Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith a mighty man is he
With large and sinewy hands
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
synopsis:
The poem is about a local blacksmith who is noted as being strong and for not owing anyone anything, working by the sweat of his own brow. Children coming home from school stop to stare at him as he works, impressed by the roaring bellows and burning sparks. On Sundays, the blacksmith, a single father after the death of his wife, takes his children to church, where his daughter sings in the choir. He goes through his life following the daily tasks assigned to him and has earned his sleep at night.
analysis:
The title character of "The Village Blacksmith" is presented as an "everyman" and a role model: he balances his commitments to work, the community, and his family. The character is presented as an iconic tradesman who is embedded in the history of the town and its defining institutions because he is a longtime resident with deeply-rooted strength, as symbolized by the "spreading chestnut tree".
The Prom Ballroom was a dance hall on University Avenue in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood. Glenn Miller and his Orchestra played the grand opening in 1941, to be followed by other well-known artists including Count Basie, and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.This postcard was originally published in 1941, the year the Prom Ballroom opened. The marquee shows the names of some fairly well-known orchestras: Cliff Kyes, Orrin Tucker - Bonnie Baker, and Ralph Slade. Dancing was on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Park-N-Eat Fountain Grill sold hamburgers for 5¢.
Swing, polka, jazz, and rock n' roll groups played the space, spanning such diverse musical acts from Lawrence Welk to Buddy Holly and Crickets, to The Police. The house orchestra was the Jules Herman Orchestra.
The Prom offered a 9000 square foot hard maple floor. Small booths and tables ringed the edge, where dancers could rest and order food.
ST. ANTHONY FALLS BRIDGE at Minneapolis, Minnesota, completed in June, 1918, at a cost of $865,000. It is the largest concrete arch bridge, built on a reverse curve, that spans the Mississippi River at any point from the source to the mouth. Designed and built by the Minneapolis City Engineering Department.
This 2,223-foot-long span was originally called the St. Anthony Falls Bridge, as it is built over the upper portion of the St. Anthony Falls Dam. Its alignment follows a shallow reverse S-curve in order to avoid fractures in the limestone bedrock supporting the bridge piers; it has the distinction of being the largest concrete arch bridge on a reverse curve. Much of the design work was done by Minneapolis city engineer Frederick W. Cappelen, who was responsible for a number of other local bridges and other structures, including the Cappelen Memorial (Franklin Avenue) Bridge. Construction of the $650,000 bridge used techniques which were state-of-the-art for the time, including the placement of water-tight cofferdams within which the bridge piers were poured. The concrete arches were formed against “falsework,” which supported and shaped the arches and then were removed after completion. A number of modifications have been made to the bridge over the years, including a major renovation in 1979- 80.I didn't realize until I saw the description on the Lost Bridges page of the Minneapolis Riverfront District website, that the next postcard shows the "falsework" used in the construction of the Third Avenue Bridge. The falsework of the Third Avenue Bridge can be seen in the distance on the right side of the picture behind the smoke stacks. Here is the description of this card from that website:
Postcard showing the following bridges, heading upriver: Minneapolis Western Railroad, Lower (10th Avenue), Stone Arch, and falsework for the Third Avenue bridge, under construction; ca. 1917 .
HIBBING, MINN. - Paul Bunyan was here with his blue ox “Babe.” Here the churning hooves of the great ox, as he pulled the kinks out of the Mesaba Range, gouged out the Hull-rust pit. The filings from the knives and axes at the Bunyan logging camp filled the great pit with a mighty reserve of iron ore which has provided the backbone of the U. S. defense effort in two world wars.Hibbing Daily News is listed as the publisher of this card. The card was apparently distributed with a souvenir ore sample courtesy of Hibbing Chamber of Commerce.
The Falstaff Brewing Corporation was a major American brewery located in St. Louis, Missouri. With roots in the 1838 Lemp Brewery of St. Louis, the company was renamed after the Shakespearean character of Sir John Falstaff in 1903. Production peaked in 1965 with 7,010,218 barrels brewed, and then dropped 70 percent in the next ten years. While its smaller labels linger on today, its main label Falstaff Beer went out of production in 2005.
MINNEAPOLIS has eight large Department Stores and five Specialty Stores for Women's Wear. The Pearce Cloak Co.--popularly known as "Pearce's"--is illustrated on the other side of this card. It is the leading and best ready-to-wear Women's Apparel Store in the Northwest.There is a written message on the back of this card dated 1911. The Emporis website lists Pearce Cloak Company building as an alternative name for Fields Store. The building was demolished in 1962.
The Gunflint Trail winds inland from Grand Marais, through virgin timber and along many lakes to the Canadian border. It leads to one of the few remaining wilderness areas. This land of lakes is noted for its fishing and wild life. The modern road follows an old Indian trail from Gunflint Lake to Grand Marais.Another postcard I have of the Gunflint Trail entrance sign shows a bear stooping in a small motor boat.
The Gunflint Trail is a legendary destination in the northeast tip of Minnesota's Arrowhead where you can explore nature from the edge of the wilderness and still enjoy all the creature comforts of civilization. In its long-ago history, the "trail" was a walking path through the deep forest, but it is now a paved, two-lane road winding for 57 miles through the Superior National Forest, beginning at Grand Marais. The route is one of Minnesota's designated Scenic Byways.I haven't been able to determine what happened to this sign. The only pictures I found on the web showed the red lettering on the voyageur's canoe looking very faded.
• the earth being cleaned in a bathtubThe Zazzle stamp below was sent to me on mail from Zazzle. It was sent in October 2010 and has a fall leaf design.
• a beach clean-up scene
• man planting a tree
• solar power for a house
