November 5, 2024
Author: Ray Hahn
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Our National Parks
in Ten Words or Less at Yelp2 Comments
We historians, whether professional or amateur, casual or serious, real or imagined have many conceptual ideas about how history should be taught, learned, excepted as truth or fancy, and used to make decisions. Without regard to how history is learned we look at the “younger” generations and shake our heads thinking, “will they ever learn?”…
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Know-It-All Quiz No. 3
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Congratulations! These readers have won points toward a “Know-It-All” Certificate Bob Kozak 2 points Sandy Adrion 2 points Sandra Cobb 2 points Dave Edwards 2 points Julia Harris 1 point Megan Plauger 1 point Linda Zinn 1 point To participate in Postcard History’s Quiz #3 answer the question associated with each card and fill…
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America’s Sketch Artists
Part 6 of 64 Comments
Elizabeth O’Neill Verner(1883-1979) Liz Verner was likely one of the most traveled and best educated artists of her era. As a graduate student she spent time in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. As a post-graduate student, she studied at the Ursuline Academy in Columbia, South Carolina, and the Central School of Fine…
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An Easy Way to See the World in the Age of Coronavirus
5 Comments
Dear Fellow Collectors, The situation of our world today is far outside my realm of understanding. Many of you join me, for we find ourselves unable to define our spirit in common terms. Like everyone else says, “These are unprecedented times.” It sounds so hackneyed, doesn’t it? Yet, postcard collectors have a unique escape from…
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A Story of One Postcard
3 Comments
This image and this story were unsolicited. They arrived as email attachments on this editor’s desk just a few days ago. Postcard History is proud to re-tell the story and present the image. The story was just a bit more than 200 words – less than half the number of words we usually put “In…
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Centuries of Navigation
on 300 PostcardsNo Comments
In a recent (September 2019) Smithsonian Magazine article authored by Amy Crawford, a freelance journalist from Michigan who writes on a wide variety of topics, we find the perfect text to accompany a set of wondrous postcards published in Germany close to nine decades ago. This set of cards is the largest I know about. There are…
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Pears’ Soap
The Help Britain Needed
to Clean the Corners of the World3 Comments
At the outset, the editor acknowledges the interests of our readers are postcards and history. This article is not offensive for it simply tells the story of a family, the enterprise the patriarch created and the society in which it became popular and profitable. Please acknowledge the political incorrectness of the advertising that was so…
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Welcome to the Monkey House
Enrico Caruso and the
First Celebrity Trial
of the 20th Century2 Comments
In the first decade of the 20th century, Enrico Caruso was by all accounts the most popular singer in the world – both an internationally renowned performer and a standard bearer for the phonograph industry. He was, in fact one whose celebrity grew out of a mass media, but he also depended on his charisma,…
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Cecil S. Ashdown
Artist and “A-Dollar-a-Year Man”
2 Comments
As we examine the work of Cecil S. Ashdown, we stand at the historical front door of Newfoundland and Labrador – the combined areas that form Canada’s eastern most province. Labrador was first settled in the last year of the 15th century by a Portuguese explorer named João Fernandes Lavrador, the culture is based on European…
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Know-It-All Quiz 5
The First Thirteen State Capitals
No Comments
Congratulations! These readers have won points toward a “Know-It-All” Certificate Sandy Adrion 4 points Cindy Blevins 2 points Sandra Cobb 4 points Julia Harris 2 points Dave Edwards 4 point Megan Plauger 1 point Bob Kozak 4 points Anne J. Stoudt 2 point Paul Evans 1 point Peter Senft 1 point Linda Zinn 1…
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Władysław T. Benda
2 Comments
It is always interesting to learn about someone whose name you do not know but have seen their work. This is because advertising art of the early 20th century was usually unsigned. For many postcard collectors, this is the case with Władysław Teodor Benda. Born in 1873 at Posen, Poland, Benda immigrated to America, became a…
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Humor from Away
3 Comments
If you’re a member of the plaid pants brigade and you have tried to engage a Down-Easter in conversation, you may have come face-to-face with conversation that is thin, forced or downright laconic. It is prompted by those from Away. If so, you were the victim of Maine humor. Don’t worry, you have lots of…
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The Unforgettable Voice
4 Comments
If you lived through the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s and you ever heard a young band leader from Wisconsin sing songs entitled, “In the Still of the Night,” “Racing With the Moon,” “There I’ve Said It Again,” “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow,” “Dance Ballerina, Dance,” “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” or…
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Tragedy Befalls the Innocent in Ohio
1 Comment
In the opinion of this writer, Cleveland, Ohio, is among the most beautiful cities of the world. Settled along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is historic, yet modern; artistic, without being stuffy, and progressive while still enlightened and tolerant. Cleveland has a world-class symphony orchestra, museums devoted to science, fine-arts (not to mention…
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Hello, my name is George
3 Comments
[Editor’s note: I like getting email from our readers. I don’t always answer, but I appreciate the efforts readers make to express opinions about our articles. This message came to the editor’s email box unsolicited. After reading it I was quite amused; for I too remember the Carter years and the high interest rates of…
