Salt Lake City by Night

Uncirculated
Souvenir Novelty Company

I love the colors, but am so vexed someone used tape on the card! How sacrilegious!

It's Time for Chapel Then Cooking

Postmarked 12 October 1912
Battle Creek, MI

Message:

Thursday Morning / This is a picture of the Main Bldg. I have four classes in the basement or the lower right hand end of the building. Was weighed yesterday. Have gained five puonds. It's time for chapel then cooking. Recd your letter yesterday. / Fern

Of course, this is the famous sanitarium headed by one of the Kellogg brothers, inventors of corn flakes. The sanitarium was associated with the Seventh Day Adventist Church, but Kellogg broke with the church in the early 1900s. In 1902, the sanitarium buildings were destroyed by fire. After the stock market crash of 1929, the sanitarium, deeply in debt due to the post-fire construction, went into receivership.

The sanitarium building today:


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Greetings from Asheville, NC

Uncirculated

Choir Boys

Postmarked 27 November 1905
New York, NY

Message:

Dear Miss Braun: / Best wishes / from Ellsa

RPPC: T. A. Sanders

Uncirculated

The gentleman in the front center of the photo is N.A. Sanders, father of my grandma's dad, Travis Sanders.

Happy Thanksgiving

Postmarked 5 November 1907
?, NY

Message:

How's this for a gobbler?

Of course, we will not be eating turkeys - our entrée will be a delicious tofurky!

Let Us Tickle You Under the Chin

Postmarked 14 November 1910
Brewster, New York

Message:

Nov 15 1910 / Hello Elmer are you offended at us. Come up here and let us tickle you under the chin don't act foolish and get mad over nothing We didn't mean to insult you or hurt your feelings If that the way you feel towards us why all right / Best wishes / from H.M.P. & G.?P.

The Return of the Mayflower

Uncirculated
Issued by A.S. Burbank
(c) 1900

See this post for more information about Private Mailing Cards, which were used in the United States at the end of the 19th Century.

The Latch-String Is Out

Postmarked 21 November 1924
Sayre, PA

Message:

Dear Mrs. Billings / Your letter recd. so long ago have intended to ans every Sunday. Mrs. M- said she was up to see you. Harry is coming up to take an exam. I want to come with him. Vera is getting along good in school E-- has been sick but is better - a touch of grip. Harry isn't feeling very good. I am fine as usual have a new washer woman (an Electric washer) write again. Mrs. Lauran

May Thanksgiving Joys Be Thine

Postmarked 27 November 1911

Message:

Dear Grandma - Grandpa / We are all well hoping you are the same. hope you will enjoy your Thanksgiving good - - / from Sadie - Jacob

We will be celebrating Thanksgiving today by honoring the turkeys at the Farm Sanctuary, who enjoy a feast of their own. This will be our fourth year at the event. Here's a photo from last year's feast for the turkeys:

Like a Big Castle

Postmarked 19 November 1946
Rensselaer, New York

Message:

Thursday/ Dear Milbrey - / How do you like this big Railroad Administration Building. Doesn't look like a big castle. Are you looking forward to Thanksgiving. Lots of love from / Fred and Emy / How is my little boy??

Today, the building houses the State University of New York administration.


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Building History

Thanks to Beth at the Best Hearts are Crunchy for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday!

Harvey Hotel

Uncirculated
E. C. Kropp, Co. (late 1940s-mid 1950s)

My mother-in-law sent me a wonderful collection of postcards, this among them. Although I don't understand why, I love vintage postcards depicting buildings having painted adverts on the exteriors.

Here's a very depressing image of the building today:


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I Hope to Explain

Postmarked 17 November 1919
St Louis, MO

Message:

Dear Mr. Reddall / Sorry I had to leave in such a hurry but hope to explain matters later, now -- St. Louis, a very pleasing (?) trip feel fine and dandy / Love(?), / M-

What an intriguing message! I wonder why she had to leave in such a hurry. It sounds scandalous.

The card itself is interesting to me, too. Still shows horse drawn carriages, and a touch of the fashion of the day. Eads Bridge was finished in 1874, and was the first bridge in St. Louis to cross the Mississippi.

ARRA Fact Sheet
Built St. Louis

The Weather Is Perfect and so Are the Great Big Sweet Water Melons

Postmarked 30 July 1947
Atlanta, Georgia

Message:

Dear Clara - I think I would like to live down here. The weather is perfect and so are the great big sweet water melons. / O--

University of Michigan Union

Postmarked 31 May 1947
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Message:

Hello- / On a short trip out here to the Intercollegiate flying meet. / Love, ---

I was in Ann Arbor a couple of weeks ago and took this picture of the union:



A history of the Union, and its building, is here.

Having a Nice Time but No Dancing

Postmarked 29 August 1949
Niagara Falls, New York

Message:

Hi Evelyn, / We are having a nice time but no dancing. Trying to learn how to relax. / Russ and Clara Burns

The Peace Bridge has its own website! The bridge, opened to traffic in 1927, was named to commemorate the longstanding peace between Canada and the United States.

You'd Be In "Stitches"

Postmarked 25 June 1945
New York, NY

Message:

6/24/43 / Dear Roger, / How are you doing? Long time no hear except grapevine method. When I told Dad, Smyrna, he thought Smyrina Turkey. He travelled [sic] there while he was in the service. / Glad you liked our news! Enjoyed your P.S. to Mother. / What are you doing now? Would enjoy a word or two. / Lots of luck from all of us here. / Love, Pegs

Searching for "Roger W. Overton," I could only find one mention, in a Long Island newsletter. If this is the same Roger, he died in 2009 at 85, having been a Staff Sergeant in the Army from 1943-1945. Mr. Overton of Patchogue was an insurance salesman, as well as a member of the Pactchogue Fire Department. Mr. Overton did wed a woman named Margaret - Pegs, perhaps?

