Life in a Postcard Mirror

The Sunny Side of Life

2012-01-26T07:45:00.000-08:00

It’s January in northern Illinois, the dreariest place on the planet, and I have the winter blues. Last Friday while driving in the car with my husband I looked at the sky and said to him, “Is that not the ugliest color in the world?” There is a gray pallor that sits heavy over the land this time of year that causes me to slip into a cold funk and crave sunlight. The landscape has lost its color and is half covered in dirty snow, and to add insult to injury (or perhaps that should be vice versa) there’s just enough ice on the sidewalks to make them treacherous. But honestly, I don’t care if it’s cold, I don’t care if it’s snowy, I just want the sun to shine.

There is hope for me though. In February my husband and I are hopping on a plane and flying off tothe “Land of Sunshine” to attend a friend’s wedding. I’ve been to Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbeanso consequently Florida is not my favorite tropical paradise. I’ve had some nice vacations there but Ialways go back to the two weeks that I spent in Fort Lauderdale one summer withmy Mother and my Aunt Ginger and I distinctly remember it being like thedevil’s sauna. There was also this snakein the rest room incident that I try not to think about. However, I keep reminding myself that it willbe the middle of winter and the prospect of the warm sun on my face and sandbetween my toes is giving me the strength to hold on. I’m looking forward to long walks on thebeach and watching the sun set over the ocean. I’m not much for tropical drinks but a little pink umbrella in my glassof merlot would definitely put a smile on my face. It will be a pleasure to only wear one layerof clothing and not my usual February two or three. And believe it or not, we are staying at a hotelon the beach called the Postcard Inn. The sunny postcard possibilities areswimming in my head!

In the not so distant past I did a research request forsomeone looking for tourism images of Florida in the mid twentieth century. Lookingto put a little sunshine in my life I dug up that request and pulled theFlorida postcards from the file to share with you as well. These postcards make Florida seem like theperfect place for a little respite from Old Man Winter’s wrath. Whether it’sboating, fishing, sunbathing, or cavorting on the beach with a bevy of beautiesthere’s fun for everyone in the Land of Sunshine. I’m thinking that a trip on the “Streamliner”through the orange groves would really set my mind right. February cannot gethere soon enough.

2012-01-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

I’m certainly not a Royal watcher, but like many peoplearound the world I enjoyed all the pomp and circumstance surrounding lastyear’s wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. There is always so much bad news swirlingabout that a good love story seems just the ticket to inspire a little hope forthe survival of this planet. The Dukeand Duchess of Cambridge certainly haven’t disappointed and with their stunninggood looks and heartfelt involvement in charitable endeavors there is thefeeling that this is going to be a story that will be a pleasure to watchunfold.

The Royal Grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen, has also hadher place in the news recently. Thisyear Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee as monarch. The Queen’s life will be in the spotlight allyear with celebrations, tributes, and special events. The January 13,^,2012 issue of Financial Times online magazine featuresan article by David Robson called “The Queen’s Life in Postcards” that showcasestwenty images, formal portrait postcards as well as some very intimate views ofthe Queen and her younger sister. I was most taken with the views thatportrayed Elizabeth as a normal child; astride a pony, visiting the zoo withher family, making castles in the sand, or riding a tricycle. The author states “The Queen is the mostvisually represented non-divine person in human history” and it’s easy tounderstand that statement when you see the diversity of the few imagesshowcased in the article. You can readthe article and see the postcards lovely princess who would be Queen here.

The public face of Queen Elizabeth II is of a strong womandedicated to country and family. Anarticle in the January 2012 issue of VanityFair adapted from Sally Bedell Smith’s new book Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch describes a moreintimate side of this fascinating woman and recounts her life-long romance withher dashing Prince, Phillip of Greece. Thearticle describes how the events leading up to her ascension to the thronehelped to shape this determined and stalwart woman’s dedication to duty andservice She may be a controversialpolitical figure, but you have to admire this lady of steel with her grandmotherlylooks. Despite everything she hasretained the respect and admiration of her nation. I’m definitely adding this book to mymust-read list.

The one postcard I have showcased above is the only image ofQueen Elizabeth II currently cataloged in our collection, so please check outthe site above to see some additional images of the Princess of Postcards.

Pachyderms on Postcards

2012-01-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

I've had elephants on my mind for the last week. I check the Refdesk.com website daily becauseit has a few features I like that often inspire posts for my blog. Last week “This Day in History” featured astory about electrocuting an elephant. Thisgruesome act was perpetrated in 1903 by none other than Thomas Edison, who notonly used the highly publicized execution for his own personal gain he filmedthe horrific stunt as well.

Topsy the Elephant, who spent the last few of her 28 yearsat Luna Park on Coney Island, had a bad rep as a man killer. This pugilistic pachyderm killed three men inthree years. One of her victims was atrainer who “had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude” and tried to feed her alit cigarette. Sounds like a clear caseof justifiable homicide to me, but apparently her owners didn’t think so. There was talk of a public hanging but theASPCA got into the fray on the grounds that it was inhumane and besides whowanted to lead three tons oftemperamental female up to a gallows? Mr. Edison was only too happy to try and discredit the new form ofelectricity called alternating current that was competition for his directcurrent by stepping up to put Topsy in the hot seat. The story is too horrible to recount but ifyou need to know you can read all about it and even see Edison’s short film ofit here.

Reading about poor Topsy’s fate reminded me that one of mycolleagues had handed me a postcard before Christmas and said it might inspirea blog post. The title of the card was Gainesville Community Circus, Gainesville,Texas and it showed an elephant ridden by a little girl and a man and awoman who were dressed as circus performers. I googled Gainesville Community Circus and was delighted by the story ofthe Texas townspeople who came together to show their civic pride by joiningthe circus.

In 1930 the Gainesville Little Theatre was facing financialproblems. A burlesque circus was chosenas a fundraising event and was such a hit with the audience that a thirdperformance was added. Not only did the town’s residents like to attend thecircus that also wanted to be in the circus. By the following year performances were being held at the Cooke CountyFairgrounds and the word was spreading so that the next year the circustraveled to the Denton County Fairgrounds. A traveling community circus tradition was born and for the next 24years 1,500 citizens gave 359 performances in 57 cities for over 500,000spectators. A whole generation of Gainesvillecitizens didn’t have to run away to join the circus, they had one in their ownback yard.

The most remarkable thing about the Gainesville CommunityCircus is that it was comprised entirely of amateur performers. Occasionally professional circus performerswould travel to the Texas town to give classes and instruction on the art ofcircus performing, but the stars of the circus were soda jerks, bankers,telegraph operators, cotton merchants, ranchers and anyone of good characterwho wanted to join. They made their owncostumes, improvised their equipment because professional riggings, etc., weretoo expensive and by necessity often invented their own.

A. Morton Smith, who was the Director of the GainesvilleLittle Theatre and Editor of the GainesvilleRegister helped to organize the first performance of the GainesvilleCommunity Circus in 1930 and wrote an article titled “World’s Strangest CircusProduced by Amateurs” for the November 1934 issue of Modern Mechanix magazine. The article is all about the circus andthe performers and is not only a wonderful story but a great read. This circusrose during the Depression when people came together for fun, support andfellowship in hard times. It’s sad tothink that a community project like this would never happen today in ourlitigious and law encumbered society.

The elephant pictured on the Gainesville Circus postcard wasone of the many exotic animals that performed in the show. I’ve included the original photo from the jobfile because it’s such an interesting image. Fortunately we don’t have a postcard of Topsy’s execution, though Iwould love to see a postcard of her before her demise if one exists. I’ve included a few other elephant postcardsfrom the Curt Teich Postcard Archives because they are fun and make me smileevery time I see them. I couldn’tshowcase postcards of elephants without including one of Lucy the MargateElephant, one of the ten places I want to visit in the US before I die. The twoillustrated images are from a book of elephant postcards I bought to send to mygranddaughters. Like dolphins and dogselephants always seem to be smiling back at us. I hope these images of elephants put a smile on your face.

"Had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude."

From "Life in the Fast Lane"

by Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Glen Frey

The Postcard Celebration Begins!

2012-01-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

1952 Curt Teich Postcard

John High Collection

Brian Bossier Collection

Detroit Publishing Company

1900 Curt Teich Postcard

V. O. Hammon Company

Schmalgemeir Century of Progress Collection

1941 Curt Teich Postcard

William O. Field Collection

James R. Powell Route 66 Collection

William O. Field Collection

1962 Curt Teich Postcard

There is going to be a lot of celebrating at the Curt TeichPostcard Archives this year. Thirtyyears ago five tractor trailer trucks delivered a small mountain of postcardsand material related to their production to the Archives Building at the LakeCounty Discovery Museum over a five day period. This material was theindustrial archives of the Curt Teich Company which had been in business inChicago since the turn of the century and had ceased operation just a few yearsearlier. Once the material was sorted and rehoused, the immense task ofcataloging hundreds of thousands of images began. By the mid-1980s word was spreading thatthere was an amazing 20^th century visual document collection housedin a refurbished farmhouse in the middle of a forest preserve somewhere nearChicago, Illinois. With its reputationgrowing, the Curt Teich Postcard Archives began accepting research requestsfrom historians, scholars, designers and others interested in the visual storyof the first three quarters of the twentieth century.

By the beginning of the 1990s with the bulk of the CurtTeich postcards cataloged the decision was made to build the Teich Archives byaccessioning other postcard collections. Today the Curt Teich Postcard Archives holds anumber of other significant postcard collections: The Detroit Publishing Company, The John HighCollection, Fort Sheridan Collection, William O. Field Collection, theSchmalgemeier Century of Progress Collection, James R. Powell Route 66 Collection,V. O. Hammon Collection, and a number of small, significant collections andpostcard albums. Because of its vast and varied holdings and stellar reputationfor over three decades, picture researchers from across the country and aroundthe world contact the Curt Teich Postcard Archives for their vintage imageneeds.

Join in our year-long celebration by following us on Twitterand Facebook and by reading my weekly blog posts. That’s where you’ll learn about the specialevents we have planned for National Postcard Week, May 6-12, 2012. There are also plans in the works for a bigcelebration in October at the Lake County Discovery Museum so stay tuned formore information as it becomes available. What’s the best way to celebrate postcards? Keep the art of postcard writing alive bysending one to someone you love or start a postcard correspondence with a specialchild in your life. Want to make new friends? Check out the Postcrossing website and send a postcard to a stranger ina faraway land. Everybody loves to getpostcards in the mail!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-12-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

Finding the perfect tree, decorating the house, baking cookies, attending holiday parties, searching for that special gift, or spending time with my family in Colorado; these are some of my favorite things about the Christmas holiday. I love the preparations, setting out my mother’s ancient decorations, the way the house smells when the gingerbread cookies are in the oven. When he was a little boy my son once told me that waiting for it to happen was the best part of Christmas. I tend to agree. I’m not a great shopper, but when I was In Italy in October I bought gifts for everyone on my list and was thrilled to carry them home and tuck them away for Christmas. All summer I picked and dried a bumper crop of basil and made little paper boxes to wrap my bounty in so I could share it with some very special people. I made an ornament for each of my granddaughters from a photo I took of them when they visited this summer. I’ve watched my favorite Christmas movies and added a new Christmas CD to my iPod. As soon as December first rolls around the spirit hits me and carries me right through New Year’s Day. Just like the song says, to me “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

Whatever pleases you this holiday season, may it come to you in great measure. Whatever you celebrate may your days be merry and bright, and may your new year be filled with love, laughter, and great memories.

The Christmas postcards above are from the Curt TeichPostcard Archives.

So Where Does Santa Claus Spend His Down Time?

2011-12-15T07:08:00.000-08:00

So where does Santa Claus spend his down time? After the Christmas rush he must need a little rest and relaxation. I’ve always assumed that he went somewhere tropical, perhaps the Caribbean or Tahiti. He does have excellent transportation at his disposal so getting there shouldn’t be a problem. Well, my granddaughters and I found out that Santa spends at least some of his time off right here in northern Illinois at his own little fun park in Dundee called, not surprisingly, Santa’s Village.

Santa’s Village opened its doors in 1959. Many of my cousins lived in Chicago and when they would come out to the country for a summer visit my mother would load us into the car and take us to this Christmastime theme park. My favorite attraction at the park was the North Pole, a giant pole that was perpetually frozen even in the 90 degree summer heat. It was the perfect place for a photo op and no child could resist touching its shivery surface. My favorite ride was the Christmas tree ride where you could sit in an oversized Christmas ornament that went up and down as you circled a huge, spinning, snow covered tree. I also remember the Pumpkin Coach, a carriage reminiscent of the fairy-tale vehicle where little girls could feel like Cinderella as they were driven through the park by a team of white horses.

The parks buildings were the storybook variety, decorated with gingerbread trimmings. Giant, colorful toadstools and mushrooms dotted the park. According to Park creator Glen Holland, in Norwegian legends Vindican were tiny craftsmen who lived in toadstools and mushrooms and they were directly related to other legendary little people such as pixies, gnomes and elves. By creating the fungi homes in the park, Holland supplied on-site housing for Santa’s helpers. Of course Santa’s summer home was also in the park. It was amazing double-chalet style architecture with candy cane trimmings and it had a wooden animal sculpture garden in the back yard.

By the mid-1970s my husband and I were trekking to Santa’s Village with our own children. It was always clean and well-tended, and just the right size to spend the day with little ones. The children loved the rides, which were just their size, and all the animals, including reindeer, available for petting. You could even sit on Santa’s lap and get a head start on your Christmas wishing. It was so much fun to see snow on the ground in in July, even if it was the plastic variety. I remember packing picnics to eat in the sun and then sitting in the shade with a toddler napping in a stroller.

A few years ago the daughter of a friend of mine who had spent her early childhood in Illinois then moved to California was in the area visiting with her young family. We met for lunch to reminisce about the fun our families had together and she asked if I remembered a place that had a giant Christmas tree and a giant snowman that you could ride in. I realized that she must have meant Santa’s Village and after she returned home I sent her copies of the postcards shown above. Though she was only six when they moved to California the images of the Christmas theme park sparked a lot of fun memories.

In 2006 my daughter was planning to bring our toddler granddaughter home for a visit. She asked about taking Evie to Santa’s Village. It was then that I read about the park’s financial trouble and subsequent closing. It was very sad. Santa’s Village was one of those iconic places that you just expected to be there forever and then all of a sudden it was no more. This summer my daughter was bringing both of our granddaughter’s home for a visit and leaving them with us for an entire week so we were looking for some family oriented entertainment. I happened to see an article about the reopening of the park as Santa’s Village AZoosment Park and I was delighted.

On a bright, sunny, August day we packed up our girls and trekked over to Dundee for a day at Santa’s Village Azoosment Park. Because we had birthday money to spend we stopped first in the gift shop which was brimming with fun toys and souvenirs. Each girl chose a colorful plush frog so they had a new friend to accompany them through the park. Next we stopped for a great souvenir photo of the girls at the same North Pole, still frozen after all these years. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t quite as big as I remembered. There were lots of families there, but it wasn’t crowded and the lines for the rides were very short. As in the past, the rides were the perfect size, some for grandparents to ride along and some just for kids. The girls love animals and were thrilled to stand in the Scales and Tails aviary where hundreds of budgies live. The colorful little birds bravely ate peanut butter and seeds off sticks the girls held in their fingers. There are also displays of live reptiles in this attraction. The park has a koi pond and Tortoise Island where you might be lucky enough to have one of the old fellas come up to you for a pet. The girls had an up close and personal animal experience in the remarkably clean petting zoo where goats, llamas, donkeys, chickens and many other animals live in perfect harmony. That is until one of the goats tries to eat your shorts or pick your pocket. And who doesn’t love to ride a pony or snuggle up to a reindeer?

As in the old days, the park was clean and well-tended with lots of new plantings, flower gardens and freshly painted buildings and mushrooms. The food wasn’t remarkable, but it was the first summer back in operation so I’ll give them time to improve. However, there’s lots of picnic style seating and any family on a budget could easily bring their own lunch to enjoy. All the rides and attractions are included in the one admission fee, and when you take into consideration that a family can spend the entire day there, it’s a great value. So if you have a chance next summer when the park reopens, stop in to say hello to Santa. He’s rested, relaxed and has time to chat. The girls are looking forward to another visit next year so they can get their Christmas wishes in early.

All of the postcards shown above are from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives and were printed in 1972.

A Right Jolly Old Elf

2011-12-08T09:58:00.001-08:00

Turn on your television, open a magazine or Christmas flyer and you’ll see that Jolly Old Elf hawking everything from stocking stuffers to expensive jewelry. Santa gives advice on what your best girl would like under the tree or which 3-D video game you should buy for your nephew. He’s portrayed as a chubby cheeked, big bellied man with long white hair and a flowing white beard, dressed in a fur trimmed red velvet suit. He might be riding in a polished sleigh pulled by eight reindeer or behind the wheel of a shiny, red Mercedes Benz. For the entire month of December the image of Santa Claus is used by the marketing community as a high-powered, high tech spokes model to inspire confidence in the consumer because, really, would Santa steer you wrong? I’m not very happy about this sad turn of events. To me Santa Claus is so much more than a salesman.

