Map: Boston Town

BOSTON, MASS.

Boston was incorporated as a city in 1822. It is a manufacturing and commercial community, but chief interest for the visitor is its historic past dating from the very beginnings of the country.

This postcard was mailed via free soldiers' mail in June 1945. It was sent by Cpl. Merlin Koehn (1914-2000). His serial number was 36233684, and his enlistment record is here.

New York World's Fair: Windy Day Comic

CELEBRATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1939-40 WORLD'S FAIRS
In New York and San Francisco
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.

Map: Greetings from North Dakota

North Dakota — area 70,837 sq. m., of which 654 sq. m. is water; 16th state in size; admitted into the Union in 1889. State flower - Wild Prairie Rose. Capital - Bismarck. Manufactures:: Grain products and dairy products (butter, cheese, condensed and evaporated milk). Sullys Hills National Park is a famous wild-animal preserve with woods and streams.

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 –

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

Map: Greetings from Minnesota

Minnesota —area 84,682 sq. miles, of which 3,824 sq. miles is water; 10,000 lakes; 11th state in size; admitted to the Union in 1858. State Flower - Moccasin Flower. Capital - St. Paul.

Fishy Tales

These colorful fishing comic postcards are from the 1940s. This type of postcard was popular with those who vacationed where fishing was available. Fishermen are notorious for exaggerating and lying about the size of the fish they catch. The first two postcards have official-looking forms aimed at proving they are not just fibbing and telling tales.

 

The next postcard gives new meaning to the words "the fish are biting."

Hunters sit in trees, but fishermen??

Now – he is wondering whether you will really believe him . . .

The last postcard was mailed from Duluth, Minnesota in 1944 with the following message on the back:

Hello all —
Got to Duluth & just finished our supper. We are down by the dock where they are loading iron ore. It is beautiful here & so cool. We are going to get a cabin to sleep in. I am writing this on the auto hood.
So long -------

 I think these fish exaggeration postcards are very amusing, and I have collected many of them. The video below is one I made with some of my fishy cards. 

My only actual experience with fishing was at a resort where my family vacationed for many years in the 1950s. We used to save some bread from the dinner table to use as bait. We rolled little doughy balls with the bread and went fishing from the dock. They had weekly fishing contests for the kids and awarded prizes for the longest (not heaviest) fish. I still have the certificate that I won one year. Here's proof that I actually caught something.

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Map: Nevada, One Sound State

Girl Scout Camp Tents

These are the fronts and backs of some official Girl Scout Camp Post Cards showing tents. These postcards date from the 1940s. Two of them have messages written by campers. The first one was sent from Buffalo, Minnesota in 1942. There was a Camp Greenwood at Buffalo which had been there since 1925 and was mentioned as closing in a 2010 article Waving Goodbye to Girl Scout Camps. This was one of many Girl Scout camps that have closed in recent years.

The third postcard was sent from Bovey, Minnesota in 1947. Bovey is a small city in northern Minnesota. I was not able to find any references to a Girl Scout camp there.

The tents shown on the postcards are platform tents. They appear to be like the ones that my old Girl Scout troop used for overnight camping. The photo below shows one of those tents.

 

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Prohibition in the United States and Canada

Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide Constitutional ban on the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages that remained in place from 1920 to 1933. It was promoted by "dry" crusaders movement, led by rural Protestants and social Progressives in the Democratic and Republican parties, and was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League. Prohibition was mandated under the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution … Nationwide Prohibition ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, on December 5, 1933. (Source: Wikipedia)

The next two postcards offer a humorous view of the prohibition era in the United States.

The next two postcards are from the time (circa 1929-1930) when prohibition was still in effect throughout the United States, but had ended in most Canadian provinces.

Prohibition in Canada was not as long-lasting or widespread as it was in the U. S. National prohibition was part of the War Measures Act in 1918. After the war, alcohol regulations were primarily a provincial responsibility. The provinces repealed their prohibition laws at different times, mostly during the 1920s. The table below shows the dates that prohibition was in effect in the different provinces of Canada. (Source: Wikipedia)

Note: The Sepia Saturday prompt image this week is a photograph taken in Alberta 1916--the same year that prohibition was enacted in Alberta.

