A man in a suit and bow tie stands behind glass counters stocked with trays of jewelry and pocket watches. Tall wooden display cabinets hold round-faced clocks, cups, pitchers and ornamental serving dishes, with flatware arranged in long, orderly rows. The counters rest on decorative metal supports, their diagonal braces visible above the plank floor.
The caption identifies “W. J. TAYLOR'S JEWELRY STORE.” at “BURWELL, NEB” and carries view number 62. No photographer or publisher is credited. The man is not named and cannot be identified as Taylor from the card alone. The photograph is undated, but its postal use establishes that it existed by December 1909.
The divided back bears a green one-cent Franklin stamp and a Burwell cancellation dated 18 December 1909. Addressed to Mr Wm Harrod at Wasco, Kern County, California, care of Ed Siegfried, the pencil message begins “Burwell Neb Dec 5” and addresses the writer’s father and mother. It reports that Will arrived home safely, describes rain followed by snow, and mentions a letter that took nearly three weeks to arrive.
- Title on card
- No. 62. W. J. TAYLOR'S JEWELRY STORE. BURWELL, NEB.
- Medium
- RPPC
- Subject
- Nebraska, Occupational
- Dimensions
- 5.48 × 3.48 in (139.2 × 88.5 mm)
- Condition
- Irregular gray interruptions affect the right image edge; the scans do not establish whether these represent physical image loss or digitization artifacts. Otherwise the card appears sound, with the principal shop display clear.
- Provenance
- Postally used from Burwell, Nebraska, to Mr Wm Harrod at Wasco, Kern County, California, care of Ed Siegfried, in December 1909.
- Catalogue no.
- MRPPC3455
Catalogue details
Location
W. J. Taylor's Jewelry Store, Burwell, Nebraska · Burwell, Nebraska, United States
Photographed subject · Locality (town) · 95% confidence
The depicted business and town are explicitly identified by the photograph’s caption, not inferred from postal information. Live research located a matching photograph in CardCow’s catalogue: the image bears view number 62 and the caption “W. J. TAYLOR'S JEWELRY STORE. BURWELL, NEB.” Its counters, cabinets, merchandise and standing man match the supplied description. The catalogue independently indexes this subject under Burwell, Nebraska, Garfield County. This is an exact photographic match, although not an independent business-directory confirmation. ([cardcow.com](https://www.cardcow.com/images/set1169/card00991_fr.jpg)) Searches of historical-directory material, the state historical building survey and library/map resources did not establish Taylor’s street address or building parcel; the Library of Congress map images could not be accessed. Accordingly, the identification is highly confident at city level, but no doorstep location or historical street number is claimed.. Looked up
Source: Matching historical photograph: No. 62, W. J. Taylor's Jewelry Store, Burwell, Neb.
