Chicago, Springtime and Postcards

For all intents and purposes it’s springtime in Chicago.  Though the actual first day of spring may be a few days away, the blooming things around here have a different idea.  The daffodils outside the front door have full buds on them and the early blooming trees are budded out and I saw some trees yesterday sporting green leaves.  The weatherman is predicting 70s for the next five days.  OK, I’m in this spring thing, though there is always the feeling that somehow we’re going to have to pay for this atmospheric benevolence before it’s over.

With all the verdant titillation going on my husband and I have the fever so Sunday we hopped on the train and headed to the city for the Chicago Flower and Garden Show at Navy Pier.  It was a perfect day to be downtown.  The sun was shining, a gentle breeze was blowing and all you really needed was a light jacket, though I noticed a lot of hearty souls with only shirt sleeves and, believe it or not, flip flops!  We walked the length of the pier twice and it was absolutely energizing to be by Lake Michigan.

There is nothing like the Flower and Garden Show for a little backyard inspiration.  We’ve taken a lot of great ideas home and planted them in our own garden and it seems like we always find something that we just can’t live without.  One year it was a retractable flag pole, last year it was a green metal tree to hold the blue bottles I love to place around my garden, and this year it was a spiffy soft sided hot tub that you can empty out to clean and store in your garage for the winter if you so choose.  Unfortunately that purchase is going to have to wait until we retire to Colorado.  In the meantime we got some great garden ideas and came home with a few gifts for friends with birthdays coming up soon. 

By the time we reached Navy Pier we were hungry, though we planned to eat later in the day prior our train ride home.  It didn’t take long for Phil to be enticed by the aroma of caramel in the air and before I knew what was happening we were in line at the Garrett Popcorn Shop.  Since 1949 Garrett Popcorn has been a Chicago favorite.  Around the holidays is not unusual to see the line of people waiting for the tasty treat snaking out the door of the shop on Michigan Avenue and down the block.  The caramel and cheese flavors are over the top and don’t think you can eat just one handful.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had these great advertising postcards out on the counter free for the customers.  I hope they don’t mind that I took one to send to my son-in-law, Garrett, and one to keep for myself.

I’m involved in this great postcard writing project called Postcrossing so whenever I’m in any city I look for spectacular view cards to send to Postcrossers* who request city views in their profiles.  Navy Pier is a great place for souvenir shopping so it was easy to find a few great postcards showing the city at its best.  When I got home and laid out my postcard booty it occurred to me that the cards I had chosen focused on four quintessential Chicago icons: the skyline, Cloud Gate (aka The Bean), Soldier Field and Garrett Popcorn.  It’s springtime in the city and Chicago has it all.

*People who participate in the art of Postcrossing.

Swimming in a Sea of Postcards

Bali  ©K. Sujana

Portillo Chile ©Huber & Huber Ltd.

 Nouvelle Caledonie  ©Pierre Alain Panty

 Kuala Lampur ©Oriental Pearl Sdn.

Zurich ©Beringer & Pampaluchi

 Terra Cotta Warriors

 Coucher de Soleil ©Isy Schwart

Guatemala ©Jamie Freire

Benito Mussolini

I feel as if I’ve been swimming in a sea of postcards.  During the last few months whenever we’ve had a chance a few of the staff members of the Teich Archives have been sorting through a large donation of postcards and today I finished the last box.  What was offered to us as “about 3,000 cards” actually turned out to be more like 30,000 and I believe I’ve seen about 10,000 of them myself.   We have a collection policy that defines what types of postcards we need and want for the Archives so it is important that we weed out what doesn’t fit our collection strategy and return it to the donor.   I didn’t have time to feel smug about this small accomplishment because a very significant donation of 35,000 postcards arrived by delivery van when I was at a meeting this morning.  So many postcards, so little time!

We receive donations of all sizes.  Some like the one that arrived today are negotiated by an important collector looking for a repository for a collection amassed over a lifetime.  Others are brought by a granddaughter, a nephew or a friend of someone recently deceased who found them in their loved one’s belongings.  They came here because they had heard about the Teich Archives and thought it would be a good home for these family artifacts.  Sometimes a package will arrive in the mail with no return address that is filled with a small donation of postcards.  However they arrive here we take care to make sure that their receipt is acknowledge whenever possible and their donor is given paperwork that describes the donation, it’s size and condition.

