May 18, 2024
Category: Articles
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Words from the Poet, the Mechanic, and the Philosopher
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Moonlight is for … well, everything! From the mountains in New England to the beaches in Hawai’i, and the rest of the world, moonlight makes everything better. Even – as we see in this gallery of moonlight postcards – lighthouses, statues, ships, and city scenes. Let’s all howl!
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Three
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Have you ever thought about the number 3? It is unique you know. Can uniqueness be measured? Answers may vary, but this reexamination of the lowly number “three” may add a whole new dimension to your collecting.
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December 31 – The last Fifth Sunday of 2023
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Today is New Year’s Eve, it is also the Fifth Sunday of December. At Postcard History you get three articles for the price of one on Fifth Sundays! Ventriloquism, domestic service in the 1930s, and ice palaces are topics worlds-apart, but that is exactly what makes Fifth Sunday special.
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The Princess and the Violinist
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The adage goes: Love conquers all. Then, at times, life gets in the way of having fun. This story is as old as time – boy meets girl, they fall in love, boy marries girl, girl is unhappy. Fast forward one-hundred years: when she, the girl, the wife, the lady, or mama ain’t happy, there…
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Roadside Attractions in America
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Postcards have always been a path to easy chair sightseeing and that is most true when Roadside America postcards find their way to our homes. Here are some of the best attractions that were never meant to be destinations. They are all, along the way!
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It Has Happened Again
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Challenge received; challenge met. An English doctor involved in a shipwreck arrives in California by happenstance and makes a handsome living by marrying well and daring to live closed to the sharp edge of the law. Wow! These ingredients are the makings of another historic tale seldom found in textbooks.
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Unintended Uniforms – with a side-dish of menu art
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The marriage of uniforms and menus creates a truly odd-fellow relationship. Even when observed, it is hard to imagine how prison garb has one commonality with an entrée on a French restaurant menu. It’s all in the art. And, it works.
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The Story of Thomas Dornblaser
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In wartime, the Christmas cease-fire during World War I, is a good example of a strange happening between combatants. A less familiar event occurred in October 1864, when a Union cavalryman from Pennsylvania shot a Confederate captain from Alabama. One man died and was buried 175 miles from home, the other went home and wrote…
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Girl Scouts: a history
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Building character is a moral goal for many fraternity and sorority organizations that exist for all age groups. The Girl Scouts of USA is one of the best and certainly the most successful. They are yet another organization to use postcards to document their mission.
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The Blue Truck
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The Blue Truck is an Alabama legend based on a true story. The names are fictional, but the 1938 Chevrolet, one-half ton pickup truck was real and was a truck with style. Some say it was the most attractive and impressive looking truck of the early 20th century.
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Kansas Farmers and Buckbee Seeds
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No farmer can work without seeds! When farmers and their families moved to Kansas in the 1870s, their struggle was a tough-row-to-hoe, until Hiram W. Buckbee started selling seeds from his Illinois farm. Uncountable acres of mid-American farmland were seeded with Buckbee’s flower and vegetable seeds. Postcards are part of the story.
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I Was Born in a Blizzard;
I Collect “Snowy” Postcards*6 Comments
There are good reasons to collect postcards, but this story is a first. Lou collected “snowy” postcard because of the weather on the day he was born. He says that he doesn’t remember that day, but his mother told him, so it must be so! But there are times when memory fails.
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Five Knights and a Priest
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This postcard history narrative does not portray the lives of saints; it is more akin to the survivals of sinners. Life before political correctness is illustrated by six portraits of five men serving their Queen and a cantankerous priest from a different day.
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The Lesser-Known Vessels in the New York Harbor
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In every postcard club there is a ship postcard enthusiast, but many of them collect only liners or a certain type of vessel. Here is a look at almost a dozen different ships that “greet,” “deliver,” and “serve” the liners and the passengers who sail on them. This is quite unique, enjoy!
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Today’s Your Birthday
so it’s flowers for you2 Comments
Giving a birthday present of flowers has changed little through the centuries, but the methods of delivery are different. Once, when postcards were used, the Tuck company offered many options – the Birthday Children with flowers and rhymes is one.
Past Article
The S. S. Palo Alto was built using a revolutionary new technology but was never used for its intended purpose. That was years ago. Today a good engineer could reimagine how to put a million-dollar project to better use than a fishing pier. At least there are postcards.