keepin' grandma in the dark

Oh that Louise...






Eagle River, Wisconsin
Aug. 16, 1938

Dear Cousin,
Don't know whether or not you have heard that I am vacationing in northern Wis. so will drop you a line. Came a week ago Sunday with Stiles from Dav(enport). Last week we were near a lake about 18 mi so. of Superior. Sunday we bathed in Lake Sup. This week we are near a lake about 24 mi. north of Rhinelander. We plan to start home early Sun. a.m. It has been quite cool up here. Have been sleeping under blankets and have had fire every a.m. and evening. How is Iowa weather? If Grandma doesn't know I'm up here, better not tell her until I get home. With love, Louise. The scenery is beautiful. Especially the moonlight on the water.

a couple of new postcards...

When we were in McMinnville recently, we stopped at an antique store and I found a few postcards.

This one doesn't fit either the 'road' theme or the geographic area on which I concentrate, but I do allow myself to pick up postcards in the "miscellaneous" category if I find something that strikes my fancy. And this one struck my fancy because I love Cary Grant! I wonder if that is Cary's sporty green car in the driveway.



This next one caught my eye because it features Donaldson's in Minneapolis. We went to Minneapolis on buying trips for the drugstore a lot when I was growing up, and I used to remember shopping at Dayton's and Donaldson's -- but Dayton's seemed quite a bit better (and in the late 60's cooler) to me. I'm actually not sure if this is that same Donaldson's company or not...



The postcard is over 100 years old -- postmarked September 8, 1909.
The writing is a bit tough to read, but it says something like:
Have lots to tell you, but do not know where to start. Love, Borghild



That's my exact thought sometimes when I am trying to catch up with people!

sweeeeeeeet

OK, here's one more postcard from the SS lunch meeting. This one was sent on September 30, 1974 from Charles and Kathy who were visiting Great Falls, Montana to Emma in Olympia, Washington. I think either Charles or Kathy (or both) must have a serious sweet tooth. How else does one explain what was written?



Dear Emma,
We're enjoying this part of Montana & today visited the Charlie Russel art gallery & studio here in Great Falls -- our objective. Was just great & worth our time & trip. We are fine, the car, trailer & sugar all in good working order. Cold but crisp & sunny days -- a skiff of snow during last nite. Beautiful country over Rockies. Hope all's well with you & Duke. Imagine your excited about your company now. Thinking of you with love. Charles & Kathy

I'm glad their sugar was in good working order. I know the sugar I had in my molasses cookie tonight was certainly in good working order as well -- and that's always a good thing.

Saturday with Serena

OK, we actually got together yesterday, but where's the alliteration in "Friday with Serena"?! Anywhoo, drove through a torrential downpour (only a slight exaggeration) to meet Serena for lunch at our favorite waterside restaurant in Olympia. The picture was taken just outside the restaurant. (I wore my hair Conan O'Brien style in solidarity with that performer.) After lunch we did a walkabout and I picked up a few old postcards. Here's my favorite (which I bought with Christina in mind).

It's a postcard from 1908 advertising an upcoming play. Apparently the play was going to be pretty darn funny (or at least delightful):

vintage new years postcard (or... the more things change, the more they stay the same)

This postcard was sent from cousin Mary in Chicago to cousin Betsey in Kansas on December 30, 1916. It was the time of the First World War, also known as the War to End All Wars. (Well, that didn't happen.)



My Dear Cousin,
May this be a Happy New Year to you Betsey and all your Bairns. Hope you are prospering. We are all well and doing well. Santa was very good to us all. How are the children. Do write me a letter soon and I promise to ans(wer) soon. I suppose you have heard from Aunt Bennie lately. Robert Scott and Robert Proctor was killed in the war. R. Scott was only 20 years old. I only hope no more of our cousins are killed. I think it's time we had peace--write me soon. With love from Arnold & myself--Mary Gabriel.

Mary (I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I include her!) and I wish you a happy, peaceful New Year.

Merry Christmas!

This old postcard says it well:

Best Wishes for Christmas
To all the good and friendly foks
Who in your house abide,
The folks who live at our house wish
A Merry Christmas-tide.

The back says it pretty well too!

Hello everybody--
How are you all? We are well. How do you like this weather? There is quite a lot of sickness here. Wishing you a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!
Asa & Muriel

Along with Asa and Muriel, I'm wishing all my blogger friends a very Merry Christmas!

Nothing says Christmas like frozen batteries...

This postcard was sent to Miss Maggie Ryan, Route #3, Hillsboro, Oregon by her sister almost exactly 100 years ago (at 5 p.m. on December 6, 1909 to be precise).



