About twenty men and a boy stand along a narrow wooden gallery, several resting on long ice pike poles. A chain conveyor of the kind used to carry ice blocks runs the length of the floor, while pulleys, shafts, and heavy framing rise overhead. A metal pail stands in the foreground, and an open doorway interrupts the clapboard wall at right.
The pencil message begins “Omaha Neb” and identifies the setting as the Omaha Ice Company House, confirming the supplied identification. Its unnamed writer says that he worked there and is the third person from the left. No members of the crew are named.
A real photo postcard with a divided AZO back, addressed to a partly legible recipient in Berne, Albany County, New York. No stamp or postmark is present. AZO identifies the photographic paper rather than the photographer or publisher; no maker is credited. The AZO stamp box with all four triangles pointing up is generally dated c. 1904–1918.
- Title on card
- Omaha neb / This is a picture / of The Omaha ice / company House were / i worked i [?] the Third / Person to the left (inscribed)
- Medium
- RPPC
- Subject
- Children, Nebraska, Occupational, Omaha, Outdoor Scene
- Dimensions
- 5.41 × 3.42 in (137.3 × 86.9 mm)
- Condition
- Clean and sound overall; no major tears, losses, or creases are visible.
- Provenance
- The unsigned pencil message states that its writer worked at the Omaha Ice Company House and appears third from the left in the photograph; no further ownership history is established. Dating: AZO stamp box with four upward triangles, generally attributed to c. 1904–1918 (playle.com postcard-back dating guide). The faint pencil “10” at upper left is a later notation and is not treated as evidence.
- Catalogue no.
- MRPPC3432
Catalogue details
Location
Omaha Ice Company House (as identified in the manuscript), Omaha, Nebraska · Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Photographed subject · Locality (town) · 90% confidence
The supplied reverse transcription explicitly identifies both the town, “Omaha Neb,” and the depicted workplace, “The Omaha ice company House,” with the writer identifying himself among the workers. This supports Omaha at city precision, not a particular building or parcel. Independent corroboration exists: the 1890 Nebraska gazetteer lists an Omaha Ice Co.; its business address is not established as the photographed icehouse. ([usgennet.org](https://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/NSHS/1890Gaz/ombusgazn.htm)) A January 11, 1909 Omaha Daily Bee advertisement directs workers to Omaha Ice and Cold Storage Co. icehouses in East Omaha. ([nebnewspapers.unl.edu](https://nebnewspapers.unl.edu/lccn/sn99021999/1909-01-11/ed-1/seq-6.pdf?utm_source=openai)) However, the November 25, 1910 Florence Tribune also records that company's icehouses at Florence's north market square, so the company name alone cannot select one facility. ([douglascohistory.org](https://douglascohistory.org/wp-cont
Source: 1890 Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory — Omaha: Omaha Ice Co. entry