Our modern day Santa has evolved from the legendary 4th century Turkish Bishop, St. Nicholas of Myra. He was known for his piousness, kindness and generosity, especially to the poor. The Germanic people looked to Odin as their inspiration for the Spirit of Christmas. Odin rode an eight legged flying horse, reminiscent of Santa’s eight reindeer, and children would fill their shoes with straw and carrots for the horse to eat and leave them near the chimney. For their kindness the children would be rewarded with little gifts and sweets. The tradition of hanging stockings near the fireplace may have come from this legendary practice. In the Netherlands children look to Sinterklaas and his helper known as Black Peter to leave them gifts of chocolates and nuts if they have been kind and well-behaved. The gifts are dropped through the chimney as Sinterklaas rides over the rooftops on this white steed. Naughty children just might get switched by his aids who carry jute bags and willow canes. The British have Father Christmas who resembles the Jolly Old Elf of the modern day Claus, though he traditionally wore green robes.

The story of Santa Claus that we are most familiar with today comes from a poem first published in the Troy, New York Sentinel in 1923 called “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” written by Clement Clark Moore. The Spirit of Christmas drives his sleigh pulled by eight reindeer around the world appearing from the atmosphere and delivering gifts to all good children everywhere. It is only the luckiest of humans who get a glimpse of this larger than life legend. The image that most Americans identify with Santa Claus was created forty years later by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly. In the 1930s Hadden Sundbloms fleshed out Nast’s engravings when he designed the Coca-Cola advertising campaign that featured the portly bearded man drinking a frosty bottle of Coke. This is the image of Santa that we know and love today.

Religious and secular traditions through the centuries have melded together to bring us a kind, good natured, rotund, fur wearing, pipe smoking, sleigh riding, gift giving spirit who embodies the kindness and generosity we human beings so strive for. Santa Claus represents all that is good about the human condition. I don’t know about you, but I am a true believer. Each Christmas Eve I look up into the sky and wonder where he is right now. Like the boy from the Polar Express, even though I’ve seen decades of Christmases I can still hear the sound of the silver Christmas Bell. I know in my heart that it will ring for me forever. I hope you can hear it too.

The Santa Claus postcards above are from the Brian Bossier Collection at the Curt Teich Postcard Archives.

Moonglo Memories

2011-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

During my twenty-two year tenure here at the Curt Teich Postcard Archives I’ve looked at hundreds of thousands of postcards. Images of Weeki-Wachi mermaids, diners, alligator farms, the San Francisco earthquake, or Yellowstone National Park are like visual threads in the tapestry of the American story and they weave together a rich, diverse, and unabashed portrait of our country in the twentieth century. The Archives supplies images to researchers to illustrate stories and serve as time pegged markers for certain locations or historical moments or to create the style or mood for past event, real or fictional. Each postcard has a story behind it that may go untold even though the image will live forever in the Teich Archives. It’s a rare, but welcome occasion when an individual comes to the Teich Archives to tell his or her story behind a postcard in the collection. Such is the case of Stuart Sarjeant and the Moonglo Motel.

I’m not sure when I first got acquainted with the Moonglo Motel, but it was one of those unforgettable images that struck a chord with me. My mother and I, my aunt and cousin drove to Florida in the late 1950s in our two-tone Dodge station wagon with push button controls and stayed at a pink stucco motel with white trim that looked like a birthday cake sitting in the middle of a jungle. The Moonglo looks like a bakery sheet cake to me so that might have been the hook that drew me in. Over the years I went back to the Moonglo a number of times for different research requests and made a copy of it for my “great image” binder so I could find it easily. I was truly delighted when Stuart contacted me for a copy of the image because it was once his home and he was more than happy to share a little of the Moonglo’s history with me.

Stuart’s father, Alex Sarjeant was born in Barbados in 1903. After a twenty-five year career with Young & Rubicam in New York City he was ready for retirement. In 1953 Stuart’s mother and father ventured to Florida, originally intending to settle in the southern part of the state. Car troubles forced them to stop in Daytona Beach and they knew immediately that they need travel no further.

Their intent was to purchase and operate a small motel. When a real estate agent took them to the Moonglo it was love at first sight. They purchased the motel in June of 1953 from David Hanna for $40,000. Stuart’s mother thought that everything in Florida should be pink or turquoise so she was responsible for the color scheme.

Mr. and Mrs. Sarjeant ran the motel themselves and the family lived behind the office. They had only one employee, Stuart, and his responsibilities were limited to ice and towel deliveries. The couple did everything necessary to make the Moonglo a success from mowing the grass to making the beds. The Atlantic Ocean was only two hundred yards away and Stuart had fond memories of growing up with the beach as his backyard.

Stuart recalled his parents commenting about how many of their New York relatives wanted to renew their acquaintance after the Sarjeant family became Florida motel owners. One of the photos Stuart provided shows an aunt and uncle posing with Stuart and his puppy in front of the classic Art Deco Moonglo sign.

In 1959 the Sarjeants sold the Moonglo to the Pleasure Isle Motel across the street and it was absorbed into the much larger motel complex. By the time Stuart and I talked all of the surrounding properties had been purchased and he believed that it was only a matter of time until everything was razed to make way for a parking lot or strip mall. He was probably right. I attempted to call the Pleasure Isle hotel and it was no longer in business. When I first spoke to Stuart he was still in contact with Mr. Hanna, the Moonglo’s builder and original owner who was in his 80s at the time. The last time I spoke with Stuart he told me that Mr. Hanna had passed away.

The Moonglo Motel is no longer just another Florida beach motel. I now know that it was once part of a family’s American dream and their place in the sun. It was also a place that fostered a fifty year relationship, and a place where a little boy played with his dog on the beach and filled ice buckets for weary travelers. Stuart Sarjeant’s story gave this tiny image a history and a cast of characters. In much the same way postcards are often used by our researchers to give a story or a cast of characters a sense of time and place.

2011-11-22T08:47:00.000-08:00

I’ve always been a bit chagrined about this truly American holiday. The original Thanksgiving was a traditional harvest festival first celebrated in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The settlers who crossed from England aboard the Mayflower struggled through a very hard winter that they would not have survived without the help of the Wampanoag Native Americans who shared seeds and taught them to fish. Two years later in 1623 the Plymouth colonists observed their second day of thanks in response to the end of a long drought that had threatened their crops. Over the years days like these when the new Americans took time to fast and give thanks became commonplace. By 1789 George Washington called on the American citizens to express their gratitude for the end of the War of Independence and the beginning of a new country. At the height of the Civil War in 1863 Abraham Lincoln entreated the war weary citizens of this country to ask the Good Lord to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable strife” and “to heal the wounds of the nation.” So a country that separates its Church and State calls upon God to bless its endeavors and sets aside a special day to thank the Lord for his bounty and blessings. Seems terribly incongruous to me, but I like it anyway.

After pulling a number of Thanksgiving postcards from the files for this post I’m a little surprised that all of the cards seem so secular. According to the postcards in the Curt Teich Postcard Archives Thanksgiving really is turkey day. Only two of the Thanksgiving holiday cards I pulled from the files did not picture a turkey. Instead they showcase the turkey’s noble table accoutrements, the vegetables, my favorite part of the meal. I was also a bit surprised that of the sixteen cards only one depicts a family actually giving thanks and it seems that they are only thankful for the turkey that is gracing their dinner table. Four of the postcards feature the stars and stripes in some aspect and I especially like the one that shows the star of the Thanksgiving dinner waving Old Glory.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised. Today Thanksgiving seems to be all about the enormous, calorie laden dinner, the endless football games, and the last staging day before the Christmas shopping frenzy begins. It saddens me that the true harvest festival aspect of the day seems lost in the hype and overkill of television advertisements for the shopping deals that begin at midnight. The meal that was once the center of the celebration is now for some, only an interruption of hours and hours of football games. I’d like the day to return to its original intention, but I suppose that will never happen. Too many of us are caught up with what we don’t have and what we think we need.

To me Thanksgiving is a day to be with family and friends celebrating all that is good and abundant about our lives. It’s a good time to take a little stock of ourselves, to ponder what is true and meaningful and remember to be thankful for the gifts and graces that have been bestowed upon us. We are spending the day with my husband’s family on a little farm in southern Illinois. I know we will have time to be outside, to walk, see the animals, catch up with the family and with what has happened with my niece, nephew, and sister-in-law in the last few months since we were together. This has been a difficult time for them. My brother-in-law passed away unexpectedly last May and this is the first time we will all be together since then. It will be a time of reflection and sharing good memories and probably a lot of good laughs. The food will be abundant and wonderful and the house will be filled with old folks, us middle folks, the generation Xers and their offspring. Yes, that’s what my Thanksgiving is really all about...what is meaningful and true. I hope yours is the same.

The Novelty of Postcards

2011-11-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

Embroidered postcard
Embroidered postcard
Embroidered postcard
Woven silk postcard
Copper window postcard
Numbers postcard

It’s always exciting here at the Curt Teich Postcard Archives when the latest issue of Image File arrives from the printer. Image File is the illustrated journal for the Teich Archives. It provides a forum where images enhance articles and essays on twentieth century culture. The publication offers well researched articles on a variety of topics, richly illustrated with images from the author’s resources or the Archives vast collection. The latest issue’s cover story is about bullfighting, a timely story indeed as the last bullfight in Catalonia was held in La Monumental arena in Barcelona on Sunday, November 13th. A vote by the Catalonian Parliament in 2010 called for an end to the controversial spectacle in that region.

The long tradition of bullfighting in Catalonia and Spain may be coming to an end, but in Mexico in the 1950s it was flourishing in a little town south of the border called Ciudad Acuña. The story about La Macarena, a popular nightclub, restaurant and bullring in Ciudad Acuña paints a romantic picture of this Mexican town and of the women who came there to be bullfighters in the middle of the twentieth century. The article is illustrated with some very colorful posters that advertise the bullfights held in the Plaza de Toros Macarena and images of the interior and exterior of the nightclub. My favorite illustration for this article, however, is a beautifully embroidered postcard showing a woman in a colorful dress made of silken stitches. It is one of three embroidered postcards donated to the Teich Archives by a private collector showing figures dressed in Spanish influenced attire.

These postcards belong to a genre called novelty cards that includes hold-to-lights, die cuts, puzzles, copper windows, and many other types of postcards that are not view or advertising cards. The Curt Teich Company of Chicago specialized in advertising and view postcards so no novelty cards came in the original material donated to the Lake County Discovery Museum in 1982. In the past three decades of the Archives’ existence many novelty cards have made their way to the Teich Archives through private donations like the John High Collection which contains puzzles, months of the year, alphabets, numbers, woven silks, hold-to-lights, and copper windows. When held to a light source the images in the hold-to-light postcards are enhanced as the light lets additional images appear. The copper windows postcards have metallic chips in the windows of the buildings and they appear to glow from within.

In my constant search for postcards in today’s marketplace I’ve noticed that most of the images available are scenic or art cards. Only occasionally do I come across anything that could be classified as a novelty postcard. Interesting and charming, novelty postcards are little gems of printing ingenuity and hold a prominent place in the history of postcards. Because most of the research requests that come to the Curt Teich Postcard Archives are for the subjects and locations printed on view or scenic postcards the novelty cards that are in our collections are rarely used except for exhibits. What a delight it was to see the beautiful embroidered Spanish lady on the cover of image File and now it’s my pleasure to share her with you.

Image File is a benefit of membership for the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. For more information see the membership page on our website.

Postcards Verses Texting: My Vote For Snail Mail

2011-11-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

From my Granddaughter Evie

From Pam in China

From Bertha to Rudolph

From Chuck to Fred

From Father to Charlotte

From Bertha to her sister

From a Postcrosser friend

From my friend Mary Jo

Mail art postcard from Doug Travis

Postcard I sent to my self as a memento of my Italian vacation

I had to buy a new cell phone this weekend. I had a cool little black and silver clam phone that fit in the palm of my hand, but it stopped clamming and I knew it was only a matter of time until it bit the dust. It was a great little phone. When I traveled to Italy recently I bought an international calling package that allowed me to use it over there. Our friends bought the same package and a fancy new phone to go with it, but they had to use my little phone when theirs wouldn’t work. My phone took pictures, but my digital camera takes better ones so I never used that feature. To be honest, I just used it to call people. And I mean that literally. I would turn it on to use it then shut it off when I was finished. Believe me in this day of instant communication I took a lot of flack from my family and friends for my lack of cell phone etiquette.

My children and my two best friends are texters, though my son, who is a serious computer techie, does understand my need to hear his voice and calls me regularly. In all honesty I hate texting. It seems curt and rude and often there are misspelled words which makes me crazy. I have been a texting hold out. As part of my excuse I use my arthritic hands and farsightedness as my physical limitations to texting. My thumbs don’t work that well and I have trouble seeing such a little screen. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not a Luddite or a technology dropout. I use a computer with mediocre skill both at home and at work and I have an iPad that I now cannot live without. (But, as I continue to admonish my family and friends, I can see the screen on my iPad!) I admit that I have resorted to having my husband text my friends or our children to have them call me when I can‘t get them to answer my phone calls. I also realize that technology stops for no one and I need to just move along and stop whining.

After an hour at the phone store and with the help of a great sales guy named Chris, who really did seem to know what I wanted and did not pressure me, I left with a snazzy, non-smart phone with the word “Ease” in its name. It wasn’t the pretty pink one I really wanted, instead it has a nice big display and a slide out keyboard that I can actually read without my glasses if I hold it far enough away from me. It has lots of fun features; you can actually tell it who to call if your thumbs are too sore to type. It has a calculator, alarm clock, tip calculator, camera, and probably a lot of things I haven’t even found yet, and yes, I broke down and got the texting package.

When I got home I texted my son and daughter and they welcomed me into the second decade of the 21st century with a few snide remarks. I texted my best friend next. I had emailed her a recipe earlier in the day and I wanted to surprise her with a text asking if she got the recipe. She then proceeded to send me text after text and after I sent two reply texts I just stopped the texting game and deleted all the rest of the messages she sent me without reading them. I did it a bit gleefully, I might add. I told my son later what I’d done and he laughed told me that if I was going to text people I couldn’t just shut off the phone in the middle of a texting flurry. “Oh, yes I can, I said.” I admitted to my friend last night what I did and she wasn’t surprised and loves me anyway.

In the midst of all this telephone craziness I was thinking how simple life would be if we were all still communicating with postcards. Ponder it a bit. Obviously postcards moved slower than text messages, but life was slower back then as well. Postcards have only a small space where one can write a message. Some people will squeeze a long message into that small space with tiny, cramped handwriting, but most messages are short and to the point. A card my Granddaughter Evie sent to me this summer reads, “Dear Grandma This is where we went on summer vacation. I miss you. Love Evie.” My friend Pam went to China in August and sent me a card that reads, “ As promised postcard from China-oldest trading port in country-from tallest bldg-with outdoor ferris wheel!! OMG.” Both of these messages are about the length of a text message, but I got a little gift along with my message, a souvenir from their travels and a postcard for my collection.

Looking through a box of postcards in the Teich Archives I read a number of messages sent nearly 100 years ago. Bertha writes to Rudolph, “Dear Friend: Do you remember a pleasant evening spent at this place? Will write soon.” Chuck writes to Fred, “Well, I’m back in Chicago again, how’s everything in Rock Island?” A father writes to his daughter, “Dear Charlotte, You saw this elephant. Be a good girl when Father is gone.” Bertha from Racine, Minnesota writes to her sister living in Sargeant, Minnesota, “Dear Sister: We are planning to drive to Sargeant tomorrow morning if the weather is pleasant. Hope to find you all well. Regards to all.” These messages sound as if they could be text messages sent from someone’s cell phone. Instead they are permanently recorded on the backs of postcards. Obviously the cards were meaningful enough to be tucked away and saved, only to find their way to the collection here nearly a century later. Perhaps that’s what I love best about receiving a postcard from someone. It becomes a permanent reminder. Years later when cyber space will be filled with random snippets of text messages, I’ll still have these postcards to remind me of a certain time in my life, when someone I loved, was thinking of me.

Postcards on Fire Watch

2011-11-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

There probably isn’t a city in the world more enchanting than Venice, Italy. Though the main thoroughfares are always filled with tourists, the lack of vehicular traffic lends Venice a kinder, gentler atmosphere. As soon as you meander off the beaten path and walk through narrow streets and passageways there is a feeling of intrigue when you emerge onto a tiny, empty piazza where the weathered buildings fight back against the test of time and water. Because the real traffic in the city moves on the canals you begin to realize that the everyday systems that make a city run are quite different here. You see foodstuffs and supplies ferried by boat to docks that barely protrude into the water or are tucked under buildings. Garbage boats go by, construction boats loaded with supplies and men speed past in the numerous canals that snake through the city and you quickly see that life is far from ordinary in this magical place.

