This is another old style postcard, this time featuring Ice Lake, near the town of Iron River in Michigan.
These old style postcards are actually photographs formatted as a postcard, and marked with descriptions in white lettering on the bottom. The back of the postcard is typically unmarked except for a stamped impression of the word Post Card, a stamp box, and two headings labelled correspondence and address. Presumably this was to help those unfortunate enough not to know how to correctly send a postcard.
It is unused and undated, but is likely contemporaneous with other similar cards in this collection, and dates from the 1940’s.
Category: Postcards From Another Millennium
Postcards from various decades of the 20th century.
Epworth Heights, Ludington MI
This week a number of old style cards, starting with this one showing the Epworth Heights resort as it looked in its heyday. The building pictured is the main hotel, which no longer has rooms available and is used for resort activities instead.
Regrettably, the postcard, which was mailed, has been severely damaged on the right side, probably from being pasted into a scrapbook.
The postmark and the clothing style of the woman in the lower left corner confirm this photo as from the late 1940’s, and it was postmarked 9 May 1950.
Pennsylvania Turnpike
This folio features the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a toll road that crosses the state of Pennsylvania from west to east, and most of the way north and south.
This folio was unused, so there is no clear time stamped or written on the package. However, the absence of a ZIP code in the publisher’s address would indicate it was likely the early 1960’s or late 1950’s.
The Little Match Girl
An unusual subject for a postcard: a scene from the Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Match Girl. This is a lenticular postcard, which changes the image slightly when the view is altered from right to left, giving a slight sense of 3-D. As a result, the scan appears a bit blurry.
The description is very short: PK-94 Matches Girl
It deviates from the traditional depiction since the girl in the story is very poorly clothed with no scarf, and finds refuge in a corner where two buildings join unevenly. It does capture the visions of Christmas and the falling star omen of a soul going to Heaven.
This card was mailed, and has a postmark of 2 January 1978.
Harbor Island, San Diego, CA
Here’s a long aerial view of Harbor Island and its marina, the artificial island created by dredging which lies just south of the international airport. There are no houses here as permanent residences are prohibited by California law regarding tidal lands. The hotels are using land leased from the city.
The description states:
Harbor Island – San Diego, California
The unique beauty of San Diego is dramatized by this dazzling aerial view of Harbor Island.
— This card was mailed, and has a postmark of 28 March 1988.
Polk Motel, Columbia TN
You see below a photo of the James K. Polk Hotel in Columbia, Tennessee. It still exists in the same location, and a search on Google maps in street view shows the buildings are almost the same as well.
The description on the back is quite detailed and specific:
James K. Polk Motel, Columbia, Tenn. Highway No. 31
For Reservations Phone EV8-4913
50 Units, Tile Bath and Showers, Simmons Furniture, Electric Heat, Air Conditioned, Beautyrest Mattress, Restaurant, T.V. and Telephones, Swimming Pool
–Perhaps most notable of all is the listing, in a small circle on the back next to the name, of a Putt-Putt Golf Course, a rare exception for modest motels such as this.
The design of the vehicles in the picture indicates this photo is from the early 1960’s
Korczak Ziolkowski
This is a portrait of the man whose dream it was to build a monument to Crazy Horse, Korczak Ziolkowski. He is pictured in front of the mountain that would, over the course of the rest of his life and beyond, be slowly sculpted into the vision he had of the famous Native American leader. The work continues, but with some criticism from the Lakota people and descendants of Crazy Horse.
Unfortunately, this postcard was at one time glued into an album or scrapbook, and the resulting damage to the back has obscured the description. An image search did not uncover any other copies of this card currently on line. The description does mention him by name, and the name of his stallion: Warrior.
The clothes and appearance are consistent with other photos from the late 1940’s, which would coincide with a vacation trip my mother’s family took through this area.
Cypress Gardens, Florida
Below, a pastoral scene of the famous Cypress Gardens that was. While this area and view of the Gardens is still accessible, the original venue closed and was reopened as Legoland Florida.
The description says:
Beautiful waterways & flowered paths invite the tourists to enjoy their visit to Florida’s Cypress Gardens.
The botanical gardens depicted in this photo still exist mostly unchanged, but the rest of the park has been reconstructed as a more common amusement park with rides.
This card was used, and has a strip of transparent tape in the sky portion of the center of the card. I was unwilling to remove it as doing so may have damaged the card. It was postmarked October 1979.
Little Norway, Blue Mountain, WI
This is a colorized card of the iconic building that represents the Little Norway collection in Blue Mountain, Wisconsin. It is a chapel building, originally built in Norway but was disassembled and moved to Wisconsin and reconstructed. The Little Norway website indicates that the exhibit, which has been privately owned for 75 years, is now closed with the plan to reorganize ownership and management, presumably through a charitable trust.
Oddly, there is no description at all on the back of the card, save the note shown below the photo above. For more about this building and the larger collection, visit the website linked above.
This is consistent with other postcards acquired in the early 1940’s.
State of Alabama Folio
This collection covers public works, natural wonders and historical attractions from throughout the state of Alabama.
The third card shown gives a description of the photos from the back of the folio, as indicated by the numbered circles.
The folio itself is undated and unused, so there are no definitive indications of the date. The photographer(s) also avoided adding any clear indicators of time in the photos as well. However, the address shown under the photos uses the old zone system for mail, which was made obsolete by Zone Improvement Program codes, known universally as ZIP codes, in the early 1960’s. That combined with the fact that the only time my family was in this area of the country was during their move from Georgia to Texas in 1959, narrows the photo dates down pretty well to the late 1950’s.