Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Vancouver's City Hall
Postmarked 21 July 1944
Designed by the architectural firm Townley and Matheson, Vancouver's City Hall had its groundbreaking in 1935 and was finished the following year. The building hasn't changed much, but look how much the tress have grown!
View Larger Map
Location:
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Pen or Pencil?
I've often been surprised to see messages written on vintage postcards in pencil. If I received a contemporary postcard written in anything but pen, I'd be surprised, and I'd certainly never think of writing in anything but pen or permanent marker. I take my ink for granted!
Recently, I saw a postcard in an antique store that explained why so many vintage postcard messages are written in pencil. The sender noted he was writing in pencil because he didn't have the money for ink. (I do not know why I decided not to purchase this postcard; it's not like me at all, so it must have had a fatal flaw, like missing postage or a torn corner.)
Of course! Pens have not always been so readily available. Modern ball point pens were introduced in the 1940s. Before that time, postcard senders would have likely used fountain pens, and the ink was more expensive than the less fancy pencil writing instrument. It was such a good reminder to be mindful of assumptions!
Recently, I saw a postcard in an antique store that explained why so many vintage postcard messages are written in pencil. The sender noted he was writing in pencil because he didn't have the money for ink. (I do not know why I decided not to purchase this postcard; it's not like me at all, so it must have had a fatal flaw, like missing postage or a torn corner.)
Of course! Pens have not always been so readily available. Modern ball point pens were introduced in the 1940s. Before that time, postcard senders would have likely used fountain pens, and the ink was more expensive than the less fancy pencil writing instrument. It was such a good reminder to be mindful of assumptions!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Have they got any liquor left?
Postmarked 31 August 1943
Niagara Falls, NY
Message:
Hello, Tommy, / How's everything in Ithaca? Have they got any liquor left after my visit? / Will see you sometime in the near future - Regards - / "Tony" MendesThe Maid of the Mist is still a major tourist attraction in Niagara Falls, although the actual vessel is new as of 1997.
Labels:
boat,
linen,
new york,
niagara falls
Location:
Niagara Falls, NY, USA
Friday, September 24, 2010
Early Days of My Alma Mater
Uncirculated
Thanks to Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday!
Visit her blog for links to more great postcards.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Audience with the Pope
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
I Am Awake
Uncirculated
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."
~Buddha .
Labels:
buddha,
japan,
kamakura,
peace,
uncirculated
Location:
Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Magic City
Uncirculated
Published by Ehler News Co. ~1940s or late 1950s
Printed by E.C. Kropp
How could I not pick up this postcard with a big sign proclaiming "the Magic City." Who doesn't want to live in a magic city? (Some would say that I do--one of the favorite aphorisms about Ithaca is that the city is "10 square miles surrounded by reality." But I digress...)
As I thought about it, though, it's clear that, especially when the postcard was printed, Birmingham was magic only to some. In the 1960s, the city was the site of bitter and bloody civil war battles, with four African-American girls killed in a 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church orchestrated by the Ku Klux Klan, ostensibly to murder the civil rights leaders who often used the church as a meeting place.
Even today, Birmingham is plagued by crime and rates among the top ten most dangerous cities in the United States.
Labels:
alabama,
birmingham,
linen,
uncirculated,
urban
Location:
Birmingham, AL, USA
Saturday, September 18, 2010
I Don't Want to Be an Angel
Postmarked 29 June 1910
Marion, OH
This may be the saddest postcard I have ever seen. What makes it even more heart-wrenching is that the plight of homeless cats and dogs hasn't improved much in the past 100 years. 11,000 adoptable animals are euthanized daily because there aren't enough homes for them all.
Today is Puppy Mill Awareness Day. Please visit my personal blog, ...aka darzy... to learn more.
Location:
Marion, OH 43302, USA
Friday, September 17, 2010
A Delightful Trip
Postmarked 17 July 1939
San Francisco, CA
Message:
Dear Mrs. Mead, We reached here by a route down the Oregon coast and over the red wood highway - a delightful trip. The exposition is very beautiful. From her we to go Yosemite, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon, etc. Hope you are well. Love, Grace!Entry at Learn California
Thanks to Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday!
Visit her blog for links to more great postcards.
