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This is a picture from my family's book & stationery store that was in Aspen, Colorado, and I'd love to get a better idea when it was taken.

Ted Cooper at the Cooper Book & Stationery

We owned the store between maybe 1905 and maybe 1945. The calendar on the wall looks like it says July, with the 1st on a Sunday, which means it's either 1906, 1917, 1923, 1934, or 1945. I've been trying to decipher the names on the magazines and compare against online images of covers from those times but haven't had any success. The comic book (?) on the table (lower shelf, right side) looks like it's got a biplane on it, and with the "Victory" poster on the back wall (right side) that would suggest 1917.

In case the picture doesn't get uploaded at its full resolution, the "original" is here.

Ideas?

EDIT

I realize I did leave out one rather important piece of information. That's my grandfather and he was born in 1883.

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  • 2 thougts: Limit is 2MB, any chance to get an even sharper pic with more details? (Thx in advance, it's already above par for first upload!) // Any more details for shop, place, person (eg: his presumed age?) // A first guess for any answerer: this is after 34, based on the "tech" to be seen in that book store? 1 grammophone and 2 radios, the latter most probably not 1917 style? (For eg RCA that style seems to be at least this late: radiomuseum.org/r/rca_r71.html) That site may be in need of consultation for an answer anyway ;)
    – LаngLаngС
    Jun 15, 2021 at 23:03
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    A wide variety of (pulp) magazines with ‘Western’ prominent in their title across most of that time, so no real help there. Most seem to be post-WW1 though.
    – Jon Custer
    Jun 15, 2021 at 23:50
  • The style of the pulpish covers looks later rather than earlier. I'd guess 1930+ on that basis.
    – Mark Olson
    Jun 16, 2021 at 0:14
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    Also the eagle (left of the big "V"), with the very tall wings, may be a hint (before they were less tall). That looks like a specific style that I vaguely remember as being in the 30's, but couldn't find anything yesterday.
    – Mark Johnson
    Jun 16, 2021 at 4:26
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    Looking at the "V" poster, I think it is likely "Victor" (as in RCA Victor) - if it was "Victory" then the main word would be offset to the right a bit awkwardly. I can't find an example of a Victor ad like this but I have a suspicion I've seen it before.
    – Andrew is gone
    Jun 16, 2021 at 7:06

1 Answer 1

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I think that the magazine on the right of the lower level of the table (right at the very bottom of the photo) is the May 1934 issue of Flying Aces -- see lumist.org for an image of the pulp. Since 1934 is also one of the calendric years, this seems like a moderately good guess. It also fits well with the general style of the pulp covers -- 20s pulps looked very different, but they're consistant with the 30s or 40s.

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  • Oh, good eye on that magazine.
    – Jon Custer
    Jun 16, 2021 at 0:47
  • very nice - good catch! I think you're completely right.
    – Andrew is gone
    Jun 16, 2021 at 7:06
  • Now that I've remembered to include his birth year, this answer makes even more sense. 1934-1883 = 51 years old which I think seems reasonable for his appearance.
    – Betty Crokker
    Jun 16, 2021 at 13:31
  • Why not 'quote' the picture itself here? (links rot) Also: I'd find it nice if you could incorporate useful info from comments into the A. And this includes your own impression about "pulpish" mags.
    – LаngLаngС
    Jun 16, 2021 at 13:44
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    @LаngLаngС I'm not sure of the rules and rights for quoting images. If it would be within SE rules, go ahead and edit the answer.
    – Mark Olson
    Jun 16, 2021 at 14:19

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