Tuesday, February 8, 2011

VINEGAR VALENTINE POSTCARD : MALE SINGER

Vinegar valentine postcards were usually sent anonymously. They usually featured a large image of a type of person (ie: spinster, occupations etc) with a poem ridiculing or poking fun at that personality. These contrasted sharply with the ornate Victorian valentines sent around the same time.
Today's postcard pokes fun at a male singer by comparing him to a coal salesman!

This great postcard can be found in my eBay store here: VINTAGE VINEGAR VALENTINE COMIC POSTCARD MALE SINGER



Monday, February 7, 2011

Valentine Postcard: Cupid with US Flag

I will feature valentine postcards this week in my blog. While the tradition of sending cards to one's beloved predated postcards by at least a century, those missives were hand delivered because of the high cost of postage. The advent of the "penny postcard" (so named because they cost just a penny to mail) accelerated the mass production of the heretofore handmade Valentine cards. Millions of Valentine postcards were sent between 1900 and 1917. Some were ornately decorated and others, such as the "vinegar valentines" (the sentiment was not very flattering!), were simple and rather plain.

Today's selection features a patriotic cupid toting a US flag - sort of a Fourth of July/Valentine all in one!
While this postcard is no longer available in my postcard stores, I carry a nice selection year round.
You can find Valentines in my ebay store here: Moody Mommy's Marvelous Postcard eBay Store
And in my bidStart store here: Moody Mommy's Marvelous Postcard bidStart Store

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Gruss Aus Aarau Rubliland Switzerland Postcard Carrot-land

I have to say that this is the first postcard I have seen where the view is displayed inside of a CARROT! I have seen pansies and other flowers and lovely ladies, but never a CARROT! The postcard is postmarked 1911 and was published by Atelier H Guggenheim.


Carrots are a big deal in Aarau where every year, on the first Wednesday of November, a colorful festival called the "Rublimarkt" (Carrot Market) is held.

This and other " Gruss Aus " postcards can be found in my eBay store here: Moody Mommy's Marvelous Postcards eBay Store

Friday, February 4, 2011

Roadside Americana Postcard: Fairyland Gas Station Rock City TN

One of the best roadside attraction/gas station postcards I have seen is this one of the Fairyland Service Station at Rock City on Lookout Mountain TN. The back of the postcard offers a free 26x22 picture of Lovers Leap (suitable for framing!) with a gas fill.




Rock City tourist was established in 1932 by Garnet and Frieda Carter. It consisted of trails around rock formations (with fairyland statues and wildflower plantings) ending at "Lover's Leap". The attraction was promoted by signs painted on barns as far north as Michigan.
You can read more about the barns here Rock City Barn Tour - Rock City

This postcard can be found in my eBay store here: FAIRYLAND GAS SERVICE STATION ROCK CITY LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN TN  
And in my bidStart Store here: FAIRYLAND GAS SERVICE STATION ROCK CITY LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN TN 

I have other roadside postcards (motels, gas stations, tourist attractions, restaurants listed in my eBay Store:  Motels, Restaurants, Roadside 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Worldwide Sunday School Conference 1910 Postcard

This charming postcard shows children dressed in native costumes from around the world. The title is "The Twentieth Century Sunday School Crusaders". The caption on back: "THIS CARD IS FOR WORLD-WIDE USE AS AN EMBLEM OF THE SPIRIT OF WORLD-CONQUEST FOR CHRIST; AS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S SIXTH SS CONVENTION TO WASHINGTON USA MAY 19-24, 1910...".