When I travel I love to visit museums, and I know, it’s a busman’s holiday to say the least. When you are traveling with two men who have over 60 years combined in the fire service, you can bet that they just might want to visit a firehouse in a foreign country. If you know that the firefighters in a particular location can’t use normal fire trucks because maneuvering the stone footpaths that are laid out across the island and are connected by staired bridges makes transportation impossible by anything with wheels, including a rolling suitcase, how they respond to and fight fires was even more interesting to these two old timers.

We mentioned to the concierge at our hotel that we’d like to visit a fire house and he told us that it wasn’t possible to knock on the door and expect a tour. He promised to see what he could do for us. When we stopped back at the desk he handed us a map with an X marked on it and told us to be at this location at 11:00 am sharp. We had a great walk through streets that turned and twisted along the canals and knocked on the door to the one fire house on the island promptly at eleven.

The fire station is located on the Rio di Ca’ Foscari and we were greeted at the door by a firefighter who immediately called for a reinforcement who could speak English. Fortunately for us Marco is married to an Australian woman and his English is a bit halting, but very understandable. No shiny red fire trucks parked in bays here. Instead wooden fire boats are moored under shallow archways below the building, but like American fire trucks, they are clean and polished and ready to roll. Like any fire chief, the chief of the Venetian Vigili del Fuoco, which translates to Fire Watch, has his own smaller, faster vehicle, a spiffy boat parked in a separate slip and also ready for action. We toured the facility and saw the training tower and watched as the men laid out lengths of hose to dry. Because their water source is salt water, great care has to be taken to keep the hose from deteriorating. Unlike the typical American fire house where one guy is dubbed “the cook” whether he can cook or not, these men are treated to home cooked meals by their very own hired cook, which made my husband and our friend Kurt very envious. As we thanked Marco for the tour he gave us a booklet and CD with information about the Vigili Del Fuoco and bid us Arrivederci!

It wasn’t until we returned home and started looking through all the paper souvenirs we had collected along the way, that I realized that there was a postcard included in the booklet. How cool is that! I’ve chosen this lovely set of postcards I purchased in Venice to share with you because to me they really capture the ambiance of the city, but I think my favorite postcard from Venice is the one from the Vigili del Fuoco. Ciao!

The postcard of Corpo Nazionale Vigili del Fuoco is Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco©
The postcards from Venezia are by Paolo Busato©

The Art is in the Cards

2011-10-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

Into the Sunset by Cheryl Dawdy, First Place

Eureka by Randee Ladden, Second Place

Blue Monday by Jodi Scaltreto, Third Palce

Xlatl Park by David McElroy

When They Went Out He Tended to Fade Into the Background by Lisa Corson

Swimming Koi by Jean Cook

Strong Threads by M. Parfitt

Queen of Cards by Zuleyka Benitez

Like Mother, Like Daughter by Judith Cahill

Lexicon 1c by Margaret Suchland

Good 'Morrow by Carole Kunstadt

Forsooth! Forsythia! by Suzanne Riggio

Imagine if you will an art lover and postcard aficionado receiving in the mail hundreds of tiny examples of art created for the postcard format. It’s a little like dying and going to postcard heaven and such was my fate for a few months during the spring and summer of this year. The artworks were entries in the ninth biennial Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition sponsored by the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. I received 425 little artistic gems created in every media imaginable including collage, watercolor, acrylic, photographs, and I even received a few tiny quilts. Surrounded by piles of amazing artwork I was the envy of my colleagues. After months of preparation, excitement and lots of work, Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition 2011 officially opened on Sunday, October 23rd at the Lake County Discovery Museum with a reception for the artists, sponsors, donors and special guests.

The Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition began in 1995. Dedicated to the American picture postcard, the intent of the exhibition was to focus new imaginative energy on a familiar form of expression. After 15 years and nine competitions I believe that the concept of asking artists to create postcard sized art remains fresh and dynamic and the exhibition continues to interest and please the public. Two judges are selected for each competition and they are asked to judge the work on creativity, technical expertise, and ease of reproduction in the postcard format. I am absolutely thrilled with the choices made by our judges Ron Testa and Doug Travis who both came to the competition with a long list of professional accomplishments.

Ron Testa has been making photographs since 1962. He holds a BFA and MFA in photography and he has served as a photographer for the Cleveland Museum of Art, U.S. Navy and Field Museum. In addition, he has taught photography around the country, and his photos have been shown in national and international exhibitions and published in many books and magazines. His work is represented in the permanent collections of a number of high profile museums, including The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Doug Travis is a prolific artist living and working in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Herron School of Art, Columbia College Chicago and UNLV. He has lectured and conducted workshops in letterpress and bookbinding, and worked as a photographer for the state of Indiana. One of his primary studies of work is creating original postcards. He has won numerous awards for his work, including from past PACE exhibits.

This dynamic and engaging exhibition will be on display at the Lake County Discovery Museum until January 29, 2012 and after that it will travel to four other locations. Please contact me if you would like a list of those venues. If you are unable to visit the Museum in person, check out PACE 2011 on our website where you can view the additional twenty-four images that comprise the exhibition. If you would like to try your hand at creating postcard art, there is always next time, PACE 2013. Watch our website for information and competition details beginning in January 2013. Congratulations again to all the PACE artists and another huge thank you to all the PACE supporters.

The postcards shown above are the twelve images selected for the PACE 2011 reproduction postcard sets which are available for $9.50 including postage. The printing of the postcards sets was donated by Lake County Press, Waukegan, IL. Contact me if you are interested in purchasing them.

Postcard Dreams of Italy, Part Two

2011-10-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

The Empress
Interior of the Castle
The Empress
Interior of the Chapel
La Forza
The Lovers
Panorama of the Tarot Garden

Though my physical body may be here, my heart and soul are still in Italy. Once again, she made me fall head over heels in love with her. Warm and sunny, filled with sites ancient and modern, sacred and profane, and heady with aromas of delicious food so intoxicating that you nearly swoon, Italy embraces me and makes me feel as if I have come home.

We started our journey in Rome, which like New York or Chicago has a hustling and bustling energy that is never ending even when darkness falls. People moving on foot, on bicycles, scooters, motorcycles and tiny cars parked so close together that you think four hefty guys must pick them up and move them out of the space and onto the street so they can be on their way. Sidewalks are not only filled with walkers but café tables where talking, smoking patrons eat and drink and watch the excitement of the city pass them by. We packed as much as we could into two days with a wonderful tour guide who reminded me, in the most delightful way possible, of Strega Nona the eponymous heroine of Tomie de Paola’s children’s book. From Rome we took the train to Tarquinia, an ancient Etruscan village on the western coast.

In my last post I talked about Tarquinia, a charming medieval hill town that seems to be entirely made of stone. Besides being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tarquinia is home to an amazing museum filled with Etruscan treasures. Even if that may not be your interest, the 15th century Gothic Palazzo Vitelleschi that houses the museum is an architectural gem and worth a visit. The locals don’t speak much English but are kind, friendly and patient with those of us who don’t speak much Italian. We had a delightful interaction with the proprietor of a local grocery store and went away with some of the best cheeses, olives, eggplant and salami we tasted in all of Italy and only a few words were exchanged. The evening brings out the local residents who walk together, sit on benches in the park, or chat on the street sharing gossip and good stories. One evening we had dinner in a lovely restaurant where the waiter used his best English to explain a menu written only in Italian. On a trip to the restroom I passed over a glass plate in the floor that showed a deep hole carved into the bedrock below. Again in his halting English, the waiter explained that the building was built over more of the ancient tombs this area is known for.

While in Tarquinia we stayed at a beautiful agrotourist hotel that was peaceful and calming after the fast pace of Rome, and had a spectacular view of the valley below. The scenery surrounding the hotel is the kind that is featured in travel magazines. Run by a kind and helpful family, Valle de Marta is a working farm that produces its own jams, preserves, wine and olive oils and offers cooking classes and spa days to its visitors. We walked through the orchards and marveled at the incongruity of olive trees, cactus, and pine trees all growing together. We chose this location because of its proximity to an artist environment called the Tarot Garden.

When you are of a certain age like I am and you love to travel, you probably have a “Bucket List” of places you’d like to visit or dreams you would like to accomplish during your lifetime. The Tarot Garden was number one on my Bucket List and I was not disappointed when I finally got there. As I mentioned in my previous post, the Tarot Garden is the masterpiece of Nikki de Saint Phalle, who along with her husband Jean Tinguely and a crew of craftsmen spent 22 years of her life creating massive sculptures depicting cards from the Tarot deck. As we drove off the highway and towards the site, the huge sculptures were visible on the hillside, shimmering in the sunlight and I knew that this was going to be something very special.

When Saint Phalle visited Barcelona and became acquainted with the work of Antoni Gaudí her life changed. Inspired by Parc Guell and Gaudi’s many other monumental works she knew that one day she would build a garden of sculpture. In 1978 Niki de Saint Phalle began laying out her Giardino dei Tarocchi on the estate of Carlo and Nicola Carracciolo at Garavicchio in Tuscany. She rented a small house near the project and hired local craftsmen to assist in creating her dream garden. By 1983 she moved into the Empress, a mother earth inspired sculpture whose entire interior is mosaic created from broken mirrors, and spent the next seven years there overseeing the monumental project. The fractured light caused by the thousands of tiny mirrors in the Empress’ interior lit up my soul when I walked inside. I’ve already told my family that if I ever run away from home the can find me in Nikki’s Empress.

Being a huge fan of the work of Antoni Gaudí and also of Barcelona I was struck at how much the Interno Castello, which is the inside of the Emperor, made me feel as if I was standing in Parc Guell. The thematically gaudy structure boasts walls covered in mosaics and broken bits of life’s excesses and the tiny mirrors and shiny bits of glass reflect the light in the most amazing way. Saint Phalle worked on the Tarot Garden until her death in 2002. Today this site is run by the Tarot Garden Foundation and is open to the public, though check the website for hours of operation as it is not always open. Though Nikki de Saint Phalle produced a vast body of work in many mediums throughout her lifetime, the Tarot Garden is truly a lasting monument to her vision and talent and I am so very grateful that I had the opportunity to experience it. Chiao!

The postcard of Tarquinia is ©Fotoedizioni Madua Sassari

The postcards of the Tarot Garden are ©Fondazione Il Giardino dei Tarocchi and the photos on the cards are ©Antonio Urtis.

Postcard Dreams of Italy

2011-09-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

General View of Florence, Italy
The Bridges of Florence
View of Florence, Italy
View of Florence, Italy
Rio Van Axel, Venice, Italy
Rio S. Barnaba, Venice, Italy
Gondola, Venice, Italy
S. Mark's Square, Venice, Italy
Tarquinia, Italy

I have Italy on the brain. After a few years of talking about it and a few months of intense planning, my husband and I and two of our dearest friends are soon to embark on an Italian adventure. Our plan is to see the upper half of the boot. We are flying to Rome then traveling by train to Tarquinia, Pisa, Florence, Venice, Lago di Garda, and Varese, then returning home from Milan. It’s an ambitious trip to say the least, but we are setting the stage to return to the places we like the best in a few years.

I love Italy. I made my first trip when I was seventeen and attending a European summer art program. Four of the six weeks I spent overseas were in Italy, three of those in Florence. I had my first love affair there. He was very tall, classically handsome, and had a sculpted physique. Doesn’t every young woman fall in love with David? I thought he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I marveled at how a mere mortal could bring such life out of a cold block of marble. I don’t believe that you had to pay to get into the Accademia then because I visited him every chance I had. When we visited Florence in 2000 I introduced David to my husband. As soon as we booked our hotel for our upcoming visit I asked the concierge to reserve tickets for us so I could introduce my first love to our friends as well. I knew Phil wouldn’t mind. It’s hard to be jealous of a man who is very cold and totally untouchable.

I’m looking forward to being the tour guide in Florence and Venice as this will be my third visit to both places. They are cities of vast beauty, history and intrigue, easy to navigate on foot, and filled with delights for all the senses. I want my friends to experience Fiesole, an ancient Etruscan village tucked into the hills above Florence where you can walk through ruins and sit in a Roman theatre. The views of Florence are breathtaking and it’s relaxing to visit this charming and picturesque village away from the crowds below. In the evening, everyone in Florence goes out to walk the streets. The passeggiata is a time to wind down as darkness begins to envelope the streets, arm in arm with someone you love; time to greet your neighbors or just drink in the intoxication of the city. This is the time of day when everyone is an Italian.

Our friends own a boat and love the water so Venice was an obvious pick. Tourists fill the streets of the city but if you walk into the island through the neighborhoods where the Venetians live there is a whole different charm to Venice. It stops being one of the most visited cities in Italy and takes on a small town feel. Old men sit at little cafes and drink espresso and children run in little packs through the streets, laughing and playing under lines of laundry strung from the buildings. I remember walking and walking until we finally found our way down to a little beach at the sea. It was far from the hustle and bustle and one could hardly believe that this was the Venice described in the guidebooks. It was on this little strip of sand looking out to sea that I remembered the best thing about Italy; she just wants you to fall in love with her.

Last year we visited Tarquinia, a charming medieval hill town that was the most influential Etruscan city 2,500 years ago. Today it is the home of a Unesco World Heritage Site, the Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia, an absolutely amazing ancient burial ground of nearly 6,000 subterranean tombs. Visitors may actually walk down into some of the tombs to view the richly painted walls. I marveled at how modern the designs were. We are staying at an agrotourism hotel that is surrounded by orchards of fruit and olive trees and produces its own brand of preserves and olive oils. I chose this hotel because it is within driving distance to the one site that is at the top of my Bucket List, the Tarot Garden. Begun in the late 1970s and opened to the public in 1998, the Tarot Garden is the masterpiece of artist Niki de Saint Phalle who continued to work on the garden until her death in 2002. I’ve seen many images of the garden and can’t wait to walk through the monumental sculptures depicting the figures of the Tarot deck myself.

Of course I will purchase lots of postcards on my journey and share them with you. My granddaughter and I have been practicing the most important Italian phrase I need to know. “Quanto costa questa cartolina?” That translates to “How much is this postcard?” Chiao!

Homage to Bad Postcards II

2011-09-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

You might think that after twenty-two years of being surrounded by postcards every day that I’d become jaded and postcards would begin to lose their luster. In fact the opposite is true. I’m passionate about postcards and what they reveal about the cultures that produce them. They can be informative, enlightening, historic, profound, disturbing, or hilarious. I often talk about how postcards document the twentieth century and illustrate what we did, how we got there, what we wore, what we bought, what we ate, and who or what we thought was important. I can go on and on extolling the importance of postcards as twentieth century visual documents and I often do when I have an audience. I’ve also looked a hundreds of postcards and thought to myself, “What were they thinking?”

Apparently I’m not the only postcard lover who feels this way. A fellow blogger has a great site called Bad Postcards to which I subscribe so I can get an additional daily fix of postcard wackiness. Bad Postcards is dedicated to vintage chrome postcards from 1950 to 1975, and at the risk of admitting my age, let’s just say that these were my formative years so I have a pretty good handle on the culture. Often the daily image is a Curt Teich postcard that I already know and love. Some are absolutely hilarious because our culture, our technology or our sensibilities have changed so much and the image is caught in a time warp. Others make you shake your head in wonder at who thought this image even made sense. Couldn’t they see that the register was horribly off? Why would looking at this hideous product advertisement make you want to run right out and buy one for yourself? Who in their right mind would want to visit this uninviting place? All these questions and more run through my mind when I enjoy the wacky weirdness of Bad Postcards. Imitation is the highest form of flattery so in homage to my fellow blogger once again I’m presenting a few bad postcards from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. If you enjoy fun and funky postcards check out Bad Postcards for yourself.

Not your average Christmastime tableau. Who knew mice wore gold lame’ at the holidays? And what about that hovering Christmas bat? Hope everyone had their rabies shots. This delightful “Mouse Fantasy” diorama could be enjoyed at the Woodland Museum in Cooperstown, New York in 1967.

Who wouldn’t want an Umberto Shadeless Lamp created from the fronds of towering Royal Palms? In 1955 tropical décor was the rage, though to me these look like a fifth grade art project that went horribly wrong.

This is an ad for “Elfin Impatiens” which might have been more appealing without the creepy old guy in the elf costume. I’d like to point out that I got a hat exactly like that when I attended the premiere of Peter Pan in California in the early 1950s.

This image is like a precursor to a modern Photoshopped image. However it appears as if some shaggy, red snake-like creature is devouring the “Ilikai on Waikiki Yacht Harbor” and I really don’t want to stay there if I have to worry about being in the middle of a bad sci-fi film.

Come on, I don’t care if this is an advertisement for the Kah-Nee-Ta Vacation Resort on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, cars should not be parked next to teepees. It’s just wrong.

