Cowgirl Postcards

When I was a little girl I had a red cowboy shirt with white stitching and shiny black cowboy boots. My room had cowboy wallpaper. I had a holster and a toy revolver. I was convinced that I would grow up to be a cowgirl!


Cowgirls captured the imagination of postcard publishers as well. The rules of decorum which applied to contemporary women in more "civilized" parts did not seem to apply to these strong, feisty women of the golden west.

I will show some of my favorite postcards here. I don't have many listed now but every once in awhile I run across a collection and list them on eBay. They are very sought after. I guess I am not the only woman who fancied herself a cowgirl at one time!

My eBay cowgirl listings can be found here: Cowgirl Postcard

This is a real photo postcard of a REAL cowgirl:

Here is an idealized beauty of a cowgirl by artist W Haskell Coffin from 1908:


And another beauty by Boileau:

I imagine they looked more like this:

Or this ...

I am certain they didn't look like this sexy version (must have been very risque circa 1910!):

At any rate, they were great shots as shown by these cards:

And nimble with the lasso:

And sought after by many a cowboy!

Well that's it for today. Happy Trails to you!

VINTAGE NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN POSTCARDS

I have always been interested in Native American postcards. Perhaps it is because my grandmother, Grace Poole Steinberg, was an amateur Indian historian. She even was made an honorary member of the Omaha tribe for her work in preserving the grave of Big Elk in the 1950's.

Some of the earlier postcards (circa 1900) were published near the time of the last of the Indian Wars (1898 Leech Lake Minnesota Battle of Sugar Point and 1918 Battle of Bear Valley in Southern Arizona). Postcards from that era often featured great warriors, scouts and leaders.

This postcard shows Sioux Indian Chief Iron Hail, a survivor of Wounded Knee. Listed on ebay here

Here is a group of Chiefs from British Columbia (listed on ebay here)

And a group of Sioux Chiefs (listed on eBay here)

Sometimes the older postcards showed women and babies. This one of "Bright Eyes" is lovely (eBay listing)
This 1908 postcard shows the plight of some older Puget Sound Siwash members in Seattle WA (found here in my eBay listing):

Many of the postcards that we "think" depict everyday life might indeed be "staged" for the tourist trade. Fred Harvey was famous for promoting the American Southwest and owned a chain of restaurants and hotels. He also published postcards.

"Harvey is also known for pioneering the art of commercial cultural tourism. His "Indian Detours" were meant to provide an authentic Native American experience by having actors stage a certain lifestyle in the desert in order to sell tickets to unwitting tourists.^[4] Fred Harvey's feats of marketing did not stop at the attraction either, as for tour guides he used attractive women in outfits becoming their figures. " Wikipedia

I guess we must appreciate those postcards for what they were. Many, particularly those published by the Detroit Publishing Company for Fred Harvey are very beautiful.

Here are some women displaying their handcrafts: (eBay listing)

Here is a Chimayo Rug weaver at his loom (eBay listing)

A third "genre" of Native American Postcards are the "comic" postcards of the 1940's and 1950's demonstrating prejudice or derogatory comments. These may be of some cultural interest (not Native American culture but the American culture in general at that time). I don't collect these postcards and don't have any to show here.

My Native American postcard listings can be found in my eBay store here: Moody Mommy's Marvelous Postcard Store - Native American

RPPC REAL PHOTO POSTCARDS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN

I guess my favorite postcards are the photo postcards circa 1910 of women and children. Sadly, these are often not identified. They give us a litle insight into how life was at that time through the vintage clothing and the subjects' demeanor. Somehow I feel I understand my grandmothers (one was born in 1890 and the other in 1901) a little better by enjoying pictures of their contemporaries.

I love this unidentified postcard of a woman pouring a drink of beer in her kitchen!


Sometimes the postcards are formal studio photographs, such as this one of three women from Duluth MN dressed for the cold Minnesota winters.

This postcard is listed in my eBay store here: RPPC POSTCARD WOMEN IN FURS GREAT HATS DULUTH MN

Sometimes a relative or friend captures a photograph in a natural setting like this one:

On eBay:RPPC POSTCARD CHILDREN WITH CALF COW WI WISCONSIN 1909

I think the girl on the right looks like Pippi Longstocking
On eBay: RPPC POSTCARD GIRL FRIENDS ON FRONT STOOP CIRCA 1920

This little boy looks like Tom Sawyer!On eBay: RPPC POSTCARD LITTLE BOY IN SHORT PANTS TOM SAWYER HAT

How about these two little sweet babies?
On eBay: RPPC POSTCARD MARGERY & GALE FOX - CHILDREN GREAT HATS

This photograph of an old woman identified as being 80 years old (born around 1830) is intriguing!On eBay: RPPC POSTCARD OLD WOMAN IN CHAIR AUNT DANIEL 80 YRS OLD

This photograph lets us see the plight of itinerant farm workers - lots of people living in those bunk houses - probably without running water and electricity!

On eBay: RPPC POSTCARD FARM WORKER FAMILIES @ BUNKHOUSE c 1910

Living in Minnesota, many of the subjects of the postcards I find are of Scandinavian descent - lots of blonde children. These little girls are especially adorable - take note of their shoes!

On eBay: RPPC POSTCARD BLONDE LITTLE GIRLS IN WHITE W/ FLOWERS

I could go on and on but this is enough for today - I will followup another time with more great postcards. I currently have over 200 similar real photo postcards of people listed on eBay - check them out here: Moody Mommy's Real Photo Postcards RPPC of Women, Children, Men, Babies, Families