Wild Postcards

“Champion Four Horse Hitch of Belgian horses and imported Bavarian beer wagon owned and used by The Leisy Brewing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, brewers of Leisy’s Light and Leisy’s Dortmunder type beers.” They would close for good by 1958, saying that they were taxed out of existence. While probably true, I think that their other problem was that their delivery methods were too slow.

This card was sent to Great-Grandma Charlotte Smith from Willoughby, Ohio (tagline: “The Courtesy City”) which, after seeing pictures on their website of a brass band playing in a gazebo, creeps me out. It looks like that episode from The Twilight Zone.

This card was sent by her sister Leola, who writes: “Well, Wendell (and) I are in Ohio at Ruth’s and about froze. Sure is chilly out here close to the lake. How is your arm is it cool at your place. Tell Pete not to look to (sic) long at the picture” — Pete being her name for Great-Grandpa Phil.

What really gets me is that the card was sent with no street address, just the city, and it got there.

“Champion Four Horse Hitch of Belgian horses and imported Bavarian beer wagon owned and used by The Leisy Brewing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, brewers of Leisy’s Light and Leisy’s Dortmunder type beers.” They would close for good by 1958, saying that they were taxed out of existence. While probably true, I think that their other problem [...]

This card depicts what is presumed to be the final home of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Efes (Ephesus), where Catholic tradition holds that she died.

I sent this card to my Aunt Brenda, who at that time was the keeper of the collection, in an envelope along with several other postcards. I was in Turkey courtesy of Uncle Sam, and was still in awe over the favorable exchange rates.

The notation in the lower left — “her hakki mahfuzdur” — translates roughly as “every genuine(ness) looked after”, presumably the same sentiment as “all rights reserved”. The Turkish language is not for the squeamish. (Also of note: the word is correctly spelled “hakiki”, but the publisher has spelled it as it is actually pronounced.)

Efes is also the name of a pretty good Turkish beer, which sponsors a fairly mediocre basketball team, which has some really hot cheerleaders.

(Now how did I digress from the Virgin Mary to hot cheerleaders?)

This card depicts what is presumed to be the final home of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Efes (Ephesus), where Catholic tradition holds that she died. I sent this card to my Aunt Brenda, who at that time was the keeper of the collection, in an envelope along with several other postcards. I was in [...]

This may look like a real photo postcard, but it’s actually a black-and-white photochrome postcard with a deckled edge. It was published by Dexter Press of Pearl River, New York.

Owens-Illinois was a key place in my family’s history. This from the obituary of my grandmother, Mildred Cossaboon, who passed away on 27 March 2008:

She was the daughter of the late Philip Nelson Smith and the late Charlotte Blanch (nee Arison) Smith. Born in Flatwoods, Fayette County, Pa., on June 30, 1923, she attended grade school in Franklin Township, Pa., and graduated from Dunbar High School, in 1942. Mrs. Cossaboon came, as did many others, to work at the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, in 1943.

It was there that she met my grandfather, a glassblower, and the rest is history.

Her cousin, John Hodinka (“Sonny”), also came to work there after his service with the 82nd Airborne Division. He’s a great man who is very proud of his service (and rightfully so), and would love to jump out of a perfectly good airplane even today.

Not surprisingly, he’s enamored with the Band of Brothers miniseries. He told me that he was watching the interviews and that one of the members of Easy Company was talking about how he went to work for Owens-Illinois in Bridgeton. (That man was Carwood Lipton, played in the movie by Donnie Wahlberg.) Sonny told me with surprise, “I worked with that son-of-a-bitch for five years and he never said a word.”

This may look like a real photo postcard, but it’s actually a black-and-white photochrome postcard with a deckled edge. It was published by Dexter Press of Pearl River, New York. Owens-Illinois was a key place in my family’s history. This from the obituary of my grandmother, Mildred Cossaboon, who passed away on 27 March 2008: [...]

This very nice Soviet postcard of the Russian Museum in Leningrad was printed in the USSR in 1976. I could tell you where I got it, but then I’d have to kill you.

From the arrangement of the printing on the back (and the lack of a stamp box), it’s not clear that this is actually intended to be a postcard — though it is of the proper size and card stock. Perhaps, if you were mailing it from the USSR, the printing on the left is intended to discourage you from writing a personal message — which would probably have been censored anyway.

This very nice Soviet postcard of the Russian Museum in Leningrad was printed in the USSR in 1976. I could tell you where I got it, but then I’d have to kill you. From the arrangement of the printing on the back (and the lack of a stamp box), it’s not clear that this is [...]