It doesn’t take long to realize that this is just a model of the hotel. I mean, look at the size of the blades of grass in relation to the structure. It took me a while to figure out why the light blue sheet was stretched out in front of the hotel. Then I read the back of the card that tells me that the Lucerne is “directly on the ocean.” Really, that piece of blue fabric does not look like the ocean. This is not my idea of a vacation paradise.

This ad card for Dave Ellison Studio, Inc. has one of the creepiest spokespersons I’ve ever seen. Makes me wonder if he’s Dave Ellison?

Is it my imagination or does this guy look like Snap, Crackle or Pop on steroids? And what is a “wall pocket” anyway?

This has to be one of my favorite cards. Though I do not consider myself a postcard collector, I have amassed a nice little collection of “people with food on their heads” postcards. An obscure and wacky subject in itself, as you can see there are postcards of this genre out there. This woman is a walking convenient store. Want a little chicken stew or bouillabaisse? She has everything you need for a gourmet feast.

This looks like an adult version of that children’s game where the child can jump into a pit filled with plastic balls, though a rather cheesy version at that. Is she having fun or wincing in pain?

I have always been amazed that there are so many meat postcards in the Teich Archives. I don’t eat meat to begin with so these beef livers are particularly unappetizing even though they are “completely deveined & skinned, molded & cut to exact portions. Molded beef livers, yummmmm.

Planet Coin Bank, An Educational Model of our Planetary Solar System…With Spinaround Orbit Action! I have always loved these ad cards where the subject just hovers in the air. I wonder if this was the inspiration for Harry Potter’s Golden Snitch.

That’s one of the worst birthday cakes I’ve ever seen and I’m certainly not ordering one from “The Gladstone Baker Boy” who sent this postcard because he’s obviously not old enough to be driving a car much less baking a cake.

Quirky Hotels Make Great Postcards

2011-09-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Lobby of the Hotel Pattee

A story on MSNBC.com this morning about the world’s quirkiest hotels caught my eye. My husband and I travel a lot and have stayed in some pretty interesting places. One particular hotel comes to mind and it’s smack dab in the middle of Iowa. The Hotel Pattee, located in Perry, Iowa, a small agricultural and railroad town 35 miles northwest of Des Moines, was originally built in 1913. This grand hotel was the center of the town’s activity, the place where the milestones of Pattee’s resident’s lives were celebrated. By 1993 the hotel was in a state of disrepair and was purchased by Howard and Roberta Ahmanson. Roberta Green Ahmanson, a Perry native, had a real vision of what the hotel might become again. It reopened in 1997 with forty newly appointed rooms reflecting the history, culture and the people of the community. Phil and I stayed in the Alton School Room which is decorated with vintage school furniture and artifacts, quilts, and photos of the original building. My favorite aspect of our visit was the ability to peek into unoccupied rooms. Every day a list of rooms to view is posted on the lobby desk. Check the out the rooms and see which one you’d like to reserve for your visit to his historic and artfully decorated hotel.

Of course with me every story leads back to postcards. There are some quirky and wonderful hotel postcards right here in the Curt Teich Postcard Archives and I will readily admit that they are some of my favorites. Who wouldn’t love to sleep in the belly of an elephant? Lucy the Margate Elephant was built in South Atlantic City known as Margate by James Lafferty in 1881, though moved to her present location in an effort to preserve the landmark. There is some speculation that this particular example of zoomorphic architecture built by Lafferty was not used as a hotel and that it was the Elephantine Colossus at Coney Island that actually hosted overnight guests. You can get the idea, though, looking at the postcards of Lucy as to how much fun it would be to spend the night in her tummy. Today Lucy is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a beloved tourist attraction.

Have you slept in a wigwam lately? That’s the motto of the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, a prime example of pop or programmatic architecture. The individual wigwams that comprise the property are self-contained sleeping units made to look like the teepees of the Plains Indians. The cozy units, complete with their own bathrooms, are laid out to resemble an Indian Village. Today the totally updated Wigwam Motel is still owned and operated by the family of Charles E. Lewis, the man who originally built the motel as the Wigwam Village in 1950. I can attest that this is a great place to visit. A colleague of mine stayed there on a cross-county trip with her family a number of years ago and she said it was a blast. One of these days I’m going to see for myself.

In the early 1990s my Archives colleagues and I ventured on a whirlwind road trip to Washington D.C. to receive a prestigious award for the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. On our way home we made a quick side trip off the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the Lincoln Highway to find a hotel we had all fallen in love with via postcards from the collection. The S. S. Grand View Point Ship Hotel must have been a site to see in its heyday, perched on the side of a mountain overlooking “three states and seven counties.” Check out the story of the Ship Hotel and view some vintage interior postcards on these tribute webpages hosted by Doug Pappas. I can just imagine the place on a moonlit night in the summertime, the deck filled with people enjoying the cool mountain breezes blowing across the valley as music played in the background. When the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in October of 1940 the twisty, mountainous stretch of the Lincoln Highway that passed by the pleasure ship became a road less traveled. By the time our little band of historians saw what was once a grand structure, it had fallen into ruin. We peeked in the windows and walked around the property but there was nothing lustrous about the Grand View any longer except for the still spectacular view of the Allegheny Mountains . We were truly saddened when we heard that the S. S. Grand View Ship Hotel had burned to the ground in October, 2001, though for us she still lives on in her original splendor through the postcards here at the Teich Archives.

So many of these quirky and wonderful hotels and motels built in the twentieth century are long gone, demolished and totally removed from our landscape, and now only a memory. Fortunately many of them still live on as the subjects of the vintage postcards stored here. The Curt Teich Postcard Archives preserves these images and makes them available to the public so we can all remember what it was like, “in the old days.”

Postcards Reveal Baby Boomer TV Favorites

2011-09-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

I belong to the Baby Boomer generation. In fact, I’m one of the older Baby Boomers which means I’m part of the first generation that grew up in a household with a television. I’m sure studies have been done that suggest the profound influence television has had on my generation. We witnessed our president being assassinated before our eyes, we saw a man walk on the moon, and it became increasingly impossible to hide the horrors of war and civil unrest from us. However, for the children growing up in the 1950s and early 1960s, television offered a world of entertainment that no one had ever dreamed of before.

Growing up in the Chicagoland area, a hot bed of early broadcast communication innovation and excellence, we had some pretty wonderful children’s television shows to keep us distracted and out from underneath Mom’s feet. Perhaps my favorite was The Blue Fairy starring a lovely young Bridget Bazlen as the eponymous character who would sit on an oversized mushroom in the Blue Forest and admonish her young audience to “drink all of your milk” and “always tell the truth.” Launched in 1958 on Chicago’s WGN-TV and the recipient of the coveted Peabody Award that same year, The Blue Fairy was one of the station’s first two children’s programs produced in that amazing new innovation simply called “color.”

The other was Garfield Goose and Friends which the station had purchased and moved from WBKB in 1955. When Frazier Thomas brought his beak snapping goose to Chicago in 1951 he hosted the show in a suit and tie. But when Garfield, self-appointed King of the United States, made Thomas the Admiral of his Navy and Prime Minister in 1952 it was obvious Thomas was in need of a snappy uniform, hence the giant gold epaulettes and distinguished service medals on a royal blue coat. With the help of Roy Brown, who would go on to play a major role in Chicago children’s television as the beloved Cooky the Clown, Thomas brought the smiling goose sock puppet and his friends, Romberg Rabbit, Beauregard Burnside III, Macintosh Mouse, and Christmas Goose into our homes and hearts. The show, the longest running puppet show on television, finally went off the air in 1976.

One of the most popular and long running children’s shows was Bozo’s Circus. What began as Bozo in 1960 as a half-hour live cartoon show showcasing Bozo cartoons hosted by local announcer Bob Bell, ended with a forty plus year history of Chicago television broadcasting. By 1961 Bozo’s Circus debuted with Bob Bell as the title character surrounded by a host of other loveable circus misfits and a ringmaster who tried to keep them under control. With a cast of characters that included Ringmaster Ned, Wimpey the Clown, Cooky the Cook, Oliver O. Oliver, Sandy the Tramp and Wizzo the Wizard, lunchtime was never so much fun. Legend had it that when a Chicago area mother found out she was pregnant she immediately put in for tickets to the show. If she was lucky, her child might be an audience member by the time he or she went to school. And if she was exceptionally lucky, that child would be chosen by the Magic Arrows to play the Grand Prize Game and make it to the sixth bucket!

Ray Rayner was another Chicago TV performer who was on the television scene in the 1960s and 1970s. Perhaps his best known show was Ray Rayner and Friends, sort of a Today Show for kids, it was an early program that got us out the door in the morning. Ray was assisted by his pet duck Chelveston who waddled around the studio making a mess of his water bowl and a ubiquitous head of lettuce. Not the friendliest of fowl, Chelveston would occasionally nip at Ray making him a bit wary of his feathered sidekick. Cuddley Dudley, a dog puppet created and voiced by Roy Brown of Cooky the Clown fame, shared a segment where he and Ray read letters and showed off artwork created and sent in by children who watched the show. It was a chance for them to ad-lib and engage the adult audience. Ray always wore a bright orange jumpsuit that had numerous notes pinned to it to remind him what to do next on the show. As adults in this part of the country we often joke about pulling a “Ray Rayner” because (as aging Baby Boomers) we have to write so many notes to ourselves to make it through the day. Ray would muddle through an arts and crafts segment with the outcome barely resembling the sample his staff had provided. He would simulcast traffic reports from sister station WGN Radio as he showed stock footage of traffic moving along Chicago highways and during baseball season he would wear a Cubs/Sox two-billed hat that he would spin around on his head as he gave highlights of the previous day’s games. A man of many talents, Ray Rayner was also Oliver O. Oliver on Bozo’s Circus. His show lasted until 1981.

My children may have grown up in Mister Rogers Neighborhood, but I went to Ding Dong School with Miss Frances. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago , Ding Dong School was the brainchild of NBC executive Judith Waller who engaged Frances Horwich, professor of education at Chicago’s Roosevelt University, to develop a program format that would engage preschoolers and provide information to their parents. No colorful Big Birds or grouchy garbage can dwellers lived in Miss Frances’ classroom, but her soft voice and grandmotherly authority drew me in and I listened to everything she said. This Emmy nominated and Peabody Award winning children’s program lasted in syndication until 1965 when the competition from cartoon shows proved too great.

Though sadly no postcards exist in the Curt Teich Postcard Archives for Romper Room, it too was one of my childhood favorites. I learned the Pledge of Allegiance watching Romper Room because that was how each show began. All of us Romper Room devotees were very polite because we learned our “please and thank yous” from the show’s teacher who was always addressed as “Miss.” I realize that it’s hard to believe in this age of political correctness, but we said grace before we had our milk and cookies: "God is great, God is good. Let us thank him for our food. Amen." An oversized bumblebee called Mr. Do Bee helped us with our manners. Of course Mr. Don’t Bee was also around to show us how not to behave. At the end of every show the Romper Room lady would look through the “magic mirror” which any self-respecting child could see was the frame of the mirror without the looking glass part. Then she would say “Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic Mirror, tell me today, have all my friends had fun at play?” Then she would name all the children she saw out in televisionland in that stupid mirror without the glass. “I can see Stephanie and Cindy and Timmy and Pamela and Billy and Gail.” Can someone explain to me how she never saw me? I was always there!

Postcard Rooms for Rent

2011-09-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

I like to say that I often receive research requests that run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime. In the last few years I’ve had many requests for large letter or “Greetings From” postcards to be used as “Save the Date” cards for upcoming weddings. It’s always fun to work with happy people looking forward to a meaningful event. I’ve also supplied images that were used as backgrounds or set dressing for five major motion pictures, the most recent for The Paperboy and Tintin which will be released later this year. Often our files are tapped when an architectural firm is doing a renovation or restoration and wants images of a building through its history. Sometimes the requests are very personal and meaningful to a family’s history. Such is the case with a request I received last week.

I received an email requesting information on the Daniels Apartment Hotel located in Chicago at 4718 Winthrop Avenue. The grandfather of the gentleman who sent the email built the hotel in 1925. Curiously the only image of the hotel in the family’s possession was a Curt Teich postcard. Once the grandson learned that the Teich Archives existed he contacted me for any information I might be able to offer. I pulled the original job file and was delighted to report to my researcher that there was an original 8” X 10” black and white photo of the building in the envelope. The photo had been retouched a bit, leaves added to the otherwise bare trees and a little sidewalk clean up, but not enough to compromise the integrity of the photograph. Needless to say, the grandson of the hotel’s builder was excited and most appreciative that the photograph not only survived, but was available to his family as well. I truly believe that these original materials are what make this collection unique and so incredibly valuable in telling the story of the twentieth century.

Mr. Daniels’ grandson, Michael, and I chatted about the fact that his family didn’t own any visual record of this building except for the original postcard. We discussed how the information on vintage postcards can reveal so much about life in our neighborhoods or big cities in the last century. Often the only record of an otherwise obscure building is on a postcard because that particular building just happened to be next to a drug or hardware store prominently shown on a postcard advertising the latter establishments. In the example of the Daniels Apartment Hotel postcard, not only does it tell us exactly where the hotel is located, but lists the monthly rates and how to reach it by a number of modes of transportation, and we also see an interior view of the lobby and it’s 1925 furnishings.

Truly one of the most satisfying aspects of my job here at the Curt Teich Postcard Archives is having the opportunity to help researchers fit a piece into the puzzle that is their family’s history. The Teich Archives is literally a treasure trove of information about life in the twentieth century, be it about small towns or big cities, where we went, how we got there, what we wore, what we ate, and what we thought was important, and I cannot sing its praises too loud or often enough.

Postcard Picnic

2011-08-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the opportunity for picnicking. I love packing up a bag of delicious summer treats and toting it off to some other location besides my kitchen table. Why does everything taste better when you eat it outside?

A few weeks ago I packed a bag of lunch goodies and my husband and I headed out of town and ended up in Kenosha on the shores of Lake Michigan. We unpacked our treats and placed them on a bright plastic tablecloth I have for just such occasions. It was a hot day but under the roof of the picnic shelter we enjoyed a cool breeze as we ate our lunch and watched sailboats drift by while children played on the beach. When we finished we packed up the leftovers and walked along the shoreline enjoying the day. Because I didn’t pack dessert, we had an excuse to make one last stop at the famous Kenosha drive-in call the Spot for ice cream before heading back to the real world.

When our granddaughters were here for a visit recently we spent a day at the beach in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. That morning we packed up our cooler bag with some of everyone’s favorite foodstuffs, gathered up a bag full of plastic containers and buckets, grabbed our trusty plastic tablecloth and loaded up the car with all this stuff and our two little babes from Colorado. It’s not always easy to keep sand out of your food at the beach and though it does add an additional crunch factor when it ends up at as a condiment, it really doesn’t do much for the taste. Fortunately, little girls who are very busy on the beach building sand castles and looking for cool rocks and shells don’t really mind. As the clouds rolled in and the rain began to fall we headed over to the Riviera Dock and had ice cream for dessert while we waited for a break in the weather. Hmmm, picnics and ice cream, seems like there’s a pattern here for the Gust Family.

We love summertime in the Colorado Mountains and when we spend time at our condo you can bet at least one day we are going to pack up our lunch and carry it down to the shores of the Blue River that runs through downtown Breckenridge. There are big slabs of rock that line the shores and they make perfect tables for a picnic lunch. Warmed by the Colorado sun we enjoy our repast as we listen to the rushing water and watch children and families navigate the rocks as they enjoy playing in the cold water that was only recently mountain snow.

If you’ve ever been to the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois to see one of the terrific acts that perform there every summer you know that the picnic aspect is one of the best parts of the whole experience. There are people here who have taken picnicking to the realm of higher art form. They arrive hours before the show starts, bring tables and chairs, linens, candelabra, and gourmet food and wine. The music or performance becomes the background and sets the ambiance for the nighttime picnic where good friends come together to enjoy each other’s company under the starry summer sky.

Above is a selection of picnic images from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. I hope you enjoy them and I also hope that they inspire you to pack up a lunch and head out to the beach or your favorite quite place to enjoy the outdoors, some of your favorite summer food and the company of someone you love. As for me, I’m headed out to our Employee Picnic at one of our forest preserves this afternoon for some good food and a little fun in the sun with my colleagues.

Postcard Connections

2011-08-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

You meet a lot of interesting people when you have a job like mine; postcard lovers, postcard senders, postcard artists and people who just love visual images. I stay in touch with many of these great people and they will occasionally send me cool stuff that they think I’ll enjoy. Back in June I received a link to very interesting blog post from a postcard lover that amazed me and caused me to ponder a bit on the impact postcards have on our ability to make visual and emotional connections to the past.

