November 22, 2024
Author: Bill Burton
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Peter Wolf Toth and His Trail of Whispering Giants
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Postcard History is pleased to introduce our readers to an artist known as “Chain-saw Man,” but he claims not to use power tools. Wood is a unique artistic medium that requires special skills. Peter Toth has made a special contribution to the art world in honor of some special people.
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Coral-Lee – The First Lady of Postcard Publishing
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She was lionized as the “First Lady of Postcard Publishing,” “a wonderful energetic lady with so many ideas that she’s revolutionizing modern day postcard publishing.” “She is not only the most important postcard publishing personality today but is likely to be one of the most important ever.” Her name was Coral-Lee Sparre and she published…
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The Steamer President Warfield and the Exodus 1947
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The history of the Steamer Warfield, later known as Exodus 1947 is documented on film and on postcards. The history is another testament to how mankind finds it easy to be unkind to others and sadly have the law on their side. Time passes and memories fade, but that should not be the case as…
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Hires Root Beer – The First American Carbonated Drink
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Hires Root Beer, once the dominant carbonated drink in America, cannot be found any more. The story of how it came to be, and flourish is a proud one because Charles Hires had the soul of an advertising man. He explained his philosophy by saying that “doing business without advertising is like winking at a…
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The New Town Experiment at Greenbelt, Maryland
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As industrialization took hold in the last half of the nineteenth century, factory owners needed new houses for the workers. Pullman, Illinois planted the seed, but when the Great Depression hit and Franklin Roosevelt became President, Greenbelt, Maryland brought the ideal of large-scale housing and social planning development to fruition. Greenbelt was derided as “social…
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The World’s Champion Cotton-Picking Contest
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Cotton was king in the American South and west from before the Civil War into World War II. Picking cotton was backbreaking work for slaves and later tenant farmers and sharecroppers. So why did Blytheville, Arkansas hold a Cotton Picking Contest from 1941 until 1961?
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Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb?
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The silliest question Groucho Marx asked on his “You Bet Your Life” TV show was, “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?” You should read Postcard History to learn the facts surrounding President Grant’s death, funeral, and burial. The answer may very much surprise you.
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Wee Kirk o’ the Heather – and the Ballad of Annie Laurie
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There are a few miles between Glencairn, Scotland and Los Angeles, California, but when both places are on your “Been There” list the connection is more enlightening than any history book. This Wee Kirk postcard tells the story and makes you a part of the connection between here and there.
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Charles Lindbergh, Aviator
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Charles A. Lindbergh. Hero or scoundrel? There are men of Lindbergh’s calibre in every generation. They come to light is a blaze of glory and end in gloom and darkness, not knowing why the fates chose them to be “famous” or having any idea of their impact on society.
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Lady Astor and the D-Day Dodgers
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A thousand more stories like this one – tales that are long forgotten and never heard by later generations – are illustrated by photos and postcards. Some are funny, some are sad. Some are fiction, some are true. Actually it is difficult to know, but in this instance, the legend, with the passage of time…
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Great Steps in the Wide World
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Remember the day when you were a kid and visited the Washington Monument? You ran up the 897 steps and you weren’t out of breath. Well, those days are over, but there are lots of stairs to climb if you’re interested. Around the world, long staircases have fascinated people who like to brag about climbing…
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Superlatives – the biggest, the tallest, the most
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The universe is a competitive place. When you say that your town is the most beautiful, or when your “doohickey” is the largest, or your “thingamabob” is the most whatever, the rest of the world may not believe what you say, so you better have a postcard to prove it.
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News and Noteworthy – 2/9/24
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Valentine’s Day is coming up, and these days a young person’s mind turns to love or the rejection thereof. We say that because the sentimentality of the late nineteenth century is making something of a comeback. For example, take the Vinegar Valentine. Our friends at Atlas Obscura call these Victorian-era postcards “rude, cruel, and insulting,”…
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News and Noteworthy 2/14/2024
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The weather of late reminds us of the weather of old. Finding appropriate postcards of bygone storms can be tough, but we figured there was no better place to turn than the resources of the New York Public Library’s Digital Collections. In particular, the Detroit Publishing Company’s postcards donated by Leonard Lauder has over 14,000…
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News and Noteworthy 2/21/2024
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The folks at Highlandtown Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland’s Highlandtown Arts District have found an interesting way to use extra copies of their promotional postcards from the last 10 years by stitching them together into a unique ballroom gown. Seems difficult if not impossible to achieve? There’s proof in this video, courtesy of the galley. (And…
