If it isn't fresh, it isn't Legal
Oh, I’ll bet this card is hilarious with a Boston accent. This modern Continental-sized chrome extols the virtues of Legal Sea Foods (three locations in the Greater Boston area, at least at the time this was manufactured), winner of the Travel Holiday Magazine Award for “Largest and Freshest Seafood in the Country.”
Sure, but will it float?
This “postcard” is in fact made of wood, and is an eighth of an inch thick. Looked at from the side, it appears to have a core of particle board with a slice of veneer on each side. Everything appears to be printed directly onto the wood and has no texture, with the exception of “Rockport, Mass” which was burned in. I suspect that there are several identical “cards” with different towns burned into them.
This card was manufactured by Vandercraft of Prineville, Oregon. I purchased it on a trip up the East Coast in 1997.
Finally, a practical alternative to messages in bottles.
On Board a Gloucester Fisherman
Linen postcard in pristine condition. This is “A ‘Colourpicture’ Publication, Cambridge, Mass.”, and was (originally) sold by Frank M. Shurtleff of Gloucester, probably a shopkeeper or distributor. The stampbox specifies postage of one cent.
Surf Building and Loan (Envelope)
Here is what’s known as a piece of “ephemera” — an envelope I found being used as a bookmark, in a book that had apparently not been opened in quite a while. I love the fact that it’s simply addressed to the business name and the city, and it got where it needed to go. Robert B. Ely’s return address is preprinted, centered on the flap of the envelope on the back.
Alas, the Surf Building and Loan Association no longer seems to exist. However, 51 Piermont Street in Wollaston, Quincy, Massachusetts, looks like a nice place. Was Mr. Ely paying off this house, or another property? Did he build the house with the loan money? Does the fact that this business envelope was being used as a bookmark mean that employees found ways to goof off at work before Al Gore invented the Internet? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions are outside the scope of this blog. However, if you know the answer, feel free to share it with us.