Working with postcards for so many years I’ve realized that they are touchstones for many of us. I often see postcards used in advertising, in décor, in movies, and in books or magazines. As visual images they represent the connection to time and place, be it hometown or exotic, that people recognize and understand. They can also connect us to history or suggest adventure. Perhaps for me the greatest power of postcards is how they connect people. The post entitled
A Postcard From 1912 Returns to Brooklyn from the New York Times blog called City Room defines how a postcard from 1912 brought the history of an old home alive and caused a bit of intrigue in the process. I hope you enjoy the postcard connections as much as I did. Check it out here.

Safety in Postcards

2011-08-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone wants to live in a world that’s safe but with so many people on the move in a constantly changing environment that isn’t always easy even for the most vigilant. The Curt Teich Postcard Archives and the Lake County Discovery Museum are part of the Lake County Forest Preserves which is a diverse organization with about 200 employees. Our mission is to protect, preserve and conserve the natural and cultural resources in our county. To accomplish those goals our workforce must consist of many types of professionals from naturalists, accountants, mechanics, and educators to landscape architects, exhibit designers, purchasing agents, ranger police and golf pros. Some of us drive vehicles, operate backhoes and heavy machinery, use table saws and other very sharp objects. Some of us carry weapons and wear bullet proof vests on our daily rounds. Some hit golf balls while others stay out of their way. Many of us sit in front of computers for hours on end and wreck havoc on our good posture and eyesight. We all try to be prudent and safe in what we do, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded once in a while.

The Lake County Forest Preserves subscribes to an online newsletter called the R.I.S.C. Report for its employees that discusses different safety issues such as how to protect your back when lifting heavy objects, working with hazardous substances or setting up an ergonomic work space. The most recent newsletter addressed being aware of distractions while driving your car. Distracted driving takes your eyes off the road and your mind off the task at hand and causes thousands of accidents each year that result in injuries and deaths. Interestingly vehicle collisions are the main cause of work related deaths so it’s not surprising that all the Forest Preserve employees are required to attend a defensive driving class as well. The newsletter also highlighted a distracted driving awareness video sponsored by Chrysler, Car & Driver and
Txt U L8r. If you have a young person you love who’s driving a car I highly recommend that you share this video with them.

So what does all this serious safety talk have to do with postcards? If you are a regular reader you know by now that everything in my life relates to postcards. After reading the newsletter about safe driving I couldn’t help but think of the fun postcards in our collection on just that subject. Wouldn’t you have enjoyed a visit to Safety Village USA in Tampa, Florida when you were a youngster? The best part is that it was located adjacent to a place called Fairyland. Children from the ages of 6 through 12 could learn the principles of traffic safety here and it was free of charge to the general public. I just like the idea of being “Kidzilla” in the tiny neighborhoods.

The Child Safety Campaign of the Engineering Division of the Maryland Casualty Company wants us to remember that “Children Should be Seen and Not Hurt’ which is excellent advice for all of us while traveling the streets of our neighborhoods. They also want us to be aware of children “hooking rides” on the backs of vehicles. I remember my mother telling me about “skitching” on the back of streetcars when she was a kid in Chicago in the early 1920s and I must admit it sounded very daring and adventurous. She also admitted that her father had absolutely forbidden her from doing it, though that never stopped her. I’m not sure that “hooking” is widely practiced today though I’ve seen many a skateboarder doing something similar.

The card that reminds us to THINK ONLY OF DRIVING is actually a card to be filled out with your medical information then tucked into your car’s sun visor in case of an accident. This may have been a precursor to the medical alert bracelets many people with health issues wear today. The colorful linen postcard is just a great reminder to be on the lookout for the other guy and practice defensive driving. Perhaps my favorites are the real photo postcards with the giant rabbit extolling safety slogans. Real photo cards that employ the larger than life techniques are like archaic Photoshop pieces and I find them lighthearted and charming. It should be noted that on the back of the cards is printed “FREE SOUVENIRS with GASOLINE, EAST SIDE OF TOWN, SYRACUSE, KANSAS.” I’d like to think that the giant rabbits were handing out the souvenir postcards on the east side of Syracuse. Talk about a diving distraction!

Silk Postcards, Woven Treasures

2011-07-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

John High Crazy Quilt, photo by Mark Widhalm
Detail of John High Quilt, photo by Mark Widhalm

Throughout the years I’ve spoken to many collectors and I always ask what sparked their interest in the postcard genres that they collect. It may be a lifelong fascination with a certain subject or something quite serendipitous. John High, a New York stage actor working in the Poconos in 1971, visited a local church fair with some of his fellow cast members and bought his first woven silk pictures. These intricate little works of woven art enchanted the actor and soon he started collecting woven silks in the postcard format. From this simple purchase, the John High Collection that now resides at the Curt Teich Postcard Archives began.

The fascinating and intricate silk pictures and postcards we know today as Stevengraphs get their name from Thomas Stevens, a nineteenth century weaver from Coventry, England. Stevens learned the ribbon weaver’s trade as a young man then set up his own business on Queen Street in Coventry in 1854. In 1860 the Cobden Treaty took effect removing England’s protective tariff on silks, ribbons, brocades and other woven goods. This was devastating to the weaving industry in Coventry where nearly half of the weavers lost their jobs and ultimately emigrated to other countries in search of employment.

An enterprising and resourceful man and highly skilled in the techniques of the Jaquard weaving loom, a loom so sophisticated and capable of intricate patterns that it is considered one of the first computers, Stevens created a new industry. Through a series of inventions he refined the Jaquard loom’s capabilities to produce silk pictures with detail so exquisite and intricate the pieces seem to have a three-dimensional quality. Certainly Stevens wasn’t the only weaver to produce tiny woven silk art, but he was quite successful at it. By 1862 his repertoire included nine different bookmarks and that year he registered four new patterns. He did produce larger scale artwork suitable for framing, but found his real calling in the smaller pieces. The royal marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales and the three hundred year anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth in 1863 provided new subject matter for souvenirs and Steven’s work was so popular by that time that he had little competition.

By the 1880s his company was producing a variety of items including birthday and holiday greetings, valentines, calendars, fans, ladies sashes, and of course the famous bookmarks. Subjects that appealed to Victorian tastes, and for that matter had universal appeal, such as portraits of royalty, the US President, authors, poets, and even Bullalo Bill Cody were desired by collectors and souvenir buyers. Expositions were popular at the end of the nineteenth century and by this time Stevens had sales agencies in Leipzig, Dublin, Glasgow, and Londonderry in Europe, and Cincinnati and New York in the United States so he sent representatives to demonstrate the weaving process and sell souvenirs at these events. After he died in 1888 two of his sons continued the business that was well known for its pleasant working conditions. The business and its buildings in Coventry were destroyed in the heavy bombings of World War II. Today Stevengraphs are prized by collectors around the world. To learn more check out the website of the
Stevengraph Collector Association.

The postcards above are examples of Stevengraph woven silks and are part of the John High collection at the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. Another outstanding component of this collection is a crazy quilt that was made using Stevengraph woven silk pictures and bookmarks that were created for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Currently this beautiful quilt is on display at the Lake County Discovery Museum as part of an exhibition called Quilt Treasures: Pieces of History. The exhibition runs through September 25th and is one of the exhibits celebrating the
Northern Illinois Quilt Fest.

Postcards Help You to "Wake Up on the Bright Side"

2011-07-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

I often write about our trips to Denver to visit our family. It’s no secret that while my husband and I live in Illinois, our hearts are truly in Colorado. Not only do we miss our children and our granddaughters, aka the Babes, we just love being in a Colorado state of mind. One day, Colorado will be our home.

In the meantime, we make about five or six trips out there each year and usually stay at a La Quinta Inn. Two of them are conveniently located close to our children’s homes in Denver and they are always clean, usually very reasonably priced (unless the Rockies are in town), breakfast is served in the lobby, and the pool can come in very handy as Babe entertainment. I hate to admit it, but the weekend night clerk, who is from a small town in Illinois near where we live, actually recognizes us and calls us by name. I think we might have enough reward points for a month’s stay.

This post isn’t a plug for La Quinta and I am not receiving any compensation whatsoever for mentioning their brand. But these folks really know how to use postcards. The cards above are currently available for free at the front desk of the Colorado based inns. I imagine that every state has its own set of cards. Notice how the same background showcases two different locations. The La Quinta marketing staff understands the “Greetings From” idea of “here we are, wish you were here” that postcards embody. The postcards have a colorful Colorado scene and the guest can send off a view of the state that she didn’t even have to pay for. The fact that there is a La Quinta Inn on every card makes it a great advertising tool for the company. And besides, who doesn’t love collecting cool, free postcards? Or for that matter, sending them to her friends!

Postcards for Show and Sale

2011-07-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

Mable Head by Junko Yamada
The Secret by Doug Travis
Daydreaming by Carole P. Kunstadt
Botanical Garden by Elizabeth Concannon
Hokusai Global Warming by Jean-Louis Lassez
Postcard Parts and Other Pieces by Cheyl Dawdy

When you love postcards as much as I do, especially those created by artists, having to spend the last few weeks looking at the postcard art submitted for our Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition (PACE 2011) has been a little piece of heaven. When I came back from my vacation my desk was piled high with envelopes of artwork that had arrived in the mail or had been delivered in person. Each package was a delightful surprise as I tried to guess which images would catch the judges’ eyes tomorrow and be chosen for the show.

The judges for PACE 2011 are themselves past winners of the competition. Ron Testa has been making photographs since 1962. He holds a BFA and MFA in photography and has served as the photographer for the Cleveland Museum of Art, US Navy and Field Museum. He has taught photography around the country, and his photos have been shown in national and international exhibitions and published in many books and magazines. His work is represented in the permanent collections of a number of high profile museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Doug Travis is a prolific artist living and working in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Herron School of Art, Columbia College Chicago and UNLV. He has lectured and conducted workshops in letterpress and bookbinding, and worked as a photographer for the state of Indiana. One of his primary studies of work is creating original postcards. He has won numerous awards for his work, including first prize in PACE 2009.

Tomorrow the work will be laid out like little gems for the judges’ perusal and thirty-six will be chosen for the exhibition. Of those, twelve will be made into a set of reproduction postcards thanks to the generosity of Lake County Press, who donates their services for this project. These postcards will be available for sale here at the Lake County Discovery Museum. PACE 2011 will open at the Museum on October 1st and will travel to four other venues in northern Illinois. Additional information will be posted on our website.

As an added benefit to the artists who enter their work and our Museum visitors, we will be selling artwork not accepted into the show on Saturday and Sunday, July 16th and 17th, during regular Museum hours. About four hundred pieces of art will be for sale, many priced between $25 and $75, with the most expensive pieces priced at $150. If you are in the market for some inexpensive yet stunning original artwork, be sure and stop by for a look. There are exquisite, tiny quilts, photographs, oil paintings, collages, digital art, and just about any medium you can imagine.

I can’t share any of the entries with you, but the images above are a few of my favorites from PACE 2009 that were in the show but not part of the reproduction postcard sets. I’m sure you can see why the past few weeks have been so much fun.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

2011-07-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

©Lantern Press, Seattle, WA
Georgetown Loop Railroad, photo by Dan Adler
Photo by Terry Donnelly
Photo by Rich Buzzelli
Photo by Bill Bonebrake
Photo by Allen Karsh
Photo by Tony Litschewski
© 2007 Exhibit Merchandising LLC
© Dunlap Postcard Company
© Dunlap Postcard Company

If you live in Northern Illinois and your granddaughters, aka the Babes, live in Colorado, it’s pretty safe to assume that you’ll be heading out west for your summer vacation. Such is the case for the Gusts. We made our way to out to Denver and picked up our girls and headed down to Colorado Springs for a little summer fun, and I picked up a few postcards along the way to share our adventures with you.

Our first stop was the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. If you have the need to be face to face with a giraffe and have it eat cookies right out of your hand you won’t want to miss a trip to this wonderful place which boasts the largest giraffe herd of any zoo. Our granddaughter Evie was right up there but Pearl wasn’t so sure she wanted those 20 inch blue-black tongues coming in her direction. By the way, the giraffes that live at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo are giraffa camelopardalis reticulate which means “camel-leopard-like one who walks swiftly.” Check out
giraffe cam to see what these tall guys are doing today.

The next day we headed over to the Garden of the Gods. I truly fell in love with this place when I was on my honeymoon forty-one years ago and rekindled my love affair with it when my son moved to Colorado in 1996. It is a magical place for me and I knew the girls would love climbing on the rocks, hiking on the paths and looking for wildlife. Like most tourists we took our picture trying to hold up Balanced Rock and pushing the huge boulders down the hills. We took time for lunch at the great Visitor and Nature Center, then headed back out for more climbing and hiking. Finally we were able to entice the girls back to the car with promises of ice cream in Manitou Springs. Ah, ice cream, soothes the souls of savage beasts and very tired children. While the Babes napped we drove to Breckenridge taking Highway 24 to Highway 9 through a beautiful valley that’s labeled South Park on the map. Last year when we drove through this valley it was early in the season and it was still lush and green from the spring rains. This year is was dry, but crisp and golden in the Colorado sunlight and beautiful in an entirely different way.

The next day we headed down to Georgetown for a ride on the historic Georgetown Loop Railroad. In 1884 this railroad was constructed to connect the mining towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume. This narrow gauge railway takes a corkscrew route that twists and turns through spectacular Rocky Mountain scenery and crosses over Clear Creek four times. The railroad carried passengers and freight between the two mountain towns until it was abandoned in 1938. The Colorado Historical Society began a restoration project in 1973 to restore the railway and create a historic park to celebrate Colorado’s mining history. This is a must do for families with young children as it is fun and exciting for the little ones, but a great lesson in the history of Colorado for us older folks. Check out the
Georgetown Loop Railroad’s website for more information about its history and the train schedules.

After spending an entire day at Water World in celebration of my daughter’s birthday, we had one more attraction on our list of things to do. The Pirates had sailed into Denver and we wanted to see them. Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah From Slave Ship to Pirate Ship, a National Geographic exhibition is currently running at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Our girls are Goonies fans so being able to walk onto a real pirate ship and hold real pirate booty in their hands was quite a treat. In fact we had to buy a few pieces of eight as souvenirs of our visit. The girls had a blast and the grownups learned quite a lot about real pirates.

We had a great week filled with lots of fun adventures, but It was time to leave the Babes and our hearts in Colorado and drive home to Illinois. Though western Nebraska has the interesting sand dunes, the rest of the state along Interstate 80 is not that exciting for me. It isn’t until we get into Iowa that I am reminded why I love the Midwest so much. Right now Iowa is lush and green with fields full of promise as the crops grow to their maturity. Iowa dips and rolls gently beside the highway and I see the all beauty the earth has to offer us. The wheat is ready to harvest and the corn and beans are growing before my eyes and patches of wildflowers break up the glorious monotony of green. Summer vacations are grand, especially when you get to spend them with people you love. Perhaps, though, one of the nicest aspects of your summer vacation is finally going home.

Postcards: Send One Today

2011-06-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

American author, historian, lecturer and two time winner of the Pulitizer Prize, David McCullough, is the subject of Time Magazine’s 10 Questions in the June 20, 2011 issue. In the piece McCullough admits to often using letters in his research.

Time: We don’t write letters on paper anymore. How will this affect the study of history?

McCullough: The loss of people writing—writing a composition, a letter or a report—is not just the loss for the record. It’s the loss of the process of working your thoughts out on paper, of having an idea that you would never have had if you weren’t (writing). And that’s a handicap. People were writing letters every day. That was calisthenics for the brain.

I’ve been pondering McCullough’s answer to the above question for a few days now. I agree with him that the art of written communication seems to be going by the wayside. I get too many emails that have bad grammar and misspelled words, mostly because people either don’t care or they can’t take the time to spell check what they’ve written. Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with people, but I’ve never viewed it as a real forum for communication. Mostly there seems to be a lot of inane commenting going on there. So far Twitter is beyond me. One of my colleagues assures me that it has its place in our business and I do believe her, really, I do. And don’t ask me to text you because I can’t. I suppose one day I will have to jump on that band wagon, but right now I have a ridiculously low cell phone contract for a phone that only makes calls and a pair of arthritic thumbs, and I’m using that as my out.

I do write letters, but certainly not as many as I used to. I email a lot because so many people communicate with me that way. My communication format of choice is postcards because they are personal and force me to actually put something of myself onto the paper. When each of my granddaughters was born I gave her a postcard album and began a postcard correspondence with her. After each time we’re together, for every special occasion, or sometimes just because I want to, I send them postcards. Some I make myself, others I buy, but they always carry a message, a little part of me. In effect, I’ve created a postcard history of our lives. Someday they will be able to relive all the wonderful times we had together just by looking through their albums. Now that they are older, they are sending postcards to me.

