Happy Birthday Brookfield Zoo

Brookfield Zoo is celebrating its 75th birthday this year. Since 1934 the Chicago Zoological Society and Brookfield Zoo have lead the word in animal care and conservation, medicine, and exhibition. Both organizations have been pioneers in educating the public about protecting the world’s threatened wildlife and ecosystems. Check out their website for more information on the great initiatives and projects these institutions are promoting. Better yet, take a trip out there this summer and enjoy the exciting exhibits and programs truly designed for family fun and education. http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Zoo-Home.aspx">At The Zoo

Instead of just one birthday card for the zoo, I believe a 75th birthday deserves a few extra. The above Curt Teich postcards document the Brookfield Zoo from 1935 through 1976.

Celebrating America

For some of us the 4th of July is just a work holiday. For others it’s a chance to celebrate our country’s birthday by attending parades, local festivities, and watching fireworks. For many it’s a day of fun, family and relaxation. However you plan to enjoy the holiday, be safe and have a memorable time. Here are a few vintage postcards to get you in the spirit.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

When I left for Colorado two weeks ago I had every intention of bringing back some great postcard finds to share with you. It’s almost impossible for me to travel anywhere without having postcards on the mind. Unfortunately my time away was consumed with a remodeling project and my favorite extra-curricular activity, being Grandma.

We left Illinois with our truck filled with tools and good intentions to replace the flooring, countertops and kitchen sink cabinet in our condo. Our son-in-law had ordered our building supplies at the Home Depot in Golden and we planned to pick them up and spend a couple of days completing the project we had started last September. There was only one caveat. I had promised my granddaughter, Evie, that she could come to the condo with us for a few days so my daughter did not enroll her in camp for the week. A remodeling project in a studio sized condominium with a rambunctious almost-five-year-old thrown in the mix sounds like a recipe for disaster, especially when you have to remove the toilet and kitchen sink. It was exquisite chaos.

The word “discombobulated” doesn’t come close to describing the situation inside our tiny condo. Grandpa created an island for Evie in the midst of the chaos by pushing the coffee table up to the couch. She perched on the couch wrapped in her sleeping bag surrounded by her retinue of stuffed buddies and watched a few of her favorite videos including Ice Age, The Goonies, and 101 Dalmatians. Within easy reach on the coffee table were her markers and color books, glow in the dark bracelets, bouncy balls, squirt gun and other very important little tomboy treasures. The contentment lasted about as long as the morning. After lunch, in the words of Mikey from The Goonies, it was “our time.”

Evie and I headed out to the park along the Blue River to play soccer and climb on the stone bear in the playground. We played on the indoor playground at the local toy store where we also bought a rubber chicken and a tiny stuffed Super Dog. We made a trip to the library and got our very own library card. We were lucky enough to find a book about Super Dog and learned how he honed his super powers and saved the day. Evie found a chipmunk who played hide and seek with her as she tried to squirt him with her squirt gun. He seemed to enjoy getting wet. We decided to reward him for being such a good sport and walked to the market to buy some sunflower seeds. He practically ate them out of Evie’s hand. Later he brought his own stuffed buddy to share his bounty. Evie rode her bike while I took a walk and later we ate our snack of yogurt and apples sitting on the big warm slabs of stone in the park. Evie and I had a great time for those three days it took my husband to complete the project.

Now don’t get me wrong, we didn’t squander all of our time in beautiful Colorado working. We had a lot of quality fun time with our whole family. We all spent a great evening with old friends having a delicious meal and catching up. We had an absolutely wonderful day at Water World with our granddaughters, daughter and two other darling little girls and their mom who are friends of the family. We had dinner at Benny’s, our favorite Mexican restaurant. On a Saturday we spirited the girls away for dinner, fun on the indoor playground shaped like breakfast food, and a night in a local hotel while their mom and dad had a parent’s night out. We had a pizza night with our son and his best canine buddy, Oscar. We also spent a lot of quality time on the local playgrounds and exercising the squirt guns.

