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.

The "Mastodon" Railway Barge

The Mastodon was a Southern Pacific Railway barge that ferried trains and passengers across the Mississippi River at Avondale, ten miles above New Orleans, Louisiana. The postcard above was sent from NewOrleans in January 1913. The message on the back mentions getting fat from eating so many bananas which were sold for the price of 2 dozen for 5 cents there.

 

Below is another postcard of the Mastodon about 20 years later, but looking much the same. It was necessary to ferry the trains across the river until the Huey P. Long Bridge was built in 1935.

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Crabtree & Evelyn

Crabtree & Evelyn is a company selling fragrances and bath/body products. This postcard is ©1983. I got the postcard about that time at a Crabtree & Evelyn shop inside an indoor marketplace. I remember the shop storefront as looking similar to the one on the postcard. The vintage look is what attracted me to the shop. Judging from the Crabtree & Evelyn website and their videos, the company is no longer using vintage imagery.

Abraham Lincoln Statues

 

I have been collecting postcards of Abraham Lincoln statues for several years. Above is one of my favorites that shows the Lincoln statue that was in front of the Avondale School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Although  the view of this statue isn't very good, I like the postcard because of the school children surrounding the statue. This is a bronze statue with a woman half-kneeling at the base. It was sculpted by William Granville Hastings, who died before this statue was dedicated in 1902.

There is a copy of the Cincinnati Lincoln statue with the woman in Bunker Hill, Ill., and copies of the Lincoln statue only in Jefferson and Sioux City, Iowa. The postcard of the Bunker Hill statue shows Lincoln and the kneeling woman more clearly.

I never thought that I would end up collecting Lincoln statues. At one time Lincoln postcards were fairly popular with collectors, but few collectors are interested in them now. I got my start with my first postcard collection when I was in 6th grade and my family visited Springfield and New Salem, Illinois. Lincoln's New Salem is a reconstruction of the village where Abraham Lincoln spent his early adulthood and Springfield is where he lived for many years before leaving for Washington to become President. It was on that trip that I bought my first postcards ever. A couple of years later, my 8th grade trip was to the same area, and I bought some more Lincoln postcards.

Here is a photo of me (on the left) with my mother and sisters in front of Lincoln's home in Springfield.

I don't have photos of any statues from my trips, but I do have a postcard of a Lincoln statue in New Salem State Park that was among the first postcards I bought. This is a nine foot statue of Lincoln as a young man in New Salem. It shows Lincoln as a frontiersman and student. It was sculptured by Arvard Fairbanks and was presented to the state of Illinois in 1954.

When I started seriously collecting postcards many years later, I kept my Lincoln souvenir postcards apart from my main collection. I started giving them a second look in 2009, which was the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. I bought a book "Abraham Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography in Postcards" by James D. Ristine that was published in 2008. That book includes a chapter on "Monuments & Memorials." I was surprised at how many Lincoln statues there are and how many have appeared on postcards. I now have nearly 70 different Lincoln statues on postcards and am still looking for more. You can see my collection here: Abraham Lincoln Statues, Monuments, and Memorials.

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Good Luck on St. Patrick's Day

French Philatelic Program & Europa Stamps 2013

Above is a postcard I received from a French Postcrossing member. It is an oversize postcard showing the stamps in the French philatelic program from July to December 2013. The first column on the left includes the French Europa stamps featuring postal vehicles that were issued on may 21. The stamps shown for October 14 were issued for La Fête du Timbre (Stamp Day). One of them has an image of a Marianne stamp on the left and balloons on the right to go with the theme "air."

The back of the postcard has preprinted postage and a special postmark. Le Carré d'Encre (Square Ink) is a shop selling French stamps and philatelic souvenirs.

 

The same Postcrossing member sent me two other postcards on the same day. These had the French 2013 Europa stamps with the theme of postal vehicles and two other special postmarks.

 

Below is an image of the Europa stamps I found on the internet (source).