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Map: Arkansas Comic

Arkansas — area 53, 335 square miles, of which 810 sq. miles is water; 26th state in size; admitted into the Union in 1836. State flower — Apple Blossom. Capital — Little Rock. Places of interest: oil fields at El Dorado and Smackover; Hot Springs National Park, 1 ½ sq. mi., containing 46 hot springs said to possess medicinal properties.

postmarked 1957

Bamforth Postcards

Bamforth & Co. of Holmfirth  (England) and New York published this postcard circa 1910 ("photo only copyright 1910"). It was printed in England and is part of Series No. 1648. I wish I knew what the rest of the series is about. The other postcards in the series are probably  related to some aspect of this scene--but which one? The reason I bought this postcard is that I collect "postcards about postcards," and this card has a Bamforth's display in the background (see enlarged detail below).

I often have difficulty in understanding the humor on postcards from the early twentieth century, even when they are American. This postcard was used in the U.S., but its style is more English than American. I suspect this postcard would probably be understood better by someone in England--and there are many Sepians from England. Can anyone identify the "well-known paper?" The humor on postcards often depends on words or phrases with more than one meaning. In this case, the humor on the postcard also seems to depend on the various meanings of "take in."

Bamforth & Co was started in 1870 by James Bamforth, a portrait photographer. In the late 19th century the company specialized in making lantern slides. Bamforth postcards evolved from the slides by the early 1900s. Their early postcards were based on photographs and included illustrated songs and comic subjects. By 1905 there were branches in New York and London, although the main office remained in Holmfirth. By the end of WWI 20,000,000 cards were being printed every year, and artist drawn postcards were more popular. Bamforth continued producing postcards through most of the twentieth century.  The company was best known for its saucy seaside comics, a peculiarly British phenomenon.

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New York Hot Dog!

These are two "World's Fair Comics" postcards from the first New York World's Fair.

2014 is the 75th anniversary of the 1939 New York World's Fair, and July is National Hot Dog Month.

Map: Sunshine Belt--Arizona, New Mexico, Texas

Map: Wisconsin Comic

Wisconsin — area 55,256 sq. miles, is an ideal vacationland, having within its boundaries over 10,000 lakes. Was admitted into the Union in 1848. State flower - Violet, Capital - Madison. rugged geological rock formations abound at Devils Lake, Wisconsin Dells, and the St. Croix River. Industrially Wisconsin is first in dairying and brewing and also is famous for cheese, steel and many other products.

A Sailor's Life — 1904

My post has an excerpt from my grandfather's Navy journal. He started the journal when he joined the Navy in 1901, but most of the entries are from 1904 near the end of his service. I am using some WWI era Sailor Comics postcards as illustrations. These are the only four cards that I have from a No. 684 set of 12 designs. I never actually saw this journal, but my sister did and transcribed it. If you are interested, you can read more of the journal on a web page I made, Navy Journal of Frank J. Brennan — 1901-1905.

1904

The cruise of the U.S.S. Annapolis from the Philippines to Frisco.

USS Annapolis (Source: Wikipedia)

I will try and keep a diary of my cruise on the gunboat Annapolis, but this is about my third attempt and I don’t know how I will succeed.

May 16. Transferred to U.S.S. Annapolis from the U.S.S. Wisconsin. This ship is a gunboat of brigantine rig, and it is a great change from a big battleship. Everything is so small and no room to speak of. She has the navy record for gunboats in target practice, the same as the Wisconsin had the record for her class. Just think of making nine hits out of ten shots in five minutes and forty seconds and each projectile weighting eleven hundred and fifty pounds. That was done on the Wisconsin. This ship’s battery consists of six six-inch, four six-pounders, two one-pounders and two Colts automatic. We were transferred at 6 o’clock of this day, and they were making handclasps when we left our old shipmates. The whole ship company manned the rail and gave three cheers for the homeward bounders, which we returned, and they was many a sigh when we seen the last of the Wisconsin.

May 21. Vicksburg, a sister ship of this, left today in company of the Wisconsin and Frolic for Hong Kong. The Frolic used to be Mark Hanna’s yacht, but is now a gunboat. The Vicksburg had her homeward pennant flying, we are also flying a homeward bounder.

