Friday, January 30, 2015

Birdseye Views of Minneapolis and Mississippi River



The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota is located on both sides of the Mississippi River. Here are two circa 1908-10 postcards with birdseye views of Minneapolis and the Mississippi River. I wish the first one listed the actual location. It isn't a commonly seen view, and I am unable to identify it. I like the way it shows curves in the river. The river looks much straighter from ground level.

 The second view has a label that identifies it as "View from Court House."  The Court House was in downtown Minneapolis on the west side of the Mississippi River. The tower of the Court House  was one of the few places tall enough to allow such an expansive birdseye view.




More early twentieth century postcard views of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis can be seen on my postcardy.com website here.

 Addendum:

Here is a 1980s postcard showing an area similar to the second postcard above. This view is from the IDS Center, the tallest building in Minnesota. The street that leads into the curved bridge is the same street that runs toward the river in the card above. The bridge is the Third Avenue Bridge which was built 1914-18. The tower of the old Milwaukee Road Depot can be seen near the center of both postcards.


View from the IDS Center looking toward the Mississippi River and St. Anthony Falls
Photo by B. Sherve

Addendum 2: Identification of location of first postcard above "BIRDSEYE VIEW OF MINNEAPOLIS AND MISSISSIPPI RIVER"
I thought the most likely location was a view from the old Exposition building showing some buildings on East Hennepin Avenue, but I had trouble finding an old picture to confirm it. A 1912 view looked like a possibility, but the angle made it hard to really identify the distinctive shapes of the buildings.


 Eventually, I found a 1950 image of  that clearly shows the distinctive shapes of two of the buildings shown on the postcard. This is identified as "Midland Furniture, East Hennepin near Second Street Southeast, Minneapolis". (source:MNHS)



These buildings are no longer there. A 1970 image shows that the buildings had been modified and housed Kromes's Furniture Store at 111-117 East Hennepin Avenue (source: MNHS). In this view, part of Nye's Polonaise Room is shown across the street. Nye's is scheduled to close in 2015, so that the site can be redeveloped.




For More Vintage Images
http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2015/01/sepia-saturday-264-31-january-2015.html

New York World's Fair: Havana Cigars



EXHIBIT PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR PROPAGANDA AND DEFENSE OF CUBAN TOBACCO AT THE NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR. Cuba is a good neighbor. 75% of its imports are from the United States. Smoke Havana Cigars; a sign of good taste!

Look for the green Warranty Stamp of the Cuban Government. This official seal will be found on every box of REAL IMPORTED HAVANA CIGARS.





CELEBRATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1939-40 WORLD'S FAIRS
Look for more World's Fair Postcards on the Postcardy Blog on Fridays.

To view past World's Fair posts, click here or on the exposition label.


Tuesday, January 27, 2015

San Francisco Cable Car


This is one of San Francisco's famous CABLE CARS
on the turntable, ready to start up one of the
city's steep hills. It's fun . . . come on aboard!




This postcard is a thick cardboard cutout, size about 4" X 10". It was mailed from San Francisco in 1958 with the following message:
We rode on this over the hills and down to fisherman's wharf Thursday where we ate sea food and watched the fishing boats. Our air flight over the mountains was spectacular to see with peaks around and below us. The weather here is like spring - flowers blooming –


Monday, January 26, 2015

Map: St. Paul Fun



This is an oversize (5" X 6-3/4") fun postcard map of the city of St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota. Click the image to enlarge it and see all the fun details!

signed by Martin Fowler


Sunday, January 25, 2015

Red Room Bar & Green Room Restaurant -- Milwaukee



• Fine domestic and imported liquors and the highest quality entertainment have made the 
RED ROOM BAR
popular with visitors from coast to coast.

The GREEN ROOM
is Milwaukee's most popular restaurant, serving breakfast, luncheon and dinner in a delightful atmosphere. Dinner music nightly.



 
Smorgasbord Sundays (SS) 
BARS & RESTAURANTS

Friday, January 23, 2015

GGIE: Ripley's "Believe-It-Or-Not"



RIPLEY'S "BELIEVE-IT-OR-NOT" ODDITORIUM
Golden Gate International Exposition of 1940
Treasure Island, San Francisco, California

MARVELLO • Fingerless pianist who has overcome his handicap and plays 500 classical and popular selections.

CLARENCE THORPE • Unusual cartoonist who draws two pictures at once, one with his hand and one with his foot. Also sketches while blindfolded.


CELEBRATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1939-40 WORLD'S FAIRS
Look for more World's Fair Postcards on the Postcardy Blog on Fridays.

To view past World's Fair posts, click here or on the exposition label.


Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Puffer-Hubbard Wire Sewed Folding Delivery Boxes






This postcard advertises Puffer-Hubbard's wire-sewed folding delivery boxes. The top half of the card shows the boxes when they were open and loaded on a horse drawn deliver wagon. The bottom half of the card shows the boxes when they were empty and folded flat.

The back of this postcard, used in 1910, points out some of the advantages of using these boxes: "They take up less room in your store, give your wagons an up-to-date appearance, prevent loss of articles and insure their safe delivery."

There were at least a couple styles of  Puffer-Hubbards's boses. Here are some images and description of "Folding Reshipment Hampers" for shipping light bulky goods  from a 1902 Iron Age:




Here the "Folding Delivery Boxes" are described with some of their features and advantages for use in co-operative delivery (Detailed Plans and Instructions for Organizing and Operating a Co-operative Delivery System -- Google eBook, 1917):

source


 Here are a couple of more ads related to bakers and bread delivery:

bakers review, volume 34, november 1916


The Northwestern Miller, Volume 129

for More Vintage Images

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2015/01/sepia-saturday-263-24-january-2015.html

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Trackless Trolley -- Seattle, Washington





Seattle has continued to use trackless trolleys which are electric busses that draw their electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit. This differs from a tram or streetcar, which normally uses the track as the return part of the electrical path and therefore needs only one wire and one pole (or pantograph).(source: Wikipedia)



Monday, January 19, 2015

Minneapolis Art Museum: 1915 – 2015



2015 is the 100th Anniversary of the  Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which was officially dedicated on January 7, 1915. The building is located along E. 24th Street in south Minneapolis. It was designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead and White in a neoclassical style and was built at a cost of $500,000..

This is an early postcard view of the Minneapolis Art Museum, originally made in 1914. It appears to be based on a drawing of the building and surrounding streets, with automobiles and people added by the postcard artist.

 


Friday, January 16, 2015

New York World's Fair: Sunshine Bakers



Those very merry midget Sunshine Bakers are shown building a good foundation for a business here with one ton of Krispy Crackers — America's No. 1 Cracker! These little bakers are drawing great crowds at the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company exhibit at the New York World's Fair, entertaining with a variety program of magic, singing, dancing and dramatic sketches. Don't miss 'em! Food North building.




CELEBRATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1939-40 WORLD'S FAIRS
Look for more World's Fair Postcards on the Postcardy Blog on Fridays.

To view past World's Fair posts, click here or on the exposition label.


Thursday, January 15, 2015

1904 Postcard Exchanges



This postcard is not the type that I usually collect. I bought it mainly because I was interested in the message written on the front of the card that mentions exchanging cards and Velox (a photographic paper used for real photo postcards).
4/16/04
I like Velox cards very much and would be glad to keep exchanging with you.
S. S. Wineman

This postcard also happens to be older than most postcards I have found, because postcard collecting was not yet very widespread in the United States.




When I bought this postcard a few years ago, there was a whole group of postcards addressed to H. D. Baldwin of Hampton, Iowa. I Googled both H. D. Baldwin and S. S. Wineman (the sender of the card) this week after I decided to post this card for Sepia Saturday. I discovered both names listed in the Philatelic West  journal of 1904 that was digitized by Google. Philatelic West claimed to be the largest collector's monthly of America.



 S. S. Wineman of Oxnard, California is listed as member 78 of Union Souvenir Card Exchange. H. D. Baldwin of Hampton, Iowa is listed as member 86 of American Souvenir Card Exchange Club and was also a member of American Camera Club Exchange. The American Souvenir Card Exchange was consolidated with the The Union to become The Union Souvenir Card Exchange which was organized April, 1904 as a "world wide society for active postcard collectors."


Surprisingly, I was able to see a postcard on eBay that was sent by H. D. Baldwin to a different collector, also in April, 1904. That postcard has a photo of the Court House in Hampton, Iowa (I wonder whether this was the same card sent to S. S. Wineman). I am showing the message section from the front of the card and the sender's stamps from the back. Baldwin included a membership number of the Globe Souvenir Card Exchange that was another card exchange group for American and foreign collectors.






Both Wineman and Baldwin were quite young in 1904. The full names of these collectors were Samuel S. Wineman (born 1889) and Harold Dudley Baldwin (born 1884).

For More Vintage Images

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2015/01/sepia-saturday-262-17th-january-2015.html

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Santa Fe Trains in Crozier Canyon, Ariaona




Obviously artistic license was involved in the depictions of the trains on these two postcards of Santa Fe trains in Crozier Canyon, Arizona. Both postcards were published by Fred Harvey and have the same number H-1575 on the front. There are similar descriptions on the back, noting that Crozier Canyon is one of the many picturesque gorges in Arizona penetrated by Santa Fe trains en route to California. The scenery here is typical of Western Arizona with bare red rock, sand and cactus, with sparse vegetation.

The scenery on these two postcards is identical, but the train is different. The first card, published in 1937, has a black steam locomotive and cars. The second card, published in 1941, has a streamliner with a "Warbonnet" decorated locomotive and silvery stainless steel cars. The Warbonnet paint scheme was named after the bright red bonnet that swept back from the nose of the locomotive. The nose had a Circle and Cross Native American design with "Santa Fe" displayed in the center.





Monday, January 12, 2015

Map: Greetings from Western Maryland



This beautiful scenic and historic section of the state of Maryland is rich in resources and abounds in areas of pleasant hills, valleys, streams and lakes. It is no wonder that this great State is called "America in Miniature."


Friday, January 9, 2015

New York World's Fair: Elco Yacht at RCA Exhibit



This boat is fully equipped with all the latest radio devices for communication and safety at sea. It is part of the radio-marine section of the Radio Corporation of America Exhibit and was supplied by the ELCO works.



CELEBRATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1939-40 WORLD'S FAIRS
Look for more World's Fair Postcards on the Postcardy Blog on Fridays.

To view past World's Fair posts, click here or on the exposition label.


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Ripley Believe-It-Or-Not Odditorium at A Century of Progress


RIPLEY'S BELIEVE-IT-OR-NOT ODDITORIUM AT THE 1933 CENTURY OF PROGRESS EXPOSITION

Robert Ripley began as a sports cartoonist. One time, when he was stumped for a topic in 1918, he drew a bunch of small odd sports comics all on one panel. This arrangement evolved into the Believe-It-Or-Not comics that began appearing in newspapers and  books. Ripley traveled the world collecting and reporting on oddities. He also had a weekly radio show from 1930 to 1944 and made 24 short documentary movies in 1931-1932. In 1933 he opened his first odditorium, a museum-like display of oddities and human freaks, at the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. This was followed by odditoriums at other world's fairs. Ripley died in 1949. The first permanent Believe It Or Not! museum was opened in 1950. There are now 32 Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums in ten countries, dozens of Ripley books and hundreds of television videos in the company’s archive vaults.

These postcards are official souvenir postcards from the 1933 Century of Progress Odditorium.


THE EYE-POPPER
MAN WHO SPEAKS WITHOUT VOCAL CORDS
2871 LEGIBLE LETTERS WRITTEN ON A GRAIN OF RICE



9 BASEBALLS PICKED UP WITH ONE HAND
PARROT WITH A HUMAN MIND
HUMAN HEAD REDUCED TO THE SIZE OF A BASEBALL
ARCHIMEDES SCREW




MULE-FACE WOMAN
MAGIC MULTIPLYING SQUARE
HINDU FIRE EATER
CANNIBAL FORK USED BY FIJIANS
4 ORIGINAL COOTIES FROM FRANCE
A ROCK THAT FLOATS
A STARFISH WITH 21 POINTS



LONGEST RED HAIR IN THE WORLD
LIFTING AND PULLING HEAVYWEIGHTS WITH THEIR YEE-LIDS



BABY WITH 4 LEGS AND 3 ARMS
LITTLE HALF GIRL BORN WITHOUT ARMS OR LEGS



ALLIGATOR SKIN BOY
RUBBER-SKINNED GIRL
RUBBER-NECKED MAN
LEOPARD-SKINNED MAN



HUMAN PINCUSHION --THE  PAIN-PROOF MAN
LIFTING HEAVY WEIGHTS WITH HOLES THRU HIS BREAST



MIRACLE MAN -- HUMAN OR ROBOT
MAN WITH AN OSTRICH STOMACH



THE ARMLESS WONDER
OSSIFIED MAN TURNING TO STONE

Read more about Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not here.

This week a new public television series about Ripley began on January 6, 2015. The first video has a brief overview of that show (this may not be viewable in all areas--you may be asked to choose your local station). The second video has one of Ripley's early films.






Visit Sepia Saturday
For More Vintage Images

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2015/01/sepia-saturday-261-10-january-2015.html

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