I found the "Official Report" of the convention online here: World-Wide Sunday School Convention
Here is a screen shot of pages 32 and 33 of the book:


You can find this great postcard in my bidStart store here: SUNDAY SCHOOL CRUSADERS WORLD'S CHILDREN POSTCARD 1910

And in my eBay Store here: SUNDAY SCHOOL CRUSADERS WORLD'S CHILDREN POSTCARD 1910

Monday, January 31, 2011

Native American Indian Postcard: Curley, General Custer's Scout

Curley was about 17 years old when he enlisted as a scout for the US Army and was assigned to General George Custer's Little Big Horn expedition. The Crow scouts' reports about a large settlement were ignored by General Custer when he decided to wage a battle rather than wait for reinforcements. Custer sent the scouts away prior to the attack. Curley watched parts of the battle through a spy glass from a distance of about a mile and a half away. He made his way through Sioux territory to report the disaster. He was purportedly the only surviving witness to "Custer's Last Stand" He died in 1923of pneumonia.

 More information from http://www.bridgestree.org/documents/Custers_Scouts_at_Little_Big_Horn.pdf :

"Accompanying Custer and his forces after their separation from Benteen and Reno were four Crow Scouts: Curley, Goes Ahead, Hairy Moccasin and White Man Runs Him. Two Crow Scouts remained with Reno, Half Yellow Face and White Swan. When Custer's troop came into contact with the Indian village, the scouts were excused; they had done their job. Among them, Curley refused to leave. Nevertheless, Mitch Bouyer, one of Custer's mixedblood French and Lakota guides, insisted that
the 17 year old Curley depart, allegedly telling Curley that "We have no chance at all," and relay the message to Terry that "all are killed." In 1983, archeological exploration of the battlefield was conducted. Previously unidentified remains were found. Using modern forensic science, the remains of Boyer were identified. Curley departed and was able to observe the battle with a spy glass from a ridge about a mile and a half away. He then eluded the Sioux by crawling through coulees until he found the pony of a dead Sioux, taking the Sioux pony and blanket, he then rode two and a half days until he found the Steamboat Far West, where through sign lanquage and drawing he was able to disclose
the disaster. Because of language difficulties, however, the extent of the disaster was not fully realized.
Curley was the youngest of the Crow scouts with Custer. He was probably about 20 years old the day of the battle.

Curley is the English name for Ashishishe, a Native American of the Crow tribe. Ashishishe was born in approximately 1856 in Montana, the son of Strong Bear (Inside the Mouth) and Strikes By the Side of the Water. Curley resided on the Crow Reservation in the vicinity of Pryor Creek, and married Bird Woman. He enlisted in the U.S. Army as an Indian scout on April 10, 1876 and was later chosen to scout for the Seventh Cavalry during the Little Bighorn expedition in 1876 along with fellow Crow warriors White Man Runs Him, Goes Ahead, Hairy Moccasin and others. He carried the news of the battle to the steamboat Far West at the mouth of the Little Bighorn. He witnessed parts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and his translated account later appeared in several newspapers, as he was thought to be the only surviving witness from the U.S. side of Custer's Last Stand. Curley later gave several variations on his account, and the accuracy of his recollections has been questioned.
However, two of the most influential historians of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Walter Mason Camp (who interviewed Curley on several occasions) and John S. Gray, accepted Curley's account. Curley later lived on the Crow Reservation on the bank of the Little Bighorn River, close to the site of the Battle. He served in the Crow Police. He divorced Bird Woman in 1886, and married Takes a Shield. Curley had one daughter Awakuk Korita ha Sakush ("Bird of Another Year") who took the English name Nora. Curley received a U.S. pension as of 1920. He died May 21,1923 at his ranch home near Crow Agency of pneumonia, and his remains were interred in the National Cemetery at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, only a mile from his home."


This great postcard can be found in my bidStart store here: Native American Indian Curley General Custer's Scout
and in my eBay Store here: NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN POSTCARD CURLEY GEN CUSTER SCOUT

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Women's Fashion Postcards: Hobbleskirts Vs Suffrage

It's ironic that during the height of the Women's Suffrage movement in the US and UK, the restrictive hobbleskirt came into fashion. Today's circa 1910  postcards reflect that incongruity! Perhaps these demonstate women's "sufferage" instead


SUFFRAGE POSTCARD HOBBLESKIRT WOMEN MAKE GREAT STRIDES