Seems the sisters were hit with a cold spell.



Dear Maggie, Well are you all froze in out there? I guess the batteries are frozen anyway. Don't you want some one to fix them? I haven't talked to anyone since I haven't been very well the last few days. I wrote to Ma today. Answer soon. Your sis.

(I'm wondering how one fixes frozen batteries, because I would think they would just explode and/or leak.)

life lesson from edith

This postcard (postmarked October 27, 1942) features the Mayo Clinic by night:



The stoic Edith writes to Miss Grace E. Thielman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...



Tuesday noon
Just been thru some very severe tests. I believe the worst one comes this afternoon. Don't feel particularly peppy but I guess I can take it. Edith

Yep, sometimes that's the way of things. We might not feel peppy, but we guess we can take it.

of conferences and candy

The continuing education conference is over, and it's back to work tomorrow. The classes were pretty good, and this conference always features a big exhibit hall where you can look at the latest high tech equipment, etc. so that's always fun. I also like that they hand out little freebies like artificial tear samples, pens, bags, and the ever-popular candy. (Although I'm not a big candy fan to be honest.)

But (here's the segue) Carole in 1947 was a fan of candy.

Glacier postcard front:



And the back:



Aug 12, 1947
Dear Miss Grub,
We are in Montana and it is raining cats and dogs. We just opened your box of candy. Thank you very much! They are delicious. We are having loads of fun.
Love Carole

Although I do have to question how much of a candy fan Carole was, because she obviously made it all the way from Walnut Creek, California to Glacier Park, Montana without ripping open the box.

frenemy in Ortonville?

Hmm... either the Friday Fives are getting harder or I'm getting more shallow. (I opted out last week too!) So instead of playing today's Friday Five I'm playing Nancy Drew and trying to unravel the mystery of an old postcard.



But before we get to the postcard mystery, here's another one. Who the heck is with Nancy? I would imagine the guy is Ned. But who's in the yellow dress? That doesn't look like something George would wear, and the gal looks a bit too *ahem* trim for Bess.

Anywhooo, moving on to the postcard. The front features the court house in Ortonville, Minnesota. I can't tell the date -- the postmark is smudged -- but it's probably in the 1907 to 1914 era.



Now for the back and the mystery message:



Hello there-
You can't dodge this on eather, I know more then you think I do. From a friend in Ortonville Minn.

Wonder if Mr. George Johnson in Palermo, North Dakota found that unsettling... or just silly.

blogger meet 'n eat

Yay! I had a blogger meetup today with Rev SS in Olympia (our approximate half-way point). We had a nice lunch, visited the farmer's market (where the picture was taken), and did some postcard hunting.



I found some good ones! This card, postmarked March 5th of 1912, features the "D.N. Tallman Residence" in Willmar, Minnesota.



While the Tallmans had a fine looking house, I primarily bought the postcard because I liked the writing on the back. I loved the excuse for not writing a letter.



Dear George,
Received your letter, was read with pleasure. Should write you a letter But I got a bad cold and Ma ain't home so will write later on. Send me a card for a change. From your girl in Minnesota. bye bye.

I can see the bad cold part, but not sure why Ma needed to be home...

because it's time for a postcard...

Oops, looks like I've been neglecting the postcard posts, so I'll fix that by sharing one from my "road" collection. This card is postmarked July 20, 1909 and shows the bustling intersection of Strong Avenue and Spear Street in Argentine, Kansas.



Theo is relaying some news to Miss Bessie Gunn in Okarchie, Oklahoma:



Art had a fire this morning about five o'clock. They think it started in the matches back of the bread case. account of it in paper. Not so very bad. But will be closed a week or so.

I think Art could have kept his business open and just sold the bread as toast. *rim shot*

yep, I'll send you one!

This postcard (featuring a Campbell's Soup Girl lookalike) was sent from Cousin Alta in Rock Island, Illinois to Alta Pierce in Lola, South Dakota on February 13, 1914. (Hmm... Alta and Alta. Sounds like these cousins were two of a kind.)

Cousin Alta used the tried and true technique of "when in doubt, write about the weather:

Is it cold there. it is certainly cold here and the wind is blowing hard. Cousin Alta



I'll be in Colorado later this month. If you e-mail your address to me, I promise to send you a postcard detailing the weather.

What's up with Ethel?!

Miss Ethel Greenleaf of Mt Vernon, Washington received her fair share of postcards, but it appears as if she had an aversion to returning correspondence.

In 1907, Marguerite Heritage tried a bargaining approach with Ethel:



Dear Ethel: How are you anyway - Write because I like to hear from you - did you get my other postals - Send me some from out west and I will send you some from here

In 1908, Billy tried the friendly and optimistic angle:




Father used to have a farm 1/2 mile from this old mill and I used to go fishing there when I was a kid. Am expecting a letter soon. is it on the way. Got a few dandy postals lately from friends nearby. Hope I will be out there soon. Yours--Billy

In 1910, L.K. Stelzig was just plain annoyed:



Don't you think you owe me a letter, or a card. It is nearly two months since I heard from you. Yours, L.K. Stelzig

new career?

I usually buy old postcards only if they are from the Dakotas, Montana, or Minnesota -- or if they feature roads. However, I just couldn't resist this one. It's basically a business card done as a postcard, and it made me smile. Plus it got me thinking. If I ever tire of the practice of optometry, I could surely become a Singing Evangelist just like Mary T. Louthan of Toledo, Iowa!



The fine print says "Terms Reasonable / Testimonials Furnished". I understand that Mary was assuring people she wouldn't charge an arm and a leg. However, I'm a bit confused on the "testimonials furnished" part. Was she saying "references furnished upon request" or was she saying "I will furnish my testimony as part of my evangelizing"?

Either way, I'd have to leave that phrase off my business card. I'd be pretty shaky on the 'testimonial' part and it would be a stretch to scrape up any references who would vouch for me doing that line of work. However, the "terms reasonable" is no problem (which you would know if you heard my singing).

Here's the back. I'm thinking Letitia Marquardt was a potential recipient of Mary's singing-evangelistic services. Perhaps there was a special event on January 20, 1911.



Just for the heck of it, I googled Mary and found half a dozen relevant websites. I learned she was born on May 21, 1858. It looks as if she never married. Mary was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church (hadn't heard of that merger before), sang "The Star Spangled Banner" for Iowa Day on September 21, 1898 and sang "Face to Face" at the funeral of Lorena Sheldon Raines Swearingen on June 13, 1929. (She was reportedly a life-long friend of the Raines family.) Mary joined the heavenly choir on December 20, 1931.

(So I guess if the singing evangelist thing doesn't work out, I can fall back on internet detective.)

"painted canyon in the bad lands"

We had a beautiful sunset tonight, which made me think of this postcard. The view out of my 'computer room' window looked something like this: (minus the men on the horses. And minus the badlands.)



There's nothing written on the back of the postcard, but (in the interest of being complete) here it is anyway:

dust bunny is squeaky clean

Dust Bunny went to Olympia this past weekend to see her son play in a baseball tournament. When some of the games were rained out, she went to an antique store and brought back 4 old postcards for me.

Her favorite one was this old bathtub from Medora, North Dakota.



It's a nice postcard, but it could use a little pizazz. I think you'll agree it looks much better with Dust Bunny in the tub. Click to enlarge!

(I'll admit this isn't Dust Bunny's usual attire -- but it fits so well with the tub! The picture was taken a couple of years ago during Thanksgiving, when our families dressed up as Native Americans and Pilgrims for our "pie fest".)

Cecile and Ella

This week's postcard is one of my "road" ones. It was sent on September 30th, 1907 by Cecile (if I'm reading the writing correctly) to Mrs. Ella Gilloway (or is that Silloway?) in Bradford, Vermont.

Here's the front. (I find the road intriguing.)



Rec'd your postal and thank you very much for it. How are you? I am (a) good deal better. I should like to see you. Cecile

Hmmm... I wonder what the problem had been with Cecile.

And here's the back:



I like how no street address was needed for Ella. It was either a small town, or Ella was really well known!

camping 1909 style

This postcard (sent May 26, 1909) is from Leech Lake, Walker Minnesota. (Hmmm... Leech Lake doesn't necessarily sound like a body of water in which you would want to swim.) Anyway, I love the huge camping stove. Bet you wouldn't go hungry if you camped with this guy.



Here's the back of the card:



Is Kate and Rily back from Texas yet? When will you be up here? Lakes are all open and the fishing is fine. Love to all, Ethel

Perhaps Ethel should spend less time fishing and more time on grammar lessons. (That was kind of a cheap shot. I'm snarky today.)

question of the day

What was the obsession in the 60's with feeding animals from your car in state parks?! C'mon -- slobbering donkeys just aren't that cute.



This old postcard was never used so I don't have anybody's writing to share. The back of it says:
DONKEYS BEGGING FOR HANDOUT, BLACK HILLS, SOUTH DAKOTA. These friendly beggars, also called "Rocky Mountain Canaries" may be seen in Custer State Park.

(Canaries? I'm so confused.)