In the car heading out of Colorado I was lamenting the fact that I was returning home with no postcard stash tucked in my suitcase. I consoled myself with the thought of all the fun family adventures we enjoyed in lieu of shopping for postcards. As much as I enjoy finding postcard riches, memories of my beautiful little girls and their hilarious escapades were far greater treasures. But wait! I do have postcards to share. The above Curt Teich postcards are cataloged under the subject heading Genre/family and embody the spirit of family fun and togetherness. In celebration of summer vacations, little girls and their grandparents, car trips and squirt guns, I offer you these visual treasures.

Stop Your Twittering

In the Better Homes and Gardens June 2009 edition there is a feature called “Fresh Ideas For Living Well.” This is what it says: “Kick Back. Celebrate summer by enjoying life in the slow lane. Go offline for an afternoon and pen a postcard to a friend. In the age of Facebook, Twitter and other online connections, receiving a handwritten note is a welcome surprise.”

I couldn’t agree more. Make someone’s day, send them a postcard. Don’t have just the right one for that special someone? Perhaps one of the Postcard Art Competition/Exhibition reproduction postcards would be perfect. Check them out on our website. Link at lower right page

Thinking of creating your own postcard? Consider entering it in Postcard Art Competition/Exhibition 2009. Check out the details and rules here. PACE 2009

I’m off to Colorado to visit my family for two weeks. I’ll share my vacation postcard finds with you when I return. Think sunshine!

Flora
Woven watercolor ©Erin Endicott
PACE 2005

Route 66 Sieglman, AZ
Digital photo illustration ©Michael Still
PACE 2005

Beehind
Charcoal ©Eileen Saarela Bell
PACE 2005

Floral Leanings
Screenprint ©Sadie Gerbic
PACE 2005

Lincoln Park in the Spring
Oil painting ©Cindi Sartain
PACE 2007

Love Story
Photography ©Richard Johnson
PACE 2007

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Curt Teich Postcard Archives A115424 1927


Curt Teich Postcard Archives 1AH445 1931


Curt Teich Postcard Archives 1AH355 1931


Curt Teich Postcard Archives 6CK1288 1956


Internet image 1958


Curt Teich Postcard Archives 8CK1535 1958


Curt Teich Postcard Archives 0DK18 1960


Curt Teich Postcard Archives 0DK17 1960

Recently I was contacted by a picture researcher looking for images of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The Archives has a great series of seven postcards depicting the theatre from its newly built glory of 1927 to 1960. In my opinion these images are a dramatic example of the postcard’s value as an historical document. We watch the theatre go from an opulent Oriental jewel box to a more garish structure complete with neon marquees screaming out the latest feature film. The changes seem to be indicative of the times and it is interesting to note that recent renovations to the theatre have returned it to its original splendor. Chinese Theatre History

In the earliest image we see a pale green oriental style structure with its signature coral columns. The ornately decorated columns stand aside the multi story entrance. A stand of tall palm trees lines the walk to the theatre’s entrance. Two slim vertical signs on either end of the building announce that it is indeed the Chinese Theatre. Elegant framed marquees showcasing the latest feature films are set into the four tall stone columns along the front of the building. Three vintage automobiles are parked along the street in front of the theatre.

If you look closely you will notice that the 1931 image was created from the same original photograph as the earliest image. It’s interesting to note that the intense color change, while quite exciting, was probably not an actual paint job. This type of colorization seems to be a popular trend with linen postcards in the early 1930s. Many of the Century of Progress postcards from 1933 and 1934 have dramatic color changes from printing to printing. The people in the image have been frozen in time for four years. The automobiles were removed, perhaps to give the image a longer life span as automobiles suggest a particular time and date. A long red awning or port cochere stretches from the theatre’s entrance to the street, though otherwise the structure remains unchanged.

The 1931 image of premiere night at Grauman’s Theatre suggests a gala event attended by throngs of people. Klieg lights shine their beams into the night illuminating the sky as thousands of people crowd the theatre’s courtyard and spill onto Hollywood Boulevard. To me, however, this postcard is less historical document and more artistic rendering. It appears that a lot of poetic license has been taken in the creation of this image. The building seems a mere sketch and not the solid, dramatic structure of the previous cards.

In the chrome image of 1956 the theatre still has that elegant feeling and the structure is little changed from the 1931 image except for the addition of red awnings over the window alcoves on the building’s facade. The chrome image of 1958 is another postcard celebrating a premier, this time of the movie “Windjammer,” the one and only movie to be shot in Cinimiracle.
Windjammer I’ve also included an image from the internet of the front of the theatre during the same premier for some context. The chrome postcard suggests all the glamour and excitement of the opening celebration. Klieg lights signal the opening’s location as their high beams pierce the night sky and spotlights light up the entire building. A huge sign on the theatre’s side proclaims the title of the film. Crowds of people mill about the sidewalk and shiny new automobiles prowl down Hollywood Boulevard in front of the theatre. Obviously this was the place to be in Hollywood, California on April 8, 1958.

The last two chrome images are from the year 1960. The first shows the palm-studded forecourt where the signatures, hand, and foot prints of many of the screen’s illustrious stars are imbedded in the cement floor. Tourists wander the area looking for their favorite celebrities. The second is an exterior shot and what we see here is very similar to the internet image of the 1958 premier. The red canvas awning leading from the sidewalk to the entrance has been replaced with a structure reminiscent of a stylized pagoda. The garish neon marquees remain though the stand of palm trees is conspicuously absent. I’ll stop short at saying the structure is looking a bit seedy here, but it certainly is not the elegant oriental palace of the earlier images.

This series of postcards documents the life of one of California’s most celebrated landmark buildings for over three decades. It’s interesting to note that the style of the postcard influenced how the building was portrayed. In the earliest card we can almost read the straightforward black and white photo beneath the washes of color. In the linen cards we see that a certain amount of poetic license was taken with the image as well as the colorization, a common practice of the era. In the chrome images we probably get the most accurate portrayal of the building.

There are no earth shattering observations here, just that fact that these postcards help to tell the story of one famous building that has a cameo appearance in the American saga. Just as each story teller repeats the tale with his or her own spin, so do the different postcard styles and companies add different dimensions to the images that document the cities and towns of this country. It doesn’t make the story less true, only a bit more interesting. That’s the beauty of postcards.

Fit For A Postcard

Everyone knows that exercise is an important component for a healthy lifestyle. The trick for most of us is finding an activity that we enjoy thus improving our capacity to stick with it. For 18 years I exercised three days a week with the same group of women. It was fun, convenient, challenging, and also a way to keep up with the local gossip.

These days walking and my yoga practice help to keep me centered and fit. Whether I’m strolling the streets of a foreign city when I’m traveling, pounding the pavement as I dash through my neighborhood, or power racing behind my granddaughter Evie as she rides her bike around the mountain village of Breckenridge, I love to walk. I enjoy watching as the seasons change the landscape around me. You can walk the same neighborhood sidewalks daily yet be pleasantly surprised by the smell of honeysuckle, burning leaves or freshly mown grass. I love to hear the birds chatting and twittering amongst themselves and the peepers announcing the start of spring, but I also relish the sounds of silence one hears when the ground is blanketed with newly fallen snow. If you are not feeling up to snuff you can walk for a longer time at a slower pace or if you’re full of vim and vigor you can speed along so quickly that your feet barely touch the ground. Either way, you get a feeling of accomplishment after a good walk.

