Author: Ray Hahn

  • The Bird Charmer at Tuileries Gardens

    The Bird Charmer at Tuileries Gardens

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    Being a bird charmer is not a normal profession but, if you live in Paris, there is a much greater chance that you could actually make a living charming mankind’s feathered friends. The Tuileries Gardens near the Louvre was the perfect place for Henri Pol to ply this trade.

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  • Bottle Caps and Pink Pearl Erasers

    Bottle Caps and Pink Pearl Erasers

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    Since buying my first “collectible” postcard, I have often thought that there are postcards for “everything.” I don’t know if it’s true, but a recent discovery, the card you see here, is my very first Bottle Cap postcard. So, check Bottle Caps off the list.

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  • It isn’t déjà vu, but I guess it’s close.

    It isn’t déjà vu, but I guess it’s close.

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    A rug gallery in Paris sells the dust from its valuable carpets? Here’s the story.

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  • Good Morning, Mr. Selfridge

    Good Morning, Mr. Selfridge

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    Viewers of National Public Television will remember the Selfridge mini-series, Mr. Selfridge, The main character, played by Jerome Pivins captured our hearts with his antics that made us laugh and cry.

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  • Meet Nipper, the RCA Dog

    Meet Nipper, the RCA Dog

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    [elementor-template id=”3378″] Meet Nipper, the RCA Dog Nipper, was easily amused. Legend tells that Nipper would sit in front of an Edison phonograph and quizzically gaze into the horn from which came some of the first recorded sounds in history. “His master’s voice,” is very doubtful, but his owner, the English artist Francis Barraud, painted…

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  • Bible Stories on Postcards

    Bible Stories on Postcards

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    The earliest Bibles were illustrated, so when postcards came along, it was a natural extension. Such cards have been produced in every language and in every country where the Bible is read. Here are cards from two American series, Pilgrim Press and G-A Novelty of New York, which show the diversity of the stories illustrated.

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  • Sarah Bishop

    Sarah Bishop

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    [elementor-template id=”3378″] Sarah Bishop One of the “Strangest” Postcards Ever! The postcard here is truly unique. A guess would date the card from the 1930s. It tells the story of Sarah Bishop of North Salem, New York. (North Salem and South Salem, New York are in the Taconic Valley, near the boundary line with the…

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  • The Iroquois Theatre Fire

    The Iroquois Theatre Fire

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    [elementor-template id=”3378″] The Iroquois Theatre Fire Chicago, December 30, 1903.  Fire, smoke and chaos caused by fear, killed over six hundred soles today at the new Iroquois Theatre on Randolph Street. Iroquois Theatre (This image is the only one known to appear on a postcard. It is also used as the only illustration of the…

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  • Qianlong’s Marble Boat That Doesn’t Float

    Qianlong’s Marble Boat That Doesn’t Float

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    [elementor-template id=”3378″] Qianlong’s Marble Boat That Doesn’t Float The Marble Boat, in the Summer Palace, Peking. Remembered by those who have visited as the Marble Boat and known by the Chinese as the Boat of Purity and Ease, is not marble and it is not a boat.  This remarkable structure is a two-story pavilion made…

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  • The Dr. S. F. Smith House

    The Dr. S. F. Smith House

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    About ten years ago, I sat down next to a lady at a postcard show in New York. She recognized me, although I don’t know why. She was aware that I often research many of the cards I buy and she asked if I would research a postcard she had purchased just an hour ago.…

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Past Article

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When the week began many of us did not know of Stanford White, and we had no idea that he was murdered. Time makes it easy to forget such events, even if you had ever heard his name. Today our contributor shows and tells the rest of the story.

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