Compare the clothing and sign to this SA woman soliciting funds to provide Christmas dinners to the poor in New York circa 1900.

Is that a feminist with a protest sign just looking to kick the bejabbers out of anyone who disagreed? Or just a woman (i think) waiting for the trolley? This is what i love about Shorpy; all those intriguing background details. I'm going to spend way too much time today thinking about this.

[Looks like a Woman's Christian Temperance Union picket. -tterrace]

[Also seen five years ago here. -Dave]

At the far right of the photo can be seen the depot of the Cleveland and Eastern Ry. I live near one of the destinations mentioned on the sign: Chardon, Burton, Middlefield and Punderson Lake. The primary source of revenue from this line was milk and produce carried into Cleveland from the farms of Geauga County, Ohio, and, during the summer months, picnickers visiting the rural countryside picking berries and buying maple syrup. The line went bankrupt in 1904 and was finally abandoned in March of 1925. Parts of the right-of-way can still be seen including a steel trestle in Gates Mills, Ohio.

Am I the only one uncomfortable with the placement of foodstuffs so close to the curb where a horse is tethered?

I'm still amazed how sharp these pictures here are.

From an ad for the Hoyt, Kent & Sefton Company: "Our big restaurant. - It is not only the shopper who finds our restaurant on the fifth floor so handy and convenient, but the business men of the neighborhood have quickly recognized its many advantages, its tempting cooking, its varied menu, its prompt service and moderate prices."