks at the piano where he composed the harbor song. Harry Lyons wrote on the photograph saying so.

Harry Lyons wrote” Where music for my Stuart Song was composed in 1924. Chancellor sang for my phonograph records of my song.”

The Jenks home was in the affluent community of Kenilworth near Chicago where Harry Lyons’ success in real estate sales inspired his grand plans for Martin County.

Harry Lyons mentioned phonograph records. His daughter, Isabel, and newspaper articles told of Florida Photographic Concern movies showing what new Martin County had to offer. Although no phonograph records or moving pictures films have survived., Florida Photographic Concern prints continue to be discovered and shared.

This photograph of the proposed harbor site recently came to light through the generosity of Bette “Tootsie” Kindberg.

Glorious Celebration for Martin County

August 31, 2024UncategorizedAddison Mizner, F, Fingy Connors, Flora Dyer, Florida Photographic Concern, Frazier Creek, Ginger Baldwin, Governor John W. Martin, Harry Dyer, Harry Lyons, History, Isabelle Lyons., Lyric Theatre, Martin County, Parade, Pelican Hotel, StuartSandy History Lady

This is a link to all of my blogs:https://sandyhistorylady.com

The huge “Birthday Celebration” for Martin County was held on January 28 and 29, 1926. As mentioned previously, it was basically orchestrated Harry Lyons and Major W. I. Shuman.

Governor John W. Martin, in top hat, welcomes famed Palm Beach architect, Addison Mizner to Stuart during the January 1926 birthday celebration. William G. “Fingy” Conners, developer and builder of the Conners Highway below Lake Okeechobee, looks on. *Josephine A. Paradise*

After their arrival in Stuart, Gov. and Mrs. Martin checked into the newly built Pelican Hotel. They were the hotel’s first guests. They rested before settling on a parade viewing stand at eleven o’clock

Gov. and Mrs. Martin viewed the Martin County Birthday Parade from this vantage point as school children passed by.

The Martins must have been exhausted after watching a two hour long parade with over 700 decorated automobiles, numerous bands and 500 school children.

This photograph of the school children dressed to represent pioneer families was used on an invitation for a “Old Home Week” at the Elliott Museum in September 2007.

This section cropped from the previous photograph shows, Virginia Dyer, in the dark hat and Isabelle Lyons with the kerchief.

Isabelle Lyons was the daughter of parade organizer Harry Lyons and the sister of beloved Stuart News editor Ernie Lyons. Virginia Dyer, was the daughter of Stuart pioneers Flora and Harry Dyer and the granddaughter Russell and Margaret Frazier for whom Frazier Creek is named.

Sandy Thurlow and Pam Fogt “Old Home Week ” organizers, flank Isabelle Lyons Williams.

Jeanne Brock Mills speaks with her mother Virginia Dyer Brock during “Old Home Week.”

One of the most significant parade photographs shows the Lyric Theatre under construction.

The number in the left hand corner identifies this photograph as the work of the Florida Photographic Concern. The images was shared by Ginger Baldwin early director the restored Lyric Theatre.

Another Hill Photograph Dust Jacket

June 30, 2024UncategorizedAl Fresco Hotel, Florida History, Florida Photographic Concern, German printing, Harry E. Hill, Jensen Beach, Kwiakowski Architect, Photography, PostcardsSandy History Lady

I used this antique postcard for the dust jacket of my third pictorial history book. Just as was true of Stuart on the St. Lucie, I did not realize the image was the product of the Florida Photographic Concern.

At the time I published my books I did not understand that postcard publishers, like Hugh C. Leighton, secured their images from the Hill family’s Florida Photographic Concern in Fort Pierce.

For this blog, I found the postcard I used and was shocked to see that the postcard had been cropped for the dust jacket. Below is the complete postcard. The Alfresco Hotel that appears at right was cropped off when the dust jacket was designed.

The Alfresco Hotel that appears at right was cropped off when the dust jacket was designed.

This Hugh C. Leighton Co. postcard shows the fine quality of printing done in Germany during the “Golden Age of Postcards.”

The Al Fresco Hotel, designed by Louis F. Kwiatkowski for John Jensen in 1893, burned in 1911 after being purchased by R. R. Ricou.

Amazing Appearance of 75 Hundred-Year-Old Florida Photographic Concern Prints

June 27, 2024UncategorizedFlorida Photographic Concern, St. Lucie Canal, St. Lucie Inlet, Stanley Kitching, Stuart Commercial Club, US EngineersSandy History Lady

I was blown away when Tootsie Kindberg started posting very old photos on Facebook. I knew they were the product of the Florida Photographic Concern. Strangely, most of them had strips of paper with captions typed on them glued at the bottom.

Why were they suddenly appearing? Where had they been? Why were there so many of them?

As it turned out Tootsie’s being a member of the Hillier family with connections to many other Florida Photographic Concern photographs was just a coincidence.

Tootsie had been a commercial photographer with access to a dark room. The photographs were put aside after an acquaintance gave them to her. Years passed and Tootsie not only forgot the photographs she forgot who had given them to her. When Tootsie came across the photograph recently she scanned them and shared them on Facebook.

In addition to the 75 photographs Tootsie posted an almost illegible, cellophane tape patched document that included a date.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Made and secured especially for the consideration of the

United States Government Engineers

at the

PUBLIC HEARING IN STUART, FLA. JANUARY 16^th, 1923

And present to them as part of the

facts, figures, data and reports

answering the questions they asked

to arrive at an opinion regarding

the recommendations of

GOVERNMENT AID FOR A DEEP WATER HARBOR HERE

Photographs were carefully limited to views in and near Stuart, Fla, and in the territory directly

Tributaries to the prospective Harbor here the North and

South Forks of the St. Lucie River, the Indian River close

to Stuart, the St. Lucie Control Canal, Salerno, Hobe Sound, Port Sewall and the Inlet.

The aim of the pictures is to back up the reports

A VERY LONG ARTICLE ABOUT A MEETING IN STUART OF DIGNITARIES AND US. ENGINEERS APPEARED INTHE STUART MESSENGER ON JANUARY 18, 1923.THIS IS WHERE THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE SHOWN TO PROVE THE NEED FOR A PORT

The Hellier Family and the Florida Photographic Concern

June 26, 2024UncategorizedArt, Florida Photographic Concern, Ft. Pierce, Harry E. Hill, Hellier, History, Jim Hutchinson, PhotographySandy History Lady

A previous blog focused on Walter Hellier’s book, Indian River Florida’s Treasure Coast filled with photographs from the Florida Photographic Concern

A series of curious coincidences brought me in contact with his granddaughters who had a fabulous collection Florida Photographic Concern photos. They allowed me to scan them. There were several dozen with a wide range of subjects but just a few could be directly .connected to today’s Martin County.

This Hill rattlesnake portrait could illustrate the many that once inhabited the St. Lucie River region.

This photograph was among the many Walter Hellier’s granddaughters let me scan. It has a local connection because the sailboat is flying the burgee of the Gilbert’s Bar Yacht Club that had a clubhouse south of the House of Refuge on Hutchinson Island. Many of our well-to-do pioneers were members.

Jim Hutchinson, Mary VanDerlofske and Susie Bryant

Walter Helier’s granddaughters, Marilyn VanDerlofske and Susan Bryant, residents of Palm Beach County, were happy to visit me because they could also visit my famous-artist neighbor , the late Jim Hutchinson. This photograph of the three of them was taken on February 8, 2018.

Hill Family of the Florida Photographic Concern

June 25, 2024Bee Keeping, Fishing, Florida Photographic Concern, Ft. Pierce, Indian River, St. Lucie River., Titusville, PAFlorida Photographic Concern, Harry E. Hill, Harry Hill, Photography, Postcards printed in GermanySandy History Lady

Harry Hill, originally from Ontario, moved to Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1884 where he met and married Katherine Nelson. He studied and worked as an apiarist in Canada, California and Cuba but chose to settle in Florida in 1894. Harry and Katherine’s son, Lowell, was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania, the year before, so they moved to Florida with an infant. After setting up an apiary in New Smyrna, the Hills settled in Spruce Bluff on the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.

The Hills moved to Ft. Pierce in 1898 where Harry, not only was managing editor of the American Bee Keeper, he launched into pineapple culture on a large scale. Photographs were increasingly enhancing the magazine. Soon Harry’s interest and growing skills as a photographer overshadowed his other enterprises. By 1905, advertisements for the Florida Photographic Concern were appearing in the St. Lucie News Tribune.

This advertisement began appearing in the St. Lucie News Tribune in 1905.

Harry Hill was producing commercial photographs by the turn of the 20^th Century.

This appeared in the July 1906. It has Florida Photographic Concern embedded in the photograph but the image was probably made before the company was founded. James Heddon and Harry Hill were associates for many years.

These almost identical photographs were published in the June 1907 American Bee Keeper. Harry Hill was making the point that photographs on semi-matte stock reproduce better that ones on glossy paper. The article explained his engravers, “one of the best house in New York” preferred matte.

American Bee Keepers subscribers lived throughout the United States and in other countries! HOW IN THE WORLD DID HARRY HILL MANAGE THIS?

The last American Bee Keeper was published in June 1908.

Learning of Stanley Kitching’s and Harry Hill’s Early Association

June 23, 2024PhotographsBessey Creek, Florida Photographic Concern, Harry Hill, History, Photography, Postcards printed in Germany, Stanley KitchingSandy History Lady

Stanley Kitching arrived on the Indian River from England with his parents as a ten-year-old boy in 1884.Harry Hill came to the east coast of Florida in 1894 as he was approaching 30.

They were both Southeast Florida pioneers. After setting up apiaries in New Smyrna and Spruce Bluff, Harry moved to Ft. Pierce with his wife Kate and young son, Lowell. The family previously lived in Titusville, Pennsylvania, not to be confused with Titusville, Florida. What a conscience! Stanley Kitching was using Harry Hill’s photographs as soon as the Florida Photographic Concern was founded.

The above item is in the archives of the Historical Society of Martin County located in the Elliott Museum.

Stanley Kitching secured rights to use Harry Hill’s photographs on postcards he had printed in Germany just like big firms like Hugh L. Leighton of Maine and other large publishers.

Above is the front and back of a postcard published by Stanley Kitching. There are a dozen or so others. It shows that there was an early commercial relationship between Stanley Kitching and the Florida

Using the Information Highway

June 22, 2024UncategorizedFlorida Photographic Concern, Ft. Pierce, H.P. McIntyre auto, History, PhotographySandy History Lady

The work of the Florida Photographic Concern of Fort Pierce is an under-appreciated treasure. My husband and I collected everything we could connected to the Harry Hill family and their Florida Photographic Concern. Now, by going to newspaper.com the Hills’ historical photographs have added significance

This photograph has been displayed in various places in Ft. Pierce without information to go with it. By studying other photographs, the driver can be identified as Lowell Hill. His father, Harry Hill’s face appears over his shoulder. The woman beside Harry is Lowell’s mother Katherine Hill. The woman at extreme left is unidentified. Fred Hill, Harry’s bother (Lowell’s uncle) is in the passenger seat. (St. Lucie Regional History Center)

http://St. Lucie Regional History Center

This advertisement published in the April 4, 1913 St. Lucie News Tribune enables us to identify the car. It also tells us the the Hills’ business was growing.

I had never heard of a H.B. McIntyre automobile!

The Evolution of Picture Postcards

June 22, 2024UncategorizedCitrus, Drew Company, Florida Photographic Concern, Ft. Pierce, Harry E. Hill, Osen, Postcards printed in Germany, The Golden Era of PostcardsSandy History Lady

The Hills’ Florida Photographic Concern published postcards like this one before “The Golden Era of Postcards.”

A colorized version of the Florida Photographic Concern’s photograph of oxen hauling citrus shows it was printed by the Drew Company of Jacksonville.

I Googled the company and it is still in business after 165 years.

The Florida Photographic Concern sold its work to numerous publishers; the most prominent was the Hugh C. Leighton Co. Manufacturers of Portland, Maine. Publishers took advantage of the superior printing in Germany before World War I made it impossible.

The Hugh C. Leighton Co. published this Florida Photographic Concern image. The exquisite printing illustrates the meaning of the “Golden Age of Postcards.”

Earliest Picture Postcards

June 22, 2024UncategorizedFlorida Photographic Concern, Ft. Pierce, Indian Riverindi, Old Post Cards, postal historySandy History Lady

My husband and I collected old postcards whenever they contained something pertaining to the East Coast of Florida.

We learned that collecting postcards has been an incredibly popular hobby ever since they came into use. From 1901 until 1907 you could not write on the back of a postcard. The back was undivided and was only to be used for the address and the postage stamp.

Beginning in 1907 the backs were divided. The address went on the right hand side and the message was written on the left hand side. From then until 1915 was the “Golden Age of Postcards.”

This is an example a Florida Photographic Concern photograph used on a post card before 1907. The message had to be squeezed onto the front.