May 22. Pumps broke down and we lay here two weeks longer. We should have went with the Vicksburg, but we will meet her at Yokohama, and there we will both leave for home. Got a new first luff (?) today, Miller by name. He relieved Cristy who used to be executive officer, who is now on the Rainbow.

May 23. Rainbow left for Hong Kong. We have plenty work. We took down a sail today and get plenty running boats to man, but we don’t care. We are all short timers aboard, the longest timer has only eleven months to do.

May 24. Steam launch broke down more ____ boats, all kinds of calls, but we don’t have much quarters, plenty of bright work to shine though.

May 25. Been on the Asiatic Station a little over a year, and I am mighty glad we are to leave it, but some of my shipmates has been here for three years. But what do we care, we are all homeward bound, and before many months are up we shall be in Gods Country, my own United States.

Five o'clock is reveille and all hands get up, get some coffee, have a smoke then it is three bells. Three bells is turn to, scrub, and wash clothes, scrub-down your ____, scrub all paint work, 4 bells stop, all scrub and wash clothes on the line, wash down the decks, shine your bright work, and at six bells draw water and wash, and at seven bells all hands are piped to breakfast. This is an every day occurrence, and I only mentioned it in case any one should try to peruse these lines, they will know what happens in the morning

May 27. Steam launch broke down again, and we get plenty of pulling boats, today especially as we are guard ship and I’ve been pulling since this morning in guard boat. Got the phonograph going, whenever we get a chance. Plum duff for dinner: you get very good chow aboard here, better than the flagship.

May 28. Answered a call ashore getting oil, and we all got our feet blistered from the sun being so hot. We of course were barefooted. Got back in time for dinner. Afternoon rigged our main trysail gaff and row (???) in boat . Drill today was aboard our ship.

May 29. Got a very sore leg and a slight fever, feel pretty bad, but we are used to that. Leg all swollen, had it cut in by the doctor, excused from heavy duty.

May 30. Coaled ship and it was so hot we could hardly work, we actually got dizzy so you know it was warm. But we had to knock off at ten, we could hardly stand. We then had lunch, then a little rest, and we went at it again. But we managed to finish, and have the ship cleaned by night.

May 31. Sent (??? Bent? Went???) all sail.

June 1. Got all the sail and sailing gear ready for sea. In the evening, we gave a farewell entertainment to all the ships now laying here. We had a band, plenty of dancing and refreshments, and whoever knew how to dance or sing had to do their turn., And the farewell was voted by everyone to be a thorough success and as each boat, with the men left us, they gave us three rousing cheers which we returned heartily. I forgot to mention that we also took on stores today.

June 2. Secured all boats for sea, got everything ready, and at 4 P.M. the boats’n’s mates piped, all hands up anchor for home. We then weighed anchor, sent a man to the wheel and chains. It reminded me of a little poem, you see it was 8 bells when we got up anchor, here it is

Strikes 8 bells
Relieve the wheel and chains
Oh, won’t we have a jolly time
When we get home again.

We broke our homeward bound pennant, and steamed slowly by the cruiser Frisco and as we did, they manned the rail and gave three hearty cheers for the homeward bounder. Then we manned the rigging, and we returned them as heartily as they were given, for every man aboard here is glad to leave the dust of the Philippines behind him, where you get weather that would kill a horse but not a blue jacket.

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Riddle on a Stick

 

This is a postcard with a corndog riddle that I got at the Minnesota State Fair a few years ago. A corndog is a hot dog sausage coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter, typically deep fried and served on a stick.  Corndogs are one of the oldest and most popular foods on a stick, but there are many other foods on a stick available at the state fair. A long list of Food on a Stick at the Minnesota State Fair is here, and a list of the 10 Most Unusual Foods on a Stick at the MN State Fair is here.

 I am posting this now because today is National Something on a Stick Day. Earlier this week, March 22 was National Corndog Day.

Pour Moi?

This postcard fits in a topic that I have especially enjoyed collecting in the last few years, what I call "Writing Reminders." It is labeled Victoria Series and is printed and published in England.

To me, this postcard looks like it is about 50 years older than the 1959 date stamp on the back would indicate. I am wondering whether another collector has information that could date this card. I often have trouble dating English postcards, because they are so different from American postcards. Also, sometimes there are date stamps on postcards that relate to a date in a collection rather than the date of original publication.