Record Snowfall--Keweenaw County

The Keweenaw Peninsula, the most northern part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, averages more snowfall than anywhere in the United States east of the Mississippi River. The large snowfalls in this area are attributed to a "lake effect" of storms crossing Lake Superior.

These postcards show the sign recording what was once their record snowfall: 294.5 inches in 1964-1965. This record has since been surpassed a number of times. The current record of 390.4 inches was set in 1978-1979. Average snowfall is 241.9 inches. The 2007-2008 snowfall through March 26 was 258.2 inches with 34 inches on the ground.

Boring Postcard from Wahoo

There are two types of boring postcards: interesting boring and boring boring. I enjoy collecting the kind of boring postcards that are not really boring (at least to me). Of course, which category a boring postcard belongs in is a matter of personal preference. After spending several hours last week searching through a collection of 11,000 boring postcards, I ended up buying about 65. One of them is this Wahoo, Nebraska postcard that I consider to be a real gem among boring postcards.

A couple of years ago I reviewed the book Boring Postcards USA. I recently found some newer blog entries on the subject of "boring postcards" by michael5000. Included was a list of what makes a boring postcard collectible.

The Wahoo postcard has many fine boring features:

• An unusually poor framing of the scene


• A politically incorrect pun: "Home of good Indians / we say this without a reservation."


• A teepee-shaped "A" in WAHOO


• Boosterish claim to be a "City of Opportunity"


• Claim to fame as the "Home of Five Famous Men" that most people have never heard of and whose names are almost illegible on the postcard


• Added afterthought "Future home of Youthland USA" (Has anyone ever heard of that?)

Wahoo's website has a list of Fun Facts about Wahoo. First on the list is that "Wahoo has been the Home Office of the Late Show with David Letterman since March 1996." Wahoo is still claiming to be the home of Five Famous Men. Although the five men were alive in 1967 when this postcard was mailed, the last one died nearly twenty years ago.

For a recent version of the Wahoo sign, see The famous men of Wahoo.

The WAHOO "A"

Florida Weather

Comparing Florida weather to weather "up north" was a popular topic on Florida postcards of the linen era. Some of the other postcards in this category compare picking oranges to throwing snowballs, water skiing to snow skiing, or sun to ice.

Actually it has been known to snow in Florida, but not very often. There was one of the rare snow events this week. The Associated Press reported on January 3, 2008: "Flurries fell across the Sunshine State today, but it appeared that growers were spared the deep freeze they feared would devastate the nation’s citrus supply."

Wikipedia has a list of other snow events in Florida.

A Happy New Year Postcard 1908 & 2008

Year date postcards were most common during the years 1908-1910. This 1908 year date New Year postcard was published by the Rotograph Co., N. Y. City. It is a "Real Photograph on bromide paper."

The sender of this card apologized for this "postal" being "not very pretty" and not getting around to sending the card in time for New Year (it was postmarked Feb. 6). She also wrote: "This card is a mix up." I'm not sure what she meant by that. Possibly this refers to the fact that the back is printed upside down relative to the front.


I had some fun playing with this postcard in Photoshop. By isolating the last two digits of 1908 and making a duotone, I was able to create a new postcard design suitable for 2008:

John Kendrick Bangs New Year's Quotes on A. M. Davis Postcards

My curiosity was aroused when looking over my old New Year postcards. I noticed that I have four New Year postcards published by A. M. Davis with greetings or verse attributed to John Kendrick Bangs. I had never heard of him before, but I soon learned that John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922) was a well-known American author, magazine editor, and lecturer.

This postcard is the only one of the four with a verse that rhymes. The verse alludes to New Year's resolutions, and the card is illustrated with the popular New Year's symbols, Father Time and Baby New Year. I can't read the date on this postcard. The other cards are copyright 1910 and have greetings wishing happiness and joy.

John Kendrick Bangs Biography

A Beautiful Season

Snow scenes have always been popular subjects on winter holiday and Christmas postcards. Most of the scenes, even on modern Christmas postcards, are very traditional and nostalgic.

I love the simple design of this postcard. I was reminded of it when I looked out my window today. The snow is slowly drifting down in big white flakes and the trees have a white coating. This has been an unusual year for snow in December. We haven't had any big snowstorms, just a lot of little additions to the snow already on the ground. The snow that fell on Christmas day was the most for that day since 1950.

This postcard was designed by Craig Lueck and published by Hallmark Cards, probably some time in the late 1980s.

For more information on holiday postcards, see my recent article Modern Christmas Postcards.

Christmas Eve in Mononland

This is a 1951 linen postcard advertising the Monon Railroad which was known as "The Hoosier Line." A blue Monon logo is printed on the back of this postcard.

The railroad was nicknamed "Monon" because its four main routes converged in Monon, Indiana. From Monon, the main routes went to Chicago, Louisville, Indianapolis and Michigan City, Indiana. In 1956 "Monon" officially became the corporate title.

In 1959, passenger service between Chicago and Indianapolis was discontinued. Other passenger service was discontinued in 1967.

An interesting bit of trivia concerns Purdue University's "Boilermaker" nickname. The nickname originated when the 1891 Purdue football team included several boilermakers from the Monon Railroad Shops.