They Didn't Say Who Won

Postmarked 12 November 1947
Boston, MA

Message:

Hi MT. Today was a holiday, being Nov. 11, so I climbed to the top of Bunker Hill Monument (294 steps) 221 feet high. Good views from the windows at the top. Commemorates battle fought June 17, 1775, just before the declependence of indignation was signed by Abie Washington and Georgie Lincoln. The patriot army fit the limies but they didn't say who won! We musta lost, since we've been sending 'em money ever since! (Sorry! I forgot to sign my name!)

I have a series of postcards from this sender to Milbrey and/or Richard Turner. Many of them are altered on the front, which I often find charming (and do in this case). The message is about Bunker Hill Monument, which is indeed 221 feet high according to the National Park Service. The postcard itself, however, depicts Franklin Park, which was designed by Frederick Olmsted (who also designed New York's Central Park).

Thanks to Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday!

Liberty Memorial

Postmarked 5 February 1945
Kansas City, MO

On 11 November, 1918, an armistice ended the fighting of World War I, with the Treaty of Versailles being signed the following June. That year, a fundraising campaign to build the Liberty Memorial began. The site was dedicated in 1921 and construction was completed three years later. In 1994, it was closed because the buildings were no longer sound, but a sales tax passed in 1998 to provide funds to restore the Memorial. The National World War I Museum was opened in 2006.

National World War II Museum at the Liberty Memorial

Married Life Is the Only Life

Postmarked 10 November 1909
Chicago, Illinois

Message:

Well I am thoroughly convinced that married life is the only life. We haven't gone out much as we didn't get here until 12 o'clock yesterday and old sleep head can't stand ---- you know. With lots of love/ Homer (?) and Abbie

Another postcard of University of Chicago's Cobb Hall. I love how in this one, horse-drawn carriages are outside the building.

Guaranteed to Meet Any and All Requirements

Postmarked 9 September 1912
Pontiac, Michigan

Message:

Pontiac Mich 9/8/12 / #15 Harting Court / Should you be in need of some good hat hap(?) weather you might favor us with an order We have some here that is guaranteed to meet any and all requirements. I spent a few days in Chicago and also Detroit. Am located in Pontiac for the present. Not a bad country but doesn't compare with the West. Regards to all Fred

Of course my primary interest in this card was the subject - University of Chicago. Mandel Hall is an auditorium where we went to some events. (I think the Barenaked Ladies performed there but can't quite remember. I also believe we saw a stand-up comic there as well.) The hall was built in the early 1900s, a gift from Leon Mandel (who operated Mandel Brothers department store with his siblings).

University of Chicago's History of Mandel Hall

Greetings from Georgia

Uncirculated
(early 1940s)

Curious Pigs

Uncirculated

Greetings from Tennessee

Published by E.C. Kropp
1940s-mid 1950s

I received this cool postcard from a swap. It looks like an authentic vintage postcard - from the feel and amount of wear, I would guess it is not a reproduction.

Sixty-Two Miles Left to Drive

Postmarked 9 August 1925
Toledo, Ohio

Message:

I am having a wonderful time / Toledo, Ohio / Dear Husband - / We arrived in Toledo fifteen till five by our time. We drove 250 miles in eleven and one half hours we are leaving after diner [sic] for Detroit sixty two miles yet to drive. we are going out to the zoo this morning with love / Will write again soon / Mamie

The Weather Is Too Bad

Postmarked 16 January 1920
Norton Hall, New York

Message:

Dear Edna / I cannot come on saturday to see you the weather is too bad Will come some other time / Rutha Gardner

Happy Birthday, Brittany!

He Likes It Here Pretty Well

Postmarked 13 October 1905
Albany, NY

Message:

Dear Mother: The folks have gone to Schenectady today left at --- they seem to be having a good time. We received your letter and will answer it soon. do not think Archie will come back with the rest he likes it here pretty well. Says(?) he would like to take two weeks to go through the Capitol, hope you are well / Wreite soon / Ma--, Emma and Bill / Love to All / -- sits beside me playing with the cat.

Today, Andrew Cuomo was elected the next governor of the State of New York. I bet he'll like it in Albany pretty well. (New York Times story.)

I Keep Clean Now

Postmarked 2 December 1915
Detroit, MI

Message:

Hello Phle- / I can't play out of doors I keep clean now / Monica

The back of this card (not to mention the front) is in such bad shape, I can't bear to post it publicly, but I wanted to include a Detroit card in honor of my trip to Michigan, first to Ann Arbor for the Net Impact Conference, and then to Detroit to see my in-laws.

This postcard depicts an area of Detroit that was central in the early 1900s but later became known as a skyscraper graveyard. Constructed in the mid-1910s, the Statler Hotel was exclusive and popular, hosting such guests as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Henry Houdini. It was taken over by Hilton in 1954, but Hilton stopped managing the hotel in 1974. For a year, the hotel operated under another moniker, though was abandoned in 1975. It was vacant for 30 years, and finally demolished in 2005. The David Whitney building was constructed about the same time, and has been vacant since 1990. Sebastian Spering Kresge opened a five and dime in 1899, an operation which evolved into K-Mart. The Kresge Department Store closed in 1982, but the building is being redeveloped.

Buildings of Detroit: Statler Hotel