Last week I wrote about Postcrossing. Each time I send a postcard to one of the other Postcrossers I try to tell them something about myself, where I live, where I work, my travels. We share not only our love of postcards, but our love of communicating to people with handwritten words. I was so delighted to find three postcards in the mail when I got home last night. One was from my granddaughter Evie and two were from Postcrossers. How absolutely serendipitous that the message on one card was this quote from Phyllis Theroux: “To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.”

So postcard lovers, let’s rock the world a little. Let’s exercise our brains, let’s move our hearts. Let’s write a little history. Next time you want to send someone an email, send them a postcard instead. Pick up a pen and put it to paper and send a few thoughts through the mail. You’ve not only given a little of your heart and your head, you’ve sent someone a little gift. Emails are easily deleted and lost. But a postcard can be tucked into a book or into the side of a mirror (or lovingly placed in an album) and every time they see it they will be reminded of you.

Good Morning! Good Night! Good Postcards!

2011-06-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

My current postcard passion is a web based project called
Postcrossing. Though I’ve written about Postcrossing before, I’m so thrilled with the pair of postcards I received on Monday that I want to share them and inspire others who love getting postcards in the mail to join in the fun.

First let me explain how Postcrossing works. You go to the website and create a profile similar to the way you would create a Facebook profile. You can share as much or as little information about yourself that you care to, but it’s especially important to let the other Postcrossers (that’s what we call ourselves) know the kinds of postcards you’d like to receive. I love artist created cards so I’ve added that to my profile. Then you begin the process by clicking on the “Send a postcard” button. You’ll be asked to read a few notes about the process and agree to them, then a random Postcrosser’s profile will appear with their name and address and you send them a postcard. It’s that easy. Once you’ve sent a card your name will randomly appear to someone else and they’ll send you a postcard. Currently it costs 98 cents of postage to send a postcard from the US to anywhere in the world. If you happen to have a great postcard stash like I do and are willing to share, it’s a relatively inexpensive endeavor. You can send as many or as few as you want. But remember you’ll only receive as many as you send. According to my profile I’ve been a Postcrosser for 454 days and I’ve received 55 postcards.

One of the best things about receiving postcards from people all over the world is that most of them want to share something special with you. It could be a place they particularly love, (I send lots of cards from Chicago and Colorado) or a subject, an activity, or an artist they think you might enjoy. When I receive a postcard with a subject that’s unfamiliar and interesting, I’ll look it up and learn something new. Postcrosser Marita who sent me the two cards shown above obviously was inspired to send artist cards because she read my profile. I have to admit that to date these are my favorite Postcrossing cards. Not only is the subject matter fun and engaging, the stamps are equally as interesting. I checked out the artist’s website and learned that Janne Karvo is a computer programmer and that photography is her hobby. Seriously, I don’t think she’d have any trouble quitting her day job! Now check out the cool stamps. The map of Finland was once part of the scenic view. Notice the connected string of orange dots on the map stamp. Now look up
Struve Geodetic Arc and I hope you’ll learn something new as well.

Join the postcard fun and become a Postcrosser. We’re spreading good will and joy worldwide, one postcard at a time. A special thanks to Marita of Finland for this amazing set of cards.

Postcards: Art in the Mail

2011-06-08T08:36:00.000-07:00

Tête á Tête on the 98^th Floor of a Skyscraper by Moriz Jung, Weiner Werkstätte

Easter Card by Josef Hoffamn, Weiner Werkstätte

Mr. Peggotty and Little Em'ly after the original painting by Harold Copping, Raphael Tuck & Sons
Suburban Cowboys by Keith Stanton
Someday I Will Live in Hollywood by Todd Mack
Love Story by Richard Johnson
Italian Gardens by Alejandra Vernon
How She Landed by Randee Laddden
Gaiety by Charlotte Sasser
Au Cafe by Julia Lauer-Cheenne
Floral Leanings by Sadie Gerbic
Flora by Erin Endicott
Eyewitness Report by Sarajane Avidon
BeeHind by Eileen Saarela Bell
Aunt Alice & her Chevrolet by Ron Testa

As the Image and Licensing Specialist at the Curt Teich Postcard Archives I am well versed in the historical significance of postcards in documenting twentieth century life. Some will argue that postcards are imperfect documents because they may have been created from altered or touched up photographs. I will argue that it is just that quality that makes them the unabashed storyteller of life in the big city and the small town during the last amazing century. Postcards were created to put a locale’s best foot forward. The invitation to the postcard buyer was “Step right up and spin that postcard rack and see our hometown the way we want you to remember it.” We bought billions of those pasteboard rectangles so we could remember. We sent them to our family and friends so they could share our adventures, or perhaps to boast a little. Instead of saying, “Wish you were here” maybe we were really saying “I’m here and you’re not.”

There were many postcard printers and publishers that eschewed the idea of postcards as just historical documents and saw them as great vehicles for bringing art to the masses. For example the Weiner Werkstätte, or Vienna Workshop, founded in 1903 during the golden age of postcards by designer Joseph Hoffman and artist Koloman Moser, produced a numbered series of nearly 1,000 postcards. The Workshop’s artists collaborated on this series that included subjects such as holidays, fashion, culture, humor, and scenes of popular tourist destinations. Raphael Tuck & Sons of England were also known for the beautiful artist postcards they printed while in business from the mid 1880s to the early twentieth century. These postcards were truly Mail Art, art created specifically to be sent through the mail. For those who could not afford a trip to the city to visit an art museum, a postcard that depicted real artwork was a treasure.

The modern idea of Mail Art began as a social movement in the 1960s and really came to a peak in popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s before it logically moved into cyberspace. Mail Art as it is practiced today by a loosely connected galaxy of thousands of artists from very different backgrounds is the act of creating an original artwork and sending it to someone through the international postal system. For someone like me who is an artist who loves postcards, this is an endeavor created in artistic heaven. Not only has this become one of my passions, it was the inspiration for a special project created in 1995 called Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition which celebrates the postcard as art and as visual document.

A biennial event since 1995, Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition 2011 (PACE 2011), sponsored by the Curt Teich Postcard Archives, is the ninth offering of this special exhibition that will open at the Lake County Discovery Museum on October 1, 2011. PACE 2011 offers artists 18 and older the unique challenge of producing works in postcard size. Work submitted to the competition will be judged on creativity, technical expertise and reproducibility within the postcard format. A set of twelve postcards will be made from the winning designs and made available for sale to the public. The deadline to enter is July 11, 2011 and the complete prospectus and details of the competition are available online at
PACE 2011 or by contacting me at the Archives at 847-968-3381. Create your own Mail Art and join the movement.

The twelve modern postcards shown above are some of my favorite winners of past PACE competitions.

Rockin' on the River

2011-06-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

I love road trips and what better time to take a road trip than Memorial Day weekend. My husband and I picked up our dear friends Tom and Linda and headed down to Louisville, Kentucky for
Abbey Road on the River. Touted as “The World’s Largest Beatles-Inspired Music Festival,” AROTR has great locations, stellar tribute bands, pretty good food for a festival, darn good people watching, and this one had spectacular weather. Sunny skies, breezes off the Ohio River, performances of some of the greatest music ever written, and of course, spending time with good friends, made this one fine holiday weekend.

When Pam Am flight 101 carrying the Beatles landed in New York on February 7, 1964 I had just turned 13 three days before. Beatles music became the soundtrack of my teenage years. During the 1960s the Beatles released 19 albums in the US including Meet the Beatles, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour, and Yellow Submarine. By the time I graduated high school in 1969 the Beatles had gone their separate ways and John had married Yoko Ono and had become part of the Plastic Yoko Band. By the end of 1970 Paul McCartney had filed suit to dissolve the Beatles partnership. Each Beatle in his own right continued to produce and perform music, but for me, nothing ever compared to the music they made together. For most people in my generation, the first few notes of a Beatle song can transport you back in time. “Time it was, and what a time it was, a time of innocence, a time of confidences.”

Anytime you attend a festival of this kind there are plenty of memorabilia “shopportunities” where T-shits, tote bags, and collectables abound. I have to say that Abbey Road on the River was a postcard bonanza. The first nine images above are all reproductions of original Beatles promotion photographs. I really love these images, especially the black and white photos, and they will become a permanent part of my personal collection. The next three are advertising postcards for bands that performed at the festival and they were available everywhere you looked in downtown Louisville. The postcards for the band Whiplash were also personally handed out to the crowd by the father of one of the band members as he chatted up the band and told us how awesome they were. He was right. These kids, the drummer is only fourteen, are amazing. Remember the name Whiplash because you are going to see it in lights someday.

We asked a server in the hotel bar to suggest a place for breakfast. Without hesitation she said, “If you’re visiting Louisville you have to go to
Lynn’s Paradise Café.” When asking for directions our friend Tom said to the desk clerk, “We have to get to the Paradise Café.” The clerk said, “You certainly do!” The postcard is just a hint of the delights you will find at the Paradise. The parking lot is chock full of big fun stuff and the turquoise planters filled with colorful silk gerbera daisies and the row of hanging yellow bumbershoots call you in off the street. Lamps hanging upside down from trees help to light the eclectic space filled with 1950s dinettes and mismatched chairs. Lots of vintage tchotchkes are placed on the tables, some filled with little plastic animals to keep the kiddies busy, and the place has a fun and playful atmosphere that’s just delightful. To top it all off the food was scrumptious and the postcards were free! Lynn’s Paradise Café was the perfect ending to a rockin’ holiday.

All of the postcards above depicting John, Paul, George and Ringo are a Beatles® product licensed by Apple Corps, Ltd.

Song lyrics quotation from Bookends by Paul Simon, 1968

My Homage to Bad Postcards

2011-05-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

Working in one of the largest postcard collections in the world you might think that I’d get my fill of postcards each day. The truth is I never get tired of looking at them. I do have my favorite genres, but I love the social commentary, humor, history, adventure, and the art of all kinds of postcards. Of course I’m not the only one who has this weakness and I’ve found a number of great websites and blogs about postcards out there. I’ve listed a few of these sites in My Favorites so check them out when you’re in need of a postcard fix.

Bad Postcards is a blog dedicated to vintage chrome postcards, from 1950 to 1975. The postcards showcased here aren’t always bad, you just have to look at some of them and wonder, “Why?” Some have a bizarre choice of subject matter, while some are so poorly executed or oddly set up you wonder why anyone would send them out to advertise their business or service, or for that matter, purchase them. I have to admit that many of them are just downright hilarious. Often the choice of the day is actually a Curt Teich card that I’ve seen before, so I’ve been inspired to share a few more from our collection that I’ve stumbled across over the years. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery so this is a homage to my fellow blogger of Bad Postcards. I absolutely love this blog and getting my daily wacky postcard fix. If you enjoy fun and funky postcards I encourage you to check out Bad Postcards for yourself. The postcards shown below are a few of my favorite "bad" postcards from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. I couldn't resist adding my own commentary.

Having Fun at Bradley Beach, New Jersey

Seriously, does anyone in the picture look like they’re having a good time?

Administration Building

Through this building pass the young-at-heart into “Mother Gooseland”, a children’s park planned and built by the Canton Junior Chamber of Commerce.

I’m not sure if my granddaughters would walk into this place or if it would scare the bageezus out of them.

The Suntide Motor Court

On the shores of the Gulf at Lido Beach

No it’s not! The Suntide Motor Court is either floating in the air or sitting on a piece of blue plastic. Do you really want to spend your vacation in a motel that looks like a bad Lego playset?

Horseshow Skeleton With Floating Clasps

“The Aristocrat” Full Upper Base

Over the years I’ve told people that there have been postcards made of absolutely anything you can imagine. See, I’m not lying when I say that.

Buddy Jayne Fur Pets

These were very popular when I was a child, but the fact that they kill bunnies to make stuffed kittens is a real conundrum for me. Throw a piece of blue cloth over the couch, set up the toys, add those hand stenciled signs and shoot the image. It makes a very sophisticated postcard advertisement…not.

Corky the Clown and His Flivver at Florida’s Cypress Gardens

He’s a clown. Need I say more?

El Capitan Motel, Gallup, New Mexico

My guess is that this place looked pretty uninviting if the best feature of it was this scary lawn ornament. I’m staying at the LaQuinta.

Dee’s Half Pint Small Boys Portable Urinal

Mothers say it’s the handiest thing Jr. ever had.

Keep one in the car and one at home for emergencies.

Makes you want to say, “Hmmm.”

Mobile Commercial Units …Leased by Ray Tyson, Inc.

And the best part is that they fly to any location where you need them.

Dohl’s Morton House

Food For Friends of Food

Is it me or does it look as if a green tornado with Christmas lights is about to engulf this restaurant?

They Say It's Your Birthday!

2011-05-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Unlike many other women of a certain age, I actually look forward to my birthday. I like the idea of having one day a year when I can do anything I want, eat birthday treats (I’m not a cake fan so I’ll take chocolate), and generally pretend that I’m quite special. My last birthday, which happened to be in February, was one of those big decade birthdays. All around me friends were lamenting about the huge number that was looming over them. Not me, I’m just happy to have lived this long and yes, thank you, I’ll take that senior discount if you’re offering it.

Not only do I look forward to celebrating my own birthday, I like to spread birthday cheer whenever I have the chance. There are two special people in my life that have birthdays this week, my son and a lovely young woman who is one of my colleagues, so I sort of have birthdays on the brain. I’d like to celebrate their special days by offering up lots of birthday wishes in the form of vintage postcards. And if it happens to be your birthday today or sometime soon, best wishes to you too!

When Disaster Strikes Postcards Tell the Story

2011-05-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

Produced by the New Zealand Postcard Society (Inc) and Shades Stamp Shop Ltd.
Produced by the New Zealand Postcard Society (Inc) and Shades Stamp Shop Ltd.

If you’ve ever had a flooded basement, even just a few inches of water, you know that it’s a nasty and overwhelming situation. The basement in our first home near the shores of the Fox River in northern Illinois flooded a couple of times. It was a finished basement that was dry walled and wall papered with tile floors. Knowing that flooding by the river is always a possibility, when we purchased furniture we chose a couch and chair with wooden legs and had hand-me-down braided rugs on the floor that could be easily rolled up. Though we were careful to always keep things off the floor in the storage area, even a few inches of clear water caused havoc and the drying out and cleaning up process was laborious and disheartening. I can only imagine what our neighbors to the south are experiencing seeing their entire homes engulfed by the waters of the muddy Mississippi River.

If the floodwaters that have plagued the southern sections of our country aren’t enough, Mother Nature has certainly shown her vicious side by hurling killer tornadoes from the sky that have wiped away towns and countless lives in a matter of minutes. Watching news broadcasts of the devastation is heartbreaking as people pick through the rubble to find some remnants of their broken lives. Internet news sites and newspapers carry daily stories of families who have lost everything and truly do not know where to begin to rebuild what has been so callously ripped away from them. The images of whole neighborhoods reduced to piles of sticks and entire towns underwater are disturbing and haunting.

We’re used to seeing instantaneous images of tragedy and triumph on our televisions, iPhones, iPads, laptops and computers. The thousands of images we view each day visually inform us of what’s happening in our own backyards and as well as what’s going on half way around the world. Cell phone images record children’s soccer games so grandma who lives in Illinois can see her granddaughter score her first goal in Colorado. One moment we see a prince marry his princess and the next moment we see a twister eating up the landscape of Alabama. A century ago there was no television, no internet and most local newspapers were illustrated with engravings, not photographs. The golden age of photojournalism did not arrive until the 1920s.

However most towns had a photographer, an individual who knew the people and the region and when disaster struck he could record it with a certain intimacy that today’s news conglomerate video cameraman lacks. Earthquake, flood, tornado, whatever the disaster, the photographer could quickly go to the site, set up his camera and create a visual record of the event. If the flood waters had receded by the time he reached his destination, he could record the devastation of the aftermath. Those images were either printed as real photo postcards by the photographer himself and sold in local venues where they would immediately begin to travel the country and spread the news of the disaster, or the photograph might be sold to a company like Curt Teich of Chicago who printed the images as local souvenirs to be sold in Five & Dimes or drug stores. Whatever way they came onto the market, disaster postcards provide a degree of visual intimacy that web shots can never attain. More entrepreneur than historian, these enterprising businessmen made lasting records of historical events that are a vital part of our photographic legacy.

Souvenir postcards in the twenty-first century are created to spark good memories. They are slick and colorful and try to show the perfection of a certain location. Traveling through Oklahoma you can probably find a generic tornado postcard, but again, it’s just a dramatic tornado image and not pegged to a specific time or location. When a series of 15 postcards documenting the September 4, 2010 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand was donated to the Archives we were delighted and impressed that the event was documented in the old fashioned way on postcards. To me these cards have an intimacy of place, much like the disaster postcards of the early twentieth century. They are also a sad reminder that Mother Nature is always in charge.

Happy National Postcard Week

2011-05-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

Though I'm away from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives this week I couldn't let the opportunity go by to wish you a Happy National Postcard Week since it only comes once a year. Have a great one, everybody and I'll be back next week with a new postcardorama! I hope you enjoy the above postcards that commemorate this annual celebratory week.

