Wild Postcards

Sure, it’s probably Wednesday where you are as I write this, but I’ve been working some long and odd hours of late, so it’s still my Tuesday.  Regardless, it gives me an excuse to post two fantastically preserved linen postcards produced by Tichenor Bros. featuring the waters of Florida.  It’s also a great way to celebrate this month’s Festival of Postcards at Evelyn’s A Canadian Family genealogy / postcard blog.

The colors on these cards are just as they are presented here, and were probably produced in the early 1950s.

“Bayfront Park in all its tropical splendor adds to the Miami visitors (sic) comfort and relaxation. Here among the beautiful flowers, shrubs, and palms, concerts entertain visiting guests and inhabitants.”  I got this card oh, probably about ten years ago, in an antique shop in Florida.

This second card came to me from the collection of Kay Anthony:

“Lakeland, Florida is the metropolis of Polk County. Being 227 above sea level, it is tempered by breezes from the Ocean and the Gulf whch are within easy riding distance. Fishing, bathing and boating can be enjoyed on the 15 fresh water lakes which lie within the city limits. Two eighteen hole golf courses, a public library, air-conditioned first run moving picture houses and a municipal-owned water and electric plant are some of its many advantages.” Moving picture houses, indeed.

Sure, it’s probably Wednesday where you are as I write this, but I’ve been working some long and odd hours of late, so it’s still my Tuesday.  Regardless, it gives me an excuse to post two fantastically preserved linen postcards produced by Tichenor Bros. featuring the waters of Florida.  It’s also a great way to [...]

This postcard (with matching stamp, no less) arrived recently from Emi in Shimane Prefecture, Japan.  Naturally, she is very proud of this local landmark, Matsue Castle, one of the few remaining medieval castles in Japan, and the only one to retain its original wood form.  (The rest of the castles have been preserved by casting their form in concrete, apparently.)

The castle was built between 1607 and 1611 and was a large complex, with multiple buildings. Except for this building, the castle keep, all of the buildings were destroyed in 1875 to make room for modernization.  Fortunately, there were preservationists around at the time who pressured to keep at least this one building standing.  From 1950 to 1955, the keep and the grounds underwent a complete renovation.

Be sure to check out the other blogs celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday today!

This postcard (with matching stamp, no less) arrived recently from Emi in Shimane Prefecture, Japan.  Naturally, she is very proud of this local landmark, Matsue Castle, one of the few remaining medieval castles in Japan, and the only one to retain its original wood form.  (The rest of the castles have been preserved by casting [...]

This handy-dandy little piece of advertising ephemera dates from the 1930s — it’s actually an ink blotter, to mop up the excess ink from those pesky fountain pens.  The card that you see is mounted to a piece of purple paper that feels both rough and absorbent — lots of microscopic divots to really soak up the ink.

Wampole’s Creo-Terpin was produced from about the turn of the (20th) century until at least the 1940s; there are other World War II-era cards featuring guides to military decorations rather than common birds.  As far as the bird cards, this is just one of a series.  The cards allowed the local distributor to stamp their own information on them as well.

The “Creo” in Creo-Terpin seems to come from wood creosote, a bush that we know today has even more medicinal value than Wampole thought; it’s good for upset stomach, arthritis, anemia, and is even an anti-microbial.  (One entry in the Canadian Journal of Medicine and Surgery from 1908 tells physicians how to increase the creosote dosage.)  The “Terpin”, on the other hand, probably refers to terpin hydrate, which was usually sold in a solution with codeine to relieve bronchitis.  Terpin hydrate was easy to make, a synthetic subsititute for oil of turpentine, which is an ingrediant in Vicks Vapo-Rub, and makes you feel better.  Unfortunately, the synthetic has never been proven effective (it was probably the codeine that made you feel better), and the FDA banned it about 15 years ago in the US.

When I was growing up, my grandmother had one of these cards on her desk.  I sure wish I had that one, but it’s doubtless been lost to the ages.  But one good thing in which to lose yourself is all the other blogs celebrating this week’s Postcard Friendship Friday.

This handy-dandy little piece of advertising ephemera dates from the 1930s — it’s actually an ink blotter, to mop up the excess ink from those pesky fountain pens.  The card that you see is mounted to a piece of purple paper that feels both rough and absorbent — lots of microscopic divots to really soak [...]

Here’s a little something to cool you off on this hot summer’s Postcard Friendship Friday: “Iceberg Lake, Altitude 11,500 Ft., Trail Ridge Road between Estes Park and Grand Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.”  It was in fact posted from Estes Park, CO on 3 August 1940; I guess somebody else was trying to cool off, too.  But we’ll never know who.

This is a Curt Teich “C. T. Art-Colortone” linen postcard, number 6A-H288, published in 1936.  Odd that there’s no message, but it does happen from time to time.  I received a postcard myself just last week (Update: correction — two weeks ago — Ed.) with no message; I was very put out about it.

Be sure to check out the other blogs celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday.

Here’s a little something to cool you off on this hot summer’s Postcard Friendship Friday: “Iceberg Lake, Altitude 11,500 Ft., Trail Ridge Road between Estes Park and Grand Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.”  It was in fact posted from Estes Park, CO on 3 August 1940; I guess somebody else was trying to cool [...]