Eleven loose original gelatin silver photographs ca. 12,6x17,6 cm (5x7 in). All photos numbered and captioned (ink) on verso. With one printed postcard signed to “Mrs. Frank Tink. 41 Marentette St. Windsor, Ontario,” with a stamp and two postmarks.  About three photos with minor tears at the edges, a couple of photos worn, occasional mild-silvering, but overall a very good collection of strong, interesting photos.

Historically important collection of rare early photographs, documenting Kansas City before the deadly Influenza Pandemic outburst on September 17, 1918 (The epidemic originated in Kansas City by girls kissing soldiers in the army schools, leading to ca. 2,300 local deaths, and 500,000 across the US. // “The 1918 Kansas City Influenza Epidemic.” The Jackson County Historical Society. No 3. Oct. 2020.)

As follows from the note on the back of the printed postcard, the photos were apparently sent to “Mrs. Frank Tink” of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, in December 1918, by her sibling from Kansas City. According to the Ontario, Canada Deaths 1869-1934 Census, “Mrs. Frank Tink” (Ann Jane Goodwin) was born on September 5, 1870, in Oxford County, Ontario, in the family of Alfred Goodwin (1845-1909) and Emily Avard (1849-after 1930). She had four siblings and by 1921 was living with her husband, Frank Tink (1864-1951), and five children on Marentette St. in Windsor, Ontario.

The collection features eleven early vibrant views of Kansas City, taken shortly before the Pandemic. Four excellent close-up photos show the Union Station Depot (1914), and the now-demolished Children’s Mercy Hospital (1917-1990), First Congregational Church (1908-1966), and the Inglenook Apartments, where, as noted on the photo’s back, the compiler lived. Three lively vernacular photos depict Kansas City’s business & shopping hub, capturing the now-demolished famous Westgate & Junction Hotels, the Newman Theatre advertising Irvin Willat’s “False Faces,” numerous store awnings with English signs (“Baltimore Shirt Co.,” “Harzfeld’s,” “The Bowling Alley,” “Palace Clothing Co.,” “4 Doors North,” “Triangle Collars,” “Murie’s Cigars,” “Dr. Mathis. Specialist Women-Men,” “Drug Store,” etc.), railway offices, express wagons, trams, cars, and locals in suits & dresses busily walking down the streets.  The rest of the photos mostly show the early panoramic views of the famous Cliff Drive, Admiral Boulevard, and the area west of the Union Station Depot, with advertising banners (“Lehigh Cement,” “Pedmont Cigarette,” “Central Shoe Co.”), a tram, and visible construction equipment in the background.

Overall, historically important collection documenting life in Kansas City just months before the outbreak of the Influenza Pandemic.