Sometimes, in the words of Forest Gump, a donation of postcards “is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”  The donation that we just completed sorting was mostly view cards, many of them American cities and towns from the mid twentieth century.  These were carefully sorted into city and town locations and placed in file boxes.  There were also two large boxes of cards purchased in the late twentieth and possibly early twenty-first century.  These weren’t sorted but appeared to be in the packaging in which they were originally purchased, perhaps by the collector or by his friends as they traveled to the exotic locations represented. The later cards were certainly more colorful and exotic than the early cards, but unlike the early cards that were carefully sorted and archived, these seem to have been piled into the box and forgotten.   Perhaps the collector lost interest.  We did notice that very few of the postcards had messages or were sent to the collector personally.

So unlike the previous donation, the postcards that comprise the William O. Field collection are literally a personal history of the Field family written on the backs of postcards.  Mr. Field’s parents did a Grand Tour in 1902 and sent postcards back to little William and other members of their family chronicling their overseas adventures.  We know much about the family and about their affection for each other from these cards.  Placed in albums or carefully archived in boxes this postcard collection presents a colorful history of the Field family in the early twentieth century.  

There have been so many little packages of postcard that have arrived here at the Archives but one such donation stands out in my mind above all the others.   It’s been many years now, but this small package contained perhaps a dozen or so cards, nothing really that special or unusual except for one postcard.  It was a real photo postcard of Benito Mussolini from the mid-1920s.  Handwritten on the back of the postcard is the following message:

  

This is a recent photograph of Mussolini. A strong face, but not the brutal one some caricatures make of it.  Mussolini’s mother taught him to read when he was six.  When he was nine she insisted, notwithstanding his father’s indifference, that he should be put into a R. Catholic boy’s school.  He had a few terms at a Normal School at Bologna and a term in the university at Lausanne. He is a great student of History, Political Economy and Languages. Of these last he speaks four. At 38 he is leading Europe, some say-The World.                           

I remember holding that card in my hand and reading those words and thinking that this was a tiny piece of history that managed to make its way here to the Teich Archives.  A long time ago a person sat down and wrote on the back of a postcard these words of prophecy about a man who would play a significant role in the history of his country and its relationship to the world during a time of great turmoil.  I think that day I realized how important this postcard collection is and the amazing stories it has to tell about the last century.  Whenever someone asks me if I have a favorite postcard this one comes to mind.  Not because I admire the man or think the card is valuable or beautiful, but because it represents how significant postcards are to the story of the twentieth century. 

I often remind people that the core of the Teich Archives was not a collection compiled by one person, but a visual slice of the life and times of the last century.  The Teich Company printed what its customers brought to the table and that was a veritable feast of images of advertising, transportation, fashion, cities and towns, leisure activities, the workplace, industry, celebrities and entertainment.  The personal collections that are donated add to that broad swath of life and times and only make the Curt Teich Archives even richer.  When a postcard like the one of Benito Mussolini comes to the Teich Archives it reminds us that this institution has a valuable and important mission to preserve our past.  What an incredible place this is  and I am honored to be a part of it.

The colorful postcards from exotic locatopns shown above are from a recent donation to the Teich Archives.

Appalachia's Postcard Trail

I’ve had Large Letter postcards on my mind this week.  I’ve been working with a client who is using a number of them developing products for his Colorado based company.  In the process of pulling images for his requests I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some Large Letter cards that I’ve never seen before, such as the Pikes Peak Region and the Chautauqua, NY cards.  I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of Large Letter postcards.  To me they are the quintessential markers of place.  The artistry is amazing considering there were no computers or Photoshop back then and it was all up to the artist’s ability to draw, cut and paste.  It wasn’t easy fitting the Empire State Building into the letter “Y.”

One of my favorite information websites is Refdesk.com because its features Fact of the Day, This Day in History or Today’s Birthday often give me inspiration for my blog posts.  Today’s Fact of the Day told me that the Appalachian Trail goes through fourteen states.  The moment I read that fact fourteen large letter postcards went dancing through my mind.  Why, I’d just bet that you’d love to see all those states represented in Large Letter postcards, wouldn’t you?  What better way to celebrate one of America’s greatest tributes to her natural beauty and cultural heritage.   I am so happy to oblige.  Have fun traveling the trail through postcards.  To learn more about one of the world’s longest continuously marked footpaths check out the AT website.

A Sunny Sojourn at the Postcard Inn

I love weddings, especially when the bride and groom invite you to be their guests at a sunny beach resort in Florida in the middle of winter.  What could be a better place to celebrate all that is good about love and romance?  My husband and I hopped on a plane to Tampa and St. Pete’s Beach last Friday to attend the wedding of our beautiful friend Melissa and her handsome beau, Zach.  February in Illinois is usually about twenty shades of gray, so being in colorful Florida where there are palm trees, sandy beaches, sunny skies, and where you don’t have to wear socks or a winter jacket, is nothing short of spectacular.  The cherry on top of this sunny sojourn is our destination, the Postcard Inn on St. Pete’s Beach. Does anyone believe that I could not find happiness here?

The website calls the Postcard Inn, “hip, affordable and resolutely casual…Each room is a uniquely accented throwback to a time when road trips ruled and surfers were kings.”  I’ll add funky and edgy to the adjectives and say that it has all the charm of the mid-twentieth century, pastel hued, Florida motels you’ve seen on dozens of vintage linen postcards.  The spacious lobby has eclectic seating areas, very artsy furnishings and a real library with dozens of books on a variety of subjects from art and architecture to vintage cars and alligators.  You can play games in the arcade or make your own souvenirs in the retro photo booth, or just have a drink and chat with your friends while sitting on the cozy circular couch. Step outside to the lounging deck or meander into the long courtyard where dozens of lanterns glowing with electric lights hang from the trees and light up the evening.  Sit around a cozy fire in Adirondack chairs, take a dip in the refreshing pool, or have a tall, cool one at the beachside bar.  Don’t forget you’re in Florida where the beach is just a few more steps away.  My husband and I laughed because the inn has two exercise rooms.  Seriously?  You’re on the beach…go for a walk! 

The guest rooms were just as fun.  Behind our bed was a wall sized mural of the ocean that gave us the feeling of sleeping on the beach just past the edge of the surf.  The décor was simple and very beachy. Metal people cutouts attached to the wall served as clothes hooks and a vintage surf board stood sentry in one corner of the room. Colorful retro beach and surf scenes lined the walls and sisal mats covered the floor.  The peach tile in the bathroom was original as were the ceramic toothbrush, cup and soap holders grouted right into the wall above the sink.  I can’t remember the last time I saw a peach toilet.

Once upon a time the bride was an intern here at the Teich Archives so it wasn’t an accident that she chose the Postcard Inn as the venue for her Florida beach wedding.  I won’t go on about how absolutely lovely, casual but elegant, and perfect the wedding was.  But I will tell you that not only did Melissa use a Florida large letter postcard for her save-a-date cards, she had an assortment of vintage Florida postcards on a table and asked the guests to write a message to the bride and groom on them and drop them in a mailbox nearby.  It was the perfect postcard guest book.

So, did I find happiness at the Postcard Inn on the Beach?  Yes, I was smitten with the location, the décor, the weather, the sunshine, the ocean, and the feeling of love that surrounded the entire weekend.  Having my tootsies in the warm sand wasn’t all that bad either.  All in all it was an enjoyable and colorful respite from February’s twenty shades of gray.

The ad piece and two postcards above are from the Postcard Inn.

The Florida motel postcards are from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives.  

Store Bought Memories: Marshall Field's on Postcards

My career at the Teich Archives has spanned nearly 23 years.  I wonder how many postcards I’ve looked at during that time.  I’m also a traveler who seeks out and purchases postcards wherever I go so I’d have to add that number to the total estimate of postcard viewings.  I suppose the answer could be in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps over a million.   I’ve seen postcards of everything you can imagine, some are wonderful images and some are—just postcards.   However, there are those that provoke memories that I can’t help but revel in, and such was the case with a new donation of postcards of Chicago’s Marshall Field’s flagship store. 

I was born in Chicago and resided there for the first year of my life until my parents moved permanently to a summer resort they had purchased in McHenry, Illinois, about 55 miles northwest of the city.  Much of our family lived in Chicago and my pediatrician was there so consequently my mother and I traveled to the city frequently.  We would spend the day doing our errands and going to appointments and of course, shopping.  My mother loved Bonwit Teller on Michigan Avenue and a few other shops on the famous Magnificent Mile.  She also loved to shop for clothes at Charles A. Stevens on State Street in the Loop, but Marshall Field’s was really the place to go.  It had everything.

As a child when I walked into the store it was like walking into a palace where you could find absolutely everything you ever wanted. It had the highest ceilings and if you stood in the atrium you could see all the way up to the top floor.  Walking through the Perfume Department you were assaulted by the most exotic fragrances you’ve ever smelled.  I loved the candy department where my mother, who was also a serious sweetaholic herself, let me choose chocolate covered orange peels and lemon Napoleons, a hard candy that was filled with this incredible sour powder.  I can still taste the sour goodness that hit my tongue when I couldn’t wait any longer and had to bite the little yellow disk in half.

In those days Field’s had the most amazing toy store.   They carried Madame Alexander dolls and Vogue Ginny Dolls, my favorites.  I can remember looking into the glass cases where the Ginnys were lined up in their adorable outfits. You could choose a character from your favorite nursery rhyme or fairy tale, or a miniature ambassador from a foreign country.   Tiny outfits for them were available in the most popular fashions and it was impossible to choose which one you wanted.  Field’s also carried doll houses, the tiny families that inhabited them, and furniture for every room.  I still have the mahogany wood baby grand piano music box that my mother bought for me there.  It stood in the living room of our doll house all through the years my children played with it.  Tucked away in a keepsake box are two of my favorite Ginnys, Little Red Riding Hood and Little Bo Peep, and a Madame Alexander ballerina who wears an aqua tutu and has tiny pink ballet slippers tied to her feet with satin ribbons.  

I remember the restrooms with their tile floors and marble sinks.  They were always situated by a Ladies Lounge filled with comfy chairs and coffee tables that seemed to be a real conundrum for me.  I never did quite figure out what was supposed to happen there.  Sometimes you would see two ladies chatting or a mother rocking a snoozing baby.  Occasionally there was an elderly lady sitting in a chair surrounded by shopping bags.  I assumed that shopping was tiring for her and she was taking a rest and keeping guard of the already purchased loot while the rest of her family was finishing up their shopping expedition.  Being an astute child I knew that a Cocktail Lounge served beverages and I always wondered why there was no waitress taking drink orders from the ladies in the Ladies Lounge.

I also remember having lunch in one of the restaurants at tables covered with starched white linen cloths and set with sterling silver service.  A number of years ago when we were thinking of putting our house on the market  my husband and I thought we should do some of the things in the city that we  had always wanted to do but hadn’t gotten around to yet.  That December we stood in line for over two hours so we could have lunch in the famous Walnut Room under the magnificent Christmas tree.  And yes, it was worth the wait. The food was delicious, the service impeccable and we were thoroughly entertained as families paraded through the restaurant in their holiday sartorial splendor, little girls clutching their American Girl dolls and little boys wanting to be anywhere else but there.

Probably the most memorable aspect of Marshall Field’s was the amazing transformation that took place at the holidays.  Not only was the interior of the store turned into an incredible Christmas symphony of color, sparkle and delight, what was happening in the windows along State Street was a thing of wonder and amazement.  Window designers created a story that would unfold as you went from window to window and people lined the sidewalks four and five deep to watch as costumed characters twirled and danced through gorgeous settings and spread their Christmas cheer.  For Chicagoans a trip to the Loop to see Field’s windows was holiday tradition that carried on through generations, my family included. And what were the holidays without a box of Frango mints to share with your guests?

As a teenager I would take the train downtown and go off to Field’s by myself.  I loved to shop there for shoes and clothes because I lived in a little town that had one dress shop for ladies and one for children and neither had a junior department.  Sometimes I would go with my friend Marie and we would go from floor to floor and spend hours trying on dresses and shoes.  Later my husband would accompany me on shopping expeditions and patiently walk on as I went from department to department, nodding in approval or perhaps because he just wanted to speed things along.  For many years we took our children to see the tree and the windows and there is still a Mistletoe Bear tucked into a box that holds my daughter’s Christmas decorations.  We bought him for our granddaughter, Evie, the last Christmas that Marshall Field’s was still Marshall Field’s.

In all honesty I tried to like Macy’s, I really did.  But it just isn’t the same.  You can still buy Frango mints and chocolate covered orange peel in the candy department and they still serve Mrs. Herings 1890 Original Chicken Pot Pie in the Walnut Room.  Macy’s does spectacular decorations for Christmas and the windows continue to be a perennial State Street attraction at the holidays.   The merchandise is not the quality it used to be and the racks are too crowded and too close together and the pride that was once so evident in the staff because they “work at Marshall Field’s” doesn’t come through anymore.  For me the magic that was Marshall Field’s is gone, especially in the State Street location. Well, it was until these amazing images sparked the memories and the magic once again.  I love the way postcards can transport me back in time.  I wish I could walk through that toy department just once more.  I might buy teeny, tiny candelabra for the piano. 

All of the above images are from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives.