North Coast Limited - Traveller's Rest & Vista-Dome

Above is an oversize (5-1/2" X 7-5/8")postcard advertising Northern Pacific Railway's North Coast Limited. This is a view of the Lewis and Clark Traveller's Rest Buffet-Lounge car, designed by industrial designer Raymond Loewy. The Lewis and Clark-themed interior of the Traveller’s Rest car was added in 1955. Below is a standard size postcard of the train's Vista-Dome interior.

The images used on these postcards were also used in the 1956 magazine ad for the Vista-Dome North Coast Limited shown below (source: Wikipedia). According to the ad, this was the only train between Chicago and the North Pacific Coast that offered the attention of a friendly Stewardess-Nurse.

Walleye and Northern Pike Caught at Penasse, MN

This postcard pictures the members of the Knights of Columbus work party with the Walleye and Northern Pike caught on their annual outing to Lake of the Woods. The people in the photo were from Hastings, Minnesota. The location is American Point Resort, Penasse, Minnesota.

This postcard was postmarked at Penasse on June 17, 1966. There is no writing in the message section on the back. Possibly someone was just interested in getting a Penasse postmark. Penasse is the northernmost populated place in the contiguous United States. It had a post office from 1920 to 1969 that was the farthest north in the lower 48 states.

The Boating Party by Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt (1844 – 1926) was an American artist who often painted the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the relationship between mothers and children. The 5-cent stamp inspired by Mary Cassatt's painting "The Boating Party" was the sixth stamp in the annually-issued American Painting Series. It was issued on November 17, 1966. The original oil painting is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

This stamp was printed using a Giori printing press. Six inks were applied in two passes through the Giori press, and these were blended and overlaid to create many additional tones. With this type of press, each color is applied to only that portion of the plate which is required to print that color. The ink rollers are themselves printing plates which "print" their ink onto the plate which in turn prints on the paper.

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

The Queen's Dolls' House Postcards

Shown above is the envelope from Set I, Series No. 4500 of The Queen's Dolls' House postcards. This series is one of six series of eight Queen's Dolls' House postcards made by Raphael Tuck & Sons. The envelope lists the cards in this set.

The following information is from Wikipedia:

Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a doll's house built in the early 1920s, completed in 1924, for Queen Mary, the wife of King George V.

The idea for building it originally came from the Queen's cousin, Princess Marie Louise, who discussed her idea with one of the top architects of the time, Sir Edwin Lutyens at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1921. Sir Edwin agreed to construct the dolls' house and began preparations. Princess Marie Louise had many connections in the arts and arranged for the top artists and craftsmen of the time to contribute their special abilities to the house. As a result, the dolls' house has an amazing collection of miniature items that actually work. It even has running water through its tiny pipes. It was created as a gift to Queen Mary from the people, and to serve as an historical document on how a royal family might have lived during that period in England.

It showcased the very finest and most modern goods of the period. Later the dolls' house was put on display to raise funds for the Queen's charities. It was originally exhibited at the British Empire Exhibition, 1924–1925, and is now on display in Windsor Castle, at Windsor, Berkshire, England, as a tourist attraction, especially to people with an interest in miniature houses and furniture.

It was made to a scale of 1:12 (one inch to one foot), is over three feet tall, and contains models of products of well-known companies of the time. It is remarkable for its detail and the detail of the objects within it, many of which are 1/12 replicas of items in Windsor Castle. These were either made by the companies themselves, or by specialist modelmakers, such as Twining Models of Northampton, England. The carpets, curtains and furnishings are all copies of the real thing, and even the light fittings are working. The bathrooms are fully plumbed; that includes a flushable toilet and miniature lavatory paper.

Below are scans of four of the postcards in this series showing the Garden Entrance and Dining Room. The text below each image is from the back of that postcard.

An excellent website for exploring the dollhouse is The Royal Collection: Queen Mary's Dolls' House. Other Tuck postcards of the Queen's Dolls' House are shown in the Tuck Postcards Database here. This view of the kitchen from the database is the closest to the Sepia Saturday 125 picture:

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the Queen's Dolls' House

Highway Scene & Beds of Roses - Tyler, Texas

The vintage Greyhound Bus is what attracted me to this postcard, but it is the roses that are the attraction in Tyler, Texas. Tyler is a city in east Texas named after President John Tyler and nicknamed "The Rose Capital of America.”

Roses have long been a major industry in Tyler. Tyler is the site of America's largest rose garden, an annual Rose Festival, and a Rose Museum. The 79th Texas Rose Festival, scheduled for October 18-20, 2012, will celebrate the places, faces and facets of the Orient.

There is a Greyhound Station in Tyler, so it is still possible to travel to Tyler by Greyhound Bus.

Minnesota Over 60 Band

This is a postcard-size card showing the Minnesota Over 60 Band. The back has a printed list of members and some of the places where the band had appeared. The last date on the list is 1979 which gives an approximate date of the card. This picture is more recent than any of the other pictures of the band that I saw on the internet. Earlier pictures show the band members wearing light color shirts and dark uniforms with a jacket.

The band is headquartered in Gaylord, Minnesota, but has members from a wide area. The members list on the card shows only a few members from Gaylord itself.

The Minnesota Over 60 Band had its beginning in 1953 and was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2003. The photo below is from the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame and shows a 1955 date lettered on the bass drum.

The pictures of the band that I have seen show only men. The band now includes both men and women, and it is seeking new members. The New Ulm Journal published a letter Musicians wanted: Minnesota ‘Over-60’ Band seeking new members on March 27, 2012. RedwoodFallsGazette.com posted an article Minnesota ‘Over 60’ band seeking new members on February 6, 2012.

The Minnesota Over 60 Band performs in parades, at county fairs and in a variety of other venues during the summer months. It plays a variety of music including waltzes, polkas and marches. The band does not march itself, but uses a bandwagon in parades.