Minnehaha Falls Bridges

Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota still is a popular attraction. Judging from the large number of postcards picturing it that were produced in the early years of the twentieth century, it must have been even more popular then. The cards that I find most interesting are the ones showing the rustic bridge, especially the ones with people on the bridge. The postcard above has a black and white printed view circa 1908.

A version of the Minneahaha Falls bridge was even used as a photo studio prop. The next postcard is a real photo from Kregel Photo Parlors of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

There are five locations or The Kregel Photo Parlors listed on the back of this postcard.

The next two postcards show the falls in different seasons. These are my favorite colored views of the rustic bridge and the falls. This is the bridge built about 1893. An earlier bridge was photographed as early as the 1860s.

The next postcard shows the bridge that was built in 1910. This bridge was built of reinforced concrete and faced with boulders found in the park and vicinity.

My final postcard is circa 1950s. This postcard shows the bridge built in 1940 as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in the park. This bridge was made of concrete and faced with cut stone.

 

Information source: Bridges at Minnehaha Falls

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United States Bicentennial & Stamps

The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that commemorated the historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic. The Bicentennial culminated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, with the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

The maximum card above has an image of a bust of John Paul Jones and the U.S. Bicentennial stamp honoring him. This is one of MANY U.S. Bicentennial stamps, which were issued over a period of years from 1971 to 1983. I couldn't find a list of all the issues. Wikipedia's Bicentennial Series article even seems to neglect the John Paul Jones stamp which was issued on September 23, 1979, saying that there were no Bicentennial stamps between 1978 and 1981.

John Paul Jones (1747-1792) was an American Revolutionary hero who served in the Continental Navy. Born in Scotland, Jones later adopted the United States as his own country. He commanded the Bonhomme Richard and fought against the British during the Revolutionary War. It was during a battle against the British ship Serapis that he made the iconic statement, "I have not yet begun to fight!" Jones died in Paris in 1792. His remains were later returned to the United States and interned in Annapolis, Maryland. (Source: Arago)

The back of the John Paul Jones card has two cancellations related to him and two Bicentennial stamps. The American Militia and Continental Army stamps were issued on July 4, 1975. They are part of block of four designs that show uniforms worn by the Continental Army, Navy, Marines, and American militia during the Revolutionary War. These stamps have the Bicentennial logo.

The U.S. Bicentennial was a big event. I found a Bicentennial cartoon on YouTube that was produced by a U.S. government agency. It is packed full of iconic American symbols presented in a wild and crazy way with 1970s era graphics!

This is a post for Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

Thanksgiving Fun

The Sepia Saturday prompt this week is a photo of two young girls. Since it is Thanksgiving this week, I chose a Thanksgiving postcard with two young girls for my Sepia Saturday post this week.

I have a lot of old Thanksgiving postcards with children. I started collecting them because I was born on Thanksgiving. This year happens to be one of the years when my birthday actually falls on Thanksgiving.

Last year I made a video called Thanksgiving Fun on Vintage Postcards with postcards from my collection and posted it on YouTube. I also wrote an article about Children on Thanksgiving Postcards for my postcardy.com website. To see even more Thanksgiving postcards and some other Thnksgiving thingies, click the Thanksgiving label below this post.

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Little Thanksgiving Card & Perfin Stamp

This Thanksgiving postcard is signed by the artist Ellen Clapsaddle and published by International Art. It is numbered 1311.

I hope this little card will convey

All that I wish for your Thanksgiving Day:

But somehow or other it seems so small

To think that it could carry them all.

The back of this card is unusual because it was written upside with the address and message in the wrong columns.

The stamp on the back of this card is a perfin. In philately, a perfin is a stamp that has had initials or a name perforated across it to discourage theft. The name is a contraction of perforated initials or perforated insignia. The top twoo letters on this stamp appear to be NW which could be an abbreviation for Northwest or Northwestern. The bottom letter appears to be a G.

Thanksgiving Symbols

This Thanksgiving postcard design includes a little bit of everything. There are the common Thanksgiving symbols of turkeys and plentiful fruit. There are the patriotic symbols of flags and the American Eagle. There are chrysanthemums for Fall and forget-me-nots for remembrance and good luck.

I especially like that baby turkeys (known as poults) are included with Mom and Pop turkey.

Dead Fish & A Postal Shower

I have a lot of Thanksgiving postcards, but I had a hard time choosing one to post on my blog. I wanted to find one with an interesting and readable message as well as a nice image. Most of my postcards are unused. The ones that were used usually say little beyond "Thanks for your postal. I'm sorry I haven't written" or "We are all well, hope you are the same."

Here is the message on the back of this postcard which is postmarked Nov 24, 1909:

Josephine
Don't send for me(?) any fish moss(?). My fish are all dead but one. I would like to see you this morning when you get so many postals. I have told several about you postal shower. Nora.

It was the dead fish that first caught my attention. I had trouble figuring out the last part of the message until I remembered hearing about postal showers. Postal showers were popular in the early twentieth century when postcards were a big fad. They were a way of giving or sending postcards from many people to the same person at the same time. Postal showers seem to have been especially popular for birthdays, but also could occur at other times. Here is a newspaper report of a postal shower that was published in The Kingston Daily Freeman, August 10 1908.

The Lowell, Indiana Library website reported a shower of postal cards sent through the mail in 1910. This item came from Reports of the Historical Secretary of the Old Settler and Historical Association of Lake County, Indiana, from 1906 to1910:

On February 16th, which was the 80th anniversary of the birthday of Mrs. A.D. Palmer, of Lowell, formerly of Creston, she received a "shower" of postal cards. Greeting came to her, it is stated, from three hundred and six relatives and friends living in twenty states, and forty-five towns, including a great-great-grandson, whose card was sent by his parents residing in Hammond. The "postal shower" was a marked success.

Rivals - Eagle vs. Turkey

The American Bald Eagle was chosen to be part of the United States national seal in 1782. Not all were in agreement with this choice. Ben Franklin believed that the turkey would have made a better national symbol. According to Franklin, the eagle is a bird of  bad moral character. He felt that the turkey is a more respectable and courageous bird and would have been a more appropriate symbol.