STOYLE & LEE Carpenters & Builders US lookup

[Erato]

Could be.  I figured that Sally’s “lie” was simply exaggerating the size of the business that Tom managed.

I think it is more likely that Tom’s last name was Lee because because he was described as the manager, not the owner, and Lee is the second name on the sign.

I was imagining that Sally was Tom’s wife and the sister of Ted.  Sally wrote home to brag about her husband’s business and Ted sent the card to show what it was really like.

In that case, we don’t know what Stoyle’s first name was and we don’t know the surname of Ted and Sally.

[001uk]

I have checked the England/Wales 1901 census. There isn't an Edward, Edwin or Ted listed.Interestingly though all the Stoyles that had a wood/building related trade came from Devon with just three exceptions.
Just as a matter of interest i ran the surname through the GB Surname Profiler.
(http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames/STOYLE/1881census)
 In 1881 there were 153 Stoyles in GB (with 158 in the US).x94 of them came from Devon with Plymouth the top town.

For Tom: zero. For Thomas:
Thomas Stoyle age 12  Born & living in Totnes Devon     
Thomas H Stoyle age 56 Born Jersey. At the census he was in Lambeth London working as a Plasterer

[johnnyboy]

Guy wires to the left and right. But they are in an odd position. I've usually seen guy wires on telephone poles attached to stakes in the ground near the pole. The wires here are going sideways.

And those footholds. Wooden. They are old. I mean old old. More recent vintage poles have no footholds near the bottom. They are foothold holders (if I can coin a phrase), with a spike slipped over the head end of a metal holder driven into the pole.

When in doubt, Wikipedia sometimes helps. According to the "History" section of the article there (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_pole), early telephone/telegraph poles tapered, and they were about 30 feet tall.

I think this was a temporary pole. No preservative on it, and not the straightest arrow in the quiver.

I also noticed a small wooden stake in the ground next to the sidewalk going to the front door. There's a round dark blemish near the bottom of the pole, the stake is at 10 o'clock or 10:30 from that blemish. If you keep enlarging the image with the magnifying glass, the stake becomes clearer. It looks like the remnant of a built form to pour the concrete sidewalk. I thought the sidewalk looked new. I think it's very new. Perhaps done by Stoyle and Lee...

Too bad that pole is where it is. Either just above the door, on the bottom part of the cornice or on the door itself there is likely be a house number.

John 

[Erato]

Who received this card?  Do we know who Frank and Timmie[??] are?

[johnnyboy]

The card was addressed to Frank and Timmie.

[001uk]

Hi John,
The guy wires are at an angle with the right one going to the property to the right i think.
I reckon you're correct it was a temporary pole.
Along with the stake you discovered there's another at the corner of the earthen area by the footpath directly in front of the unknown gent.This would cement your theory about the new sidewalk.
It's always the case with unknown photos there's always the what if factor. What if the photographer had stood a bit more to the left we would have the door #.What if they'd got the phone # on the sign.

[001uk]

The card was addressed to Frank and Timmie.

Certainly Frank
if it's not Timmie it's difficult to judge what else it could be!
Vinnie?

[Erato]

Vinnie, maybe.

I take it you don't know who they are.

[johnnyboy]

Hi John,
The guy wires are at an angle with the right one going to the property to the right i think.
I reckon you're correct it was a temporary pole.
Along with the stake you discovered there's another at the corner of the earthen area by the footpath directly in front of the unknown gent.This would cement your theory about the new sidewalk.
It's always the case with unknown photos there's always the what if factor. What if the photographer had stood a bit more to the left we would have the door #.What if they'd got the phone # on the sign.

The guy wires could go to permanent poles on either side of this temporary pole. I think my theory would be further cemented if I could see the second stake you mention. My image only bitmaps when I magnify it too much. But I did notice, with the increased magnification, that a few of the foundation stones directly below the ground-floor window and a few stones to the right of the window have been repointed. They probably stole some of the sidewalk cement from themselves to do the job. Perhaps all of this improvement means that one of them had bought the house recently.