Wild Postcards

Emily sent this head-scratcher from Massachusetts a few weeks ago; I’ve been puzzling over it in between the 50+ hour weeks I’ve been working for the past month. It’s handmade and, while I enjoyed receiving it and find it interesting, I can’t help but think that she mixed up my card with the one she was going to send to the PostSecret guy. I have never received a card like this; it is unique in my collection. It makes me wish I had the time and talent to create handmade cards that others would like. Another wish: that I could decode Emily’s message.

Emily sent this head-scratcher from Massachusetts a few weeks ago; I’ve been puzzling over it in between the 50+ hour weeks I’ve been working for the past month.

Ham radio operator Phil Shea may have just gotten lucky to get such a cool callsign, but more than likely it’s a vanity callsign he specifically requested. And why not? He did live in Massachusetts, after all, less than an hour from Salem. Also, take note of the fact that Phil was l33t before the rest of us.

This card acknowledges transmissions from Phil picked up by our friend Bill Seaback on February 13, 1960. It looks like Phil saved some money on his QSL cards by having only one side printed. Regardless, it makes for a great Halloween post.

This will be the last of Bill’s QSL cards to be posted. I’ve been in touch will Bill’s daughter, Jennifer, who tells me that Bill was 15 years old in 1960; as I suspected, he passed away a few years ago. I’ve sent off the 30-odd remaining cards to Jennifer. I’m sure that these cards will mean as much to her as my great-grandfather’s postcards mean to me.

Ham radio operator Phil Shea may have just gotten lucky to get such a cool callsign, but more than likely it’s a vanity callsign he specifically requested. And why not? He did live in Massachusetts, after all, less than an hour from Salem. Also, take note of the fact that Phil was l33t before the [...]

This is a leather postcard, one of four that I picked up while vacationing in New England.  All four are addressed to Miss Grace Hoare of Lowell, Massachusetts, who received them around 1907.  My notes don’t say what I paid for them — they might have cost next to nothing, or I might have been persuaded to part with a few dollars each for them, just for the novelty’s sake.

This is a leather postcard, one of four that I picked up while vacationing in New England.  All four are addressed to Miss Grace Hoare of Lowell, Massachusetts, who received them around 1907.  My notes don’t say what I paid for them — they might have cost next to nothing, or I might have been [...]

“‘The Spirit of ’76,’ also known as ‘Yankee Doodle,’ described as the most inspiring patriotic picture in America, hangs in the Town Fathers’ meeting room in Abbot Hall (in Marblehead, Massachusetts). Painted by A.M. Willard, it was presented to the Town in 1880 by General John Devereux, whose son was the model for the drummer boy.” This is a “Lusterchrome” card by Tichnor Bros., Boston 15, Mass.

The card notes that reproduction is prohibited without the express permission of the Board of Selectmen in Marblehead. So assiduously had they guarded this image over the years that the August 12, 1935 issue of Time magazine made special mention of a rare occasion on which they allowed the image to be reproduced.

“‘The Spirit of ’76,’ also known as ‘Yankee Doodle,’ described as the most inspiring patriotic picture in America, hangs in the Town Fathers’ meeting room in Abbot Hall (in Marblehead, Massachusetts). Painted by A.M. Willard, it was presented to the Town in 1880 by General John Devereux, whose son was the model for the drummer [...]