Monday, July 13, 2026

Just In Case You Want Some Bricks

2026-07-13. Kulage postcard 1
(Click on images to enlarge)

2026-07-13. Kulage postcard 2


I'm guessing maybe this thing was handed out by salesmen calling on prospective clients?

As we know, the Kulage Brick Works operated for about 30 years, starting circa 1892[1] and ending sometime during the 1920s. I previously posted about the brickyard's being indefinitely shut down in 1921, but I don't know if that was the end of it.[2]

The one-cent McKinley postage stamp tells us that the postcard must date to 1902 or later, since a president must be dead for at least a year before appearing on a postage stamp. I have found an Ebay listing for such a postcard with a 1910 postmark; another listing elsewhere dates an unused postcard ca. 1907. But I can't find any information about when this particular stamp stopped being used.[3]

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[1] I previously posted a 1919 article stating that Otto Kulage "purchased the plant about twenty-seven years ago," i.e., 1892.
[2] Notes on the back of some photos at the Hobart Historical Society give the approximate starting and ending dates as 1885 to 1925-26. Per the 1919 article cited above, the brickyard was already operating when Otto Kulage bought it and gave it his name.
[3] A history of postage rates for postcards can be found here.

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