About 10 years ago I got very serious about my yoga practice and it has now become an important part of my daily life. Yoga has made me strong and flexible, not only in my body but in my mind and spirit as well. You can practice it anywhere, alone or surrounded by other yogis in a class, and you don’t even need shoes. For me it is a way of life, a way of viewing the world around me while I find my own place within that world. As with walking, depending on your mood or capacity, yoga can be calming and centering or a strenuous work out.

Though I thoroughly enjoy walking, my yoga practice, and even bicycling with my husband, that doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally envy the marathoner, the gymnast or the bike racer. Perhaps it is because I lack the competitive spirit, the need for speed or that I have an inherent fear of throwing my back out permanently that I can visualize myself in their places, only to face reality after a few moments and find great contentment in doing the perfect downward facing dog.

To motivate you couch potatoes out there into finding the perfect fitness regime, I’d like to share a few of my favorite exercise postcards. In a world where we have numerous options to create the perfect body and optimum healthy lifestyle you only have to remember one thing—Just Do It.

Dragon Exercise Postcards (set of 8)
Dragon Karma Art

Exercise Class, Park Forest, Illinois, 1953
Photograph by Dan Weiner
From my personal collection
No pricey health club or fancy duds for these suburban babes. I bet they had Jello® salad and deviled eggs for lunch afterward.

Vital Yoga
Thank You For Practicing With Us 2009
From my personal collection
Vital Yoga is my favorite Denver yoga studio and I just love it that they send me postcards.

US Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, IL 1942
Curt Teich Postcard Archives
These guys are professionals.

Sun City, Arizona, 1980
Photograph by David Hurn
From my personal collection
Looks like an oldies yoga class.

“Bottoms Up” for Beauty on the Sands of Daytona Beach, Florida 1940
Curt Teich Postcard Archives
When I look at this I can only imagine all the itchy sand in my bikini bottom.

The Dish on Postcards

To advertise our current exhibit showcasing Pickard China, our marketing department created this lovely postcard. Shown on the front is a setting of china the Pickard Company of Antioch, Illinois created for Air Force One. This place setting is one of the many pieces currently on display at the Lake County Discovery Museum. Learn More I have the card in a little holder on my desk in which I display the postcards from our current exhibits. As I’ve been looking at it over the past few weeks I couldn’t help thinking of the colorful and graphic china and pottery linen advertising postcards in the Teich Archives.

The styles, colors and designs of the oven, table and refrigerator ware shown on these postcards reflect the popular taste of the times. I especially like the Tom and Jerry set, though it sort of looks like a small punch bowl set to me. It reminds me of old movies from the 1940s when women wore cocktail dresses and men wore smoking jackets. When it was cold outside these nattily attired folks would warm themselves by the fire with a hot toddy. After looking up the recipe for Tom & Jerrys I think I’ll just enjoy the ambiance, admire the pottery set and skip the cocktail. The thought of raw eggs and rum makes my tummy do flip-flops.

Harker Pottery touts its Modern Age series as The Ware of Tomorrow. I was amazed that by the time this postcard was produced Harker Pottery had already been in business for 100 years. They certainly did have their eyes set on the future. I love the fact that their dinnerware was artistically designed to “save space” with its oval and nesting shapes, obviously something that must have been very important to the lady of the house in 1939.

The Gypsy Trail pottery, “sun lit, gay and glorious colors,” reminds me of Fiesta® dinnerware and probably was a competitor from the time it was introduced in 1935 to the mid 1940s. Apparently Gypsy Trail, a product of Red Wing Potteries, didn’t give Fiesta® an over abundance of competition. The production of Gypsy Trail was halted shortly after WWII while last year Fiesta® celebrated its 75th birthday with the introduction of a new anniversary year color, Marigold, and three new celebratory year collection pieces.

Whether she was planning a holiday soiree or just packing up the leftovers the mid twentieth century homemaker had a colorful array of china and pottery lines to choose from as seen in these vintage linen postcards. Though you may not think of them as historical documents, advertising cards like these give us a glimpse of the styles, trends and fashions that were available to the modern woman of another era.