This view of the Courthouse from North Main is very similar in its details to the Centennial -- North Main view. The electricity poles, gaslight, and hitching posts along the Berkey Bros. Building on the right side of the street are pretty much the same in both photographs. That helps date this photograph, and the series of cards it comes from, to the middle part of the decade of the 1910s. The Christian Church view, next in this series, sets the the early end of the range to about 1910. This card was mailed from Salem on June 21, 1918, postmarked at 5:30 p.m., so the series couldn't have been printed later than 1918. The card is numbered at the left edge of the back, "K 254" -- the same number as the next card in the series, the view of the Courthouse from the south. The photograph of the Courthouse was not particularly good to begin with, and attempts to make it a better postcard haven't helped it much. The view was taken very early on a winter morning, judging from the leafless trees and the length of the shadows from the buildings on the east side of the street. But the facade of the Courthouse is itself in shadow, and the day looks to have been rather gray, not optimal for photography. Somebody brightened the sky by simply cutting it away (apparently with a large, dull pair of scissors) and pasting it down on a white background -- chimneys, utlity poles, and the Courthouse's lightning rod all were mutilated in the process. The sign on the canopy on the left side of the street says "Meat Market," and the advertisement on the frame building at the rear of the Berkey Building is for Star Cut Plug, a brand of chewing tobacco. The Weixelbaum series The card backs in this series carry a logo of the publisher, Weixelbaum Brothers Co. of Lima, Ohio. They are printed on a heavily coated card stock -- the coating provides good reproduction of the halftone images, but over time it has chipped easily around the edges and corners. This card is badly worn along its lower edges and corners, as if it had been kept in a box and handled frequently. I have three Weixelbaum cards: Court House from North Side, Salem, Ind. Court House from South Side, Salem, Ind. Christian Church, Salem, Ind. This card was addressed to Mr. Martin H. Coley of Sheridan, Montana, and the message reads, "Dear Friend, Will take the Pleasure of letting you know I received the Package O.K. Thanks for same. Bertha and I are in town this afternoon. Wish you were here too. Guess will close for this time. Hoping to hear from you very soon. As Ever, Ruth." (5/15/01) Home | The 1910s | Next card