The final card of the week is a colored photo of Lake Michigan from Mackinac Island, MI.
It’s not clear what is happening on the lake, but the safe guess is that there is a small steamship in the middle distance. The card has several bits of damage, including the folded lower right corner, and some very subtle mechanical cancellation in the upper center.
While it is impossible to date the photo from the picture itself, the card was mailed and has a postmark of July, 1929.
Category: Postcards From Another Millennium
Postcards from various decades of the 20th century.
Beach Scene, Manitowoc, WI
This is a fairly unusual composition for American postcards. While the image is common, what stands out is the attention paid to the photographer by the people in the near foreground. Rather than a candid photo with their faces turned away, they are posed for the photographer’s benefit.
This card marked the last one before the journey proceeded to Green Bay. The beach is not otherwise identified, as there is no description on the back. The black markings across the upper half are the result of mechanical cancellation.
Both the bathing suits and the postmark identify this in time, and the date is June 1939.
Downtown Manitowoc, Wisconsin
This image shows an idealized view of a principal street in the town of Manitowoc, WI.
There is no description on the back of this card. The black marks across the sky in the image were caused by mechanical cancellation. As the cars depicted would indicate, the date on the card is June 1939.
Sabin Lock, Soo Michigan
This image is of a steamship waiting to progress through the Soo Locks between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. This particular lock is currently unused pending replacement with a much larger lock once funding is secured.
There is no additional description on the back of this card, but the steamship pictured here is named after James A. Farrell, the former president of the U.S. Steel Co.
The postcard was used and is dated June, 1939.
Michigan Logging Wheels, Traverse City, Michigan
This next card in the series is a historical relic even for the time this postcard was made. By the 1930’s horse-drawn logging was played out in the Traverse City area, but devices like this remained. This one was even demonstrated as shown in the photo.
As with the others of this series, there is no description on the card back. The Michigan logging wheel operated by looping a chain under the logs, then winching them up enough to hang free of the ground, allowing the horse team to pull the load without dragging. Some versions would drag the trailing tip of the lower log, others would suspend the entire load with chains on the axle and the drawbar.
This card was used and is dated June 1939.
Beach at Traverse City, Michigan
This card the the first of five which were purchased and mailed during a family trip from Cadillac, MI to Green Bay, WI. This is a colored photo of folks enjoying a day at the beach in Traverse City, MI.
The swimwear fashions shown give a good indication of the era, but since the postcard was mailed, it can be conclusively dated at 1939.
Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, Massachusetts
This folio shows some views of the historical site of the Pilgrim landing and settlement from the early 17th century. The spelling is correct as confirmed by the folio cover, since the spelling rules of that time were less well defined.
Performers re-enact several types of activity from the Pilgrim era on site for the visitor’s entertainment and education. As with many such recreations, only a best estimate of the activities and appearances are possible, and the more negative elements of these scenes are quietly overlooked.
The folio was used and is visibly postmarked 1966.
Telephone Equipment, Pioneer Village, Minden, Nebraska
Along with many other collections at the Pioneer Village is this display of early phone equipment for central offices, homes and businesses.
The description states:
TELEPHONES & SWITCHBOARDS
First Bell to Latest Automatic
These are just a few of the 20,000 items, in 20 buildings, on 2 city blocks, showing man’s progress since 1830. 132 Miles West of Lincoln, Nebr., on U.S. 6.
— Considering how phone use has changed, with so many abandoning land-line phones for cellular, there may not be much more to add to this exhibit representing home phones.
General Store Interior, Pioneer Village, Minden, Nebraska
The view now moves into the general store, overflowing with items representative of many eras and styles.
Pride of place is taken by the wood burning stove, the sole heat for the building and a common center of activity for customers, family and friends. Also notable is the cuspidor, or spittoon, at the lower left corner of the stove apron. While attractively displayed in this location, the nearby stove gave off considerable heat, and placing a brass spittoon this close would have caused quite foul smells to emerge from the heated waste liquid contained there.
The description states:
OLD GENERAL STORE
Shelves Bulging With Bygone Items
This is a replica of a store that stood at Stamford, Nebr., now on the green, at the Harold Warp Pioneer Village, Minden, Nebr.
Here can be seen 20,000 items in 20 buildings, on 2 city blocks, showing man’s progress over the past 120 years.
Located 132 Miles West of Lincoln, Nebr., on U.S. 6.
Indian Fort and Stockade, Pioneer Village, Minden Nebraska
This image of Pioneer Village features a view of the type of blockhouse and fence that was common for settlements in the Indian Territory. Next to that, the classic general store.
The description states:
THE ELM CREEK INDIAN FORT WITH STOCKADE AROUND IT
Built in 1869
Moved from Cowles, Nebraska, and The General Store, shelves bulging with items of bygone days.
These are just two of the 20 buildings, on 2 city blocks, housing 20,000 items, showing man’s progress since 1830. Located 132 Miles west of Lincoln, Nebr., on U.S. 6.
— The cards in this series date from the 1960s.