Rainy Day -- University of Minnesota

 

Not surprisingly, there aren't very many postcards picturing rainy weather. This is a modern postcard (1990s?), but it is the only rainy one I can think of that I have in my collection. Rainy weather is usually seen in a negative light, especially when it relates to tourism. On this postcard of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, the photographer (© Bob Firth/Firth Photo Bank) has managed to make the rainy day look colorful and sunny. He has also captured activity with the blurry figure in the foreground.

When I decided to post this postcard, I was pretty sure it was the library on the middle of the East Bank campus. I began to have doubts, however, when I read the caption on the back: "UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. Coffman Union on the Minneapolis campus is a center of student activity."  Coffman Union is a center of activity, but this is NOT Coffman Union! It is actually Walter Library, which I confirmed by looking at my postcards of the Union and photos on the internet.

Here is a postcard of the real Coffman Union (ca. 1970s):

 

An here is a photo of Walter Library (source: Wikipedia):

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Abraham Lincoln Relief Sculptures

 

The  postcard above shows the various places Abraham Lincoln lived between his 1809 birth in Kentucky and his death in 1865. I am showing this card to give a context for the places depicted on the postcards of the relief sculptures below.

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He led the United States through its greatest constitutional, military, and moral crisis—the American Civil War—preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, strengthening the national government and modernizing the economy. (source: Wikipedia) 

Lincoln was born to  a poor family in Kentucky in 1809. He lived in Kentucky with his family until 1816. The next postcard shows one of the five bas-relief stone panels depicting major periods of Lincoln's life at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana. This panel represents Lincoln's years in the state of Kentucky..

 

The next postcard shows the Lincoln Monument near Vincennes, Indiana. This monument depicts the Lincoln family moving from Indiana to Illinois in 1830 when Lincoln was 21 years old.

The last postcard shows the Lincoln-Douglas Memorial in Quincy, Illinois. This plaque marks the site of  the sixth debate between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln 1858. The Lincoln–Douglas Debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the Senate in Illinois, and Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. The main issue discussed in all seven debates was slavery.

The texts of the debates were published in newspapers throughout the country. After Lincoln lost that Senate election, the debates were published in book form. The widespread coverage of the original debates and the  popularity of the book eventually led to Lincoln's nomination for President of the United States at the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago. Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election and was re-elected in 1864.

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Renoir's Visit to Guernsey Stamp

 

The French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir visited Guernsey in the summer of 1883 and painted about fifteen pictures there. This maximum card was issued by the Guernsey Post Office. The card reproduces one stamp in the set of five Renoir paintings released to commemorate the Centenary of Renoir's visit to Guernsey. The issue date was September 6, 1983. The other four stamps in the set are a squarish shape and feature landscapes. 

The original of this Children on the Seashore painting is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 

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

Dobsina Ice Cave

This postcard shows a 1905 view of ice skating in the Dobsina Ice Cave. The location was part of Hungary when this postcard was published, but is now part of Slovakia. The following information about the cave is from touristmemory.com:

Situated 20 km north from Dobšiná village within the Slovak Paradise National Park, Dobšiná cave is the oldest and at the same time the largest ice cave in Europe.The layer of ice has a volume of 110 thousands cubic meters, in many places reaching a thickness of 26.5 meters.

Apart from an ice floor, this huge underground glacier has enchanting waterfalls, stalagmites, and columns of ice. The cave was discovered in 1870. Until 1946 the general public was allowed to skate throughout the year. Dobšiná cave is part of a cave system stretching for 21 kilometers. It measures 1232 meters, of which 475-meter stretch is open to the public.

Along with 11 other caves of the Slovak Karst, Dobšiná Cave was added on UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.

There is a gallery of photos of the Dobsina Ice Cave on the website of the Slovak Caves Administration.

The postcard was mailed in 1908 to Amy Sisser c/o O. H. Peck Company in Minneapolis.

The O. H. Peck Company offered photo finishing services and sold photographic supplies. The store had been bought along with other businesses by Eastman Kodak about 1902. It was the scene of a major Minneapolis fire in 1904. When searching for information about the company, I found this interesting December, 1910 newspaper ad for Kodak cameras and supplies sold by O. H. Peck.

 

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Kids and Cows

 

These postcards would probably be considered "stock" cards. The actual location is not identified on the postcard, and the images are generic enough that they could be sold almost anywhere. I bought these for my collection because I have a soft spot for cute pictures of kids and animals, and I like postcards that show people in what is now vintage clothing.

The captions on stock cards are often fanciful and/or inaccurate. The picture of the girl is titled "A proud 4-H Girl raised her own whiteface on father's farm." I suppose she could be a real farm girl who helped raise the animal, but she looks too young to me to belong to 4-H or raise the animal by herself. The postcard of the boy has the rather obvious title "Feeding the Calves." I would estimate that the first postcard is from the 1960s and the second from the 1950s.

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Native American Jewelry

Native Americans of the Southwest United States are famous for their jewelry, especially that made with silver and/or turquoise.

The postcard above (ca. 1932) shows a little Navajo girl and is titled "The Silversmith's Daughter." According to the description on the back of the card, her beautiful Indian jewelry made of coin silver and genuine turquoise stone has been lavished upon her by her silversmith father.

The postcards below are somewhat newer (ca. 1958-63). The first shows an Indian silversmith at work using primitive tools to make jewelry of coin silver and turquoise. The silver is heated and then hammered to suit his purpose. 

Many examples of genuine Indian handmade jewelry are shown on the last two postcards.

The video below is long, but it is well-worth watching. It shows and describes the different styles of Native American silver jewelry that are associated with different tribes and gives a brief history of the jewelry.

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American Red Cross WWII Railway Station Canteens

The American Red Cross canteens provided services to members of the military during both WWI and WWII. Many of the canteens were in railway stations to serve the soldiers and sailors on the troop trains passing through.

These two postcards show the Red Cross canteens at the two Minneapolis, Minnesota railway stations during WWII. The postcards were furnished through the courtesy of the Minneapolis-Moline Power Implement Company.

Minneapolis no longer has any railway stations. The Milwaukee Road Station was closed in 1971. At its peak, the station served 29 trains per day. It was not demolished, but it was vacant for many years. Finally, a project to reuse the buildings was begun in 1998 and completed in 2001. The Great Northern Station was demolished in 1978. Passenger train service had declined from a peak of 125 daily trains during World War II to just one route when Amtrak began operation in 1971.

The video below is about the WWII Aberdeen (South Dakota) Railway Station Red Cross Canteen. (Aberdeen is about 275 miles west of Minneapolis).

A couple of my previous posts also dealt with WWII Canteens:

WWII Canteen, North Platte, Nebraska

Chicago Union Station During World War II

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