Royal Majesties Postcard Style

2011-04-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

William and Kate, Kardorama, PO Box 85, Potters Bar, Herts, EN6 5AD

Coronation, Valentine’s Coronation Souvenir Postcard

King George V, Valentine’s Postcard

HRH The Prince of Wales, Raphael Tuck & Sons, England

Charles I, Published for the Trustees by the Medici Society, Ld., London

Lévy Et Neurdein Rénuis, 44, Rue Litellier, Paris, Imp.

If you’ve been through your local supermarket check-out aisle and glanced at the covers of the magazines and tabloids or have watched any network news in the last few weeks you’ve probably noticed that there is a little wedding taking place this Friday across the pond. I don’t think you can classify it as “wedding buzz” anymore; it’s more like a relentless swarm of killer bees that has overtaken newsfeeds in every format.

Over the past six months world events have been at times horrifying and depressing. Disasters and uprisings, both natural and man-made have been at the forefront of nearly every news story. So far those of us who live in northern Illinois have been spared from nature’s wrath, but we have witnessed our Midwestern neighbor’s lives and towns ripped apart by tempestuous spring weather. My husband and I visited Egypt last November and as the pot of unrest there began to simmer and then boil over we were particularly saddened by the events taking place in that truly magnificent place. Needless to say I think that many of us are happy to have an event that is filled with joy, hope and optimism for the future at the forefront of the daily headlines.

So many of us watched the lovely, young Diana Spencer marry Prince Charles, the dashing heir to the British throne back in 1981. We saw the beautiful princess raise her two sons and step into her role as princess of the whole world through her charity work with victims of AIDS and land mines. Sadly, we also watched as their royal marriage disintegrated and again we were drawn into the princess’s story as we became witnesses to the tragic accident that took the life of Diana and ended her fairytale. The world has also watched Diana’s two young sons grow into handsome and accomplished young princes. On Friday the world will have a front row seat to the spectacle of the British royals once again as Prince William marries Catherine Middleton, a commoner, in a ceremony of the heart that may profoundly impact the future of the British monarchy.

I’m not a royal watcher, though I do occasionally peruse a copy of Royalty magazine that makes its way into our lunchroom stack of reading material. Yes, I did see The King’s Speech and I liked it very much. But no, I am not getting up at 3:00 am to see the royal wedding take place; I’ll catch a rerun later. However I will admit to enjoying watching the pageantry unfold and of course, seeing the love story of Wills and Cate begin its next chapter. I know I will also enjoy watching this stellar couple grow together and into the roles they will play on the world stage.

So what does this have to do with postcards? With all the royal hype going on I decided to see which British royalty resided in the Curt Teich Postcards Archives. The images above are cataloged under the subject heading Portraits/royalty with England as the location. The postcard commemorating the marriage of HRH Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton is our most recent acquisition. It was sent to us by a former intern who is currently studying in England. If you happen to be in the vicinity of the Royal Wedding, we would love to get a few more for the collection, so drop us a line on a royal postcard!

By far my favorite of the British royalty cards is the coronation souvenir postcard. Not only am I stunned at the number of white weasels who gave their lives for the coronation robes, the whole sartorial regalia just amazes me. In light of the little affair that will be taking place at Westminster Abbey on this coming Friday I am particularly enamored with the text on the back which reads: “With all the old-time historic pomp and pageantry and amid the plaudits of their loyal peoples, Their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were crowned within the Abbey of Westminster this 12^th day of May, 1937, whereof this is a memento.” Those royals sure know how to put on a show, don’t they?

Easter Postcard Parade

2011-04-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

I’ve been on a little Easter hunt here at the Teich Archives that doesn’t involve colored eggs hidden by a mysterious rabbit. While I love talking about postcards, sometimes it’s fun to just share them so I’ve been going through the files to find a selection of Easter postcards that are both graphic and interesting. Most of the postcards the Curt Teich Company produced that are cataloged as Holidays/Easter are related to local Easter observances or advertising, but throughout the years many traditional Easter postcards have been donated to the collection. These donated cards run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime.

The first three cards shown above are from the Curt Teich Company and show Easter Sunrise Services in the Wichita Mountains near Lawton, Oklahoma, at the Hollywood Bowl in California, and at Red Rocks near Denver, Colorado. The decades-long tradition ended at the Hollywood Bowl in 2010 for lack of funds and I couldn’t find any current information for the sunrise pageant in the Wichita Mountains, but you can still begin your Easter Sunday at Red Rocks. The gates open at 4:30 am and the service stars at 6:00 am so you’ll have plenty of time to attend and still make that Easter brunch. Not in the area? You can also attend via a web broadcast. Red Rocks is an amazing place and I hear that the Sunrise Service is absolutely spectacular.

The next two cards were also produced by the Teich Company and are cataloged as advertising cards. Junge’s Bakery Products seemed to take their religious affiliation to the extreme in their advertising campaign, but perhaps it worked well for them. It seems a bit odd to use the motif of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ to sell lamb cakes and Easter pastries, but that’s just me. If you were lucky enough to get the postcard distributed by Malley’s Candies you could bring it in to one of their shops and get fifty cents off your purchase of Easter merchandise, which included an assortment of “molded chocolate novelties, luscious cream filled eggs, delicious chocolate foiled eggs, creamy marshmallow eggs, spice or fruit jelly beans, and cuddly Easter toys.” However the offer is for adults only. That just doesn’t seem right somehow.

The Rochester Cathedral postcard is part of the Cathedral Series produced by Raphael Tuck & Sons. My guess is that the embossed gold cross and Easter Greetings was overprinted by someone else who wanted to use the postcards as greeting cards for the holiday. The card that shows Pontius Pilate presenting Christ to the crowd also has a gold embossed message that seems to have been overprinted on the card. I chose these two images because of their overtly religious subject matter. I was surprised at how many of the Easter cards in our collection were secular in nature and showed springtime scenes or floral still lifes.

I am particularly fond of the real photo cards showing beautiful children or women in their finest spring frocks posing with baskets of eggs or flowers. To me they seem timeless, as if they could walk right out of the photo and tell me all about themselves and share their Easter treasures with me. The lovely young lady in the image above reminds me of my niece, Rebecca, when she was that age.
On the list of images I printed out from the data base I saw a Detroit Company card title that read, “Easter on the Boardwalk.” That conjured up visions of gentlemen and ladies in their Easter bonnets walking along the boardwalk holding hands and shielding themselves from the warm spring sun with pretty parasols. I had to chuckle when I pulled out this dandy little duckie carrying her bumbershoot and dancing down a wooden plank leading from the hen house. The message on the card addressed to Miss Mary Margaret Ralph reads, “How nice we walk all dressed in our Easter clothes. This is one of the Spring chickens.”

I have to say that one of my favorites in this springtime assortment is the sinister looking yellow chick eyeing that poor, helpless fly. That is one mean looking yellow puffball! That fly hasn’t got a chance. Even the text looks like some scary Halloween font with its jagged edges and cracking lines. And seriously, Easter Greetings? You know what’s going to happen next and it’s not going to be pretty. I’d say it was curtains for Mr. Fly. Easter chicks should be cute and fluffy and tucked in baskets amid colorful eggs or cuddled by sweet faced children, not looking like the Springtime Executioner. Perhaps this is an Easter postcard you might send to someone you don’t really like that much.

I’ve included the others just because I like them. There is something fun and sweet about the boat load of chubby baby ducklings being pulled by mother ducks in the gentle waves. I have the feeling that with a little prodding they might be nudged from the boat and encouraged to swim home. I love the watercolor floral because it’s sweet and embodies all that is springtime. The orange egg adorned with pussy willow sprigs and violets is also one of my favorites because of the artist’s bold color choice, so different from the pastels of the previous image.

I hope you enjoyed my postcard selection and I also hope that your holiday is picture postcard perfect. May the joys of Easter and the pleasures of spring be yours this weekend.

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

Postcards Celebrate National Library Week

2011-04-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

Have you read any good books lately? If you haven’t, this might be the week to get started on a new one in celebration of National Library Week. Begun in 1958 as a way to encourage people to read and to use and support their local libraries, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries across the country each April. John Grisham, one of the world’s greatest storytellers with over 250,000,000 books in print, is this year’s Honorary Chairman. The theme this year is Create Your Own Story @ Your Library. This is the perfect time to visit your library and start a new chapter in your life.

As an only child I found adventure, fantasy, solace and companionship in books. When my mother was ill we spent many months traveling back and forth to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The hotel we stayed at was just a few blocks from the Public Library. My seriously overprotective parents actually let me walk from the hotel to the library because they knew that my relationship with books would help to get me through the trauma our family was facing at the time. Not only were the librarians sweet and helpful to the lonely bookworm who appeared every few weeks, my parents knew that the library was a safe place where I would find comfort in my beloved books. I remain a bibliophile and book collector and even though I read downloaded books on my iPad there is absolutely nothing that can take the place of the sound and feel of turning pages. As a grandmother I share my love of books with my granddaughters and never fail to add a new one to their collection every time we get together.

So to celebrate National library Week, start by checking out your library’s website. I bet you’ll be impressed with what it has to offer. I’m traveling to Italy later this year and found out that I can learn to speak Italian through a database on my library’s website called Mango Languages. Better yet, stop by your local library and see what’s new and exciting. According to the American Library Association’s website, “Today’s libraries can help you discover a new and exciting world. Take advantage of the free access to books and computers, homework help, assistance with resumes and job searches, accurate financial information, adult education courses, support for new Americans, CDs, DVDs and much more. Don’t forget, your librarian is information smart and can help you find the right answer @ your library. “

Perhaps you don’t need any of the myriad services your library has to offer and you just love to read. Check out the Readers' Advisory resource that helps users find adult and youth fiction by matching similar authors, titles, and subjects. Don’t have time to join a book club? How about an online club where you can read books and discuss them, in your jammies and bunny slippers, at midnight! Are you like me and spend a number of hours a week in the car? Audio books make the time wiz by and I can keep up with my favorite authors or listen to those classics that I never got around to reading. And who doesn’t love to be read to?

Needless to say your local public library is not your grandparent’s library anymore. It’s a cool place with cutting edge technology and a great staff to show you how to use it. It’s a place where you can seek out adventure, romance, intrigue and humor. You can settle in a comfy chair for a little peace and quiet or you can join a book discussion group or attend one of the diverse and informative programs your library offers to see what others have to say. You can spend some quality time with one of your favorite youngsters looking for new books or seeking out some of grandma’s favorite old ones.

Would you like to make a difference in your community? Many libraries are governed by a Board of Trustees and from time to time a trustee retires from the board or moves away and a vacancy on the board occurs. Consider volunteering or being elected to the board of your public library. It’s a wonderful way to serve your neighbors by being part of an organization that truly impacts their lives and benefits your community. I know firsthand because I’ve served on my local library board of trustees since 1997. Just remember that your next adventure could start at your local public library. Check out a book and let the action begin. Happy National Library Week.

The library postcards above are all from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives.

Postcard Homage to Benjamin Marshall

2011-04-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago one of my colleagues dropped an envelope on my desk and said she thought I might be interested in its contents as inspiration for a blog. The envelope contained an invitation to a “Grand Gala Night in celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of East Lake Shore Drive begun in 1911 by visionary architect Benjamin H. Marshall.” If you said the names Louis and Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, Frank Lloyd Wright, Holabird and Root, and Mies van der Rohe I would immediately tell you that they are some of the most famous architects who helped shape the city of Chicago, but I have to admit that I’ve never heard of Benjamin H. Marshall.

All is changed now that I’ve visited the website for the Benjamin Marshall Society.
Benjamin Marshall Perhaps like me many people are not familiar with his name, but if you love Chicago for its architecture you will certainly be familiar with many of his buildings. The Drake Hotel at 140 East Walton Place and Michigan Avenue is the beacon at the top of the Magnificent Mile and has been an iconic Chicago landmark since it first opened its doors in 1920. Built in the Italian Renaissance style, the Drake is the cornerstone for East Lake Shore Drive, a tony stretch of Chicago real estate that elevated Benjamin Marshall to the list of Chicago architectural visionaries. According to the gala invitation, “With East Lake Shore Drive, elegance and luxury would have a new meaning in Chicago and, with that iconic vista would also give a face to our beloved city for the world to remember.”

The Blackstone Hotel at the corner of south Michigan Avenue and Balbo was completed in 1910 and named after Timothy Blackstone, the founding president of the Union Stock Yards and President of the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Considered an excellent example of neo-classical Beaux-Arts architecture, the Blackstone was nicknamed the “Hotel of Presidents” because of the many celebrities and twelve presidents who were among its overnight guests. Like many early twentieth century structures the Blackstone fell into disrepair after years of neglect. After extensive renovations that included saving the famous “smoke-filled room” in which Warren G. Harding was secretly selected for the presidential nomination even though the Republican Convention was being held at the Coliseum, the hotel has been reopened as the luxury Renaissance Blackstone Hotel, a Marriott brand under the Renaissance Hotel label.

Another gem in the crown of buildings designed by Marshall is the South Shore Country Club, now known as the South Shore Cultural Center. The original Mediterranean Revival style building was erected in 1905. A theater was added in 1909 and by 1916 Marshall and his partner were hired to design a new building in the same style that still stands today. The club also had stables, tennis courts, a nine-hole golf course, and a private beach on Lake Michigan. Changing times and a changing neighborhood led to the club’s decline. The South Shore Country Club property was purchased by the Chicago Park District in 1975 and listed on the National Register of Historic places the same year. Over the next two decades the main buildings were renovated and repurposed. Today this historic landmark facility on a 58 acre campus offers an array of cultural and recreational programs as well as an opulent setting for social gatherings. In 1992 Michelle and Barack Obama held their wedding reception at the South Shore Cultural Center.

So many of Marshall’s architectural masterpieces have withstood the test of time, however the one that is near and dear to my heart no longer exists. The Edgewater Beach Hotel was a Spanish style pink stucco resort built in the shape of a Maltese cross and located on the lakefront at Sheridan Road near Foster for nearly half of the twentieth century. My father was a businessman who spent most of the work week in the city and occasionally my mother and I would come downtown to stay in a hotel for a few days and meet him for dinner. It had to be the late 1950s when we stayed at the Edgewater Beach Hotel and I still remember the beautiful high ceilinged spaces that looked like they were Hollywood movie sets. As we walked along the lakeshore the pink building literally sparkled in the sunlight. For years afterward it became my landmark when we drove into the city along the scenic Lake Shore Drive and I remember the shock of not seeing it one day after it was torn down.

In researching these buildings it was interesting to read about all the famous and infamous incidents that may or may not have taken place at these Chicago locations. Bernard Malamud’s novel The Natural was purportedly inspired by the shooting of a Philadelphia Phillies baseball player at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in 1949. The term “smoke-filled room” was coined after that renegade committee slated Harding for the presidential nomination in 1920. Supposedly Chicago gangster Frank Nitti had an office at the Drake Hotel. If you look very closely at the bar in the Drake’s Cape Cod Room you should see a set of initials carved there by Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio.

The Marshall Society website says that he was a Jay Gatsby like character who entertained the likes of the Duke of Windsor and who set stages for the wealthy and powerful people of Chicago. Not an innovator like Wright, nor an all encompassing visionary like Burnham, he built beautiful, functional buildings that not only have withstood the test of time, but have contributed to the history and the architectural elegance of the city of Chicago. The mission of the Society is to educate the public on the life and works of Bernard Marshall. Next time I’m downtown Chicago I’m going to pop into the Blackstone and the Drake and pay homage to a man who, after learning all about him, has become one of my favorite architects.

All of the above image are from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives

The Art is in the Cards

2011-03-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

Crocodile Café/7468 by Roger Lantaff

Two Washers/7467 by Roger Lantaff

Francois LE DIASCORN/Léonard Café, 2001

Tattoo Parlor/8193 by Robin Maus

Gerhard Glück “Feurreifen”

The Borders Store in my hometown is one of those scheduled to close. I admit to being a book junkie so I’m really going to miss it. I love buying books for my friends and especially my granddaughters. My friend Louise lives in a home built by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and she also loves to cook. For Christmas I gave her the Fallingwater Cookbook, a book of memories and recipes of Elsie Henderson, the longtime and last cook for the family that originally owned the house designed by Wright. I recently sent Pat the Bunny, Goodnight Moon and a treasury of children’s poetry to a friend in Colorado for her baby shower. I always give books for a baby shower because, to my surprise, no one else ever does. The last book I purchased for my oldest granddaughter was about insects and it came complete with magnifying glass so she can check out the creepy crawlies up close and personal.

