Sometimes a playing card gives you a name. Sometimes it gives you a place. And sometimes those few printed words are just enough to start pulling on a thread.
This Butch card did all three.
From the Raini’s Crossroads collection.
The card shows Butch, Albert Staehle’s mischievous little dog, sitting in a wash basin with a bar of soap next to him. But it was the advertising printed below him that sent me searching:
A. C. Olmstead
Builder
1121 Pleasant St.
Janesville, Wis.
Who was A. C. Olmstead? What did he build? And does any of his work still survive in Janesville? Those questions have turned out to be a little harder—and a lot more interesting—than I expected.
First, a Trip to Janesville
Janesville is in southern Wisconsin, in Rock County, not far north of the Illinois state line. By the time this card was produced, it was already a well-established industrial and commercial city.
The location is important because the Olmstead name was not new to Rock County. Records show members of an Olmstead family living in the area well before the period when these Butch cards were being distributed.
And one particular member of that family caught my attention.
Is A. C. Olmstead Arthur Casper Olmstead?
Records from Orfordville, a community west of Janesville, identify an Arthur Casper Olmstead, born July 25, 1894. A Lutheran church confirmation record shows Arthur Casper Olmstead being confirmed at Orfordville in 1909.
Family-history material also places Arthur Casper in a Rock County Olmstead family, the son of Peder Haraldsen Olmstead and Kristine. Other members of the family appear in early Rock County records as well.
That makes Arthur Casper a very interesting candidate for our A. C. Olmstead. But it doesn’t prove that he is our man.
There were other people named Arthur Olmstead in Wisconsin during this period, and so far I have not found the document I really want to see: a contemporary record that puts Arthur Casper Olmstead at 1121 Pleasant Street and identifies him as a builder. Until that connection is documented, Arthur Casper remains a promising possibility rather than a confirmed identification.
The Arthur Olmstead House
The Wisconsin Historical Society maintains a record for a house at 109 Jefferson Avenue in Janesville known as the Arthur Olmstead House.
Photo from WisconsinHistory.com
The house was built in 1922 and is described as combining elements of the Bungalow and Colonial Revival styles. It was identified as a contributing property in the proposed Jefferson Avenue Historic District.
That immediately raises another question: Is the Arthur Olmstead associated with this house the same A. C. Olmstead whose name appears on my Butch card?
There is a tantalizing detail in the Wisconsin Historical Society record. Its sources include the 1921 and 1923 Janesville city directories. Those directories may eventually help establish exactly who Arthur Olmstead was, what he did for a living, and where he lived.
And then there is the date – If Arthur Olmstead was indeed the builder on my card, a house constructed for or associated with him in 1922 becomes especially interesting. Was this simply his home? Did he build it himself? Was it an example of his work? Right now, I don’t know.
And I don’t want a good story to turn a possibility into a fact.
From Jefferson Avenue to Pleasant Street?
The card gives us another address:
1121 Pleasant Street. This address could eventually be one of the most useful clues for dating the card.
City directories may show when A. C. Olmstead first appeared at 1121 Pleasant Street and how long he remained there. They may also tell us whether the address was his home, his business, or both.
If we can establish that he occupied 1121 Pleasant only during a particular span of years, the address printed on the card could help narrow its date considerably. It could also connect our two Arthur Olmstead clues.
A directory entry reading something like Arthur C. Olmstead, builder, 1121 Pleasant would answer several questions at once. So far, I haven’t found it.
What We Can Say So Far
There was an Arthur Olmstead associated with Janesville, and a house bearing his name was built at 109 Jefferson Avenue in 1922.
There was also an A. C. Olmstead in Janesville during the 1930s. A 1935 Janesville Daily Gazette item lists A. C. Olmstead among local participants in a YMCA membership campaign.
And, of course, the surviving advertising card itself tells us that someone doing business as A. C. Olmstead, Builder used 1121 Pleasant Street, Janesville, Wisconsin as his address.
What I cannot yet say is that all three references belong to the same man. Nor can I yet confirm that this man was Arthur Casper Olmstead. Those are the missing pieces.
The Search Continues
I have inquiries out to others in hopes of getting some property files, city-directory references, or other records may contain more information about the Arthur Olmstead associated with 109 Jefferson Avenue.
There are several things I would still love to find:
- A city-directory entry connecting Arthur C. or A. C. Olmstead with 1121 Pleasant Street
- Confirmation of his occupation as a builder, carpenter, or contractor
- His full name and family information
- The years he lived or worked at 1121 Pleasant
- Evidence showing whether he built the house at 109 Jefferson Avenue
- Records of other Janesville houses or buildings that he constructed
- A photograph of A. C. Olmstead or his business
And, perhaps most interestingly, I would love to find a member of the Olmstead family who recognizes the name or knows something about Arthur’s work.
When a Little Advertising Card Becomes a Doorway
This is one of the reasons I enjoy researching advertising playing cards.
A card that was probably handed out as a small promotional item decades ago has survived long after the business it advertised disappeared. Today, those three lines of print—a name, an occupation, and an address—may be clues to the life of a Janesville builder and perhaps even to buildings that still stand.
The answer isn’t complete yet. For now, A. C. Olmstead remains partly hidden behind those initials. But the trail is still there.
Do you know something about A. C. Olmstead?
If you have information about Arthur or A. C. Olmstead of Janesville, 1121 Pleasant Street, the Arthur Olmstead House at 109 Jefferson Avenue, or buildings constructed by an Olmstead in the Janesville area, I would love to hear from you.
Old photographs, advertisements, business records, family stories, city-directory entries, corrections, and additional information are always welcome.
Research is ongoing, and this article will be updated as additional information is confirmed.
Summary
Subject: A Butch advertising card for A. C. Olmstead, Builder
Advertiser: A. C. Olmstead
Artist: Albert Staehle
Business type: Builder
Location: Janesville, Wisconsin
Butch-era address: 1121 Pleasant Street
Nearby railroads: Chicago & North Western Railway (C&NW); Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road)
Possible identity: Arthur Casper Olmstead of Rock County, Wisconsin
Related property: Arthur Olmstead House, 109 Jefferson Avenue, Janesville
Known date clue: Arthur Olmstead House built in 1922
Additional date clue: A. C. Olmstead appears in a 1935 Janesville Daily Gazette item
Research status: Identification is promising but not yet confirmed
Research needed: Janesville city-directory entries connecting A. C. or Arthur C. Olmstead to 1121 Pleasant Street and confirming his occupation
Historical note: The card may point to a Janesville builder whose identity, address history, and possible connection to the 1922 Arthur Olmstead House still need confirmation.
Leave a Reply