Labels:
california,
exposition,
san francisco
Location:
San Francisco, CA, USA
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Just Say the Word
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Some Fine Rides
Postmarked 26 August 1927
Albany, NY
Message:
Aug. 25, '27 / Dear Veora, / Returned home last evening. Found your card and was so disappointed that I was not home. Went to Brooklyn Aug. 2nd to Westburg the 15th. Visited Mary and John. Saw many old friends and had some fine rides. I stopped at Kingston Monday and enjoyed a ride to Ashokan - Hope you enjoyed your trip. I will write a letter soon. Will be glad to hear from you. Love, M.V. Pearse
Monday, September 13, 2010
Yours As Ever
Postmarked 13 October 1914
Albany, NY
Message:
Albany Oct 13/14 / Dear Mother / I came to Albany today on business and having some time will mail you this card. We received your letter of last week and was pleased to hear from you. I am feeling well. / Yours as ever / Orson
Location:
Albany, NY, USA
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Do It Now
Postmarked 12 September ?
Message:
Hello Mama/ Your card came yesterday and the letter Wed I think of you every day take good care of your selves and dont do to much - am going to --- to church tomorrow if it is pleasant it rained most all day Thursday. They are feeling sick here today. Roy Cobler --- yesterday will write tomorrow / R. G. M.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
What Was Lost
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Horticulture Hall
Postmarked 9 September 1907
Philadelphia, PA
See this post for another view of Horticulture Fall, in Philadelphia's Fairmont Park. This building was destroyed in a fire. What a shame; it's beautiful.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Aurora Street Looking East
Uncirculated
Published by Curteich, 1943
Aurora Street today:
View Larger Map
I think I like the 1940s version better. See another great 1940s downtown scene (Louisville, Kentucky) at The Daily Postcard.
Ironwood Theater Website
Labels:
curteich,
linen,
michigan,
uncirculated
Location:
Ironwood, MI, USA
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
I Wish This Was Friday
Postmarked 2 March 1930
Skowhegan, ME
Message:
Dear Lottie it's 40C and I am alone having an Ice Cream In Peter Leakos, Skowhegan Maine this state wish you were here I'd treat Ha HaI wonder if it is the cat or the fish wishing for the weekend, or maybe the image and sentiment are totally unrelated! Isn't the back of the postcard lovely? I wish modern postcards were so decorated.
If the sender is correct and the temperature was 40C, she needed ice cream - that's 104 degrees fahrenheit. The only information I can find on Peter Leakos comes from the Maine Historical Society, which indicates that in the late 1920s, he ran a shoe shine parlor. Maybe by 1930, he had changed businesses or maybe it served ice cream, too. Or maybe Peter Leakos just is a place marker.
Location:
Skowhegan, ME, USA
Monday, September 6, 2010
Labor Day
Uncirculated
Published by E.C. Kropp Co.
"Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."Labor Day was first celebrated in 1882, adopted as a national holiday in 1894. According to the Department of Labor website, the idea was first articulated by a union leader named McGuire. Whether it is Peter McGuire, as typically claimed, or Mathew McGuire, is unclear. Speculation is that Mathew, who led a number of strikes to raise awareness of the poor conditions and long hours endured by factory workers, was too radical for many, including Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, who attributed creation of the holiday to his friend Peter in an1897 interview.
In searching for a postcard to correspond to today's holiday, I was surprised to find so few depicting labor or work (though maybe I shouldn't be.) I did find this postcard of cotton pickers, likely sharecroppers given the probable date of the card. The gap between the conditions of workers in unions and freed slaves seemed just as fitting to note on this day which is supposed to celebrate the contribution of workers to the prosperity of the nation. Less than twenty years after the Civil War, did former slaves feel their contribution was celebrated, let alone acknowledged? Who are the unacknowledged of today?
Links
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Your Name Slipped Out
Postmarked 20 November 1905
New York, NY
Message:
New York, 11/20/05 / Dear Gussie: - / Isn't this a lovely girl? I intended to send this to Olga, but as I am always thinking of you, your name slipped out of the pen. / Yours, Al--
Thanks to Beth at the Best Hearts are Crunchy for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday!
Location:
New York, NY, USA
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Mission Dolores
Pictoral Wonderland Art-Tone Series
Stanley A. Piltz Company
Printed by Curteich, 1932
Founded in June 1776, the old Mission Dolores is the oldest building in San Francisco. Though the mission was named Misión San Francisco de AsÃs, because it was near Arroyo de los Dolores (or "the Creek of Sorrows"), it was commonly described as "Mission Dolores."
Mission Dolores
Labels:
california,
linen,
mission
Location:
San Francisco, CA, USA
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The Family
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