Postcard Friendship Friday - World's Biggest Fish Fry Parade

This year is the 56th Annual World's Biggest Fish Fry in Paris, Tennessee. The 2009 Grand Parade is Friday, April 24. In addition to the Grand Parade, the event includes beauty pageants, fish dinners, a rodeo, a Small Fry Parade, and a carnival. Five tons of catfish are cooked and served at the Fish Tent.

Information from the back of the postcard:

GREETINGS FROM PARIS, TENN.
Home of the "world's biggest fish fry." Paris School Band traditionally leads the colorful parade of this most interesting spring festival at "the fishingist (sic) city" on Kentucky Lake. Crowds of some 25,000 tourists and "home folk" enjoy this gala occasion yearly. Fresh fish from Tennessee River (Kentucky Lake) is prepared by Community Clubs of Henry County and served to guests in truly southern style.

Want to participate in Postcard Friendship Friday?
Go read how to get started on Marie's cpaphilblog.com:)

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Wooden Postcard Box & Postcards

This is my first time participating in Vintage Thingies Thrusdays. I have a large collection of postcards and a small collection of burnt wood pyrographic items, including some burnt wood postcards. You can see more of my wooden postcards in my Wooden Postcards articles on my postcardy.com website.

Vintage Thingies Thursdays

Candy Sweeties - Fat Emma & Pie Face

This is a salesman advance card printed on a U. S. government postal card. Fat Emma, made by the Pendergast Candy Company of Minneapolis in the 1920s, was one of the classic American Candy bars of the past. Pie Face was her male companion. Fat Emma is included on a list of "Ten Immortals" by Ray Broekel (a candy bar historian) in his article "Land of the Candy Bar." It was the first candy bar to use the type of nougat center later used by Mars in Milky Way. This nougat resulted from using too much egg white in the recipe which made it fluffy and thicker than expected (thus making Emma "fat"). The nougat became known as Minnesota or Minneapolis nougat.

Emma V. White - "North Star" Seedswoman

It is about time to be thinking about planting a garden. Although it is too early for most garden plants to be safe in Minnesota, some flowers like pansies and snapdragons can survive in colder weather.

This postcard is Compliments of Miss Emma V. White and has an offer on the back to introduce her seeds:

Send a dime and addresses of two others who grow flowers, and I will send you five of these Floral Postal Cards and three packets of seeds: Best Mixed Nasturtiums, Asters, Pansies (regular price 20c.); also if you request it, my pretty 1911 catalog of best seeds grown.

EMMA V.WHITE
"North Star" Seedswoman
3010 Aldrich Ave., S., Minneapolis, Minn.

The Two Many Tomatoes blog has a very interesting post about The Three Seedswomen of Minneapolis. Emma V. White was one of the three, and a cover of one of her catalogs has the same picture that is on this postcard.

This postcard is made by Chilton Company, Phila., Pa., U. S. A. Judging by the cards I have, it seems like Chilton must have specialized in advertising. Not all of their postcards were marked with the Chilton name. For example, postcards for the 1911 Minneapolis Civic Celebration exist both with and without the Chilton name, but both varieties have the same style "Post Card" logo with the "P" elongated into a divider.

Many beautiful Minneapolis Seedswomen Catalogs are shown on the University of Minnesota Media Archive.

Postcard Friendship Friday - Dutch Girl Pennant

Images of Dutch kids were very popular on postcards in the early 1900s. Apparently they were considered both romantic and amusing. The words on the cards were written to imitate a Dutch accent. Pennants were also popular because the same postcard could be imprinted with different location names. Some of the pennants were printed directly on the postcard. Some of the pennants, like this one, were made of felt which was applied to the card.

This postcard fits into a couple of my favorite collecting categories: Minneapolis and postcards about postcards. It would also be considered a "novelty" postcard because something is attached to the card. And, of course, it is a great big friendly greeting for Postcard Friendship Friday.

P.S. Jes tinked me dat dutz-speekage being pissed sentreez LOL-speek!! So nu wutz kitteh-kit?? LOLspeak 101

Want to participate in Postcard Friendship Friday?
Go read how to get started on Marie's cpaphilblog.com:)

Burger King Mascot

This groovy Love postcard is one of a series ©Burger King Corporation 1972. On the back is the slogan "where kids are king."

Recently I've seen one of Burger King's new commercials featured a lot in news stories. I haven't seen the commercial actually aired as a commercial, so these stories represent a ton of free advertising for Burger King. Why? Because some people are complaining that the commercial objectifies women. Maybe it does, but in my opinion the worst part is the creepy greasy king that looks more like a devil than a king. The lesson here is that if you create a truly awful commercial, you don't have to pay to show it. If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch the new Burger King commercial on YouTube.

Or, you can watch a nice retro 1970s animated commercial. I guess those were simpler times…

Which King do you prefer -- the merry old soul or the creepy devil? And which ad do you think is better?

P. S. The YouTube embedding code hasn't been working right for me. It is not showing the border, and it is showing related videos--this is the opposite of what I have been checking for customization. Is anyone else having this problem??

An Easter Hymn & An Easter Carol

Here are two more postcards for Spring and Easter. I was able to track down the source of the quotes (Google is amazing), so I will include the complete verses.

AN EASTER HYMN

by Thomas Blackburn*

AWAKE, thou wintry earth,
Fling off thy sadness ;
Fair vernal flower, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness:
Christ is risen.

Wave, woods, your blossoms all,
Grim death is dead ;
Ye weeping funeral trees,
Lift up your head:
Christ is risen.

Come, see, the graves are green;
It is light; let's go
Where our loved ones rest
In hope below:
Christ is risen.

All is fresh and new,
Full of spring and light;
Wintry heart, why wearest the hue
Of sleep and night ?
Christ is risen.

