Wild Postcards

View from Ventnor Pier

“Ventnor City, a quiet, peaceful residential section adjacent to Atlantic City, is justly famous for its wonderful beaches, boardwalk, piers and tennis courts. ‘If you want to Live, Live in Ventnor!’” Sounds like a line from an Arnold Schwarzenegger picture.

This Curt Teich card, number 9A-H1888, was manufactured in 1939 and distributed by the Jersey Supply Company of Atlantic City.

Greetings from Atlantic City N.J.

“Famed throughout the world is Atlantic City’s Boardwalk. The Boardwalk overlooks the ocean and wide expanse of beach. There are eight miles lined with magnificent hotels, theatres and shops.” Now you know why the Boardwalk costs so much in Monopoly.

Unlike most large-letter cards, this one has a single scene of the Boardwalk, beach and ocean that spans all letters, instead of an individual scene in each letter. The card was published by Tichnor Bros. of Boston.

Veterans Memorial, Landis Park, Vineland, NJ

This is a memorial in my hometown which is inscribed with the names of all the local folks who have gone to war, including my stepfather. My mom found this card and sent it to me inside of a greeting card, though I guess she originally planned to just send the card itself through the mail. “Saw this card and remembered your visit and the monument with Joe’s name. Here’s one for your collection. Hope all are well. Oops! I wrote upside down!” That’s my mama.

My mother is a little confused.

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.

Owens-Illinois Glass Company, Bridgeton, NJ

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 in World War II. 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.”