Photodrama postcards

A series of sepia postcards has been found that advertise the Photodrama of Creation. They include both still shots from the slides and frames from the moving pictures.

From the slides they include:

This picture had earlier been used for the inside rear cover of the special 1 January 1912 Watch Tower.

It was also the subject of a well-known Lardent card.

From the moving pictures they include:

The reverse of the postcards contain no further information. Of the ten this writer has seen, the one above is the only one to have been used in the mail. If any reader would like to decipher the address and message, please do let us know. What can be ascertained is that this particular card was posted from Chicago in 1919.

The Chicago link suggests that this is part of a set that was advertised in the St Paul Enterprise in early 1915. Starting in the issue for 8 January 1915 the following advertisement appeared in the paper.

The Chicago Temple produced its own postcards to advertise showings of the Photodrama. One famous view was this one.

The temple actually ceased operation in mid-1915. For its full story see the article:

https://jeromehistory.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-chicago-city-temple-and-photodrama.html

The advertisements for Photodrama postcards disappeared from the Enterprise after its 13 August 1915 issue.

Although the postcards were still being used in 1919 from the evidence above, they were soon superseded by a far superior product. In 1916 CTR ordered a series of 40 postcards that reproduced scenes from the Photodrama in color. They were printed in France but because of war conditions did not arrive in America until around April 1917. This announcement was placed in The Watch Tower in its issue for 15 April 1917.

These cards are most collectable today, featuring a color picture on one side and the appropriate text of the lecture recording on the other. There was space for a mailing address but any personal messages had of necessity to be brief.

A comparison of the quality shows why the 1917 cards had far greater circulation.

The National Labor Tribune and CTR's funeral

The National Labor Tribune, published in Pittsburgh, was a supporter of the ministry of CTR from at least 1905, when they started publishing his sermons. The Bible Student content grew until the paper became a rival of the St Paul Enterprise. While the Enterprise became fully given over to Bible Student matters, even resulting in a change of title to the New Era Enterprise in December 1919, the Tribune still retained its position as a newspaper. Still, there were regular sermons from CTR, and eventually regular contributions from other Bible Students. This has solved at least one mystery. The book below was published in 1918 by J A Oppy (and modern reprints are available from various print on demand sources).

Who was he? Checking the pages of the Tribune, Oppy was an elder of the Siloam Springs class of Arkansas, and regularly contributed material to its columns.

The above was a series started in the 16 November 1916 issue, which provoked a debate with J A Bohnet in succeeding numbers.

But it identified Oppy as a Bible Student elder.

John Amandus Oppy was born in 1847, and converted to the Bible Student message around 1912 according to the article MISTAKES in the Tribune for 4 January 1917. He lived until 1931. The census return for 1910 describes him as a farmer, the 1920 census as having no occupation and his death certificate from 1931 as a minister. A newspaper advertisement for his book, actually lists two authors, J A and A B Oppy. From the Fairbury Blade (Illinois) for 10 January 10 1919:

Abraham Briggs Oppy (1841-1920) was John’s older brother.

However, by the time the book was published in 1918, the Oppys had left “mainstream” Bible Student thought. In it they calls CTR “a well meaning man” (page 27) but criticise his “blind followers” (page 69) for not recognising their (Oppy) truth – that while the Gentile Times had ended in 1914, the Kingdom was not to be fully established until 1945 – specifically on September 20^th and even more specifically, at 10 o’clock in the morning. At that point the marriage of the Lamb would occur with the first resurrection (page 56). Yet before that point was reached, literal Israel “will become the head nation on the earth, the earthly phase of God’s Kingdom” (page 75). And returning to page 69, “The Turk will (have been) driven out of Palestine, and the Jewish people restored there. The Temple will be rebuilt, in all its glory and grandeur, and Jerusalem become the grand metropolis of the world.”

I don’t think added comment or analysis is called for.

But I digress...

The Tribune for 16 November 1916 published its own funeral report for CTR. While not as extensive as those in the Enterprise and in the special 1 December 1917 memorial edition of the Watch Tower, it does provide a few extra photographs that have not, as yet, appeared elsewhere.

 Here are close ups of four pictures, three from the cutting above and one from the next issue of 23 November 1916.

Note that one picture has the number 8 on it. This was part of a set of eighteen photographs sold through the rival Enterprise paper for a number of weeks in late 1916, available from the George T Nichols studio or direct from N E Nelson. The picture of Bohnet and Nelson at the grave was number 1 in this series, and the picture of young Margaret Nelson at the graveside was number 17. Margaret (1903-1983) would grow up to marry a dentist, Dr Lenhart, and raise a family in the greater Pittsburgh area.

Regrettably, the reproduction of the photographs is poor, because they are taken from newsprint that is well over one hundred years old, and only from microfilm copies rather than originals. Sadly the actual prints have not as yet surfaced, and at this late date it is unlikely they ever will, although one can always hope.

We note that two of the photographs feature members of the Nelson family. Nels Edward Nelson was highly committed to the Tribune, and more about his history and involvement in the paper can be found on this link to a related blog:

https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2025/09/nels-edward-nelson-guest-article-by.html

Following CTR’s funeral, the Tribune continued to publish material for Bible Students and those interested in their message, for example serialising THE DIVINE PLAN OF THE AGES throughout 1917. And many will be familiar with the special issues devoted to campaigning for the release of J F Rutherford and his associates in 1918-1919. From the special March 27, 1919, number: