The tireless Matt Armstrong was poking through an old bookstore in Savannah and came across yet another Tolomato postcard. As usual, it was undated, although the information on the back at least identified the printer and the place of printing (Duval News Company, Jacksonville, Florida).
Some of the features appear little changed. We see the tomb of Elizabeth Forrester in the foreground, and the Varela Chapel, although with some slight differences from its current state, in the background. The area is covered with grass and it looks as if there is a wide path or cart track leading to the chapel.
But of course, who knows how accurate the artist was? In fact, who knows if the colorist had even seen the cemetery? Very likely, he simply used his imagination when it came to adding color to the photo. And, most frustrating of all, nobody has any idea when this card was produced. But maybe someday some dedicated Tolomato fan will track it down.
It would have been after 1936 when F.B. Johnston photographed Tolomato. There is a vault at the rear left side of the postcard that appears as it does now and not as it did in this photo (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/csas.00423/ -- it's the one of the right-hand side, taken from behind the vault). What's puzzling is that the vault appeared to be a ruin in the 1970s, when Coomes made a map of the cemetery. The materials used on the repaired vault suggested to me it was done between the 1960s or even the 1980s. So I'm wondering if this is even authentic or if it's a postcard made to resemble older ones (which it really does). Otherwise, I'd say it was made between 1940 and 1980.
ReplyDeleteThank you Matthew! That's very interesting. It does seem to have a number of inconsistencies.
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