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

Erin Go Bragh

These two St. Patrick's Day greeting postcards both have the phrase Erin go Bragh. Erin go Bragh is the anglicisation of an Irish language phrase, Éirinn go Brách, and is used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as "Ireland Forever."  (Wikipedia)

A Scottish song from the 19th century entitled Erin-go-Bragh tells the story of a Highland Scot who is mistaken for an Irishman. Another version is an Irish rebel one, also called The Row in the Town. Here is that version of Erin Go Bragh as sung by the Wolfe Tones:

The Wolfe Tones - Erin Go Bragh 

I'll sing you a song of a row in the town,
When the green flag went up and the Crown flag came down,
'Twas the neatest and sweetest thing ever you saw,
And they played that great game they called Erin Go Bragh.

God bless gallant Pearse and his comrades who died
Tom Clark, MacDonagh, MacDiarmada, McBride,
And here's to James Connolly who gave one hurrah,
And faced the machine guns for Erin Go Bragh.

Now one of our leaders was down in Ring's end,
For the honour of Ireland to hold and defend,
He had no veteran soldiers but volunteers raw,
Playing sweet Mauser music for Erin Go Bragh.

Old Ceannt and his comrades like lions at bay,
From the South Dublin Union poured death and dismay,
But what was then often the entaylors men saw
All the dead karki soldiers on Erin Go Bragh.

A great foreign captain was raving that day,
Saying, "Give me one hour and I'll blow you away,"
But a big Mauser bullet got stuck in his jaw,
And he died of lead poisoning on Erin Go Bragh.

A glory to Dublin, and to her we renown,
In the long generations her fame will go down,
And our children will tell how their forefathers saw,
The red blaze of freedom in Erin Go Bragh.

Minnesota State Capitol

 

These postcards of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul were published by V. O. Hammon early in the twentieth century just a few years after this capitol building was completed.

Work began on this capitol in 1896, and construction was completed in 1905. It was designed by Cass Gilbert and modeled after Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. The unsupported marble dome is the second largest in the world, after Saint Peter's. However, like all capitols with domes in the US it is also inspired by the idea of domed capitols originating with the United States Capitol dome. The capitol building houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the office of the Attorney General and the office of the Governor. The building also includes a chamber for the Minnesota Supreme Court, although court activities usually take place in the neighboring Minnesota Judicial Center.(source: Wikipedia)

 

This brief video tour of the capitol tells some of the history of the capitol and shows what it looks like now.

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Edna St. Vincent Millay Stamp

A commemorative stamp honoring Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950), a famous American poet, was issued July 10, 1981.

This oversize (5" X 7") postcard was issued by USPS © 2000. I think it is part of a set of Great American Writers postcards, but this is the only card like this that I have.

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

Top of the Morning to You

"Top of the Morning to You" is a a traditional Irish greeting that is often associated with St. Patrick's Day. When you say "top of the morning to you" to someone, you are wishing them the best part of the morning. The traditional reply is "and the rest of the day to yourself.," wishing them a good rest of the day.

 

"The Wearing of the Green" is another phrase associated with St. Patrick's Day, and it is common to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. "The Wearing of the Green" is an Irish ballad lamenting the repression of supporters of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. It is to an old Irish air, and many versions of the lyric exist. The song proclaims that "they are hanging men and women for the wearing of the green".

Backyard Fences

This is an advertising card from the early 1960s that is the same size and material as a postcard. Both the front and back are covered by advertising for fences manufactured by Panel Weave, Inc. of Linnton, Oregon.

Family history buffs will be interested to know that the only place that I found information about the Panel Weave company was on a genealogy page written by the son of the company's founder. The Panel Weave factory had a big machine to score the panels, then bend them and insert cross pieces. The company only lasted a few years in the early 1960s, but this style of fence is still available elsewhere. You can even make your own, following the instructions for Making A Basket-Weave Fence on the Home Depot website.

When I was a young child, my family lived in Chicago where there were houses and apartments close together. Our backyard was small and had a fence separating our yard from the neighbor's. This photo is me in front of our fence there in the late 1940s.

 

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Mexican Stamps

 

This postcard shows a collage made ​​with 24 Mexican Commemorative stamps, issued from December 1, 1970 to December 31, 1971. The message printed in blue on the back is sending greetings from the local Post Office in the 20th SCT Home Fair and shows how to place the postal zone in the address.

 

The stamp on the back is a definitive stamp of the Puebla Cathedral that was used for many years. It has a special cancellation from the fair

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