Having a Borders that was so convenient was great, but it really is just another corporate bookstore, one like hundreds of others around the country. My favorite bookstore is called the Tattered Cover; its two Denver stores are both located in historic buildings. How can you not love a bookstore that describes itself like this: “Reading lamps and overstuffed chairs furnish the comforts of home, while a coffee shop on the main floor provides ready sustenance for those who want to spend the day perusing our shelves. Come in and explore the aisles, alcoves, and “sequestered nooks, and all the sweet serenity of books.” (Longfellow).” Besides being filled with a lovely abundance of books, magazines, and other wonders of paper related items, it has the best art postcard rack in my realm of existence.

While I love historical postcards, I readily admit that my favorite cards are what I consider “art” cards. In my personal opinion these are cards that bear art created specifically for the postcard, or art reproduced in the postcard format. On my visit to the Tattered Cover earlier this month I gave the rack a spin and chose the images above to share with. Needless to say they are some of the tamer images available, but I think they are fun and interesting nevertheless. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

My love of art postcards was the impetus for one of my favorite projects here at the Curt Teich Archives, the biennial Postcard Art Competition Exhibition. The 2011 edition is the ninth time we have invited artists from all over the world to create art for the postcard format. If you are artistic, creative, or you just love postcards, check out the PACE 2011 website and learn about how you can participate in this exciting competition. PACE 2011 Currently the website is showcasing the 2009 exhibition, however if you’d like to see the winners from all the previous competitions click on the link to Past PACE Repo Sets and scroll down a few pages. If creating isn’t your destiny, but you have the inkling to be an art patron, contact me for all the details at my email address above.

Grand Canyon Treasure

2011-03-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

Scholars, historians, landscape architects and many other professionals come to the Curt Teich Postcard Archives looking for images to document their research. These researchers understand the role postcards serve in illuminating history and often will use our resources over a number of years. One such researcher is Yolanda Youngs, Ph. D., who is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Oklahoma State University. She came to the Archives back in 2008 when she was working on her dissertation which focused on visual representations of the Grand Canyon through time. Currently her research focuses exclusively on Curt Teich postcards of the Grand Canyon from the 1930s to the 1950s and the original material in the artist’s job files.

Professor Youngs wrote, “I am interested in seeing any written notes or documentation of conversations (letters, memos, etc.) that discuss the visual editing process for Grand Canyon postcards. I would be interested in documentation that describes the artist’s or postcard creator’s actions such as moving subjects around in a postcard with various editions of that scene, applications of colors from black and white photographs, adding or removing subjects, etc.” She identified a number of images that potentially could have original material and I pulled the files and opened them with much anticipation. Because this material is not cataloged it’s always a surprise when we look in previously unopened files.

There was an interesting assortment of touched up photos with a few instructions that were exactly the kind of information that interested her. However one file was truly the Mother Lode. The postcard showed a corner of the lounge in the Bright Angel Lodge. In the file was a page from the December 1936 issue of The Hotel Monthly magazine. The story described the lounge and paid particular attention to the two windows that flanked the unique fireplace that was made to represent the geological construction of the Grand Canyon. The article states, “The second unique feature of this room are the two huge view windows to either side of the fireplace. These windows are framed by heavy picture frames and give the appearance of two great paintings of the Grand Canyon—except that no painter could ever render the subtly changing marvel of color and form as do these two framed visions.” On the outside of the envelope the instruction label stated “Fake canyon view in window as per magazine illustration.” Sure enough, the original photo had been retouched with a scene of the Grand Canyon showing through the window.

When I told Professor Youngs about this file she was thrilled. She told me that she had stood in the lounge many times and wondered at what angle the photographer had taken the shot because that stunning view is not the one seen from that window. Now she had her answer, in writing. The question that arises here is—does the fact that the image has been altered in this way make it any less valid than one that has been left untouched? My answer is, “Not at all.” These postcards were created as souvenirs, intended to evoke good memories. Our memories tend to embellish the places we enjoyed, so what’s the harm in letting the artists do it for us? Bright Angel Lodge is located just a few feet from the Canyon’s rim, and I’m sure the views are breathtaking, though perhaps not the exact same one we see in the postcard.

I’d like to add a sidebar to my musings above. Over the years I’ve listened to the arguments stating that because a postcard image is altered it’s less of an historical document because a real photo is more accurate; the camera never lies. I’ve always taken exception to that statement. The camera sees what the photographer wants the camera to see, and it’s not always the truth. Ask any architectural photographer about the great lengths they go through to make a client’s building look spectacular. A wide angle lens can make a tiny apartment look enormous. A coat of water on asphalt can make it look freshly laid. The time of day an image is shot can drastically change the allure of a space. A close look at the original photo in the file reveals the exact photograph used for The Hotel Monthly article and except for the painting in the window, the artist has only done the slightest bit of highlighting to the image. It’s honest and straightforward and in all likelihood exactly what the client told the photographer to capture.

Back to the subject of Professor Youngs’ research I must admit that I get a thrill when I can find exactly what a client needs to fit that one last piece into the puzzle. In a few weeks I’ll be celebrating my 22nd anniversary here at the Teich Archives and I still get excited at the prospect of finding a treasure in the job files, going through a new donation of postcards, or simply pulling a cool postcard from the file that I’ve never seen before. A number of years ago an Imagineer at Disney told me I had the coolest job ever. I believe he’s still right about that.

History in Black & White

2011-03-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

Over the years I’ve had discussions with other historians about the black and white perception of history many people have. We’ve all seen countless photos of the Civil War, the Wild West, the Victorian age, Chicago gangsters, and World War II to name just a few subjects and they’ve all been in black and white. It wasn’t until the 1950s when chrome film became ubiquitous that history became colorful. At least that’s how some people seem to see it. Oh, we’ve all seen famous paintings like George Caitlin’s colorful landscapes and cowboys of the mid nineteenth century, but for some unknown reason our minds associate those brilliant colors with art and not with real life.

Unless they were hand tinted, most of the photographs taken in the first half of the last century are black and white. One of the reasons that postcards are so popular with picture researchers looking for early twentieth century illustrations for textbooks and history tomes is that they are usually in color. Though the color of the early postcards is obviously printed color and not natural color, the images are engaging and interesting and especially popular in publications aimed at youngsters.

Recently, six previously uncataloged photographs taken by photographer and inventor Fredrick Ives in San Francisco a few months after the 1906 earthquake came to light in the Smithsonian’s collections. An online article in the San Francisco Chronicle shows four of the photographs and the stereoscope device used to view them in 3-D. Color Photos I must admit that I found them astonishing. Not because of the utter destruction from the earthquake, but because my trained historian’s mind could not wrap itself around the fact that I was seeing 1906 San Francisco in color. Perhaps it was the colorful and very modern looking billboards that threw me or the brilliant blue sky. I really had to chide myself for falling into that trap of getting tricked into believing for a moment that somehow history was colorless.

I had to laugh at some of the comments on the article because others had the same reaction as I did. I know it was tongue in cheek, but one comment read, “Difficult to imagine San Francisco in color that long ago. Was it color in the nineteenth century too?” However, one of the educators on our staff at the Lake County Discovery Museum recently mentioned that sadly many young people share that same notion.

I could not write about images of earthquakes without mentioning the horrible disaster in Japan and its aftermath that we are currently witnessing. I know the Japanese are determined and resilient people and as they work to rebuild their lives and their country let us keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

All of the postcards of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake above are from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives.

Postcards From the Rocky Mountain Edge

2011-03-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

Photo copyright Carl Scofield

Photo copyright Peter Runyon

Photo copyright Carl Scofield

Photo copyright Peter Runyon

Photo copyright Todd Powell

I’m just as sick of this prolonged, dreary winter as everyone else is who lives in northern Illinois. Why then, did my husband and I chase winter halfway across the country last weekend? Because winter in Breckenridge, Colorado is much more fun than winter in Chicago. It might be cold and it might be snowing in Breck, but just wait an hour or two and the sun will probably shine. And believe me, piles of snow in Colorado are a lot more fun than piles of snow in Illinois, especially when you’re skiing on them. And they’re even more fun when you’re skiing on them with your family and friends.

Our family has been traveling to Colorado for about 30 years and our son and daughter grew up skiing there. The lure of the Rocky Mountains was too strong and both of our children eventually left Illinois to build their lives in their shadow. Now we are the proud grandparents of two beautiful girls aged 6 and 3 that we affectionately call “The Babes” and they too have been smitten by the snow and the magic of the mountains. The oldest has surpassed her grandparents in her skiing ability and the youngest is not far behind. We met up with some dear friends out in Breck this weekend and before we knew it there was a little wager between our friend, Kurt, and the oldest Babe, Evie, about who was faster, and I believe there was a hamster involved in that bet. It appears that somehow Kurt will have to figure out how to transport a small rodent from Wilmette, Illinois to Denver, Colorado in the near future. The moral here is never wager with a fearless 6 year old if you happen to be over 55.

We did a few errands in town the morning we left Breckenridge and I picked up the modern postcards shown above. I thought it would be interesting to compare them with the vintage Breckenridge postcards in our collection here at the Curt Teich Postcard Archives. What we see is not only a dramatic change in the landscape but in the technology of the printing as well. The vintage cards are drab and almost monochromatic while the modern cards define the color and charm of this mountain location.

Throughout our thirty year history visiting Breck we’ve watched this tiny town transform herself. The ramshackle little cottages have been replaced by rehabbed, high end vacation homes that now sell for $500,000 to $1,000,000. The Summit County Courthouse has been replaced by a Justice Center on the edge of town, and luxury condos and townhouses pepper the surrounding area. Massive ski operations have taken over the landscape where miners once searched for precious metals. The Riverwalk Center on the banks of the Blue River hosts local events, and world class musical performances and productions. Yet a trip to Carter Park which is adjacent to the school yard to go tubing with our granddaughters reminds us that Breck is still a family place. Perhaps one of Brecks best throwbacks to an earlier time is the Speakeasy Theatre located in the basement of the old Colorado Mountain College Building. You can see a first run movie there, but be patient. The person who takes your ticket money also fills your popcorn order and runs the film projector.

Breckenridge began in 1859 when the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush brought miners into the territory seeking their fortunes. By the end of the century most of the mining had ceased though gold dredges still worked the rivers for a few more years. For the next half century Breckenridge was a sleepy mountain village but her fortunes changed when the Breckenridge Ski Area opened in 1961. In 1973 the Eisenhower Tunnel on Interstate 70 opened making the trip from Denver to Breckenridge just an hour and a half. By the end of the twentieth century Breckenridge, Colorado had become an all-season recreation and vacation destination. Though it still retains its Victorian charm, Breckenridge is host to world-class sporting and cultural events year round. For our family it’s our “Colorado Rocky Mountain High.”

The modern cards above are all from Mountain Sights, Inc. PO Box 930 Edwards, CO 81632
The vintage postcards are all from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives

California Dreaming

2011-03-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

I’ve been California dreaming this week. No, it’s not because of the dreary, cold Midwestern weather we’re entrenched in right now. Two other influences have sparked thoughts of the land of sunshine and fresh fruit. I’ve been listening to a wonderful audio book called Shanghai Girls that begins in China in 1937 and follows the lives of two sisters whose fate and fortune bring them to mid twentieth century California. And then of course there was “The Oscars” on Sunday night that brought all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood right into my living room.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See is the story of two sisters whose lives are torn apart by war and whose destiny is shaped by their Chinese heritage, their love for each other and the devastating secrets they share. Their story begins in Shanghai as the Japanese invade the city and we travel with the sisters as they follow their destiny to California. Their father, who has lost everything to bad investments and gambling debts, has sold them to a merchant they call Old Man Louie as wives for his Chinese-American sons. Their journey is harrowing and horrific but they call on their strength as sisters to help them shape their new lives as part of a “paper family” in America. They start their California story at Angel Island in San Francisco then make their way to Los Angeles and, of course, to Hollywood.

The author paints vivid images of Angel Island, the immigration station in San Francisco Bay, Chinatown where the family lives, and China City, the attraction created in 1938 for tourists out of leftover movie sets, where the Louie family tries to make a living with their various Oriental enterprises. The younger sister, May finds her small fortune in Hollywood as an extra and then as owner of her own company that provides Oriental extras, props and costumes for the movies.

As I listened to the story I could see postcard images of the places See described. In my mind I could see great view of the Golden Gate Bridge, a sight the sisters could have seen from Angel Island. A quick google of images for “China City” brought a link to the 1940 Curt Teich postcard. The views of Chinatown give a real sense of place to the story for me. And what would dreams of Hollywood be without views of the famous landmark Chinese Theater, though except for its architectural style it has no real relation to Chinatown or for that matter anything Chinese. In its heyday the theater was the venue for glamorous Hollywood movie premiers, reflected in one of the images above.

After twenty-two years of working with postcards my mind is filled with beautiful images, exotic places, and the main streets where my immigrant ancestors may have walked. Sometimes it seems as if I can’t go anywhere, do anything, or read a book without visions from postcards dancing in my head. The famous photographer Walker Evans called postcards “lyric documentary” in the sense that while they begin as a visual document they take on a quality that suggests that there is more to the story than what you see. For someone like me who sees the world reflected in a postcard mirror there’s always more to the story and I bet I can find a postcard to prove it.

Paris in the Post

2011-02-24T07:40:00.001-08:00

Last Monday was one of those totally dreary Midwestern days. It was cloudy, cold, misty, and in many places that mist turned to ice, so it was also treacherous. It was the kind of day when you wished you could just shut of the alarm, cuddle down under the covers and go back to sleep until the sun came out again. But I had no excuses and had to get myself up, out the door, and off to work. To say that it was an uninspiring day was an understatement. Nothing over the weekend moved me, nothing on the morning news leapt out at me, nothing waiting in my mailbox caused me to jump up and yell, “Eureka, I have a blog topic!”

I mentioned my predicament and lack of inspiration to Corinne, our cataloger, and asked if there was anything exciting in the pile she was working on. She was recording a donation that would go before the Collections Committee and had come across the Paris series shown above. Postcards of paintings are not within our collecting scope and would eventually be returned to the donor, but this breezy, colorful set of watercolor images of Paris scenes put us both in a much better mood. Just looking at them made our cold, February morning seem a little brighter.

I spend so much of my professional life perpetuating the importance of postcards as visual and historic documents and their significance in the telling the story of the 20th century, but to paraphrase Sigmund Freud, sometimes for me a postcard is just a postcard. Acting like tiny time machines these lively postcards transported me back into the charm, light and bustle of this amazing and eternal city.

I love Paris in the summertime and in the fall, times of the year I have experienced her lure and charm, but I’m absolutely sure that I would love Paris in the springtime, or anytime at all. I’ve had the good fortune of visiting Paris four different times and standing on the same spot as each view depicts. So for a moment on that dismal Monday, to be transported back in time and place to the streets of Paris, a place I know and love, is just what a postcard should do. If it’s dreary and sunless where you are today, I hope they add a little charm and light to your day as well.

On the back of each postcard is the following:
Reproduction Interdite
Éditions “C´Est Paris”, 18 Rue de la Chausée d´Antin-Paris 9˘
Tél. PRO 82 61

Romania's Bad Spell

2011-02-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

Occasionally I read a story on the internet and it makes me shake my head in wonder. Last week a story titled “Romania May Get Even Tougher on Witches” caught my eye. It seems that in January the Romanian government started taxing witches and soothsayers recognizing that revenue from the centuries old profession could add to the coffers of this recession hit country. Now the government is introducing a new bill that would fine or imprison these supernatural vendors if their predictions are wrong. This new turn of events has the witches up in arms.

Though the January law finally made witchcraft and fortune telling a recognized profession, and while young practitioners see it as the legitimization of their gifts, it has angered most of the older practitioners and they are fighting mad. One article quotes Queen Witch Bratara Buzea who vowed, “I will fight until my last breath for this not to be passed.” Thrown in jail in 1977 because of her craft by Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausecu, she went on to defend her fellow witches and sooth sayers explaining that often people lie about their real names, dates of birth and other information that could affect the outcome of the witch’s predictions.

About eighty percent of Romanians are Orthodox Christians and Romanian witches do not consider their practice outside the traditions of their Christian heritage. Rather it is a blend of ancient and Christian practices. Christian symbols such as the sign of the cross or candles blessed in a church can be part of their rituals. Practices such as sacrificing chickens or tossing poisonous mandrake in the Danube, which the witches plan to do to protest the new laws placed on their practices, suggest a connection to a time before Christianity took hold in Eastern Europe. Though some of us would consider visiting a psychic as a fun outing with girlfriends, many Romanians, especially those in rural areas, take their advice and rituals very seriously.

Another article on the subject stated that Traian Basescu, the Romanian President, wears purple on Thursdays because he is a highly superstition man. Let me pose a question here. Do you really want to antagonize people who believe they have the power to put a curse or hex on you, or destroy your political future? Apparently the revenue that might be collected from these practices is more like a drop in the bucket and not enough to really impact the future of Romania. So why would you tempt fate and anger those who may have the potential to mess with yours? Perhaps the President should consider wearing purple every day.

I hope you enjoy this delightful series of Fortune Teller postcards from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives.