Postcard History

Painting the Dog: Everything is Going To Be Brighter Now
By Bob Teeven

When you live in a place, such as where I do, you learn to expect miserable mornings. Today is really a miserable morning in Scotland. It’s not raining, although there is an annoying drizzle and the atmosphere is full of moisture that is waiting to get in between your layers of clothes, if or when you step out the door. Imagine having to wear layers of clothes in August.
            I’ve decided to brighten my day and hopefully yours because it is still August where you are, by featuring this postcard which was mailed in the UK in 1930. It is titled “Everything is Going to be Brighter Now” and shows a pair of budding young artists who appear intent on giving their pet a “new coat.”
           When I found this card, it was not one that I was searching for, but I think it’s fantastic. It immediately appealed to me. There are no details on the card as to who the publisher or artist was although I suspect it is the work of a house artist. I may have seen a similar card before, but I don’t remember it as being so colorful. The pose and activity are familiar, but the dog and the children are different.
           I can understand why a publisher would copy a card since it would most likely be a best-seller. I love the image and it does lighten my mood. The pleading or questioning eyes of the dog are magnificent. The eyes of the young boy suggest he is about to ask the question “is painting the dog something I should not be doing?” And, the girl’s eyes suggest that she is thinking, “Oops, we’ve been caught.”
            A great image, certainly you smiled when you first saw it! I hope it brightened your day as it has mine. The Scottish weather system likes it as the drizzle has stopped.
Well, that bit isn’t exactly true although it makes for a happy ending.

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Plain U.S. Postcards – Interesting Messages
By Shav La Vigne

Most of us collectors overlook the plain, ordinary, post office generated cards that are found in many shops at inexpensive prices. Often, reading the card’s message makes up for its lack of a good photo or illustration. Such is the case with this standard, plain vanilla, postcard from my collection.

            This example is a Scott’s Catalog UX14, a One Cent Postal Card.

To: Mrs. H. Wilsey, Box 141, Petaluma, Cal. – Sonoma Co.

The card was mailed from Chicago, Illinois, on May 8, 1899, by Mrs. Wilsey’s daughter, Ida.
            Ida tells her mother about her long train trip to Chicago and her stay at a lodging house along with a weather report of rain. She mentions that she has not had time to visit the parks, currently, but has been very impressed with all the big buildings she has seen.
            She goes on to tell her mother that she has been sleeping a good part of the afternoon and feels as tired as a New Orleans “expletive deleted”! She also thinks that the trip would be very hard on her mother.
            Where or why, dear Ida, learned such a colorful expression leads one to wonder? Could it be that her family relocated from Louisiana to California or was she simply using an expression she picked up along the way? We will never know but it is interesting to learn the thoughts of a young traveler from 126 years ago. And perhaps we would have more positive thoughts if she had deleted the expletive!
These plain cards often carry very interesting messages. We who love postcards need to be aware and take the time to read as well as look. Human nature is constantly a fascinating thing to behold!

Launching at New York Shipbuilding Corporation Plant, Camden, N. J.
By Ray Hahn

The idle hours of nearly every day of my college years were spent in the Owl’s Lounge. It was a cozy place to enjoy a bag-lunch and play cards until it was time for the next class. One day I needed a new pinocle partner, and I asked a girl I had seen in class to join us.
            I’ll shorten this story by telling you I married her two years later.
            But first, the day I met my future father-in-law was quite memorable. We got along famously. Some place in our conversation I mentioned postcards and he mentioned ship-fitting.
            It was likely ten or more years later I found this postcard. It shows the launch of the SS Washington a luxury liner built for the United States Lines by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey. It was August 20, 1932.
            Because I knew my father-in-law had worked at New York Ship when he was a young man, I showed the card to him. When I handed him the card, I said, “I thought you might like to see this card. I found it at a postcard show last weekend.”
He took the card out of my hand and literally stared at it. Minutes passed and he looked up at me and said, “That was quite a day. I was there. It was my first launch.”

Much later I found this poster card. I showed it to my father-in-law long after he retired. He told me that it was he who painted “Washington” on the bow of the ship. Both sides.
           

The SS Washington entered service in 1933. The ship was known for its high standard of service and luxury and was one of the largest liners built in the United States at the time, alongside her sister ship, the SS Manhattan.

SS Manhattan                                                 SS Washington

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