Thursday, January 23, 2014

Saint Paul Outdoor Sports Carnival



This postcard advertises the 1917 Saint Paul Outdoor Sports Carnival. Winter carnivals were held in St. Paul from 1886 through 1889, in 1896, and again in 1899. After that, they stopped until 1916 and 1917 when winter carnivals were revived by carnival chairman Louis W. Hill, son of the Empire Builder James J. Hill (source: He built an empire of his own).

The slogan for 1916 was "Make It a Hot One," and the slogan for 1917 was '"Make It a Hotter One."  The 1917 carnival included a national ski tournament with a cross country run and jumping contests.Other events included world's championship speed-skating races, fancy skating exhibitions, hockey games, a curling playoff, horse races, and motor-sled races. A featured event  was a dog-sled race from Winnipeg to St. Paul — a distance of over 500 miles.

Ragnar Omtvedt of Chicago won the national ski tournament held at St Paul Minn Jan 29-30, 1917 after a close contest with Henry Ball of Steamboat Springs, Col . Omtvedt made jumps of 112 and 115 feet, while Hall jumped 113 and 114 feet, but the former was awarded the title for the better form of his leaps. The following article is from The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book for 1918..., Volume 34


The Saint Paul Winter Carnival is still a popular local event. The dates for 2014 are January 23 to February 2.

For More Vintage Images.

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2014/01/sepia-saturday-212-25-january-2014.html


13 comments:

  1. A perfect choice of postcard and explanation, as ever! That carnival looks very inviting, even to a non-skier like me :-)

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  2. Great postcard. I hope you don't mind I copied it to my "Old Fashioned Pictures" folder? I love things like that.

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  3. Great Minnesota post, and it only makes sense that our weather is so incredibly cold because it's time for the Saint Paul Winter Carnival!

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  4. Postcardy, What a beautiful card. I love it. I see your temperature is -5*F, Oh my God. I just could not do that. You surely can't go outside. It is 59*F here and I am too cold, sorry to say. Hope it warms up soon for you.

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    1. -5° seems warm this year! We have had a couple of bouts of much colder weather and expect another next week!

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  5. The 1916 and 1917 carnivals sound like a mini-Olympics. Love the themes for those years.

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  6. Ski jumping is a sport I always like to watch - unfortunately only on TV, Brilliant postcard,

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  7. That St Paul ski jumping card looks as if it could be a nice poster advertising the event. es gets me ready to watch all the winter Olympics.

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  8. A classic design with a very modern font, and the slogans have that Minnesotan humor.

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  9. I that old advertisement and it was the perfect choice for this week's theme.

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  10. That is a wonderful card - the design is a work of art.

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  11. What a pretty and inviting card. I'd turn up (time machine available) just for the opportunity to wear those clothes.

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  12. I really like the advertisement of the ski event. I use to visit St. Paul in the summers.

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