Minnehaha Falls in Winter - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minnehaha Falls was the most popular subject for early twentieth century postcards. The falls were a popular subject for views in all seasons, including winter. It seems like just about every company that made any postcards of Minneapolis included at least one of Minnehaha Falls. V. O. Hammon, the company that made these winter views, produced the most views of the falls.

When there is a lack of rain in the fall, the falls can dry up. But when there is a lot of rain and cold temperatures, the falls can turn into a dramatic frozen cascade in the winter. The video below shows Minnehaha Falls in the winter of 2011.

Israel Stamps

This postcard showing Tribes of Israel stamps is one I recently received through Postcrossing. It was published by Palphot and is similar in design to the Red Sea Fishes stamps postcard I featured in a previous post.

There are twelve stamps in this series, representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribes are named after the twelve sons of Jacob. These stamps were issued in 1955 and 1956. The tribes, colors, and denominations on the stamps are as follows:

10 green - Reuben
20 dark lilac - Simeon
30 blue - Levi
40 brown - Judah
50 turquoise - Dan
60 gold ochre - Naphtali
80 violet - Gad
100 red - Asher
120 olive - Issachar
180 magenta - Zebulun
200 bottle green - Joseph
250 gray - Benjamin

Two recent Israeli stamps were used for postage on the back of the postcard, and they arrived uncancelled. The stamp on the left is the Torah Crown, Aden, Late 19th Century, part of the Festivals 2008 Torah Crowns series. The stamp on the right is Rabbi Shlomo Goren (1917-1994) issued in 2011. For more information on the subjects of these stamps, see the articles on Torah Scroll Crowns and Rabbi (Major-General, Res.) Shlomo Goren on the Israel Philatelic Federation website.

I am participating in Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

Still Life with Rabbits and Beagle

This postcard was obviously meant to appeal to hunters, and it has a message on the back from one of them. It is postmarked from Hayward, Wis., Oct. 25, 1961. The message is as follows:

Dear Clay
Got 6 birds today which is limit. Will try it again tomorrow. Any room in deep freeze? Pete sends regards & me too.
Jack

My postcard doesn't have any description printed on the back. A postcard with the same picture is shown on BAD POSTCARDS. That one is reported to have a caption “The Beautiful Adirondack Mts. of New York State”and quote “There is Nothing I Like Better than to get on the Trail of a Rabbit, then Flush Him so that my Master can get a Shot at Him” printed on the back.

Still lifes with dead rabbits have been painted by some well known artists. I especially like this one painted by the American artist William Harnett who was known for his trompe l'oeil style of painting.

William Harnett. After the Hunt, 1885

Rabbit hunting isn't as popular as bird and deer hunting, but many people do enjoy hunting and eating rabbits. Beagles are scent hounds, developed primarily for tracking hare, rabbit, and other game. Hunting rabbits with beagles seems to be especially popular. The video below shows a recent Kentucky Rabbit Hunt with beagles and includes a recipe for barbecued rabbit cooked in a crockpot. Rabbit Hunting Online has many more rabbit recipes.

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Union Terminal - Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati's beautiful art deco style Union Terminal was completed in 1933. During its prime as a passenger train station, it had a capacity of 216 trains per day, 108 in and 108 out. After years of declining rail traffic, it was down to two trains per day when Amtrak took over in 1971. The station was abandoned by Amtrak in 1972.

The original terminal had large mosaic murals by Winhold Reiss. The concourse had fourteen 20-by-20-foot mosaic panels representing local industries and a large world map mural located at the rear of the concourse. Most of the concourse and the map mural were destroyed in 1974. The mosaic panels were moved to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and can be seen on the airport website here.

The part of the building where the lobby was located has been preserved and is now the home of Cincinnati Museum Center. A closeup of the rotunda lobby mural shown on the postcard can be seen on the Cincinnati Museum Center website here. The lobby murals were 105 feet long and 22 feet high. They depicted America working people.

Loeb Arcade - Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Loeb Arcade was located at Hennepin Avenue and Fifth Street in downtown Minneapolis. There were entrances on both Hennepin and Fifth. At the time the arcade was opened, it surrounded another building on the corner. Inside, an L-shaped corridor curved from entrance to the other.

The Loeb Arcade's opening in November 1914 was reported in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune on November 8, 1914. The arcade was built at a cost of $750,000 and was Minneapolis' first building of this kind. The stores along the corridors were said to fill the demand for lower rents in the retail district. The newspaper article contained the following description of the building:

Four stories in height, of modern fireproof steel and concrete construction, the exterior is done in a brown terra cotta. Two spacious entrances on Hennepin Avenue and Fifth Street, respectively, admit into an equally spacious corridor of mosaic flooring presided on either side, according to the "arcade idea," by a continuous chain of storerooms appointed in mahogany and white marble basing. The corridor, eighteen feet in width and leading from street to street, affords a convenient meeting place or shelter from the weather and is a short cut to those passing through. An upward glance discloses a tastily conceived color scheme of striking white enamel terra cotta shaded with rich green and brown. Three large balconies completely circling the corridor on either side and bridged at the center of the building permit the comparison of a beautiful amphitheater lighted by a continuous skylight at the top of the structure. A most modern lighting system proves the building as successfully lighted by night as by day.

The Loeb Arcade was built in 1914 and demolished in 1967. It was originally four stories tall. It was increased to five stories around 1920 and cut back to two stories in the 1960s. After it was demolished, it was replaced by a parking lot.

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С Новым годом - Happy New Year

© 1982 USSR Ministry of Communications
Artist L. Kuznetsov

This is a Russian New Years postcard showing one of the unusual ways Ded Moroz has of delivering holiday greetings. Here he is dropping them from a helicopter--no envelopes needed.

1965 Russian Stamps on New Year Postcard

This Russian New Year postcard was issued in 1965 for New Year 1966. It has pictures of three stamps issued in 1965

The top stamp shows Lt. Col. Alexei Leonov taking movies in space. On 18 March 1965 he was the first man to conduct a space walk.

The center stamp with the hockey player was first issued in 1963. It was overprinted when the Soviets won the 1965 World Ice Hockey Championships. The overprint is below the hockey stick.

The bottom stamp shows the Kremlin and was issued on November 16, 1965 for New Year 1966. The Moscow Kremlin is a historic fortified complex that includes four palaces, four cathedrals and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers.

Below is an enlargement of the picture of the New Year stamp. Like the postcard, the stamp says "С Новым годом" (Happy New Year).

I am participating in Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog