This postcard published by the Elite Postcard Company of Kansas City doubles as an advertising postcard for the Jenkins Music Company, also of Kansas City.

The view on the front shows the stately mansions of The Paseo looking north from the intersection of Armour Boulevard, formerly known as Commonwealth Avenue. Like most postcards of that era, it was hand-painted and lithographed in Leipzig, Germany because of the Germans’ superior printing and lithographing abilities at the time.

On the back is an advertisement for the Jenkins Music Company, located at 1013 Walnut Ave., showing Victor Talking machines and the trademark “Nipper” logo. Jenkins Music Company was founded in 1878 as J. W. Jenkins & Sons by John Woodward Jenkins. Jenkins’ stores grew exponentially throughout the region and at one point was the largest retailer of pianos and organs in the United States.

In 2000, however, the company was bought by Schmidt Music. The Victor Talking Machine Company existed from 1909 to 1929 and was the leading American producer of Talking Machines, phonographs and phonograph records. They were eventually bought out by RCA (Radio Corporation of America) and remain one of the leading electronics companies in the world.

The dog Nipper is shown looking quizzically at the phonograph upon hearing “His Master’s Voice,” which became one of their primary marketing tag lines.