Leave thy cares beneath,
Leave thy worldly love;
Begin the better life
With God above:
Christ is risen.

*Google Book Results listed poet's name as T. Blachburne

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AN EASTER CAROL

by Christina Rossetti

Spring bursts to-day,
For Christ is risen and all the earth's at play

Flash forth, thou sun,
The rain is over and gone, its work is done.

Winter is past,
Sweet Spring is come at last, is come at last.

Bud, Fig, and Vine,
Bud, Olive, fat with fruit and oil and wine.

Break forth this morn
In roses, thou but yesterday a thorn.

Uplift thy head,
O pure white Lily through the Winter dead.

Beside your dams
Leap and rejoice, you merry-making Lambs.

All Herds and Flocks
Rejoice, all beasts of thickets and of rocks.

Sing, Creatures, sing,
Angels and Men and birds and everything.

All notes of doves
Fill all our world: this is the time of loves.

Postcard Friendship Friday - Easter Bunny Activities

Did you know that Easter bunnies and their fine feathered friends enjoy bicycling and boating?

See more of my Easter Bunny Postcards at postcardy.com.

Want to participate in Postcard Friendship Friday? Go read how to get started on Marie's cpaphilblog.com:)

Giant Easter Basket

This postcard shows the giant concrete Easter basket in Lakeview park, Lorain, Ohio. This basket was buit in 1937 by David Shukait, a Lorain Parks Department employee. It is 7'2" high, 10'3" wide and 5'4" deep. Another basket was built in Oakwood Park in 1939. Colorful concrete Easter eggs are placed in the baskets at Easter time.

It is a tradition in Lorain to take family Easter photos posed in front of the baskets. There is a large group of Lorain Easter basket photos on flickr.

Orange Blossom Specials Trains

I think this is probably the prettiest train postcard, at least in the U.S. According to the back of the card: "THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIALS of the Seaboard Railway provide the only Diesel electric Pullman service between eastern cities and east and west coast Florida." The trains look very streamlined on this postcard, but they used heavy cars and were not really streamlined.

A fiddle tune inspired by this train, the"Orange Blossom Special", was written by Ervin T. Rouse in 1938. It is considered the best known fiddle tune of the twentieth century. Many artists have recorded this song. Bill Monroe recorded and popularized the tune in 1942. Johnny Cash recorded an album titled "Orange Blossom Special" that included this song in 1965.

Orange Blossom Cocktail Recipe Postcard

This postcard is number 10 of a series of 14 Cocktail Hour recipe postcards made by Dexter Press. ©1959 From a Painting by Walter Nichols. The Orange Blossom recipe is in small print on the back:

ORANGE BLOSSOM

1 oz. fresh Orange Juice, 1 ½ oz. Dry Gin, 1/2 teaspoon veri fine sugar. Shake well with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass.

Postcard Friendship Friday - A Little Sack Time

I went to a stamp show last weekend — partly to look for mail-related postcards and partly to see if I could sell my old stamp collection that I haven't touched since I was about twelve years old. I still have my stamp collection — it's too good to throw away but not good enough for a stamp dealer to buy.

I did find a few good postcards for my collection, including this one showing a historial mail carrier from a Postmark America series. On the front is the caption "Catching a little sack time in Cedar Falls at the turn of the Century." Cedar Falls is a town in Iowa. The lower right is marked Cedar Falls Historical Society. On the back is printed "The most special of all deliveries. a boy or a girl, this small package must be handled with special care." The postcard is from Postmark America at the Mall of America, Blomington, MN. ©1996 USPS.

The Postmark America™ store at the Mall of America opened in 1996 and closed in 2004. It was the United States Postal Service's only retail store and was a big money loser. I know I visited the store a couple of times but didn't buy anything there. What I remember are the typical USPS souvenir collectibles and some unimpressive T-shirts.

Want to participate in Postcard Friendship Friday? Welcome!! Go read this on Marie's cpaphilblog.com to learn how to get started:)

Postcard Scavenger Hunt #2 – Spring

This is my monthly Postcard Scavenger Hunt for April. If you are interested in participating, please read about how it works on my Announcing the Postcard Scavenger Hunt posting.

NOTE: You don't have to post today. The deadline is really at the end of the month so there is plenty of time to post. You also can put the permalink to an older post on the theme into Mister Linky.

The theme for this month is SPRING. Spring-themed postcards are often found among Easter cards, but they can also be found among advertising and local views. Here are some from my postcard collection to inspire you.

An old Easter postcard, published by Bergman, with a simple elegant design influenced by Japanese and Arts and Crafts styles.

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"The Jefferson Memorial appears in its most beautiful setting usually early in April, when the Cherry trees are in bloom. Thousands of visitors come to see the annual Cherry Blossom Festival."

The National Cherry Blossom Festival^® is held in Washington, D.C. to coincide with the blooming of the cherry trees. The event celebrates the 1912 gift of cherry trees given to the city by Japan as a symbol of friendship between the citizens of Japan and the United States.

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"Springtime is 'Blossom Time' in southwestern Michigan. Routes to view the blossoms are plainly marked directing visitors through beautiful orchards and hillsides that are colorful with bloom." (Photo by John Penrod).

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An advertising postcard for Spring Rain fragrance described as "a highly feminine and romantic medley of spring garden flower fragrances." © 1983 Scarborough& Company. The illistration is "Childhood, the Season of Joy" by Currier & Ives.

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A Pabst Beer advertising card for spring break 1982. Pabst Brewing Company was a famous Milwaukee brewery founded in 1844, but the company no longer owns any breweries. The company is a "virtual brewery" that owns brand names and markets many brands that are actually brewed by other breweries.

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